Maya LT

[ojo3D]

Honestly I do not see who can be interested into MayaLT except people already familiar with Maya. Why would anyone choose this instead of Blender for example? It has much better cost/benefit ratio (most important thing for indie devs). Or just buy Modo for few bucks more (if you are in EU). If I am making indie team or doing project myself only plus would be Maya viewport. But without scripting possibilities I would not even consider it. I mean why giving 1200 usd for something with so many restrictions, really do not see point of that.

I agree. I mean, if what game developers most want is modeling and animation, then in this case I would prefer Modo as the animation tools in Maya LT is not complete. And modeling wise, Modo is way better.

And Lightwave was some weeks ago at $ 1295 if I'm not mistaken.

On the C4D, as I'm a student, I can upgrade to the Broadcast or Studio version with a 30% discount.

I'm learning Maya now and I like it. But my goal it's animation and vfx. If it were games, freelance wise, I don't think I would go the Maya LT route. Unless I could upgrade to full Maya in the future with a discount.

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

The main reason for launching Maya LT was the requirement of mobile game developers. These guys can be very small indie studios who often require multiple/cross platform support for Mac and PC.

But for that, you actually wouldn't need maya. You can have that for free. Game engine included.

[Bellsey]

The main reason for launching Maya LT was the requirement of mobile game developers. These guys can be very small indie studios who often require multiple/cross platform support for Mac and PC.

But for that, you actually wouldn't need maya. You can have that for free. Game engine included.

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.

[Mathaeus]

But for that, you actually wouldn't need maya. You can have that for free. Game engine included.

Well it might be interesting for people who wants to apply some rigs and mocap to characters, do some small changes, then export it somewhere. Traditionally it was Max Biped, as enough easy, half automatic solution for beginners. SI always been too much complex for this very specific task. Blender don't have strong solution for motion re-targeting, for now.
Other than that, I don't know...
Hope AD guys made it enough easy, best wishes to those who will have to support this software
In short, good chance for new, long, angry thread on some Max forum, again . "We" always been underdogs, SI doesn't count....

[luceric]

Honestly I do not see who can be interested into MayaLT except people already familiar with Maya

sure. but that's a lot of people. anyway we'll see

[ojo3D]

sure. but that's a lot of people. anyway we'll see

One question, if anybody knows... But does Maya LT would work with Houdini Engine? If it would, then it's a killer combo.

[gustavoeb]

It said no sdk somewhere. So, i guess not

[Nizar]

I read only now NO OBJ export... Why not obj? OBJ exporter is a high-end studio feature?

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

The main reason for launching Maya LT was the requirement of mobile game developers. These guys can be very small indie studios who often require multiple/cross platform support for Mac and PC.

But for that, you actually wouldn't need maya. You can have that for free. Game engine included.

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.

Blender.
Scripting, Gameengine, no limits, windows, linux, mac os, characteranimation, simulation, texture painting, sculpting, retopo, support. Free. What more would you want as a small indie studio that can't afford perpetual licenses for all staff? Edit mocap data maybe, that would be motionbuilder then.

Edit: forgot compositing and videoediting (for some cutscenes) ;)

[Bellsey]

sure. but that's a lot of people. anyway we'll see

One question, if anybody knows... But does Maya LT would work with Houdini Engine? If it would, then it's a killer combo.

Would indie games devs working on mobile platforms need something like Houdini? I'm not sure they would.

[ojo3D]

I read only now NO OBJ export... Why not obj? OBJ exporter is a high-end studio feature?

Why you need OBJ if you have the ultra-powerful FBX?

[ojo3D]

sure. but that's a lot of people. anyway we'll see

One question, if anybody knows... But does Maya LT would work with Houdini Engine? If it would, then it's a killer combo.

Would indie games devs working on mobile platforms need something like Houdini? I'm not sure they would.

Well, I can see in this video lots of reasons to use Houdini Engine for game dev, be it mobile or something more advanced.



P.S.: If the selling point of Maya LT is that you can save money, than that money could be used somewhere else to help improve the capabilities of said studio/person.

[luceric]

Ojo3d, you keep writing things that seem not relevant to the product. Maya LT is meant for producing FBX files for making IOS or inexpensive Steam games, using the Unity or the Unreal Engine, both of which support FBX directly. A project of a few months with almost no money down, with a very small team, many even a one-man-band. *output goal is unity*

As for Houdini Engine, the price is not known, afaik, it's just a demo. It's probably going to be expensive and meant for studios. But anyway, it runs directly in Unity, there is no need to run that in Maya LT. You couldn't really export anything out anyway. You use Maya LT to model, texture, animate characters and props.

btw you can freely convert FBX to obj with the FBX converter. Maya goes through the FBX api to write .obj anyway, so don't try to argue the results would be different.

[ojo3D]

Ojo3d, you keep writing things that seem completely irrelevant to the product. Maya LT is meant for producing FBX files for making IOS or inexpensive Steam games, using the Unity or the Unreal Engine, both of which support FBX directly. A project of a few months with almost no money down, with a very small team, many even a one-man-band. *output goal is unity*

As for Houdini Engine, the price is not known, afaik, it's just a demo. It's probably going to be expensive and meant for studios. But anyway, it runs directly in Unity, there is no need to run that in Maya LT. You couldn't really export anything out anyway. You use Maya LT to model, texture, animate characters and props.

btw you can freely convert FBX to obj with the FBX converter. Maya goes through the FBX api to write .obj anyway, so don't try to argue the results would be different.

Ok. Point taken.

You said "Maya LT is meant for producing FBX files for making IOS or inexpensive Steam games, using the Unity or the Unreal Engine, both of which support FBX directly. A project of a few months with almost no money down, with a very small team, many even a one-man-band."

For that I think $ 795 IS expensive. I'm sorry if you think otherwise.

Ciao.

[Bellsey]

There is the option of renting MayaLT for $400 a year.

[luceric]

A project of a few months with almost no money down, with a very small team, many even a one-man-band."

For that I think $ 795 IS expensive. I'm sorry if you think otherwise.

Ciao.

another way to say what bellsey wrote (using the quarterly rate)

41$ a month per seat for getting a lot of props and animation made for your 3 month work on an IOS game. It's not expensive.
you could go and hire a bunch of maya students. I don't think anyone will pay 800$ for a permanent license, for a v1.0 product anyway