quote:Original post by Diragor
I''ve thought of doing it that way but how do you (they) handle the case where a customer claims that the original computer has crashed and is unrecoverable (massive hard drive failure or something)?

I imagine that they just mail out a new one. One license plus or minus isn''t so terrible. What they''re trying to quell here is 20 artists using 1 licensed copy.

quote:
Also the floppy-license thing is not quite as convenient as, say, the USB plugs like Aladdin produces (ealaddin.com). In that case you could actually have the software installed on many different machines and quickly move the plug from one machine to another as needed. The floppy license-moving scheme sounds slightly more time-consuming. Of course, moving a USB plug is not very convenient if the back of your machine isn''t easily accessable, unless you have ports in front, an extension cable or a hub.

Well, yeah, but it''s cheaper to send out a disk than a custom piece of hardware. There was really nothing wrong with parallel port dongles either, but it''s cheaper to go software only. Besides, it''s not like any company wants to band over backwards to support license-moving... they''d much rather you just buy a second one.

I hear a lot of people have problems with 3DS Max's c-dilla licensing system. I wonder why they chose to drop the dongles.

By the way, the commercial version of Blender 2.25 will support exporting via Python when it comes out in February. I wonder when this feature will make it to the freeware version.

I wish there were more cheap/free pro-quality 3D tools. So far everything I know of is either expensive or insufficient. I've been thinking of Rhino 3D as a somewhat expensive option, but I wonder if there are cheaper alternatives. Animation Master, perhaps? I'm not convinced its SDK is any good for games.

Edited by - chronos on January 31, 2002 6:56:48 PM

Yup, Blender supports exporting via Python, but version 2.25 will probably support it fully. According to http://www.blender.nl/showitem.php?id=239, Blender 2.25 will feature a "Python API ready for import/exporting plus example scripts (3DS, LWO)".

Edited by - chronos on February 1, 2002 7:18:23 PM

Sorry to bring back this thread but I was wondering about something.

How much would 3D Studio Max 3 cost? From what I''ve heard, it should be good enough to get the job done. Can anyone estimate how much it would cost and where I can look to obtain one? If Max 3 is affordable, that would be excellent cause I am having trouble affording Max 4.

Here is a summary of the programs I've found in my quest for useful and affordable 3D software:

- Blender Creator ($0): Quirky interface. Export capabilities are limited.

- Milkshape 3D ($20): Very powerful for its price. Don't really like working with it.

- Cinema 4D Go ($195): No support for bones.

- Animation Master ($299): Export SDK is not finished. Hash patches are proprietary, so using them directly might pose problems.

- Blender Publisher ($300): Quirky interface. License is per-user, not per-seat. Full export capabilities in upcoming version likely but unconfirmed.

- Truespace 5.2 ($495): Latest file spec and SDK not yet available on Caligari's website. Keyframe Editor contains a serious bug. Caligari's commitment to bug-free software is questionable.

- Cinema 4D Art ($695): Supports bones, but not animation. Might be good enough for 3D game development after creating in-house animation tools. Not available until April.

- Rhinoceros ($895): I thought it would be good enough for 3D game development, but it offers no support for bones or animation.

- Cinema 4D XL ($1695): Supports bones and animation, but costs more money than I'm currently willing to spend.


Edited by - chronos on February 17, 2002 7:09:24 PM