Request to Epic

[Commander_Shepard]

Giving out UE4 for just $19 a month and allowing to retain the last subscribed version is a highly praised move epic.

However some of the benefits (if not all) this gives to the indie and individual community is defeated to some extent by the fact that the content creation is still financially a far greater challenge than it should be.

Technically speaking I know about Blender and have used it to some extent but it is currently not very compatible to make content for UE4 especially rigging and animation compared to 3Ds or maya, which makes it extremely difficult to fully leverage the benefit of the epics brilliant plan.

I am well aware that 3Ds and Maya are among the best tools in industry and Autodesk has put lot of effort in develeoping them (and I’m not asking them to give it for free ofc :p), but with current price tag even monthly subscription is way too much than most people can afford.

I wish Autodesk followed Epic’s way and allowed use of 3Ds or maya for commercial project for a royalty , that way even 15% royalty wont sound much and it would incredibly boost the production capability of indies or individuals.

So can Epic make some kind of deal with autodesk to allow use of 3ds or maya for development and then the developer can payback via royalties to autodesk.

Just an idea don’t take me rude and asking for free stuff all the time until then its Blender

[eXi (Cedric Neukirchen)]

Hey there,

we all know that feeling and sometimes i asked myself how a student managed to get their hands on 3DS …

But if you are willing to pay at least 30€ a Month, you can use Maya LT, which is available on Steam.

://store.steampowered/app/243580/?l=german

I heard that this version has all the 2D and 3D tools but not the rendering part (that is not important if you want to create assets only).
Though there is a 65.000 Polycount value as far as i read. As long as you stay beneath you shouldnt get into trouble.

You can use this version for commercial games too. Maybe that’s something that works for you (:

[Commander_Shepard]

@eXi;222325

Hey there,

we all know that feeling and sometimes i asked myself how a student managed to get their hands on 3DS …

But if you are willing to pay at least 30€ a Month, you can use Maya LT, which is available on Steam.

://store.steampowered/app/243580/?l=german

I heard that this version has all the 2D and 3D tools but not the rendering part (that is not important if you want to create assets only).
Though there is a 65.000 Polycount value as far as i read. As long as you stay beneath you shouldnt get into trouble.

You can use this version for commercial games too. Maybe that’s something that works for you (:

Some good info there, I’ll look into it, meanwhile I wish epic gives some consideration to this

[AsmundSchei (ÅsmundSchei)]

You can have a read at my tread aswell: https://forums.unrealengine/showthread.php?56923-Would-you-like-an-LT-subscription-model-for-3Ds-
And yes, 3Ds users need a possibility to use 3Ds for commercial work with UE4 aswell. Its no software comparison, its only what one prefer to use.

[Cube2222]

Actually, the workflow blender->ue4 wil get better and better, epic is donating a lot of money to blender for that.

[eXi (Cedric Neukirchen)]

@Cube2222;222352

Actually, the workflow blender->ue4 wil get better and better, epic is donating a lot of money to blender for that.

Yop +1

And i only had problem with blender and UE4 once. Using 2.70 of Blender now. Works like a charm.
Won’t even switch to maya or 3DSMax if there would be such a possibility.

[SaxonRah]

@eXi;222325

Maya LT
://store.steampowered/app/243580/?l=german

Maya LT is great and if you need more than 65.000 poly then just split the mesh into multiple files.

You can also buy /maya Monthly-$185, Quarterly-$460, and Annually-$1470. These are installment type payments where you get the software and pay as you go until you pay it off, kinda like an expensive object, like ring or car. This is allot more feasible for most common people.

Zbrush is also great too. It’s far cheaper at $795 compared to the $3675 on /maya.
://store.pixologic/

Edit: yeah like said epic donated monies to blender too, which made it a ton better, and its bound to keep getting better and better.

[Commander_Shepard]

@eXi;222356

Yop +1

And i only had problem with blender and UE4 once. Using 2.70 of Blender now. Works like a charm.
Won’t even switch to maya or 3DSMax if there would be such a possibility.

Not be rude , but just stating that it works isnt helpful. It would be great if you could make some videos about how you animate the rigs and things like proper export.

Currently I have no problem skinning to armature and setting up IK but getting the animation to proper keyframes and export is tough as hell ! I cant find any proper explanation of The thing called “Actions” and how to use them to animate and export. Please tell me how you do It? modelling is not a problem

[anonymous_user_923c79df]

@Commander Shepard;222363

Not be rude , but just stating that it works isnt helpful. It would be great if you could make some videos about how you animate the rigs and things like proper export.

When you use blender 2.70 you just have to take a look at the basic tutorials that you can find on youtube. For 2.73 I would recommend you to take a look at the livestreams v=Ayp1lof0RJU

[Steve_T]

@SaxonRah;222359

Maya LT is great and if you need more than 65.000 poly then just split the mesh into multiple files.

I was recently shown this on another thread:

://knowledge.autodesk/support/maya-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/MayaLT/files/GUID-51B5F746-12B0-4AB5-9701-A0A740D0ADA5-htm.html

I you use the export to unreal option there is no cap to the size!!

[SaxonRah]

@Steve_T;222424

I was recently shown this on another thread:

://knowledge.autodesk/support/maya-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/MayaLT/files/GUID-51B5F746-12B0-4AB5-9701-A0A740D0ADA5-htm.html

I you use the export to unreal option there is no cap to the size!!

v=wMgevw44zawWow that’s pretty cool, thanks for sharing Steve_T

[anonymous_user_272e36ca]

Good info in this but there are other free tools like Sketchup that you can use to design low ploy game assets.

[TheFoyer]

@SaxonRah;222359

You can also buy /maya Monthly-$185

That’s a car payment

[SonKim]

@Commander Shepard;222363

Not be rude , but just stating that it works isnt helpful. It would be great if you could make some videos about how you animate the rigs and things like proper export.

Currently I have no problem skinning to armature and setting up IK but getting the animation to proper keyframes and export is tough as hell ! I cant find any proper explanation of The thing called “Actions” and how to use them to animate and export. Please tell me how you do It? modelling is not a problem

Try Modo Indie: ://store.steampowered/app/321540/ - You can buy it straight up at 299 USD, or go with subscription!

Great modo video on how to animate, and export to UE4! ?v=yY-q02EN8i4

[Commander_Shepard]

@SonKim;223931

Try Modo Indie: ://store.steampowered/app/321540/ - You can buy it straight up at 299 USD, or go with subscription!

Great modo video on how to animate, and export to UE4! ?v=yY-q02EN8i4

That thing is disturbingly similar to blender from the looks of it.

[Commander_Shepard]

@franktech;223924

What is to stop modelers from using / Maya student licenses for creating & selling commercial content?

I’ve heard there are bucket loads of 3D students doing commercial work from China to Eastern Europe online etc. What if you unwittingly buy assets from these sources that claim to have commercial licenses, but don’t… Are Indie game developers exposed at some level?

I asked this once before on the UDK forums. There’s ‘Nothing’ to stop students selling 3D assets using student versions was the answer that came back, because apparently once you export to FBX no info is passed to the Unreal engine that indicates license info.

Any comments?

That was somewhat my original question, but yeah fbx is closed source format , unless you are exporting from blender you never know what secret **** 3DS is writing in that fbx to track your hind. And its a bad practice to use illegal software for commercial purposes anyway.

As for anyone buying assets from online stores make sure you use legit websites.

Like TurboSquid explicitly states that all users who publish any content on their site agree to the condition that they possess all rights to the asset. So if there is anything illegal in that asset its the uploader that will be sued ultimately.

Then there are other sites like tf3d that gives no gurantee of legitimacy and actually lists many models from commercial games and info on how to rip off models from the games to publish them. So I wont take anything from that website.

So as you can see its some simple things you need to look out for when buying models online

[Commander_Shepard]

@franktech;229918

But of course, once you ship your game, you’re the one whose liable, as the content creator may be nowhere to be seen… My guess is, there is no way to know for sure. That surprises me, and I think there AutoDesk should be making this situation clearer in the interests of everybody that wants to play fair… I know their software is brutally expensive, especially when stacked up against game engines, but still…

I’ll put my cards on the table and say that I think AutoDesk should be watermarking all assets exported from / Maya to FBX that are from student or other substandard non-commercial class packages.

Yes thats a good argument.

Better safe than sorry, Really expensive sorry