The engineering of Blender is super impressive. The code is held to a really really high standard for people to merge their branches into main Blender. Just look at the time it takes for it to open, and the space it uses.
While 3dsmax maya use many gigabytes and take a while to open, Blender opens instantly, and is only 200 megabytes with a full install. The PBR branch looks absolutely incredible, but the FBX interop is still a complete disaster. It would be great if UE4 had a importer that could read .blend files directly into the engine.
That said, I still find Blender incredibly hard to use compared to 3dmax and Maya.
So, in the end, being well made does not translate to being customer friendly.
This will change with Blender 2.8. Both UI and default keymaps will drastically change, to make it easier to use.
I would love that.
Probably the Alembic format. In the current version of Blender, the exporter is still in infancy, and doesn’t support rigs export
Edit: There were also talks about supporting Pixar’s USD format. Mabie if Epic adds an USD importer to UE4, importing would be a lot easier.
Problem with Blender is people who design user interface there are ‘hipsters’; they want to make sure every single standard is broken.
This is way so many find it hard to use, and it’s also why I hate that thing.
I hate that custom cross cursor so badly; just give me my computer’s default mouse cursor, no need for this fancy BS.
I end up just using Maya LT, to the hell with Blender.
If in 2.8 you don’t like the UI, you could configure it as you like. You wouldn’t need to know scripting. That’s one of the strong points of Blender 2.8, to give the power to users to customize UI, as they want. So…it is very possible that someone would make a template that will look similar to Maya. I’ll quote JulianSeverin, one of the Blender devs:
Sorry for the bump. I hated Blender in the beginning. Very, very much. But i am a person which do not give up so fast so i tried it again and again. I ended up by find out, that myself was all which doesn´t let me open the door. I worked with all major software types (Autodesk, Cinema 4D,…) so i know how to get into a workflow.
I am also a person who doesn´t like to work with illegal software or stolen assets (as also i don´t like to download illegal sample packs or synthesizer for my music, neither). I was at a point where i had to choose a programm that fits my buget and blender was. So i started completly new and than… bang … i´ve got it to work.
After 4 years with blender, i can say that there is nothing which hold me back to deliver professional work as i could with the highly priced software. And i also feel, that blender can be VERY fast, too. It is a light weight type of software which is running just fine also on weaker machines. Of course i ran into some problems at the beginning and lost time by searching for a solution. But it was also a good way to force me to know the software. And even the autosmooth function works well with unreal 
I also have substance painter and with this two … i wouldn´t know what i am missing to get my project up and running.
Literally the only thing that signify a file was from a certain program is it’s format exporters. Anything made in Max, Maya or other large tools has a bit of info added into the exported files. If you were to take those exported files and import them to blender then export it would seem like you made the files in blender and not or maya. There is nothing a company can do to trace a open file type. Therefore there is nothing they can do to stop you. But your morality should stop you. If not that, then the frightening realization that they will sue you into oblivion should.
edit, is there anyway to signal threads that are older than a certain period or does necrotic post not matter ?
Sorry for the up but I would like to learn more about this subject,
Is that true ? Because if it is, how companies can check 3d models that are in shops or games ? Everybody would do this and no one would get caught…
EPIC doesn’t have some licenses check before game posting or something like that ?
I’m kind of affraid to make assets and people with no moral come steal my work…
They usually get caught by stupid reasons. are a few of them:
- snitches
- careless user/company that post videos and pics where it’s possible to see the used software
- torrent honey-pot
- traffic logging
- …
A lot of people believe that unless the shops or games contain the original file format, it’s impossible to determine the file’s origin. That’s not entirely true.
Metadata is not the only way to id a file. For example, some forms of steganography and digital watermarking are possible and hard to detect.
In order to be sure, you would have to …
But at the end of the day, the only question you should be asking yourself is: is it worth the risk?
Ahah nope for sure. Especially that some softwares aren’t that much expensive…
But I still have a question about this. If you sell a modified file you sure can be caught. But how does it work with files used in for example Unreal Engine/Unity/CryEngine etc ? I mean there is no .fbx/.obj or whatever “classic” files in the game folder.
It’s very interesting how they hide proofs in the files like spies ahah
It’s not in my plans ahah I always try to use free softwares (blender, gimp, xnormal, TreeIt etc) but there are standards like speedtree or Substance Painter which are wayyyy better and pretty cheap.
The only thing i can’t find at a low price is a software for heightmaps. World machine is quite expensive for my budget.
I just wanted to know how publishers do to detect bad things , nothing more 
I always suggest Houdini to people who might be struggling financially. Even if Autodesk was affordable, I have to say, it crashes way too often. It’s just subpar software. Look into the possibilities of using Houdini for your work. It isn’t free, but it is more affordable for indies at 269.00 USD a year. If you can make it work, I suggest looking into that. Plus Houdini offers UE4 integration.
As to watermarking models. Few years ago i wrote script for processing ase files. On that occasion i looked into ase format and files. There is plenty room for hiding watermark. For eg. ordering vertexes, or rounding coordiates to some values, or dfeining UVs. Stuff that most likely will survive importing into game engine without any noticable difference (until you look at actual data as numbers). However i am quite sure such watermarks are beyond Autodesk skill level.
If they really wanted to put in 3D format protection they could, but they’d need support within all of the programs that can use that format.
If you really like Maya you can get LT which is affordable considering what you get. MODO indie 11 is also very good and cheap as hell (still sucks at animation and rigging though, the Foundry still did nothing to improve that in the latest version). I never heard about autodesk going after basement dudes who make PT/FNAF clones in their free time like the foundry does with people who pirate modo. Still, I wouldn’t make a commercial game with pirated stuff, not worth the risk. If you want to make a free game, you can use free student license, they allow you to make free games with it.
's something interesting
“The … interesting number is the 6 million plus pirates who are actively using our software—and by the way, we know that they’re using the software because we’re able to track the pirated serial numbers and the pirate activity,” said Anagnost.”
I recently switch from 3ds to Blender and all i can say is why i didn’t do it earlier since i am not crashing like i was in while doing the same kind of work! For former 3ds users like me there is a guy who made a wonderful addons with a lot of 3ds familiar tools and it is call Bmax is the link : https://blenderartists.org/t/bmax-to…3ds-max/586373
This addons will help you having an easier transition but keep in mind that 2.8 will be a completely different beast and the Bmax addons dev said he will update it for 2.8.
Now on the people asking about watermark and tech to trace file i have a friend who is a software engineer working for one of the big 3d app corporation and he told me that any files made in an illegal version can be trace with specific metadata embed in the file format and this work even if the end user try to export in any other format ex; Exporting as obj then saving as a.blend will still have the metadata identifying source software it was made in. Even decompiling and finding the metadata will be close to impossible for an advanced programmer.
They also have dedicated staff who do this kind of investigation on release games by extracting 3d models or texture to verify legitimacy so it will only be a matter of time before you get caught.
Believe me if you don’t want to have your career ruined for using pirated software just switch to Blender since it is now mature enough to use in a game production pipeline.
I don’t think that’s accurate, without working together the different software companies can’t guarantee that metadata gets passed on between programs. Some formats aren’t designed to have that info, and even then, once it’s imported to another program it would have to keep that info so it can pass it on. Take .obj for example, even if it contained metadata, it’d be very easy to make a program that ignores that info. Now, if you’re using 3ds Max/Maya directly to UE4 using FBX then it could very easily work with that kind of metadata, but otherwise it’s very easy to get around if it exists.
Do you seriously think Autodesk pay a team to rip 3d model from every single game out there? Sounds like some fear mongering blender propaganda to draw more people to your software(not trying to be rude ).
Autodesk audit companies, they send representatives to inspect computers, I think they also do it at distance, with the user’s consent. As far as I know they never harassed individuals and hobbyists. The foundry threatens people, pirates and paid customers alike, and even them don’t rip models from games to detect pirates (that would be way too complicated anyway since the .fbx format is being converted to the engine’s format).