Comment by felixthehat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by felixthehat | Hacker News Reader

I was reading this article yesterday: 'The best 3D modelling software in 2022'

As a blender studio subscriber & hobbyist, I'm so grateful such incredible software has no barrier to entry, especially for creatives in developing countries.

You can see this reflected in this great video of the worldwide blender community from last years blender conference https://youtu.be/uEjmbsiflMU?list=PLa1F2ddGya_8Wzpajwu1EtiS8...

  Autodesk Maya $4590 per year
  Zbrush $895
  Houdini $4495 per year
  Cinema 4D $3495
  3ds Max $1700 per year
  Modo $1596
  Lightwave $995

https://www.creativebloq.com/features/best-3d-modelling-soft...

Zbrush and Houdini are still in their own category, untouchable though. Blender is getting close to the sheer pleasure that is sculpting in Zbrush, but there's still quite a ways to go. And Houdini's particle work is unequaled.

To be fair you can get 3DS Max or Maya for $250 a year with a hobby licenses. You can get Houdini for free or super low price as well.

For Houdini, you listed the price for the version used by major VFX studios.

Houdini Indie (with no feature limitations) is only $269 per year, and you can also learn Houdini for free too with Houdini Apprentice (again: no feature limitations).

Independent VFX artists earn well under the $100K/year revenue ceiling for Houdini Indie, so $269/year is their actual "cost."

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