I think the Apprentice program is great for learning, but unless you are a production house or rich, I can't see how anyone could afford it. I need a car right now, and Houdini Master's price would get me into a decent car.

Besides, the program is as only as good as the artist using it. Houdini will not make you a better modeler or compositor.

Who knows, one day, if I learn Houdini well enough, I could get a job using it and then get paid enough to buy a copy… And own a car to get to and from work.

P.S. Please Don't frag me, I mean well.

scottman
I think the Apprentice program is great for learning, but unless you are a production house or rich, I can't see how anyone could afford it. I need a car right now, and Houdini Master's price would get me into a decent car.

Besides, the program is as only as good as the artist using it. Houdini will not make you a better modeler or compositor.

Who knows, one day, if I learn Houdini well enough, I could get a job using it and then get paid enough to buy a copy… And own a car to get to and from work.

P.S. Please Don't frag me, I mean well.

You can buy a pretty decent car for $1,995? You can probably do a lot with Escape…

https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_purchase&Itemid=234 [sidefx.com]

I agree. I still need to get a car first. I am still saving. It is definitely the best 3DCG tool on the market, hands down. If I had the cash to spend, Houdini is my choice without hesitation.

It would be nice to be able to finance Houdini like a car.

Unless you're a pro racing car driver, you don't make money with your car. It's an asset you purchase to make your life better, easier, etc. Houdini is a tool with which(hopefully) you make income. Comparing car prices to software like this isn't really meaningful.

J.C.

off the Houdini topic, you certainly make money with your car. Out of college I “inherited” my little brother's beat-up-junker, maybe 120,000 miles .. I don't want to sound ungrateful but ….

It was a huge liability for getting to work, which usually meant taxi, or bus routs, or if you work somewhere without busses, or work two jobs, normaly means renting a car depending on the severity of the problem. Taking busses could add at least an hour or more to a commute, and in entertainment jobs means it's coming out of your sleep time.

I never knew when it would break down, and when it did it was usually more expensive to repair than financing a new car for that month, not to mention the time.

It takes a decent car in many cities to make money, I've been much happier since I got a new reliable car, and haven't missed a work day/income.

I love Europe and Canada, they have great public transportation.

What is exactly the purpose of starting such a thread? And what is exactly *the point* of the thread?
That professional, high-end 3D animation software is too expensive at 2K with unlimited render licenses included?

Dragos

Sidefx doesn't expect you to choose houdini over a car, the price of the software is intended for companies who use houdini to profit from it. That's the point of the apprentice version, learn it at home, then you can be useful to a company that actually owns the software. The price of houdini master is nothing compared to what companies pay for employees, hardware and other software needed to get your average job done.

digitallysane
What is exactly the purpose of starting such a thread? And what is exactly *the point* of the thread?
That professional, high-end 3D animation software is too expensive at 2K with unlimited render licenses included?

Dragos

No. the point was: That I can't yet afford it, but if I could, I'd buy it. If you can afford it, get it(Yay for you).

I have said nothing wrong, and the administrator made a point clear to me that the Escape version of Houdini is cheaper than Maya(I'm stacking cash for Houdini today).

So my thread is not pointless, though you can point yourself and your attitude elsewhere. So you don't need to tell me about render licenses, or try an sell me on what I already know is a great product.

P.S. Reading a post before responding to it could potentially make you seem less “A-Hole-ish”. Not everyone can just go to the bank and grab $2000 bucks. Again, if you can, horray for you, though the only preeminence you'd have over me is that you have a copy and I don't. Which doesn't make you a better CG artist in any way. Peace to you.

Houdini is great, I've enjoyed the 3DBuzz tutorials. I think the addition of the Mozilla browser is awesome. I am gaining knowledge of the Apprentice version and appreciate it much.

It's just that life had delt me a blow that is taking me a while to recover from(And I will recover), after which, I should have a copy.

I was not crabbing about anything(I appologize if it seemed that way) .

Peace to all and stay creative.

Comparing Hoduini with a car isn't that absurd - at least until the recent change in pricing.

As I don't have a driving licence the plan was to buy a Chevrolet Camaro (maybe 1969) for my girlfriend.

But she agreed we reschedule this investment after a Houdini license.

Georg

scottman
No. the point was: That I can't yet afford it, but if I could, I'd buy it. If you can afford it, get it(Yay for you).
P.S. Reading a post before responding to it could potentially make you seem less “A-Hole-ish”. Not everyone can just go to the bank and grab $2000 bucks. Again, if you can, horray for you, though the only preeminence you'd have over me is that you have a copy and I don't. Which doesn't make you a better CG artist in any way. Peace to you.

Thinking twice before posting useless info would make you seem less troll-ish. And respecting your conversation partners wouldn't hurt, either.
So, from what you say I understand that your point is “I'm saving money to buy Houdini”. I can imagine how useful 3d app forums would be if every artist in the world would post threads which say “I save money to buy my favorite 3d app”. If they do, I hope they will at least have the decency of titling their posts appropriately, so the ones not interested in the finances of others can skip it. You wouldn't have the pleasure to read this if your thread was simply titled “I'm saving money to buy Houdini” instead of “Apprentice Versioon”.
I see this symptom aggravating recently. I am very happy that Houdini's user base is expanding, but… this used to be the forum with the smallest quantity of unwanted noise I have ever used. Almost every thread used to contain something valuable and interesting. The fact that Houdini is the subject of attention for more and more people is unfortunately reflected in the forums, which are starting to look more and more like CGTalk-ish, slowly filling with off-topic posts and people demanding attention or being too lazy to even read the price list or feature list or FAQ present on the site.
I think SESI should start to give more attention to the moderation of these forums. Also, a sticky thread with some do's and don't's would be most welcome.

Dragos

Scottman,

Any time you buy a piece of software (or hardware for that matter) you will want to make sure you are going to recoup your investment within some sort of business venture. Houdini has been priced competitively for studios interested in using Houdini's node-based approach to achieving film quality effects. Whether you are a small shop or a big shop Houdini offers a flexible solution that can help you be more efficient and ultimately save time and money.

For an individual like yourself who is learning we created the Apprentice edition. If your goal is to create a demo reel the apprentice edition gives you access to all of Houdini and can be used to save and render projects. Therefore you can go beyond just learning and actually develop your ideas into final animated and rendered sequences. We are proud to offer such a robust personal development solution. There are artists on this forum who got jobs because of time spent learning Houdini through apprentice.

And if you choose to set up your own shop and you are talented and business-savvy then you will be able to charge enough money to afford your Houdini licenses AND get a really nice car.

rmagee
then you will be able to charge enough money to afford your Houdini licenses AND get a really nice car.

That is until you noticed Uncle Sam just took 35% of your income away. :cry:

That is until you noticed Uncle Sam just took 35% of your income away

Uncle Sam! Geez… you should see What Sir John A. MacDonald (GCB, KCMG, PC, QC, DCL, LL.D) takes!

Gene