3ds Max Indie and Maya Indie now available in 46 countries

Autodesk is to roll out 3ds Max Indie, its reduced-price subscription to the 3D animation software for artists earning under $100,000/year, to a wider range of countries on 7 August 2020.

The change – announced in emails to existing subscribers reposted on social media – will make 3ds Max Indie subscriptions available in countries throughout Europe, Asia and South America.

Maya Indie, the equivalent deal for Maya users, will also be available throughout the world on 7 August.

Use the full version of 3ds Max or Maya for $250/year

Launched last summer, 3ds Max Indie and Maya Indie provide users with a gross annual revenue from design work of under $100,000/year with a single licence of the full version of the software.

The exact price varies from country to country, but it’s currently around $250/year.

The program was initially only available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, but Autodesk announced in March that it planned to roll out 3ds Max Indie worldwide.

3ds Max Indie soon available throughout the world, but not in every country

According to an email to 3ds Max Indie subscribers reposted on the Stack 3ds Max Facebook group, the firm will “launch 3ds Max for indie users worldwide*, starting August 7, 2020”.

The footnote attached to that asterisk reveals that by “worldwide”, Autodesk means “throughout the world”, but not “in every country in the world”. Initially, indie subs will be available online in 26 more countries.

Asia

China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore

Europe and the Middle East

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey

South and Central America

Brazil, Mexico

If your own country isn’t on that list, don’t give up hope of a 3ds Max Indie subscription just yet. In the comments on the Facebook thread, 3ds Max product manager Chip Weatherman posted:

“From what I understand, the rollout will include more countries over time. This is the next batch of countries where we’ve gotten legal ‘clearance’.”

Updated 7 August 2020: the Indie edition of 3ds Max will only be available “where we have an eStore worldwide”. More details later in the story.

Maya Indie to be available ‘wherever Autodesk has an eStore’

For Maya users, TJ Galda, Autodesk’s senior product line manager for Maya and the Entertainment Collection, has tweeted that Maya Indie will also be available “wherever we have an eStore” from 7 August.

Autodesk worldwide list here: it includes the countries listed above, plus Hong Kong and South Africa, and collective sites for Latin America, Middle East and Other European Countries.

Updated 7 August 2020: 3ds Max Indie and Maya Indie are now available in 31 countries worldwide.

Autodesk’s FAQs describe the Indie products as being available on “all standard Autodesk e-store sites”.

The eligibility conditions are largely the same as for the original rollout, although there is one new restriction: that the Indie products can not be used on “any project valued over $100,000 USD”.

In addition, the price has risen slightly since last year: at the time of posting, new Indie subscriptions to 3ds Max or Maya from the US cost $265/year.

Updated 3 September 2020: Autodesk has added 15 more countries to its eligibility list, making 3ds Max Indie and Maya Indie available in 46 countries worldwide.

The expanded list of eligible countries is as follows: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Indie subscriptions are not available in either Hong Kong or South Africa.

Autodesk said that both countries/areas are listed on its country selector as users can buy via a reseller, but that “there is no e-store in those countries/areas even though they have product centres”.

Pricing and system requirements

3ds Max Indie is available for Windows 7+. Maya Indie is available for Windows 7 and 10, RHEL/CentOS 7.3-7.7 Linux and macOS 10.13+.

Licences are available on a rental-only basis to users in eligible countries earning under USD $100,000/year, for use on projects valued at under $100,000. They are limited to one licence per user or organisation.

The exact price varies between countries, particularly when tax is taken into account. In the US, it is currently $265/year. In the UK, it’s currently £294/year plus 20% VAT.

By:Jim Thacker/CG Channel