I plan buying the academic version of ZBrush and these questions arose:
Can I use it after I graduate?
Can I use it for commercial projects?
Are there any restrictions compared to the normal version?
There are no technical restrictions. The only difference is the license itself. You can continue to use it following graduation. However, you may never use it to make money. Any commercial use whatsoever (even to earn $1) violates the license agreement.
After graduation you can upgrade to a commercial license. To do this, you would pay 50% of whatever the current commercial price happense to be at the time you upgrade. You would simply contact http://support.pixologic.com to get the necessary instructions.
Thank you very much.
But does that mean, that if I buy the academic version for $375.00 and after studying I want to upgrade I got to pay $262.00 (at a full price of $524.00). That would mean that I got to pay $637.00 in the end. So it would be cheaper if I only buy the normal version.
Actually, the current price of ZBrush is $595. So the discount would be $297.50. I don’t know what the price will be for ZBrush 3.5 or ZBrush 4.
Yes, you do pay more if you buy academic now and upgrade to commercial later. On the other hand, you’re not paying all at once. It’s a good deal for some people, and not for others. We’re simply giving you options.