It’s tax time and I want to invest in a copy of Zbrush. I can sculpt in clay but work full time at a deli (it pays the bills is steady and stable). But, I’m getting tired of it and want to make money creating so that I don’t have to spend forty hours of my life on a corporate time clock every week. Zbrush I think will allow me to produce more work and produce it faster. In clay making changes to a piece takes too many minutes and can take hours. A co-worker suggested I find a Zbrush torrent online. He continued to tell me that torrents are just other, more fortunate people sharing with the less fortunate. Is it true? I have bills that need catching up on, but I am 36 years old and feel if I don’t get me a copy of it now, with my tax return I will never get it. Are torrents bad?
Top row!
I understand your situation. I’m trapped in a full time job I hate as well, and can’t find the time or the money to work towards the career I want. I have my own opinions about piracy which I’ll leave off of here for obvious reasons.
But I think some thoughts on ZBrush/Pixologic are worth posting: ZBrush is the best value per dollar out of all 3d software I’ve used. Along with my Wacom, it’s the best money I’ve ever spent. Pixologic are extremely generous to their customers. They price very low for a 3d package of its caliber, are very flexible with their licenses, and have so far offered free upgrades with every release, which no other major 3d software package has ever done to my knowledge. Pixologic is one of few companies I believe truly deserves every honest purchase it gets.
:eek:
Attachments
It is definitely worth the price. The work in the gallery is really good. Work I’ve seen in magazines is really good, I was amazed by the In the Industry section of the Pixologic.com. I’m really stuck in the middle here. I want to believe my friend because I need to pay my bills and at the same time I want to buy it because it is obvious Pixologic cares about artists. The price is low and they practically teach how to use it with zbrushinfo and this forum. Are torrents really from people sharing? This is really driving me crazy. I don’t even know how to use the program.
Silvaticus. What do you mean “Top Row?”
There is no evil in torents. All evils are human.
See… downloading a copy through a torrent is like me and my other peers here going to your deli and grabbing a sandwich and a drink without paying. Guess what you are being paid from then…
And I agree with my predecessor! Such a smart post with such an elaborate question must enter the top row!
Lemo
Take it + don’t pay for it = theft.
Take it + don’t pay for it + copy and give it to other thieves = piracy. [profitless piracy is still piracy]
Curious, how can Zbrush run on a system without an activation key? The key is tied to the serial number of the system upon which it is [legally] installed.
And if it -is- somehow cracked, how can one be sure there is no trojan embedded? [like the cracked torrent of Apple’s iWork’09; - 20,000 thieves with wiped hard drives] Now that’s justice.
I bought my copy from someone here on the forum for much less, we had a license transfer and everything was legal and fine. Just wait till someone offers his/hers license for sale (which was just a few days ago in this forum I believe…)
TrappedInFlesh, it seems you’re looking for popular opinion on piracy in the professional community. The answer there is it’s pretty heavily frowned upon. Obviously, it’s illegal. However, unless you understand the principles behind it, defaulting to popular opinion isn’t an opinion at all, it’s rote memorization of phrases which have no meaning to you. Law doesn’t always coincide with morality or the general well being of every individual or even society as a whole. There are no strict right or wrong answers in life.
Freedom of digital information is a pretty hot issue right now, and can generate volatile debate no matter where you bring it up, but especially so in a professional community. I suggest you research the topic a bit because it’s kind of a big deal right now.
Should you buy ZBrush? If you have serious aspirations as a digital artist and can afford it, yes. Pixologic is a wonderful company, and they deserve support. Is the issue always that simple? Absolutely not. It’s offensive to me that people would suggest otherwise. Is the issue this simple for you?.. I have no clue. You know your own life, your own needs and potentials, better than anyone. If you haven’t downloaded a trial yet, that would be a great place to start.
And if you haven’t figured out what a torrent is yet, they have many uses but in the context of this conversation you would be downloading ZBrush illegally from people unrelated to Pixologic who have broken the copy protection on the software and are distributing it.
Then there is the issue with support and updates. If you have an unauthorized copy and an update comes out then you risk loosing all the work you spend getting into it. If the new update has a changed licensing scheme… then you are up the creek without a paddle. Besides all the legal issues, the risk one takes in using and applying unauthorized versions backfires big time sooner than later. And then… one can only stand in the dark closet howling to the walls as it is impossible to vent ones frustration openly. You have no rights unless you have am authorization from the manufacturer. I prefer having rights. So I don’t have to sneak around in the dark pretending that I made stuff with ‘my brothers’ copy… One can also be openly proud of his achievements with a fully legal copy. It must make one feel pretty dumb not really being able to share results because of the bad aftertaste of having used something which does not belong to one. Oh… one last thing… who says the torrent version does NOT come with some nasty payload which is hiding behind the curtain just to do some stuff you really do not want to be associated with once it’s time is ripe…
Lemo
This dude has got to be crazy. After you produce something, lol if you produce something, and someone rips off your creation, then what? Oh ya claim copyright infringement lol. Good luck with that. Gota be a troll.
Thank you Salmongod, thank you all. My thoughts are much the same. My coworker got me thinking, that’s all. I ddidnt know much about torrents. I’ve read the license terms and from what I understand I can inatall Zbrush on both my computers right? My desktop and my laptop. I have a student version of Maya 2008 and it only allowed me to install once. I will be purchasing my copy when my money comes. Sorry everyone, If anyone would like to see what I can do in clay you can see some pictures here, www.myspace.com/trappedinflesh.
That’s one of many things I love about ZBrush/Pixologic. Your licenses are so flexible. A couple years ago when I was still in school, I loved being able to have a copy installed at home, and keep the files on a flash drive so I could also install them at school and simply de-activate the license before I left. You can basically install it wherever you want, so long as you only have two copies activated at any given time.
Coolness. I’m excited. I just have to wait for my funds. I plan to bust my ass to get to know Zbrush as fast as possible so I can get some sculpts up. I appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. I apologize for the question about torrents. I’m really, really tight on my money, basically living from payday to payday, I’m glad I asked and glad I asked in this community. As soon as I have some I’ll post images of my work.