I laugh when i see people complain about the cost of Maya in truth its really not that much for what it can do AND when you consider that not that long ago to set up 1 animator on a computer that could do 3d and with a highend 3d package cost around half a million dollars where as now you can run it a $2,000 pc with a 3d package that only costs 20 grand well its not that bad of a deal
and you ive heard this from alot of people and freelancers that if your good you can pay off maya unlimited in like 2 or 3 jobs
i say you have to work with in your means if maya is out of your means then buy lightwave or Max and build up to maya
ex. Id love to have a corvette man those things a sweet would even love to a have a viper more but they are out of my means right now even though you know if you take a Firebird Trans Am or a Camaro Z-28 SS and upgrade it right and modify it right your car will perform like a vett does that mean they should drop the price of the corvette down to that of a firebirds or camaros NO because your not just paying for the sum of the parts Youre also paying for the corvette name that sleek corvette body styling plus you get a much better warranty with a Vette and your car gets treated better
just like with Maya your paying for the Maya name (its hot right now so ) your paying for the Alias|Wavefront support
your not just paying for the ability the model and animate and render things your paying for all that
if you dont need, want, or cant afford all the rest then you buy another package
personally (and i know this may sound eletist but ohh well deal with it) Id rather see the price of Maya, XSI, Houdini stay were they are in the 15 - 20 grand price range infact i think Lightwave and Max should cost a little more for what they can do
personally im just sick of every joe smoe going out and buying poser and saying ohhh look i can do 3d too
this is part of the reason why the 3d field is soooooo congested right now because the software can be had so such alow price compared to what it used to be everyone thinks they can do it
maybe that sounds eletists but sooo what were artists arent we supposed to be snoppy and eletists i mean come on we are better then everyone else arent we hehehehehehehe
seriously though i dont know maybe its just me but mayube it is a bit eletist to think but i just like to think that not every joe smoe out there can do what we can do