Need 3dsmax

#1 You could try searching for bargain bin software online, but you should make sure to get as high of a version as possible (4+). You should also know that Discreet has stopped supporting those versions.

I'd personally recommend picking up Blender, Milkshape or GameSpace and using those rather than extremely outdated versions of Max.

#2 Every version of 3DSMax has a non-transferrable license. Discreet will typically only sell the latest version through them as the price seldom changes for future versions though you do have to pay for upgrades.

Authorized dealers sometimes have previous versions. You can check the authorized reseller list for one in your area on the Discreet site.

#3 Jordan mentions a very good point. Make sure not to buy it "used".

#4 David, indeed, because you cannot buy a legitamite "used" copy and as such will find yourself quite literally screwed. Most high end 3D applications have non-transferable user liscenses as such they are with you for life.

Also another thing to note is that you do not save money in buying an older version. This is due to the fact that you pay more money to upgrade to the latest version based on how old your version is and if you wait too long you essentially pay the same price as a new user.

#5 This is exactly how I got my copy of 3DSMax. I bought it used (with dongle, not a pirate copy) from a guy on ebay. I verified he was licensed by calling discreet. There was a form I had to fill out to transfer the license, and this had to be initiated by the original purchaser, But Discreet was very helpful.
Before purchasing, you can contact discreet to see if this policy is still active.

#6 @JMac

This policy is active but only under very special circumstances:
1) The current owner is deceased and it is being sold as a part of the estate
2) The current owner is bankrupt and it is being sold as a part of the liquidation.

Either way though like you said it still requires proper legal permission to actually get a liscense legitamitely transfered.

#7 I have a $3200 doorstop in my 4.2 license.

Pardon the rant here, but a cautionary note must convey the hazards it warns against.

Frankly, I think the terms in Discreet's EULA should fall outside the pale of what a EULA for off-the-shelf merchandise can specify as a condition of licensing. I rely on the good name of a vendor, in combination that no other has ever asked of me conditions that seemed more restrictive than what good moral citizenship would have led me to expect. This hopeful optimism has never failed me as it did with Discreet.

After determining in 2 weeks of wrestling with the app to perform texturing work that should have been the height of simplicity, I determined that I detested the workflow embodied in 3DS. In the gullible expectation that software I had paid so much for would have terms of ownership more customer-conscious than (say) Spyware, I attempted to auction the whole package on eBay. Discreet had my auction of the software pulled without any explanation or even form letter being provided to explain whose agency had precipitated the action -- I had to chase the dark hand pulling the strings down in emails to eBay's legal department.

The issue, as I see it, is that Discreet's EULA is not rooted in moral and fair principles that are content to bar a customer from pirating the work or using it in a manner other than "one user, one seat" or "use it like a book". Rather, it seems outright punitive toward their customers. I wondered, after the fact, whether my non-lawyerly eyes would even have parsed this unexpected gotcha from the lengthy contract.

I'm pained to hear L Foster suggest my death might be a necessary pre-condition to transfer my license, as my encounter with Discreet did instill in me unformed notions of self-destruction. I'd put it in my will, but this is like handing my heir a farting Labrador Retriever. Were that Discreet had spent the sums it's wasted poisoning its relations with this consumer on designing a well-thought-out workflow... then I might have considered their software useful and sang their praises as I do those of McNeel and Associates.

edit: L Foster is probably right when he says other high-end 3D kits have the same restriction. Perhaps Discreet is the first company to offer me such an unsatisfying product at such a premium price that they had to the be ones to crush my youthful dreams of being given a fair shake as a consumer.

Rant over. Party on.

tone

#8 I think it should be noted here that the non transferrable license is not unique to 3dsmax.. maya is alos pretty particalar about it, and charges $1000 (or used to) to transfer the license to another machine (even if you own it)..

All of this is in the EULA, and although personally I don't like the practice, this is why there are EULAs and why one should read them before clicking the 'I agree' button.

#9 You are right. The harsh part is that I did not know that venturing into the realms of 3DS Max (or her alternatives) would have such a vastly different set of expectations for how I'd be treated.

My bad... but for gosh sakes, heed my mistake anyone else reading!

tone