Pro’s and Cons of paid and opensource/freeware software. They are both good and each is driven by their own needs. Not to anthropomorphize a chunk of code, But these codes are maintained by people for people and as such they are asymmetric there will be uses each is more suited to and less suited to.
As for learning them both. Very much that is going to depend on your learning style. But each one is a tool and each one has comparable features to the other, So if you have the mental energy to do it one way in school and then recycle and abstract the lesson to do it on another software (and considering the nature of UI changes in some softwares that might be a lesson to learn sooner rather then later) Then I won’t say that would be a bad lesson. Although keep in mind it will be more demanding But the higher you set the bar in the beginning the further you will go provided you have the desire and or mental imbalances to push you that far. [INDENT=4]Paid Software
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Pro’s
-Better support (in theory, sometimes opinions differ from the user)
-Often adapted widely in industry
-It is taught in schools more often and there is sometimes an instructor that is very knowledgeable in the use and application of it, Take advantage of that. (YMMV)
-Better odds of having the latest features. May cost more though for them.
Cons’s
-Can be costly to upkeep and keep current.
-Can be problematic to keep legal and publishable work circulating.
[INDENT=2]Paid software’s tend to cost $$$ and obsolete quickly and I know many a grad who wasted years of their life to learn a software they no longer have and now works in fast-food. This is something to address and be proactive about.
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-Some software’s are subject to bureaucratic inefficiencies, Those are often the devil in the details little things that cause the end users to say “Why da frick is this different here then there, they are both owned by the same company”
-Better odds of having the latest features. May cost more though for them.
Caveat’s-People who pay for their software become invested in it, This is a good and bad thing. If spending 2-5k to get started motivates you to churn out awesome money making content then by all means keep at it. But don’t get so invested in a software that you stop growing professionally and as an artist just because you don’t have it. If you need to use freeware to grow your skills and get critiques from the community. Then eat your pride and do so.
[INDENT=5]Open and Freeware Software
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Pro’s
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-This shit don’t cost you a dime if you just want to be leacher and not give back. And it is fully legal to do that.
-They tend to be made in smaller tighter knit communities who address the needs of many many other niche communities, This gives a diverse if problematic suite of skills and features to tap into.
-You can keep an up to date and current portfolio going with little to no legal issues from software of questionable providence. Not that anyone here is a one legged pirate with a hook and eye patch. Wheres the Rum?[/INDENT]
[INDENT=3]Microsoft and autodesk tends to know who did not pirates their shit… There are workshops and classes in digital forensics for just this occasion. If you find workshop in your area it is well worth your time to sit in on it. Bring your friends and get me some reaction video please.
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[INDENT=2]-Feedback from the communities for opensource software tends to be listened to more, Of course you can not make everyone happy.
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Con’s
-People who are invested in their software tend to frown on open source softwares and by extension their users
[INDENT=2](I’m nuro-atypical myself I don’t fully understand that behavior but to me it is funny as hell to watch)
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-Training and documentation in opensource tends to be more adhoc unless you are willing to spend a little or you are not adverse to abstracting a lesson from another platform and reapplying the principle of it elsewhere.
[INDENT=2]I won’t fib, Most of the most concise and best presented body modeling courses I have found, were done in Maya. I have an insight on that, But most would find it offensive and I rather look people in the eyes when I offend them. It is more fulfilling that way.
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-stability and up to dattedness, yea…have fun. But as of late blender has been making huge leaps and bounds.
Caveat’s
-open source vs freeware is a hotbutton topic. Treat it the same way you do religion and politics. Nod your head, Smile and recite after me “every one believes crazy shit, Even me. Even and especially If I think my shit don’t stink” Do this when people present a viewpoint that triggers an emotional response.
-open source users get invested too, Nothing wrong with that but keep your skills up somehow with your paid softwares, Even if you publish your content from an opensource product. A tool is a tool and it is the artist and craftsman that matters. Just remember your paymaster might have their own investments and they tend to be thin skinned people.
Edit:
I worked in the electronics tech industry, And most techs can learn a new system and bench adequately in a month with minimal instruction and basic documentation provided they are already have the skillset to do so, And with in six months they tend to be a guru on the new system and test bench. After a few systems they tend to all look the same anyway.
Adaptability and learning are traits that most people have. Leverage this advantage yes. From watching techs after they learn their 3rd system or so they tend to have an intuitive grasp of the principles in a way that very few teachers can teach in any instruction course.