Autodesk wants your little tykes to become their customers; Autodesk Tinkerplay

That’s right, it seems that even if you’re 5 years of age, Autodesk already wants you to become one of their (hopefully lifelong) customers by unveiling software to let you create your own toys.

And would they be delighted when your little boy grows up to purchase Maya when he leaves for college and keeps a barge-pole distance away from FOSS. :slight_smile:

All kidding aside, the kid market is probably something that Blender is very ill-suited to even get started in because it requires special interfaces to engage someone that young. I don’t think FOSS in general even has anything that can let them be creative in 3D, nonetheless allow them to create something that later arrives in a physical form (this being especially true since organizations like the BF do not have the resources to put together a 3D printing service with their own brand of devices).

I guess if the BF wanted, they could create a separate product for kids derived from the Blender application, but whether they can match in 3D printing is another story.

Sofar I found most of the 123D apps kind mediocre at best but I think for AD it is currently a playground to explore a new direction. Clearly AD is focusing on an infrastructure and is the only software company that also offers products for kids, entry level, and makers besides pros like myself. And Fusion 360 their current new CAD tool is even free for hobby and commercial users until you hit the $100K income mark. That is extremely generous.

One can hate or love AD (I full bloodily hate Autocad like the pest) but they really put a lot of resources and force into the 3D printing area and I think we should be happy about it because this generates a lot of attention and new products for us in the future.

And unlike other companies AD gives their products with 3 year licenses away for free to learn to students and now also universities. I started to actually at least really appreciate their effort.

Simple UX, UI & tablet friendly is where it all starts today. Even Sketchup is not that easy. Blender is too tedious for kids.
Also you can get Win tablet perfectly capable of running DCC apps for cca 200$. Kids love to touch screen :slight_smile:

Blender for sure is not for kids - the UI is still sometimes hard to learn because of the depth it offers and some of the UI designs but well thats just a language question.

Pretty nice what AD does here. Besides those 123D alls Fusion360 is a high end CAD app and free to use for hobby and what other company does that … seriously

Perhaps Blender Foundation could start creating a 3D Printer of its own for 100+/- Euros that would be able to interface with more than STL files etc. and make some money.

Ton has mentioned many times that one of his goals is the “Blender 101” project. This would allow for a stripped down Blender GUI to appeal to niche markets like school kids, 3d printing enthusiasts, etc. He would definitely prefer kids become indoctrinated with Blender than Autodesk software :slight_smile: I am currently teaching my 9 year old nephew Blender and would love to have Blender 101!

Jamez all this needs is a custom UI with 90% removed. That would not be hard to do since it is all Python scripted.

However the workflow might be a different question. poly modeling is hard and blender is not easy here compared to 123D design.

As does Budweiser, Ace. It’s called an annuity for life. And, so far Autodesk has been pulling it off nicely.

Lost in translation here what do you mean?

I’d assume something about marketing beer and such things to younger people. They might not be able to yet use the product, but make the ads make it seem appealing to them as something they would want to do/use. The idea being that young people haven’t yet made up their mind about whatever the subject is, whereas old folk have already decided and aren’t as likely to switch beers or whatever because an ad tell them to. The companies want to persuade the kids to use their product while they are still easily persuadable.
I didn’t explain this the best, but is this correct and what you were getting at theoldghost?

ctdabomb you have nailed it. All their marketing strategy they will admit is aimed at eighteen year old males. And, if a sixteen year old happens to respond so be it. A line of thinking I’m sure hasn’t been wasted on Autodesk. Of course in the case of Autodesk one could argue what came first. And, we would have to agree the studio use did. Then of course the schools followed.

And, that’s a situation Autodesk no doubt realizes is the annuity as Ace started this thread with. Because they now have some competition in the studios. But, they also have deep pockets I suspect. And, can hire the marketing team from hell.

I have never used Autodesk or any program but Blender. Which I can hardly afford by the way. And, being a hobbyist with no aspirations I could care less if Autodesk rules into the next Century. Blender will continue to find it’s way into more small studios and improve at a rate which astonishes me. Hell, we already have talented people on this forum who can do anything someone can do with an Autodesk program. And, in some cases better. And, while Autodesk might pursue a get them young line of thinking they can’t match Blenders price.

So with no marketing except a web site and several online movies tonight kids are downloading blender. And, some will use it for the next six years or so and become talented graphic artist. And, wasn’t that Tons vision. Kudos to all the developers down through the years. From 2.48, which I first downloaded, to here has been an amazing trip. And, maybe we haven’t seen anything yet.

Sorry for going off down a rabbit hole, Ace. But, can you imagine showing a stock market type Blender against Autodesk in a way he could understand. The next week there would 50 designated lobbyist over on K Street intent on shutting that shit down.

I first downloaded Blender to do animations for my little granddaughter. And, even with 2.48 on my machine it was a struggle. Well, suddenly the little granddaughter is not so little anymore. Nor is Blender.

Well it is a double edges sword - one the one side Autodesk really promotes 3d printing and makes it accessible to the maker community with products that are cheap or even free and Fusion 360 is a professional CAD app hobby users can use free of charge. On the other side obviously they also want to nurture their future generations of users because they also need to sell products and make money.

But I rather have companies like AD offer free software and promoting a technology or process which can have an influence on future students making a decision to go into engineering or so than companies like “Always” giving out free samples etc for sex ed and personal hygiene classes in high-school because their only motivation is binding customers or schools offering Pepsi or only Coke products and bad food instead of rejecting the companies money and offering much healthier and better tasting options. Go onto a university campus and try to find good tasting and cheap options. Here people really got brainwashed into eating junk.

At the end for me as a teacher at the university AD is the only company that gives me and the students everything for free so we can work and learn and produce.

Adobe does the opposite it now drains students even more.

I figured out most of 3d studio at 10 years of age, without a manual, even though it was in a foreign language I didn’t know. My 8-year old nephew is happily blending away once I showed him the ropes.

Kids don’t really want stripped down anything. They want to play with the grownups’ tools. If we were talking about powerdrills and sledgehammers, I agree they might need stripped down, lighter, less dangerous versions. But for software? Nah. No reason whatsoever not to give them the real thing.

(Also, Ace, where did you read Tinkerplay is for 5-year olds? It doesn’t seem like that’s actually stated anywhere?)

cekuhnen, I did not know that. I had assumed they made Maya available at a cut rate. Obviously they know what time it is. And, I can see where this Blender - Autodesk thing might concern a young person. Talent aside finding a decent job is hard enough without bucking the tide if you will. And, I have seen quite a few post over the years where a individual is using an AD product at work and Blender at home.

And, a few have even mentioned Blender being on a workstation for specific task. Also you are right. There is a line between Bud and Autodesk although they are both after the same results. And, I go off occasionally sounding like a fan boy simply because Blender was a gift to me.

But, a young person seriously considering making a living in CG Art has so many considerations. Not the least of which is the program used at a certain point. And, I have to imagine quite a few do transition from Blender to Maya simply because of that right now at this point in time. Or, reality as they know it. But, then who knows how Blender will be perceived in the professional world five years from now. Your comment about Adobe was also interesting. Evidently not everyone has the same business model.

Piotr, you have a point. At a certain age kids do want the grownup version. And, to target something to a five year old would be a exercise in futility I would think. Except to simply get the brand name out there. But, if you capture a twelve year old with brand loyalty then you have something I would guess. You sure do with a eighteen year old and they have the figures to back that up. Interesting thread, Ace.

Just only recently AD offers all software for free not only to students but also to university labs.
However I am not an AD fanboy and hate everything else. This is why I teach organic modeling and product rendering only in Blender.
I have no big interest in the Fusion360 cloud rendering or using Keyshot which costs $1k per license.

What is great about today for students is that there is really a lot of software out there to use and learn the technology with.
What you will end up with later using at work is a different story.

Blender hardly will be used but I prefer to use it for teaching because all the concepts and workflows I can demonstrate with it.