Quote - I think you missed my point - the student license of Maya Unlimited renders without a watermark, is fully featured, and (if you're a student) can be had for $370.  It is a perpetual license as far as I can tell (the one for 3ds Max at Studica definitely is perpetual).

And by the way they even have Cinema 4d XL for a similar uber-cheap price ($280)
http://www.studica.com/MAXONComputer/

although through that vendor, Maya Unlimited actually seems to be less expensive than a comparable pack of C4D + extensions.  This is all with the understanding that one meets their student ID requirements (thankfully, I do).

I gotcha on that - but you MUST BE A STUDENT (with proof) to get the benefits.  And almost every single Student License that I've ever encountered strictly forbids 'commerical use!!!'.  So you can use it similarly to the PLE version in every way except for the lack of watermark (and commercial endeavors).

At this point it is a matter of apples and oranges. :)  You can get a free version with a nasty watermark to stop from proliferating as pro-commercial work or you can get a student version without the watermark provided that you never use it for commercial purposes - or the lawyers pay a visit.  Autodesk is notorious for KGB tactics in such endeavors - don't know if that has changed but don't ever get caught using a student license for payed work!

If you are honorable - which I believe you are - you can get the student license and make cool renders for public display but not for private profit.  Once you are in position to profit from your work, you'll need to upgrade the license to full.

That's all that I'm saying. :)

Robert

C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot. C++ makes it harder, but when you do, you blow your whole leg off.

 -- Bjarne Stroustrup

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