Guys, thank you all so much for the responses. Many of you have recommended using virtual machines, and that will probably be sufficient for most scenarios, but I just want to leave a link to the person’s comment about some software being able to detect virtual machines just in case, so that you keep that in mind and don’t put yourself in danger.
Yes, thanks for the reply!
I don’t like to use stripped down versions of programs only to discover in the process that the functionality I need has been cut out. In my experience with ZBrush, the stripped-down versions lack quite important, and I would even say fundamental, functionality. I would still prefer to use the alternatives mentioned above, where if something is missing, it is not something fundamental.
And I just don’t want to give money to developers who put up $6,000 price tags and then sue individuals if they use unlicensed versions of software that they simply can’t afford.
and those alternatives are???
My specialty at the moment is 2d/3d art, and I’m only just planning to get into compositing, so my… recommendation? should be taken somewhat critically.
The best alternative I could find is Fusion by BlackMagic, which has already been mentioned by one person in the comments. Only, in addition to that comment, I’d like to point out that Fusion does not come in DaVinci Resolve. The “Fusion” tab in DaVinci Resolve is a stripped down version of Fusion, and full-featured Fusion is a separate program that ships separately. It costs quite a bit - $300 for a (so far) perpetual license. On this page you can find a comparison of the functionality of Fusion, as delivered with DaVinci Resolve, and Fusion as a separate standalone program.
Another alternative is Natron, - free and open-source software aimed, as I understand it, at being a free copy of Nuke. But while I was looking for information about possible alternatives and some software in general, I came across complaints about Natron being slow and unstable. And the latest version on GitHub is dated November 2022. But there’s also a pre-release dated April 2023.
Let me remind you that I’m not professionally compositing at the moment, and may not know some nuances, so this post should be taken somewhat critically, and it’s always better to research and find the best solution for your purposes.
But I plan to start with Fusion, and if I’m missing something, look for it in Natron.
I never heard of consumer apps doing this. I’m not familiar with foundry, but it seems their target audience are companies? Cracking hard on companies that use unlicensed copy is very common in b2b world. Microsoft, Oracle, etc all doing this to companies, threatening to “audit” them when they detect unlicensed uses from the company’s ip address
In the links I sent, at least 2 private users (not companies) complained about Foundry demanding money from them, or otherwise starting to sue. I’m not really sure why they’re doing this if it’s just inhumane to demand money from people who don’t even have any. My understanding is that people are not sitting on torrents out of surplus funds. Probably, if they would give up this kind of behavior and stop paying salaries to employees dealing with this issue, they would cover the expenses they have due to the use of unlicensed versions of software by private individuals. But maybe I’m seeing the situation wrong. But whatever it is, tracking down private individuals who use unlicensed software and demanding money from them is to me a kind of madness.
I’m just wondering how I can protect myself from something like this.
In the case of Nuke, “just buying” a legitimate copy is not “just” - it costs $6,000 per year. But it’s not necessary, I’ve already found alternatives.
Sounds good!