Autodesk has launched a lite version of Maya for mobile developers

The “lightweight” package costs four times less than the full version. All its key features for creating game models are preserved. 

The main differences between Maya LT and the full version of the program:

• you cannot export models with more than 25 thousand polygons.;
• you can’t write your own plugins;
• animation tools are seriously cropped (no layers, no non-linear editing table);
• no support for advanced hardware shaders;
• you cannot render objects.

According to the Autodesk management, the lack of these features will not prevent independent and mobile developers from creating three-dimensional objects.

For such a heavily “trimmed” program, the company asks for $795 for a perpetual license or $35 (according to Pocket Gamer, Venturebeat writes $50) per month when subscribing. The full version of Maya costs $3675. 

For comparison, 3D Max from the same Autodesk will cost you the same amount. The Pixologic ZBrush package, designed for creating models, costs $795. Blender, which is not inferior in functionality to Maya, is distributed free of charge.

Actually, the question is, what do you use and why?