I've only had Houdini Apprentice HD for 6 months (for personal hobby use) and I'm looking for info.

Is there always a charge for ‘point’ upgrades like from HD 9.1 ->9.5?

The reason that I ask, is that if there are pay upgrades like the current $69 two or three times per year, all of a sudden Apprentice HD is not the $99 bargain that it seemed. If (for example) there are 2 upgrades the first year that I own HD at $69 each plus the original $99, that works out to $237 per year.

I'm concerned with the value for the money, I'm not complaining that the charge is too much. And you still only have Houdini HD, not the full version.

The thought occurred to me that it might be better to put that money towards buying the full version. It almost seems like the difference between renting a house and buying a house; if you get my drift…

I'm just kind of thinking out loud here on a hot Canadian long weekend. Smile

Cheers

Just thinking out loud here
If you paid 237.00/year thats just over eight years to afford Houdini escape.
It's something like 34 years to afford Houdini Master.

Like you I can't help but thinking wouldn't it be great If I could apply this to
the purchase of a master license,
but then I look at the above and think well I'm getting an awesome deal.

Sooner or later the Job will come along and help pay for it.

$237 for a license to use and learn the most powerful 3D app on the planet is a total bargain IMHO. Get your skills up and sooner or later it will pay off with the offer of some work. You can create assets in HD and convert them to licensed versions when that job does come in. Whats really good, is that you can rent a full license on a monthly basis, so as long as your job covers the cost (and it should if your needing Houdini to get involved!) then it pays for itself. One good dynamics shot for broadcast should easily cover the cost of the full annual license and then all you need to find is the annual maintenance fee.

stevecullum
$237 for a license to use and learn the most powerful 3D app on the planet is a total bargain IMHO. Get your skills up and sooner or later it will pay off with the offer of some work.

One good dynamics shot for broadcast should easily cover the cost of the full annual license and then all you need to find is the annual maintenance fee.

I'm not the slightest bit interested in getting paid for using Houdini. This is for personal interest only; a hobby if you will.

Cost of the full version and/or Houdini employment are not issues as I already have a very comfortable six figure income in another field. Value for the money is a concern if updates are going to add considerably to the cost.

Personally, I'd rather put that money towards the full version and know that it's paid for for a reasonable amount of time.

YMMV<shrug>

Whatever…

the only real difference between the Apprentice and the Apprentice HD versions of Houdini are that HD has no watermark and you can render HD animations…

if you're using Houdini as a hobby then just stick with the regular (free) Apprentice…

arctor
the only real difference between the Apprentice and the Apprentice HD versions of Houdini are that HD has no watermark and you can render HD animations…

if you're using Houdini as a hobby then just stick with the regular (free) Apprentice…

But I don't want the watermark! ;-)