Help With buying 3D Studio Max 7 and a Cheap Wacom Graphics Tablet

[Revan]

Hi
     I have just started university at Staffordshire Uni (UK) and we have been told that we have to aquire a copy of 3D Studio Max 7 and a Wacom Graphic Tablet. 

    Now being a student  I am looking for the cheap option, and would like to find the cheapest possible products to buy (as long as they are still useable). I will gladly take second hand products. So if any of you have a copy of 3DS Max 7 or a Wacom (At least A5) Graphics Tablet that you would like to sell (or if you see any online can you let me know)

   Thankyou all in advance

Revan
    -Dave-

[MrColossal]

Do you get a discount at the school store?

First place I'd look.

[zabnat]

So I take it that your uni doesn't have a campus licence for the software?
As a student you should be able to buy the educational version of 3DS max, which should cost only couple of hundred (not the five thousand as the full version will). Ask about it from Autodesk reseller near you.
I'm not sure if software licences can be sold second hand in your country (depends on the licence and laws of your country), so that could prove to be a tricky task.
If you don't want to buy a Wacom tablet as new then check ebay or similiar.

[Nikolas]

The ignorant question: does it have to be Wacom? Cause if not, A4 tablets can be as little as 70-90$...

[Mozesh]

I've got to have 3dsMax for my college, they don't care where you get it. I heard rumors of teachers actually cracking software while the computer was connected to a beamer for everyone to see.

[LimpingFish]

Autodesk have recently been cracking down on people re-selling software and licenses; such as asking eBay to remove a number of Autodesk software auctions.

Most universities that have a 3D course would usually have a multi-user license, and those that don't must simply be scabby bastards.

Wouldn't it make more sense for the university to pay for a multi-user license, rather than make x number of students buy a license each? Plus, I'm sure Wacom do bulk deals on tablets. Where have your college fees gone, and what exactly are they paying for!?

Regardless, a cracked copy of 3dsMax retails for around £0.00, last time I checked. And an entry-level A5 Wacom shouldn't set you back no more than £30-£50. The Wacom Graphire4 Classic should do.

[Revan]

Thanks all...
   
    It has to be a Wacom because apparently they are more compatible with the Uni's softwear.
  As regards to a cracked copy of 3DS Max 7 I would appreciate it if anyone could recomend a website to download it from...

    Thanks (BTW hungover from last night, freshers week rules so far!....   )

[scotch]

Illegal 3DS Max can be found anywhere else you find pirate software... look into torrents if you don't know what they are. We don't link to piracy sites on the forum.

Unis will have site licenses but they aren't usually legally able to give copies to students to use at home (although I don't know what deals Autodesk are doing these days). Policy at the ones I've seen was basically use the computers in school, or obtain your own copy, no questions asked.

It's worth buying a wacom over another kind of tablet. A5 is a very decent size. Given the choice between A5 and A4 I'd use A5 most days. They are pretty costly though - A6 is better for cash strapped beginners. Anyway, if you must get a high end A5 wacom, make sure you take advantage of the student discount, somewhere like here because it cuts £50 or so off the normal price. That's what I have and it's a very nice solid thing.

You can get an A5 Graphire but it won't be a great deal cheaper because it has no student discount usually.
A6 tablets are considerably cheaper at the low end. They're perfectly usable, no need to listen too closely your uni's recommendation if you can't afford it. You can get a student discount on the new Bamboo tablet. It's the bottom of the range but it's probably better than something the same price from another company, at £54 or so.

I do prefer A5 as I said, but if all you're going to be doing is some texture work for 3d art, there's no point.

[radiowaves]

The ignorant question: does it have to be Wacom? Cause if not, A4 tablets can be as little as 70-90$...

Currently wacom is the only real company that makes worthy tablets. Those others may be cheap but they are just piece of shit. Plus wacoms are for PC and Mac simultanously. I have wacom Graphre 4 size A5 and its superb! Its just the right size and i don't need any more functions wchic Intuos maight have, even though I do painting with it. So I think for 3D it would be absolutely fine, maybe even A6 is more comfortable for you. Trust me, with wacoms, size doesn't matter much. Mine cost about 3000 Estonian Krones, thats something like 270 USA bucks..

I would pirate a copy of 3Dsmax since I won't be doing any commercial work with it, if I were you. No-one isn't going to control if its legitimate or not since its on your private "property" and you don't gain any material benefits off from it.

Just out of curiosity, what is it you are studying? I am learning media and arts of commercial in local School of Higher Arts and we don't do 3D here, only some vector..

[Da_Elf]

as a 3d artist and an owner of a tablet i never really did like using the tablet with 3d. i keep with traditional mouse for that.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Currently wacom is the only real company that makes worthy tablets. Those others may be cheap but they are just piece of shit.

I'm not some sort of tablet-guru, but I know for a fact, that there are very good and cheaper alternatives to Wacom out there, if you know where to look.

[scotch]

I wouldn't rule out that there are some good ones about, but as far as I've seen with the 4 non wacom tablets I've used and 3 wacom ones, even a low end Wacom beats anything else in the same price range. At a minimum I'd say don't go for anything with a battery in the pen, because that's given me no end of trouble with regular use, and it adds an annoying weight. Oh, and don't believe any DPI or pressure level specs between manufacturers, because it's had no bearing on the quality as far as I can tell. Also make sure it's easy to buy replacement pens if you're prone to losing things like me If you can try a lesser known tablet out beforehand or get a recommendation from someone that does a lot of painting then it might be worth the gamble.

[Lionmonkey]

As far as I know, you can get anything, that is in a digital form, for free by using
Bittorrent.

Also, i don't think it would be quite an offtop, if i say that starter 3d modellers can legally download Wings3d for free.

[Revan]

I am studing Computer Games Design... So lots of 3D modeling  Thank you all so far for your help... I will look into Torrents for 3DS Max and look at buying a Wacom A5/A6 tablet of eBay... Thankyou

[radiowaves]

Damn, After 4 years I am going there!

[Buckethead]

Too bad i has to be 3dsmax, Maya got a free student version, Maya PLE. Water marks all over the place... but hey it's free. But in the end you would be better off paying some bucks to have atleast what you need.