hello guys, i have a question that has been going through my mind. if i want to start a studio and i have limited funds (like most starting up studios). i work at home on free time, finish off the work and want to publish it under a studio i opened. i would have to buy software license for programming, 3d modelling, texturing? (off course im not alone, just an example). my question rephrased, what do small studios do, with very small limited funding towards software licenses, as i mentioned above? thx alot. ramy

If you don't license the software you are stealing. You either need to properly license everything or use the free open source alternatives such as Gimp, Blender, CodeBlocks, etc.

what do studios without [enough] funding/funds do ?

usually either:

A) use cheaper or even free software. There is plenty available; from the express editions of MS Visual Studio .NET to modeling programs like Blender, etc. IMO it's definitely possible to make a commercial quality product using only software that's free or cheap. If your product makes any profit, then you can use that to purchase more powerful software.

or

B) use pirate/unlicensed software. Of course, it's illegal in most countries, and is bad from a moral standpoint (if you're selling software yourself, you wouldn't like it if people used pirate versions of your stuff).
On top of that, if the software you made with it was at all successful, you could find the companies who created the original products coming after you for lots-o-money (remember, many programs that output binary data also put headers in that data - ISTR a few years back a company was sued for using a pirate version of some audio editing software that had embedded the crackers' group name in WAV file headers of WAVs that shipped with their game...)


I'd recommend option A.

Ramy wrote:

>what do small studios do, with very small limited funding towards software licenses, as i mentioned above?

Option C: wait until you can afford to start your business. It takes money to make money, and if you don't have the money yet, you're not ready to start yet.

hm ok, so it was quite clear there, everything has to be legally settuped.

i will take alook at the cheap products or opensource, and try to make the best out of it.

thx everybody :D

Quote:

Original post by S1CA ...ISTR a few years back a company was sued for using a pirate version of some audio editing software that had embedded the crackers' group name in WAV file headers of WAVs that shipped with their game...)

I think I remember that too... only wasn't it a wav file found within windows not a game? clicky

No clue what happened on this one though or if it was fake.

Quote:

Original post by Selsesstissan Quote: Original post by S1CA ...ISTR a few years back a company was sued for using a pirate version of some audio editing software that had embedded the crackers' group name in WAV file headers of WAVs that shipped with their game...) I think I remember that too... only wasn't it a wav file found within windows not a game? clicky No clue what happened on this one though or if it was fake.

really don't know what to say.

"it take money to make money"

Right. And sometimes, this cause you not to be able to make any money at all.

Anyway, off the record, make with whatever too you can get your hand on. once you get the money, buy the original. so if the company coming at you, at least you can show them the license.

for example, do you want to use blender (which might take quite some time) to create a short which allow you go get funding? or use max / maya / lightwave and buy after getting the funding to create the entire episode?

not to mention, after getting your money, the data / media would be uncompatible. andyou might have to go on with blender or start again.

i know blender is great. but lightwave / maya / max is much better.

the thing is, if you make money. buy, so you have the license.

yeah, we will be doing with blender, and the open source tools until we get some funding in. sounds like a plan.

It is completely unethical and flat-out wrong for a company, no matter how small, to pirate software. It does not matter if you go and purchase a legal license just before you ship. If your company develops something with illegally-obtained tools, that does not change if you suddently acquire the license after the fact. If you are ever discovered (which is possible), you'll most likely end up in a legal battle that will cost more in the long run than it would have to simply raise the money and buy the tools to begin with.

If you cannot arrange for the funding to buy the tools that you must have because you cannot use the freely available alternatives, then you are not in a position to be running a business yet. Have a bake sale or something and get the money. Don't steal.