Actually, this seems to be the official position of Autodesk going forward:
http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/autodesk-to-go-subscription...
Assuming it's like AutoCAD, any file modified in an edu version gets a "PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT" watermark, and if you so much as import one line from that file to another, the watermark infects that other file as well.
But mostly it's the .edu email address requirement that makes it a no-go for me.
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/student-version-o...
Get your 3 year free license here:
http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya
I believe you don't need an .edu address, it's on the honour system.
> To join the Education Community, you must be one of the following:
> Faculty Member - An individual person who is an employee or independent contractor working for an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students.
> Student - An individual person enrolled as a student at an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students.
> Autodesk-sponsored competition mentor or competitor - An Autodesk-sponsored design competition mentor is an individual who provides guidance, advice, coaching, or instruction to competitors engaged in competing in an Autodesk-sponsored design competition. A competitor is a student or other individual who is registered and accepted or otherwise approved by a design competition organizer as a competition participant. A list of Autodesk-sponsored competitions can be found at Design Competitions & Events.
Still, things seem to evolve at Autodesk's : Fusion 360 is a really nice industrial design modeler tool and it's free for... well, nearly everything that's not commercial, or starting startup.
What I hope is that people will keep on realizing that in those space, the price is out of range for all amateurs - and that it cost them nothing to let them play with it. That's a luxury hardware tool maker envy us...
Ouch.
Alternately, around $800 upfront for an already outdated copy of LT that's missing features like the Unreal Engine exporter. Because screw anybody who wants to buy software instead of renting it.
EDIT: Maya LT costs $30/month and the "buy an outdated version" option is being terminated after this year. $20/month is the rate if you pay for a 1-year subscription upfront. The version with rendering is $185/month.