Subscriptions for Mudbox and Smoke have arrived

Autodesk has begun offering Mudbox 2015, its software for digital 3D painting and sculpting, as a standalone desktop subscription.

With this license, which costs as little as $10 per month, the company wants to target developers of indie games, mobile and other 3D projects. Despite the many complaints due to the recent subscription licenses that are entering the market, it seems that such models are gaining ground and more and more companies (such as Assimilate or Red Giant) are incorporating them into their distribution methods.

If we wanted to buy Mudbox permanently it would cost $495, which is just over four years of continuous use to cost the same as the subscription. So for those who need the software for a few months, or even a couple of years, this seems like a good option.

Mudbox provides an intuitive, tactile method for creating and modifying 3D geometry and textures. It can also be seamlessly integrated into more complex creative workflows. For example, you can use this software to sculpt and texture characters, creatures or objects, and then import them into Autodesk Maya LT 2015 (3D animation tool) for additional work. Finally, you can export to a compatible game engine such as Unity to finalize the project.

There is also news about Autodesk Smoke 2015. As promised, monthly ($195), quarterly or annual subscription models are available as of May 8.

The latest version adds new effects tools, 3D tracking, support for OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), support for the new Mac Pro and improved interoperability with Final Cut Pro X. You can read more details about Smoke 2015 at this link.