Ziva Dynamics makes Ziva VFX Academic licences free
Originally posted on 5 February 2019. Scroll down for details of the new free release.
Ziva Dynamics has launched new Academic licences for Ziva VFX, its skin and muscle plugin for Maya.
The software is becoming an increasingly common part of visual effects pipelines, with current users including Scanline VFX, which recently used Ziva VFX in its work on The Meg.
So how do the Academic licences differ from the existing free trials?
Ziva Dynamics has offered free commercial and non-commercial trial editions of Ziva VFX for some time now: something the new Academic licences seem partially designed to replace.
The trial editions are available to anyone for non-commercial use, and last 60 days.
The new Academic licences are available to staff and students at “qualified educational institutions” for “personal studies, academic research, or educational curriculum”, and last a full year.
Unlike a trial, users get hotfixes, software updates and direct support. A node-locked Academic licence costs $60/year; a floating Academic licence costs $100/year.
Updated 8 April 2020: Ziva Dynamics has now made the Academic licences available free. Floating licences, designed for use in on-campus labs, auto-renew every 365 days.
As well as the benefits above, users get the same simulation-ready assets provided free with commercial Ziva VFX subscriptions, including Zeke the Lion, a photorealistic CG lion rigged using the software.
His bipedal counterpart, the Ziva Humans asset, remains a paid purchase for educational institutions, although at $110 for a perpetual licence, it’s a huge discount on the commercial editions.
At the time of posting, the non-academic trial edition of Ziva VFX can also be renewed indefinitely during the coronavirus restrictions. Find more details in our round-up of free coronavirus work-at-home licences.
Pricing and availability
Ziva VFX is available for Maya 2016 and above, running on Windows 7+ or RHEL/CentOS 6.5+ Linux.
As well as the free Academic licences, Indie subscriptions to the software cost $50/month or $500/year. Studio subscriptions cost $1,800/year, and batch licences are also availble.
Read more about Academic licences for Ziva VFX on Ziva Dynamics’ website