How to Download Autodesk Maya for Free (Students)!

Autodesk Maya is one of the most well-known professional 3D softwares. Every major company who does 3D animation uses Autodesk Maya. The software may not look familiar in each company because every company manipulates the interface to be more user-friendly. However, if you want to take 3D animation seriously, downloading Maya is a great decision! Downloading Autodesk Maya can be VERY expensive (around $1000 a year or $190 monthly). Luckily for students, you can download Autodesk Maya free for four years! Follow this step-by-step guide so you can easily download the software onto your computer

*Disclosure: make sure that your computer has the right requirements to fully enjoy the software.

1. Go to the website. https://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya  to start your software download. 
2. Create an Account. Assuming you are new to Autodesk, you will need to make an account. I know, this can be very annoying, but this is the only time you will ever need to do this! Keep in mind that have to use your student email. If you do not have a student email, you will not be able to download this free software. If you are not a student, but would still like to try the free trial click here.
3. Choose your system. Now that you have your account, you want to choose which version of Maya that you want. I HIGHLY recommend getting last year’s version, no matter what year it is now. If it is 2018, get 2017. If it is 2025, get the 2024 version of Maya. Since this is a free version, Autodesk likes to use the latest software as a way to work out the bugs. As tempting as it may be to get the latest version, most likely the software will have a lot of problems, such as unexpected crashes and other problems. There is not much difference between this year’s version of Maya and last years so I would recommend just getting last years. You won’t be missing out on much.
4. Install. Press the “Install Now” button at the bottom of the screen.

 

5. Accept the Terms. A screen will pop up asking you to accept the terms. Since you can’t use the software without hitting I agree, I would just select the option.

6. Select the Maya Download. After you hit agree, you should see the software at the bottom of the page for you to open.

7. Restart your Computer. Make sure that you do not have any unsaved work on your computer and press “yes.” Your computer will not restart

8. Setup Initialization. After your computer restarts, there should be a “Setup Initialization” box automatically show up on your screen.

9. Install. Press the “Install” Button.

10. Select Location. Double-check to make sure the download is going to the right spot and that you have both “Autodesk Maya” and “Arnold for Maya” checked as well. You can now press the “Install” button.

11. Finish. The program will take about an hour to download, depending on your computer, so feel free to take a small break and wait patiently while your program loads. Once the software has finished installing, select the “finish” button.

12. Update. After you finish, there will be an icon at the bottom of your screen. Open that up and you will be prompted, again, to agree to the terms of condition. Before you open up Maya, you will want to update the software by selecting the “Update” button.

13. Restart your Computer. Once again, you will have to restart your computer. Make sure you don’t have any unsaved work and press “restart.” The updates shouldn’t take as long as the installation.

14. Launch Autodesk Maya. When your computer has finished restarting, you want to open Autodesk Maya, agree to the terms and there you go! You are not free to use Autodesk Maya and create some really awesome animations!

 

Autodesk Maya can be a complicated tool to use, but once you have an understanding of how Autodesk Maya works, you will be able to use any other 3D animation software with ease. Check the links below for some beginner tutorials. Have fun!

 

Get started with Autodesk Maya:

World of Level Design provides a great resource for those starting out with Maya. Videos are broken down into around 10-minute segments.

Online Media Tutor helps you learn Autodesk Maya with a project from start to finish.

The Animator’s Survival Kit should be in every animator’s toolkit! This book is the bible of animation and shows you the principles of animation.

If you have any other suggestions for learning 3D animation, comment below!

 

About

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

My name is Natalie Gonzalez and I would just like to say thank you for checking out my cartoon blog! I have watched cartoons every single day of my life since I can remember and have grown quite fond of them. It was not until going to college that I realized the number of people who watch cartoons is very low. My hope is that with this blog, more people will come to appreciate animation and find that cartoons are still well-worth watching!

I will mainly be covering reviews, styles of animation, famous contributors and how-to’s. Each week, I will post on a different section. When it comes to the reviews, I will write a synopsis of the film or cartoon and provide my rating for the show. I will also describe who the show would interest. In order to help people understand the process of animation, I will also be describing the process of each type of animation style from sand animation to computer animation. Highlighting important people in the world of animation is something that I will also be doing. It is important for people to understand and recognize who the key participants of animation were, so that one can understand how animation got to be how it is today. Finally, I will also be doing small tutorials of how to do certain styles of animation. Reading about animation is one thing, but actually doing it will not only be a fun lesson, but hopefully it will also help encourage you to use animation in your own field!

But this is not just about me.

As much as I love animation and can’t wait to share my insights with you, I would like to know what you (the reader) would be most interested in reading about? Would you prefer more content on how to apply animation to your own field? Do you mainly want to find a show to watch or perhaps just a throwback featuring your favorite cartoon as a child? Whatever it is, let me know in the comments section below and I can make it happen!