RandomControl

So many scripts and plugins are simply dead in the water, I mean, most of them. What’s going on in the industry? Almost all the plugins and script have dead websites, dead links, and absolutely no contact with the developer. Yesterday I donated to download a script, it took my money, but no download link, the developer’s web site contact form returns an error.

The RandomControl download link in my Customer Area is dead and when I click support it goes to a missing page. When I pick the random control on the page it goes to the Maveric render engine. My old installer doesn’t have an installer for anything newer than Photoshop 2015. Does anybody have this working in CC2019?

And of course their support email has been returned.

Your message wasn’t delivered to tech@randomcontrol.com because the address couldn’t be found, or is unable to receive mail.

This is sad to hear…I think max is running its natural course (that’s just my imho).

Sounds like it, or there is no money in plugins and scripts.

they are probably went on to do stuff for sidefx or some other app that is not autodesk :slight_smile:

MAX 2017, which was probably the worst MAX I have ever experienced, seems to have been some turning point in the industry. That’s about the time they started pushing out subscriptions, too. Having said that, Autodesk’s stocks seem to be doing okay. Who knows?

That’s been the state of things for many plugins over the years, even in Max’s better days. It’s the nature of a 3rd party reliant application, i guess…

Yeah, I remember getting sales calls almost weekly for a tree plugin for MAX. It was, if I remember correctly, a $1200 plugin. When I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the plugin it didn’t work, I couldn’t get a return email or call. That company is long gone and it took me a long time to buy another plugin. Then there are things like the Ivy plugin, which was ridiculous that someone would get their feelings hurt, take their ball and go home, which was very immature. When I went to get a GIVE to download the script the other day I didn’t get anything. I should have donated a small amount to see if it worked, which is probably what happened with the IVY guy. Someone wanted it and was smart enough to test the system first with a small amount and it hurt the guys feeling; I personally gave several times for that script.

I would be careful of using let alone PAYING for many max plugins these days. Many have ghosted taking money and closing down with zero support.
I have wasted a lot of money over the years on sus plugins so now only use them if cracked.

You bring up an interesting moral quandary @squintnic :stuck_out_tongue:
If there was a great plugin that is now non-existent to buy, where is the harm in downloading a cracked version of said plugin, where it exists online?
And how does the legal side of things work in that regard? Grey, to be sure…

Discuss at leisure :smile:

I personally fear to download cracked software. Software is buggy enough as it is I would hate some malicious software to make its way into my machines.

Most new and interesting plugins, scripts and tools I spot online are invariably for Blender. To be honest, if I was making custom tools for any 3D software, it would probably be Blender too, especially with its recent surge in popularity.

@glorybound Are you talking about Arionfx? I am using it with the latest version of Photoshop. And by the way, I can also download RandomControl ArionFX for Photoshop - v3.5.3.exe from http://arionfx.com/customer-area
You can PM me, if you need help with that. It is useless without a license anyway.

I install it, pick the folder and it is in there, but nothing shows up in PS. Absolutely no replies from my support emails, which is frustrating as heck.

Strange.

In the RandomControl folder in your PS plugin folder, do you have the following?:
-ArionFX_gb.8bi
-ArionFX_tm.8bf
-Folder called RandomControl.RCSDK with other files (I probably dont have to list them)

Ok, I dragged the RandomControl folder from the root of the Photoshop directory into the Plug-ins folder and now it is working. I guess I should have figured that out :). Thank you!

How long until AD buys Blender and puts them out of business? The second AD starts to feel the pain, it’ll happen.

I don’t think it can.

”Blender is free, forever. This freedom is what makes the GNU GPL license so powerful and it is why it’s much more than “open source”.”
- source, code.blender.org.

Last time I checked Autodesk don’t do free. They’re not that kind of company…

AD’s business is CAD, BIM, engineering stuff. Their M&E division is sort of a pet project for them…

You can’t buy what you can’t own :smile: The licensing doesn’t allow Blender to be bought out.

Who would have thought Autodesk could keep people from selling software they buy? It takes one court decision to create precedence. If AD doesn’t buy it they’ll sue Blender for something and take them down.