Autodesk Buys Softimage

Kentamanos · Post by **Kentamanos** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:34 pm

I guess Autodesk owns 3DSMax, Maya, and now XSI...

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/it ... eID=123112

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:44 pm

I just read the email, this sucks.

I was already pretty disapointed in Avid after they dropped foundation, this is the last nail in the coffin for me, I've been using Softimage products since I first started modelling ( 7 or 8 years ago), it feels quite sad really.

time to learn Blender I guess ....

nikki · Post by **nikki** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:49 pm

Lizard wrote:time to learn Blender I guess ....

Blender rocks!

Post by **betajaen** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:52 pm

I've used Cinema4D on and off since version 2 for the Amiga, that's still in the hands of Maxon.

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:53 pm

nikki wrote:
Lizard wrote:time to learn Blender I guess ....
Blender rocks!

I've seen some amazing stuff done in blender and it looks like a really professional package..... but the interface is scary .

warmi · Post by **warmi** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:06 pm

So what we have now in this market is Autodesk vs whom ?

The only major 3d app left in the field is Lightwave.

Post by **xavier** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:47 pm

Can LW be considered "major"?

It's hard to tell who Autodesk is targeting now. XSI was (and still is) primarily a film/TV package. The only other big name in that field that isn't owned by Autodesk now, is SideFX (Houdini).

Interesting, though.

warmi · Post by **warmi** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:32 am

xavier wrote:Can LW be considered "major"?

It's hard to tell who Autodesk is targeting now. XSI was (and still is) primarily a film/TV package. The only other big name in that field that isn't owned by Autodesk now, is SideFX (Houdini).

Interesting, though.

I don't know ... does having several hundred TV,Film and other production credits constitute a major 3d package ?

http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/projects.php
Certainly, LW has no prominent presence in the game industry but that's only part of the story.

PS.
Hmm .. looking at the list .... I had no idea that Steamboy,Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell wered done with Lightwave.

Nauk · Post by **Nauk** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:59 am

Lizard wrote:..... but the interface is scary .

Not really, "just" a different approach compared to the mainstream, once you got the basics it is be pretty intuitive and efficient, plus there is plenty of good video documentation out there: http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/ . If you stick to it you can get to a halfway productive level within a couple of days.

warmi · Post by **warmi** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:07 am

Nauk wrote:
Lizard wrote:..... but the interface is scary .
Not really, "just" a different approach compared to the mainstream, once you got the basics it is be pretty intuitive and efficient, plus there is plenty of good video documentation out there: http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/ . If you stick to it you can get to a halfway productive level within a couple of days.

Yeah, that's the problem with Blender .... some of their stuff is amazing but .... it is a bit slow and of course, the interface.

It reminds me of early Unix applications.

Post by **Kencho** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:34 am

ZBrush, here they come!

Nauk · Post by **Nauk** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:50 am

@warmi: the only point where I really wish blender was a tad bit more performant is sculpting, but I so far can't complain about the speed.

Here is a good fact-sheet comparison between the most popular modeling tools:
http://wiki.cgsociety.org/index.php/Com ... f_3d_tools

@Kencho: ZBrush is really impressive when it comes to speed & features and it comes with a still fair pricetag. Talking interface and usability ZB is at least equally hard to get into compared to Blender.

Kentamanos · Post by **Kentamanos** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:11 am

Kencho wrote:ZBrush, here they come!

Autodesk owns Mudbox I think already.

You have to worry about competitive drive when one company owns the 3 "biggest" (from what I understand).

As far as Hollywood movies etc., it's my undestanding that Houdini is a much bigger player than LW.

PS> Not very useful for realtime stuff, but the new ICE features in XSI really do kick some butt.

warmi · Post by **warmi** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:48 am

Kentamanos wrote:I guess Autodesk owns 3DSMax, Maya, and now XSI...

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/it ... eID=123112

Hmm â€¦ they got sold for just 35 million - maybe it is just me but it sounds awful cheap â€“ I wonder about XSI sales figures ..

syedhs · Post by **syedhs** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:37 am

Well, are they going to re-introduce the foundation?

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:29 am

syedhs wrote:Well, are they going to re-introduce the foundation?

I doubt it, autodesk doesn't do affordable.

FrameFever · Post by **FrameFever** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:19 am

Nauk wrote:@warmi: the only point where I really wish blender was a tad bit more performant is sculpting, but I so far can't complain about the speed.

Here is a good fact-sheet comparison between the most popular modeling tools:
http://wiki.cgsociety.org/index.php/Com ... f_3d_tools

@Kencho: ZBrush is really impressive when it comes to speed & features and it comes with a still fair pricetag. Talking interface and usability ZB is at least equally hard to get into compared to Blender.

wow, ZBrush use only softwarerendering...that must be the reason why it is so slow.

mirlix · Post by **mirlix** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:48 am

ZBrush slow?

I have the bad feeling the ZBrush is the next company on the "what we have to be before we rule the 3d world" list of autodesk

I just hope the the next blender version becomes a better interface and customizable hot keys. I like the idea that autodesk cant but blender

vilgeits · Post by **vilgeits** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:17 pm

mirlix wrote:ZBrush slow?
I have the bad feeling the ZBrush is the next company on the "what we have to be before we rule the 3d world" list of autodesk

I just hope the the next blender version becomes a better interface and customizable hot keys. I like the idea that autodesk cant but blender

As some people says before Autodesk has his own Zbrush (mudbox) and buy XSi to have his own Houdini (XSi's ICE)

I have read in many many forums "Time to use Blender" answering this topic ...

mirlix · Post by **mirlix** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:25 pm

Autodesk has Mudbox, but there is ZBrush, there are actual people using a 3D software without paying autodesk, dont think autodesk will tolerate such behavior

It gets really interesting if Autodesk tries to but Blender, they just have to contact all conributors and then they own Blender, or more precisly all future version. But this wont happen, i I hope^^

DanielSefton · Post by **DanielSefton** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:10 pm

This inspired me...

Post by **sinbad** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:52 pm

Holy cow.

So on the serious pro side, what does this leave? Houdini?

SomeFusion · Post by **SomeFusion** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:08 am

I can not believe that XSI is sold for just 35 Million. I think its a ridiculous low amount of money for a package that was gaining more and more ground in the gaming industry.

Hmm imagine google would have bought them. That would have been the perfect match

warmi · Post by **warmi** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:36 am

SomeFusion wrote:I can not believe that XSI is sold for just 35 Million. I think its a ridiculous low amount of money for a package that was gaining more and more ground in the gaming industry.

I guess they weren't doing as well as you think they were

Post by **Kencho** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:23 am

Well, this feature is less than a week old. And it's not the only big name released this year that used XSI for the development

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