Re: Softimage transition audience poll
Houdini would be the clear choice. So now if SideFX can show some safe-place-love toward the raped and abused... and give out a nice cross-over discount for Houdini FX... :) Daniel VFXM
Re: Softimage transition audience poll
XSILOVE Yes, that would be awesome! ...everything is cool when you're part of a team... Daniel VFXM On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 11:01 AM, Alan Fregtman alan.fregt...@gmail.comwrote: If I were SideFX's Marketing team I would do a coupon code called like XSILOVE that gives you a sweet discount on new licenses. Wouldn't that be nice? :) Hope they're listening.
Re: Softimage 2015 Last Release Announcement
Reluctantly we knew from the beginning Autodesk was just out to rape and pillage Softimage. Now it's all over and we can use SI for another year or two and then move on to Houdini. Right now I only need three things: Some witty verbal whips from Raffaele Fragapane, a glorious speech from Softimage 5-Star General Stephen Blair, and a nice cross-over discount from SideFX. :) Daniel VFXM
Re: Dealing with CAD files format
When I go through Import FBX / Autocad .dxf all I get is a centered null even from the most simplistic DXF file containing a circle or a box. Does DXF import in Softimage 2014 just NOT work at all? Daniel VFXM
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
He should be directed to download all three of these game engines. Digital-Tutors has training on all three engines, and Eat 3D has training for Unreal and CryEngine. Free edition of Unreal Engine 3 http://www.unrealengine.com/udk Free edition of CryEngine 3 http://mycryengine.com Free edition of Unity 3D. Unity is primarily used to create mobile and web games, but can also deploy games to consoles or the PC. http://unity3d.com/unity/download/ Daniel VFXM On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/on-game-schools Small but very informative vid, part of a much larger series which is equally excellent and accessible. Make sure he understands what exactly a Dev does. It often gets tossed like a blanket statement to cover a vast number of disciplines. (coder, director, writer, art director...) Early exposure to game engines and especially languages (c#,c++,java script, python) serves the dual purpose of letting you discover if this is something you like doing, and gives you a head start when entering a related curriculum. Finally I'd say don't sugar coat it, its going to be hard, its a very competitive path to take in life. On 17 June 2013 13:42, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
Re: Reseller in the NYC area
George you don't have to use a reseller from NYC. You can use any reseller you want to use in the US. Daniel VFXM On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 3:52 PM, George Schermer stubblef...@gmail.comwrote: Ncholas, Yeah, that's kinda been my gripe with the online store. It's really hard to talk to a human who can do anything to help the situation. And you're right, we're putting so much money into this software I'd except better service. I'll be sure to pass on any names I get. Thanks! George
Re: Vray promotion for freelancers
Re: Solidangle recently changed their policy which made it possible to buy only one license - which makes it within price range. - Where did you see this at? Daniel VFXM On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 2:46 PM, Pingo van der Brinkloev xsil...@comxnet.dk wrote: I think so... Try contacting them :) Pingo On 22/04/2013, at 16.50, Massimo Galluzzo mass...@massimogalluzzo.it wrote: Is this public? Because on their website there is still nothing official. Just a form to contact them. cheers Massimo *From:* Pingo van der Brinkloev xsil...@comxnet.dk *Sent:* Monday, April 22, 2013 4:37 PM *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com *Subject:* Re: Vray promotion for freelancers Solidangle recently changed their policy which made it possible to buy only one license - which makes it within price range. Cheers! Pingo
Re: Softimage Jedi Training
Based on scheduling, the GoToMeeting might not work well. How about recording the videos and selling them with Vimeo's new Video on Demand service; requires a Pro account. Daniel VFXM On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 7:52 AM, javier gonzalez javi09warr...@gmail.comwrote: Record the class and more people will be interested. 2013/3/28 Adam Sale adamfs...@gmail.com The whole kit looks like it would be interesting. A scheduled class would be tough for me to make as well what with kids / sched. If there were some sort of archived classes we could check out on our own time after delivery of your live sessions, that would be awesome. On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 8:28 AM, John Clausing jclausin...@yahoo.comwrote: It would be impossible for me to make any scheduled class,. But if you record it a la Ted, I'll buy it! ICE, rigging, ICE Sent from my iPhone On Mar 28, 2013, at 12:53 AM, Bradley Gabe witha...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Softimage Users! I have only a few more months before I'm off to grad school full time and thought it might be mutually beneficial for our community to come up with some sort of Softimage Jedi training regimen in order to impart some wisdom, while at the same time helping me stash away some funds to pay for cappuccinos when I have to pull all-nighters for my exams. Something I was thinking about, (in an effort not to overlap any of Raffaele's excellent training work) rather than creating a bunch of videos, was to set up a class using GoToMeeting where we can distribute scene data and solve problems interactively. This would allow real time questions and feedback, but more importantly, provide insight into the problem solving process, and how decisions are made along the way, which is something the video course format doesn't provide. For all students, I would provide an extensive package of custom tools to add to the problem solving arsenal. What I'm curious to learn is, what areas of technical animation in Softimage would users be most interested in learning? For example: - Basic rigging (fundamentals) - Advanced rigging (secondary and tertiary animation control) - Designing custom deformers using ICE (facial animation, volume retention, etc) - Adding secondary effects under short deadline (flesh jiggle, springs, muscle effects) - Using scripting for problem solving - Developing custom tools using the Softimage UI - Developing custom tools using PySide UI - Understanding ICE (fundamentals) - Other -Bradley
Re: Softimage Jedi Training
Re ...Softimage would users be most interested in learning? I would like to see something along the lines of a 201 or 301 level Face Robot course. Daniel VFXM On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 2:50 PM, John Clausing jclausin...@yahoo.comwrote: Ok, nuff you weirdos Sent from my iPhone On Mar 28, 2013, at 3:48 PM, Bradley Gabe witha...@gmail.com wrote: We already did that, Jeff! Don't you remember anything? Don't you remember my handkerchief that smelled like chloroform? On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 1:40 PM, Jeffrey Dates jda...@kungfukoi.comwrote: I was hoping you'd come to my apartment, and lecture me from the couch.
Re: good resellers?
We are in Kansas City and we were working with a reseller out of Illinois whom AD directed us to years ago that we were supposed to be going through based on territory. They never contacted us for anything, ignored multiple requests for info, and even when we wanted to upgrade one of our licenses to Max Premium they wouldn't even call us back. So we dumped their sorry arse and went with Trinity 3D. In a matter of a few days we were fully switched over, had an upgrade to Max Premium, and quotes for other products of interest. An initial phone call with questions, no faxing, a pdf quote, an email with our subscription contract info and done. http://www.trinity3d.com By the way, I now know that area restricted is a bunch of malarkey. You can do business with any reseller you want to work with. Daniel VFXM On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 4:02 PM, Raffaele Fragapane raffsxsil...@googlemail.com wrote: For a large enough studio having a sales contact on the same timeline is actually still beneficial, but it comes with a bit more than just being yanked around the yard faxing documents and making phonecalls. There are things like temp licenses, discussions you have and so on. That for small volume they force people through the same hoops, with none of the benefits, is a bit ridiculous, but I don't know if it is because they have to to keep the resellers looped in with more than just the big accounts (of which there's really not that many in most cities), old contracts and procedures that they have no choice but deal with, or simply plain sclerosis of a mechanism grown too large. On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 9:53 PM, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: I just received an email from the manager at the reseller with an apology for the runaround I've been getting. However, according to him, Autodesk does indeed require a signed paper contract. Apparently Autodesk believes its much easier for large studios to deal with resellers rather than have automated subscriptions because of all the effort required to deal with multiple licenses. And while I understand the thought process behind it, I still think that's the way things were done in the 1990's. If you're using RLM or whatever Autodesk uses, does it make a difference if you have 1, 5, or 500 licenses being served from your license server? Isn't it just a single file? Oh well. I guess we should be thankful they don't require physical media to be shipped out with each renewal or dongles for every license! Paul On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 10:06 PM, John Richard Sanchez youngupstar...@gmail.com wrote: If you are in NYC Barry at VCA Fusion has been really good to me. J On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 6:27 PM, Raffaele Fragapane raffsxsil...@googlemail.com wrote: You might be area restricted. Make sure you get in touch with AD about a reseller that was a needless chore to deal with though. They seriously need to get rid of the mandatory reseller BS, it's so early 90s. On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Ok - I'm at my wits-end here. Can anyone give me a GOOD reseller for Softimage? I don't care where they're located. I just want someone who isn't running a business with carbon paper and rotary phones. I'm practically begging Autodesk to take my money and I just get the runaround at every turn. It's almost as if they don't want customers! -Paul -- Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are! -- www.johnrichardsanchez.com -- Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are!
Re: Rumors
Softimage is better than its ever been and yet every year we still have to go through the death rumors... tradition I guess. Ultimately the software is owned by AD and they have the option to nurture it or destroy it as they please. If AD robs the best bits and innovation from Softimage, then I'm perfectly fine with it. Like others are saying, it would make a switch that much easier. Daniel VFXM On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 12:58 PM, Alok Gandhi alok.gandhi2...@gmail.comwrote: Plus the ICE TDs will become more hireable . . . :) Sent from my iPhone On 2012-12-20, at 12:18 AM, Adam Sale adamfs...@gmail.com wrote: and if Maya does adopt ICE, well, then we users who are familiar with ICE stand to gain, as it would make learning maya a little less painful. On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 10:03 AM, David Gallagher davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com wrote: Good thoughts. The irritating thing to me is that the Maya/Max world doesn't understand the workflow strengths of Softimage. If those tools elsewhere turn out to be better, that's great. But lately it just feels like momentum is the driving force, not quality of software. Dave G On 12/19/2012 12:43 PM, Mathieu Leclaire wrote: I'm sorry... but how exactly does it hurt the user? If what you are hearing happens to be true... doesn't that just mean good news for Maya? I don't see any bad news for Softimage here. Softimage ain't loosing anything. It's Maya whose gaining. Even if Softimage ends up loosing some user base because they are moving to Maya or something else and Softimage stops evolving due to lack of users... Well, that's the cycle of life. In the end, ain't that the beauty of our industry? Things are evolving rapidly. There are always new softwares, new technologies to learn and adopt. Old non evolving technologies slowly die to make way to new better technologies. I love Softimage like all of you and I would be sad if it stopped evolving. But I'm a big boy. I'll adopt a new one if it helps our work get better. Sure, there would be an adaptation period if that happens, but in the end, softwares are just tools. Our jobs aren't in jeopardy. Only your comfort zone is. And that is only true IF your wort case scenario actually happens (i.e. new ICE like interface in Maya forces Softimage users to switch software and in doing so kills Softimage's future). I think this process is completely natural and healthy. If Softimage is to die, it's not going to happen in the blink of an eye. It's going to be a slow natural transition towards that state. I hope not. I too hope it will keep evolving and keep it's place in the industry... but if it doesn't, then I'll be happy to face a new challenge and learn a new software. -Mathieu Tim Marinov wrote: If it was publicly it won't be rumor and everyone will know.As I said this is something I 've heard recently and I really hope isn't true.I like Softimage XSI and what is happening with it lately, and these rumors really hurts long XSI users. On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 4:34 PM, Graham Bell graham.b...@autodesk.comwrote: publicly
Re: In case you missed it..
Maya people are a dime a dozen and they typically get employed in a starting $30K to $35K USD range. Because there are so many Maya users running around, studios can employ a lot more of them for a dirt-cheap salary. Maya is only more prevalent in studios because it started out much cheaper than Softimage ($10K vs. $100K). Softimage is 24 years old and Maya is only 14 years old. All this time Maya has only been trying to play catch-up to SI. Autodesk could easily market SI, sell more seats, and uplift consumer confidence... but it doesn't want to. Autodesk is suppressing Softimage on purpose because it wants to, and because it can. Autodesk wants to market 3ds Max for architectural and Maya for entertainment. Softimage is just some side money that has an unknown future. All-in-all, jumping to Houdini is starting to look appealing. Daniel VFXM
Re: In case you missed it..
Re: We are very well aware and I and my team work hard to do the most we can with the resources we have. - Maurice Patel Seriously Maurice... you have any-time access to freely speak directly to the main vein of the SI community. Does it cost AD anything to make a simple text statement of confidence on a list, blog, or forum? Is Autodesk really committed to the future and continuing development of Softimage? Is Softimage just being used as acquired tech to be robbed from? It's ok if it's the later, although we won't transition over to Maya, we'll just counter by transitioning to Houdini. Do you really want my continued business Maurice? Does Autodesk really want to keep my business? Should we just get it over with and start giving our hard-earned money to SideFX? 3D software isn't cheap ya know. What would you like us to do? Where's a free statement or two of confidence to keep us investing in Softimage? Daniel VFXM
Re: In case you missed it..
Re: ...we are committed to developing and marketing Softimage. It might not be exactly in the way you expect.. - Maurice Patel You are correct, NOT at all in the way I expect. Taking one glance at your latest info graphic of circles and it clearly states that Softimage can do particles, but is not capable of modeling, animation, sculpting, painting, rendering, or texturing, while Max and Maya a fully capable in all areas of 3D development, but Softimage it not? Softimage is being reduced down to just a particle tool only in an attempt to sell it as part of a Suite. The consumers looking at that info graphic are being deliberately lied to for what Softimage is truly and honestly capable of. Is this Autodesk's style Maurice... being dishonest and lying to the consumer like that? We pay thousands of dollars for this 3D software, do you think we are serious about our concerns in our investment and continuing investment..? You say AD is committed to developing Softimage, but going forward we will need to witness a real demonstration of that commitment in development, support, and marketing. Daniel VFXM
Re: In case you missed it..
Matt, I should have added the reference. This is what I was referring to... Computer Graphics World, Feb 1998 http://xsisupport.com/2011/05/27/friday-flashback-20/ - Base price for Maya $10,000. - Softimage/DS system $100,000. Thanks for the clarification and additional info Matt. Someone needs to put together a timeline to record SI's hard-to-find history. Daniel VFXM
Re: ICE in Maya is an engineer's worst nightmare
Ya know, since ICE is already IN and working great IN Softimage, AD could save itself a lot of money, time, and pain by just migrating the primitive Mayans to a complete system that already works great... like Softimage. :) Daniel VFXM
Re: ICE in Maya is an engineer's worst nightmare
Re: ...rather than just trying to catch up to the Now - Agreed that Maya has not caught up to the Now that is Softimage and ICE. Hurry Maya, the train of innovation is leaving the station. If you run, you might catch up. Re: ...Autodesk wants to focus on finding the Next, rather than just trying to catch up to the Now - Well, I guess we will see if AD is going to remain dedicated to spending the time and the money to leapfrog Maya into those high bars. Dang it Maya, you idiot... you need buy a ticket before you can get on the train of innovation. When AD lets go of a loyal and dedicated worker like Stephen Blair, no rooster is safe, and a coyote can enter the hen house and change the fates of all instantly. Daniel VFXM
Re: ICE in Maya is an engineer's worst nightmare
Re: ...Luc-Eric's point that just bringing Maya up to Soft's level isn't exactly pushing the envelope - Well you have to first prove you can handle the 50 lb. bicep curl before you can move up to the 60's. While it's true a lot of shops are running Maya, they certainly aren't doing it without a lot of added cost from workarounds, custom survival tools, dedicated programmers, and overall hair-pulling. I worked for over a year with a fully loaded shop of Mayans and every day was a day of frustration, cussing, and chaos. That experience (I was there as a programmer) gave me plenty of time to contemplate a better 3D package. Maya is nothing but cobbled and hacked crap. Maya was initially popular over SI starting in 1998 only because it was much cheaper (1/10 of the SI price at the time) not because it was superior. Is Maya's target SI or Houdini? That's irrelevant to its present task... can it catch up to, or will it ever surpass either one? Not sure anymore if Softimage is an ever increasing target, but Houdini definitely is. Will AD pour thousands of hours and invest serious money into Maya to make all that happen? It's very clear AD is unpredictable. This is what happens when you try to convince everyone it's all ok and we're maintaining three products because we love you and we want you to have freedom of choice. Well fluffy marketing aside, AD can't effectively maintain three products that basically do the same thing. It was all poor strategy from the beginning. Daniel VFXM
Rumors about 3ds Max and MotionBuilder
Rumors are a-fly'in around Twitter and the Web about the possible fate of 3ds Max and MotionBuilder. I can't imagine Autodesk ever decommissioning 3ds Max since it has such a high user base. With all of the recent Autodesk upheaval I'm a bit concerend about where Softimage will end up, although it seems SI can't be killed and has survived worse. I guess we will see how all of these rumors pan out. ***Long live Softimage!*** http://www.reddit.com/r/vfx/comments/z8o09/autodesk_is_no_longer_going_to_develop_3dsmax_and http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=59t=1068562page=1pp=15 Daniel VFXM
Re: Windows 8 - anyone?
Win 8 will be fine; it's already outperforming Win 7 in the benchmarks. Mac influence in the desktop world is very minor compared to Windows dominance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems Windows = 70.42% Mac = 7.46% Linux = 1.53% Daniel VFXM
Re: viewport navigation performance
For the 10 Mill horse_carousel_fps_test scene here are my stats under SI 2013 SP1: 45 fps average (All frames mode in shaded) using an EVGA GTX 680 2GB (base, not overclocked). GPU stats while playing the test scene (monitored with Windows Process Explorer under its GPU tab) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx - Carousel scene once loaded adds 161 MB to GPU Memory. - GPU Usage goes to 99% and CPU Usage goes to 24% while playing test scene. Machine stats: WIN 7 64 bit CPU = i7 940 2.93 GHz X58 chipset RAM = 24 GB GPU = EVGA GTX 680 2GB Softimage 2013 SP1 -Daniel
Re: viewport navigation performance
Oops, looks like Gmail kicked back my first email because of the raw attachment. Here's a 10 mill scene file you can use Votch. I'm interested to know your frame rate and vid card specs. http://vfxadmin.com/tmp/si_10mill_carousel_fps_test.zip My frame rate average was 45 fps. (See my post above for detailed specs) -Daniel
Re: Is the list still working?
Anyone cut off from this list has been aggressively terminated via digital selection through the Web's new rogue intelligence program U-N-C-O-E-X-I-S-T. Daniel VFXM My country can bench press your country with one arm.
Re: LK Lightning 1.5.1
It's fine man, post any new update to the list... very cool addon Leonard. Gotcha updated on Twitter. I appreciate your efforts to advance and enhance Softimage. Great work! Daniel VFXM
