RE: Maya

[Maurice Patel]

Financial reports are always a bit confusing, have to be aware of the terms 
being used. But based on the businesswire link you posted:

Firstly, those results are pretty old– they are from Nov 2014- Jan 2015. 
Autodesk fiscal years like its product versions are out 1 year. So ‘fiscal’ 
year 2015 is calendar year Feb 2014 – Jan 2015

To clarify Autodesk revenue  in that period was $665m  and M $43m – this was 
for a 3 month period. So M came in at about 6.5% that quarter which was an 
average of about $14 million a month – so it was not an insignificant business 
even if it was less than 10%.

The $1.16 billion is deferred revenue. This was revenue from annual and 
quarterly subscription plans that had been sold in the past 12 months but which 
had not yet completed.

When a customer purchases an annual subscription plan, the revenue from that 
plan is spread over its full term - so only ¼ of what was paid is recognized 
each quarter (assuming, for simplicity’s sake that they purchased the first day 
of the quarter).

So if you buy a $1000 annual contract on the first day of Q1 (Feb 1st), by the 
end of the quarter (March 31st) only $250 can be recognized as revenue. The 
remaining $750 is deferred revenue, revenue that will be recognized in future 
quarters. This is because the $750 is essentially a debt the company owes its 
subscribers you future services (over the full term of the contract) that have 
not yet been delivered.

It’s a bit hard to compare this with more recent reports because we now use 
different benchmarks to report subscription business (such as Annual Recurring 
Revenue). But here is our last quarterly report

http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/autodesk-reports-strong-third-quarter-results-20161129-00969

‘Revenue’ has declined because we are no longer selling perpetual licenses 
which was still a large revenue source in 2014-2015. But it was $490m against 
an ARR of $1.5b (compare that to the deferred revenue of $1.16b to see why wall 
street views this favorably). M was $34million or 6.9% which is still pretty 
comparable to what it  was 2 years ago.

Disclaimer I don’t work in finance but this is my understanding of how Autodesk 
is performing as a business based on its reports

maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of christian
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 11:06 AM
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 
<softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Maya

>Autodesk as a company had missed it's earnings per share and even though media 
>made up 15% of its budget
are you sure about that ? as far as i am aware the media and entertainment 
sector is just a tiny drop in the whole autodesk bucket. im not a finance guy 
so maybe i am getting the terms confused but googling some stuff it seems that 
total revenue for their 4th quarter of 2015 was 1.16 billion, while their media 
sector pulled in 46 million... media sector which includes numbers for not only 
maya and max but also stuff like flame and smoke..

http://blog.devoncroft.com/2015/02/27/autodesk-fy-2015-media-entertainment-revenue-declines-13-9-percent/

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150226006454/en/Autodesk-Reports-Strong-Fourth-Quarter-Results#.VPCuEcvwsvg


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RE: Using Agile Scrum in vfx production

[Maurice Patel]

It is hard to say - it is whatever tools work best for you and your team to 
understand the scope of the backlog. It could well be a whiteboard that you 
update every meeting to start. I'd at least start there for a few tests. Once 
you get an understanding for it and feel it works you can formalize it with 
some digital tools. This is actually not really the hard part of agile.

There are a few other things to take into consideration when implementing agile:
- How ready is the team to change the way they work? If the team is 
hierarchical or you have team leaders who very much want to be in control 
(micromanage) it is going to take a cultural shift in the team before agile can 
be successful
- How good is the team at scoping work? The better you are at that the easier 
it is to migrate to agile methods

Scrum works well when everyone is aligned as to what needs to get done its 
priority and its effort. The meeting than can focus on impediments and 
resolving them. This is the real value of agile the continual course correction 
that can happen on a daily basis. But its only effective if everyone has a 
voice and everyone has a common if understanding on terms and scope. Agile 
works badly if you spend the entire meeting discussing how long it takes to do 
each task. 

You also need a strong scrum master to keep meetings on track (they are 
facilitators not managers but they need to be empowered) and the product owner 
(vfx sup) needs to understand their role is not to micromanage or even to 
direct the scrum but to provide guidance on what needs to be done. So team 
dynamics are pretty critical here. The product owner defines what needs to be 
done - the scrum team figures out how much it can do and how it needs to be 
done.

You will have to go through several sprints before you can figure out exactly 
how much can be done realistically and whether you are scoping correctly.

The challenge is that agile is a means of fast iteration and collaboration - 
but to work you actually need to establish some things well in advance - such 
as methods of scoping and prioritizing work. Agile methods can provide tools 
for that too - such as epics and stories that are used to define the importance 
of a feature set - but you can use your own. An important thing to consider is 
ROI of work. Although it is impossible to actually quantify you typically need 
some way of establishing the value of different types of work. Having a good 
knowledge of the priority, effort and ROI of every item in the backlog leads 
for much easier discussions

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of javier gonzalez
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 12:43 PM
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 
<softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Using Agile Scrum in vfx production

About the implementation,  its better a simple white board for the kanban board 
or use some agile tools for this and to calculate a burndown chart etc?
Thank for the link maurice, i think i will ask to some software development 
friends.

2017-01-05 11:42 GMT-05:00, Maurice Patel <maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>:
> It is an interesting article and as pointed out VFX shares a lot of 
> commonality with the problems faced in software development where 
> iterations, ‘feature creep,’ the subjective nature of product quality 
> and disparate stakeholders create complexity and a high potential for 
> budget and scheduling overruns.
> If you are interested in Agile methods such as Scrum and Sprints you 
> can also find out more on websites like this one:
> https://www.versionone.com/agile-101/agile-methodologies/
> This is just one of many companies that provides services in 
> implementing Agile methods but they provide some background material 
> into Agile methods on their website. Googling a bit will unearth more.
> The principles of Agile are reasonably simple – the trick is getting 
> them to work for you. Ideally the system you develop will be adapted 
> to your needs and it is not really a standard formula that can be 
> applied generically. The usual advice is pick one or two projects and 
> try to implement agile methods on them first – projects with low risk and a 
> high chance of success.
> Learning from that process should then enable you to deploy more broadly.
> Finding the right tools that work the best in your company is a 
> discovery process. You can teach yourself (takes longer and has the 
> potential for a lot of hiccups but definitely doable) or find someone 
> with some experience in implementing agile methods and a good knowledge of 
> how you work to help.
> A scrum meeting is typically held daily, often at the start of the 
> day, with all key stakeholders a

RE: Using Agile Scrum in vfx production

[Maurice Patel]

It is an interesting article and as pointed out VFX shares a lot of commonality 
with the problems faced in software development where iterations, ‘feature 
creep,’ the subjective nature of product quality and disparate stakeholders 
create complexity and a high potential for budget and scheduling overruns.
If you are interested in Agile methods such as Scrum and Sprints you can also 
find out more on websites like this one: 
https://www.versionone.com/agile-101/agile-methodologies/
This is just one of many companies that provides services in implementing Agile 
methods but they provide some background material into Agile methods on their 
website. Googling a bit will unearth more.
The principles of Agile are reasonably simple – the trick is getting them to 
work for you. Ideally the system you develop will be adapted to your needs and 
it is not really a standard formula that can be applied generically. The usual 
advice is pick one or two projects and try to implement agile methods on them 
first – projects with low risk and a high chance of success. Learning from that 
process should then enable you to deploy more broadly.
Finding the right tools that work the best in your company is a discovery 
process. You can teach yourself (takes longer and has the potential for a lot 
of hiccups but definitely doable) or find someone with some experience in 
implementing agile methods and a good knowledge of how you work to help.
A scrum meeting is typically held daily, often at the start of the day, with 
all key stakeholders and its main goal is prioritize and align on the backlog 
(generic term for what needs to get done). However for the meeting to work the 
tools used to document and measure the state of the backlog need to be accurate 
and appropriate – and that is the real challenge of the implementation – which 
is why the FXGuide article focuses quite heavily on that aspect

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Thomas Volkmann
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 9:30 AM
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 
<softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Using Agile Scrum in vfx production

Very interesting read!
Being new to that topic, Alok could you share some insight what a typical scrum 
looks like (how long does it take, is it at the start or the end of the day, 
etc).

/Thomas

Alok Gandhi <alok.gandhi2...@gmail.com<mailto:alok.gandhi2...@gmail.com>> hat 
am 5. Januar 2017 um 07:43 geschrieben:
The article explains it all! Extremely well-written. Having been a member of 
the agile team, I can say that this is sounds very interesting for VFX Project 
Management. We use agile (though for software development for animation), our 
typical sprints are 7 days or 14 days. Scrums are every day.
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RE: Maya with Softimage 2016 - license questions

[Maurice Patel]

If they were maintenance subscriptions then yes you should have been given 
perpetual licenses – the challenge might be reactivation as that is not 
guaranteed. But maintenance licenses should be perpetual ones.

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of xabian dreiD
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2016 10:02 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Maya with Softimage 2016 - license questions

hey guys,

i just received my serials for Softimage 2013 & 2014! thanks a lot for your 
support maurice!!

one last question:
if i would cancel my maintenance subsciption for that so called Maya & 
Softimage Bundle 2016 in the future, then i will stuck at the maya version that 
are available until my subscription ends AND on softimage 2016 (2015 R2) and 
can use them perpetual, right?

best regards -xabian

2016-11-01 19:01 GMT+01:00 Martin Chatterjee 
<martin.chatterjee.li...@googlemail.com<mailto:martin.chatterjee.li...@googlemail.com>>:
Thanks Maurice, that's great to hear.

Cheers, Martin

--
   Martin Chatterjee

[ Freelance Technical Director ]
[   http://www.chatterjee.de<http://www.chatterjee.de/>   ]
[ https://vimeo.com/chatterjee ]

On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 2:38 PM, Maurice Patel 
<maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
I have an update.
The support person is incorrect. There is an exception for Softimage. Our 
backend systems were  modified recently and the exception was not migrated to 
the new system creating the problem. Since the system no longer reflects the 
exception support is just giving you a standard response.  We are trying to 
figure out a way to fix this at the moment. There is a workaround path 
apparently I am also trying to get details on that. Will keep you posted
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>
Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of xabian dreiD
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2016 9:30 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Maya with Softimage 2016 - license questions

hey martin,

thanks for sharing your experience! i bought the maya softimage bundle mainly 
because of softimage and the maintenance plan because i thought its nice mayabe 
to migrate to mayalater  and also to have the possibility to use previous 
versions of softimage.. but after another contact with autodesk support it 
seems they making really no difference between maya and softimage versions:

"The software you're trying to activate remains not eligible for use.
In regards to our upgrade policy, as newer versions of the software are 
released, the older ones become not eligible, using your example, by next year 
you would have the right to the newest version of Maya with Softimage, and 
indeed, the 2014 would not be available for use as it is now.
I can't be certain of what happened to the other user you mentioned, perhaps if 
you manage to get in touch with him he can explain exactly how he managed to 
activate the software."


i wonder what will happen if i cancel my subscription now? will i hold maya 
2017 and also softimage 2016 (2015R2)? my reseller said these where perpetual 
licenses i can use forever!

i hope also maurice can maybe help to get my 2013 activated and clarify these 
questions!?

2016-11-01 10:04 GMT+01:00 Martin Yara 
<furik...@gmail.com<mailto:furik...@gmail.com><mailto:furik...@gmail.com<mailto:furik...@gmail.com>>>:
AFAIK, and that's what I could understand from my experience with SI 2013, it 
means 3 versions previous to their latest series, being that 2017 and soon to 
be 2018. It doesn't matter what is the latest Softimage version.

So in 2019 (I think 2015R2 would still be in the 2015 group)  you won't be able 
to use Softimage at all if you haven't activated your licenses yet, not without 
your reseller doing some magic for you at least.

I hope Maurice can do something for you.

btw, If you haven't activated your 2014 license, do it now.

Martin

On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 5:56 PM, xabian dreiD 
<xabia...@gmail.com<mailto:xabia...@gmail.com><mailto:xabia...@gmail.com<mailto:xabia...@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
Hmmm, that is interesting... but also strange, because the subscription 
contract says its allowed to use the last 3 versions.
The funny thing is the last Softimage version  in my Autodesk Account is 2016, 
which is 2015 R2 in reality :)
[Inline-Bild 1]
So 3 versions back would be 2013 and my account also offers me the possibility 
to download 2013 and clearly says: "Your contract includes access to this 
products"

RE: Maya with Softimage 2016 - license questions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi, I am not sure what is going on and will look into this at our end 
(Autodesk) too.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of xabian dreiD
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2016 12:05 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Maya with Softimage 2016 - license questions

hi gang,

i bought maya with softimage 2016 bundle last year and i'm on subsbcription, 
which allows me to use the last 3 versions. now i need softimage 2013 for an 
older project and i could download it through my account but autodesk support 
won't give me a serial because they saying i'm now on maya with softimage 2017 
and they just can give me softimage 2014 because this would be 3 versions 
back!?  this must be a halloween joke or not!?  if this would be true so what 
will happen in year 2020? then i can not use any softimage or what? my reseller 
said maya and softimage 2016 is perpetual for both maya and softimage!. what 
will happen if i cancel my subscription? i originally bought that package for a 
perpetual softimage and did subscription because my reseller said then i can 
upgrade maya, but softimage will be the same perpetual license.

i tried already to reach out autodesk support to get further information, but 
the support acts like an autoresponder.. also my reseller could't help for now, 
they trying to talk to autodesk. i hope somebody here can bring some light into 
the darkness?!

thx! -xabian

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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Leendert,
No one has contacted me yet. I am still looking for volunteers that I can put 
in contact with Nicolas.
mauric

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2016 5:35 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon


Did anyone already volunteer to host the legacy Wiki?

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

Hi everyone,
Is  there anyone who would be willing to host the wikki?
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549


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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

Hi guys,
I have some good news (I think). I have succeeded in getting the data 
transferred from the R server to Nicolas Leduc who you may know as he was the 
one who originally created it at Softimage. He now manages AREA. He has taken a 
look and feels confident we can migrate it to anyone in the community who 
wishes to host it and has the right technical requirements to do so. The of 
migration would not be trivial but he is ready to have an evaluation discussion 
with anyone who is interested. If you are interested please email me at my 
Autodesk email address (you can cc the forum too to keep everyone in the loop)
Thank you
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

My problem is I cannot actually gauge whether this is really a serious issue or 
not.
I know quite rightly that people are upset with the EOL of Softimage so I am 
not sure if what is being expressed here is just a reference of that anger 
(which I can do nothing about) or really related to the wiki being a useful 
resource rather than an obsolete website no one visits. There is no point 
trying to save an obsolete website hoping to fix anger at the EOL of Softimage 
because it will not. Anyway I am still researching options including releasing 
the data (if it can be done so in compliance with our privacy rules) to the 
community– I do not know how feasible anything is.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2016 10:45 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon

So what you are say, Maurice, is because some people have been making
comments that you don't like, or are not constructive, you are going to get
upset and not make an effort to do the right thing?

You either want to do the right thing or you don't.

Your message had the same tone as a parent getting upset with children,
and then acting childish to get back at them.

Everyone is being a bit childish now, but none of the people you are upset with 
started any of this.
It started with Autodesk killing Softimage, and continues with killing the wiki.

You didn't personally "do" any of that, but the company you work for did.
I may have missed it, but I did not see anyone personally insulting you
(and if they did, that was wrong). But your response was as if they did.

Which honestly, and with no malice intended, is not exactly helping the 
situation either.



On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 2:25 PM, Maurice Patel 
<maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
OK, I am not getting much rational feedback here and if you are just picking 
apart every word I say with inaccurate speculation it is hard for me to gauge 
how serious the need is and whether it is actually worth any effort on my part. 
From what I understand the server was maintained by a Softimage dev, that 
person is now doing other things, the server will be replaced and that will be 
the end and even by "Softimage" standards it has no traffic. As far as I see 
this has turned into just another excuse to take pot shots at Autodesk which 
while they may be fun is not convincing me that I really need to do something 
about this.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>
Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Schoenberger
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2016 1:37 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon


 |> Almost nobody in Autodesk terms could be many in Softimage terms...

Right, that website produces only 0.1% traffic of all AD websites.
Therefore it has to be killed.

Or Autodesk is now part of a secret www group that has the ambition to remove 
outdated websites. As, beside from that website, all other website (including 
the first forum posts on the area) are brand new.
Imagine all the young artists searching for a Maya issue and accidentally 
reading Softimage help files, that must not happen!

:-)



Holger Schönberger
technical director
The day has 24 hours, if that does not suffice, I will take the night



 |> -Original Message-
 |> From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 |> 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf  |> Of Morten Bartholdy  |> Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2016 5:03 PM  
|> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>  
|> Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon  |>  |> Almost nobody in Autodesk terms could be 
many in Softimage terms...
 |>
 |> To me it is invaluable to be able to find info on the odd  |> tool or 
functionality every now and then, but I don't visit  |> the Wiki when I don't 
need it. I will be using Softimage  |> for years to come, as Maya, though 
transforming and  |> improving, is still not a good replacement, and I can get 
a  |> lot more work done in a hurry with Softimage.
 |>
 |> //Morten


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--




Perry Harovas
A

RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

OK, I am not getting much rational feedback here and if you are just picking 
apart every word I say with inaccurate speculation it is hard for me to gauge 
how serious the need is and whether it is actually worth any effort on my part. 
From what I understand the server was maintained by a Softimage dev, that 
person is now doing other things, the server will be replaced and that will be 
the end and even by "Softimage" standards it has no traffic. As far as I see 
this has turned into just another excuse to take pot shots at Autodesk which 
while they may be fun is not convincing me that I really need to do something 
about this.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Schoenberger
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2016 1:37 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon


 |> Almost nobody in Autodesk terms could be many in Softimage terms...

Right, that website produces only 0.1% traffic of all AD websites.
Therefore it has to be killed.

Or Autodesk is now part of a secret www group that has the ambition to remove 
outdated websites. As, beside from that website, all other website (including 
the first forum posts on the area) are brand new.
Imagine all the young artists searching for a Maya issue and accidentally 
reading Softimage help files, that must not happen!

:-)



Holger Schönberger
technical director
The day has 24 hours, if that does not suffice, I will take the night



 |> -Original Message-
 |> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 |> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf  |> Of Morten 
Bartholdy  |> Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2016 5:03 PM  |> To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com  |> Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon  |>  |> Almost 
nobody in Autodesk terms could be many in Softimage terms...
 |>
 |> To me it is invaluable to be able to find info on the odd  |> tool or 
functionality every now and then, but I don't visit  |> the Wiki when I don't 
need it. I will be using Softimage  |> for years to come, as Maya, though 
transforming and  |> improving, is still not a good replacement, and I can get 
a  |> lot more work done in a hurry with Softimage.
 |>
 |> //Morten


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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

Look guys I am not an expert in IT. The wiki was hosted on a dev server and not 
part of Autodesk’s main IT systems so I can’t go to IT with the problem. I am 
working with the dev team to see what can be done. At the same time, the reason 
the team wants to retire it is because almost no-one goes there anymore.

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Brent McPherson
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2016 3:23 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon

You should be able to snag a copy of the site using wget and it will probably 
be more functional than a backup since wget will convert all the embedded page 
links etc.

https://www.guyrutenberg.com/2014/05/02/make-offline-mirror-of-a-site-using-wget/

Cheers!
--
Brent

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andres Stephens
Sent: 17 August 2016 20:24
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon

A local copy was the right word! Sorry. I panicked.

-Draise

From: Maurice Patel<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>
Sent: 17 August 2016 14:00
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: Wiki EOL soon

HI,
I am not sure what you mean by a physical copy but the wayback machine 
typically keeps archives of old sites which provides  a certain level of 
availability but not all.
If you need anything it may be best to save a local copy to your machine before 
November
maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andres Stephens
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:48 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon


Crap crap crap. Where can we download a physical copy?

-Draise

+57 3138116821
Bogotá, Colombia
On 17 Aug 2016, at 12:57, Olivier Jeannel 
<facialdel...@gmail.com<mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com<mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com%3cmailto:facialdel...@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

[http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/skins/monobook/media/si/ACG_Wiki_a_head_banner_lft.png]

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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

I have asked if we can look into this and got a first response. Apparently it 
is non-trivial as the site enabled users to create accounts and there are some 
privacy issues around publishing the data as is. I can't promise anything but 
we are looking into what is feasible.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andy Nicholas
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 3:13 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon

Hi Maurice,
Is it conceivable that Autodesk would be willing to backup the wiki according 
to the instructions found here: 
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Backing_up_a_wiki

and then provide that data to an individual in the community to host on their 
own publicly available server?

A

On 17/08/2016 19:59, Maurice Patel wrote:

HI,

I am not sure what you mean by a physical copy but the wayback machine 
typically keeps archives of old sites which provides  a certain level of 
availability but not all.

If you need anything it may be best to save a local copy to your machine before 
November

maurice





Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134

Cell: 514 242-6549



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andres Stephens

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:48 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon





Crap crap crap. Where can we download a physical copy?



-Draise



+57 3138116821

Bogotá, Colombia

On 17 Aug 2016, at 12:57, Olivier Jeannel 
<facialdel...@gmail.com<mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com><mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com><mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com>>
 wrote:

http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Main_Page



[http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/skins/monobook/media/si/ACG_Wiki_a_head_banner_lft.png]



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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

Thanks for sharing that. I'll look into whether we can do that.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andy Nicholas
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 3:13 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon

Hi Maurice,
Is it conceivable that Autodesk would be willing to backup the wiki according 
to the instructions found here: 
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Backing_up_a_wiki

and then provide that data to an individual in the community to host on their 
own publicly available server?

A

On 17/08/2016 19:59, Maurice Patel wrote:

HI,

I am not sure what you mean by a physical copy but the wayback machine 
typically keeps archives of old sites which provides  a certain level of 
availability but not all.

If you need anything it may be best to save a local copy to your machine before 
November

maurice





Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134

Cell: 514 242-6549



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andres Stephens

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:48 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon





Crap crap crap. Where can we download a physical copy?



-Draise



+57 3138116821

Bogotá, Colombia

On 17 Aug 2016, at 12:57, Olivier Jeannel 
<facialdel...@gmail.com<mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com><mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com><mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com>>
 wrote:

http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Main_Page



[http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/skins/monobook/media/si/ACG_Wiki_a_head_banner_lft.png]



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RE: Wiki EOL soon

[Maurice Patel]

HI,
I am not sure what you mean by a physical copy but the wayback machine 
typically keeps archives of old sites which provides  a certain level of 
availability but not all.
If you need anything it may be best to save a local copy to your machine before 
November
maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andres Stephens
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 2:48 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Wiki EOL soon


Crap crap crap. Where can we download a physical copy?

-Draise

+57 3138116821
Bogotá, Colombia
On 17 Aug 2016, at 12:57, Olivier Jeannel 
<facialdel...@gmail.com<mailto:facialdel...@gmail.com>> wrote:
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

[http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/skins/monobook/media/si/ACG_Wiki_a_head_banner_lft.png]

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RE: Autodesk acquires Solid Angle

[Maurice Patel]

I doubt it - issues with open source tend to lie in the fact that products 
often contain source code licensed from other companies or reused from other 
products that would need to be extracted and replaced requiring extensive 
rework and testing. That would have been the case with Softimage.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 10:51 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Autodesk acquires Solid Angle

*Sigh*  I am very well aware of what a patent is, However it was one of the 
arguments raised when AD was backpedaling with such ferocity when they realized 
just how badly they had PR'ed Up. 



From: Luc-Eric Rousseau [luceri...@gmail.com]
Sent: 21 April 2016 03:27 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk acquires Solid Angle

On 21 April 2016 at 08:50, Angus Davidson <angus.david...@wits.ac.za> wrote:
>
> Wasn't patents the excuse AD used to not sell it / Open source it ?

What? No.  It looks like you don't understand what a patent is.  A patent is 
published and documented, it's not protected by hiding source code that 
implements it. It's protected by being filed with the patent office.

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=
  This communication is intended for the addressee only. 
It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please 
notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or 
disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only 
authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the 
University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may 
not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.   


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RE: Wrapped

[Maurice Patel]

That was an amazing and beautiful film and it stirred strong conflicting 
emotions of delight, sadness and inevitability. Thank you for sharing!

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Roman Kaelin
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2016 5:48 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Wrapped

Hi Gang,

After a very successful and long festival stretch our graduation short film 
"Wrapped" is finally online. It's been a while, but I felt I needed to share it 
on the list since I've gotten a lot of useful tips and help over the course of 
the production. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

The whole project was mainly done in Softimage and Arnold and I'm happy we can 
finally share it.

https://vimeo.com/161599224

Geerz,
Roman
--

ROMAN KAELIN
Director & Visual Effects Artist

mobile +41786384626
email romen.kae...@gmail.com<mailto:romen.kae...@gmail.com>

www.romankaelin.com<http://www.romankaelin.com>

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RE: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

[Maurice Patel]

One of the benefits of Subscription is access to previous versions not just the 
version you have licensed, which is always is always latest available version 
of the software. This access goes away once you stop subscription though you 
can continue to use the last version you licensed perpetually.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Rob Wuijster
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 3:06 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

Hi guys,

Out of the blue, like a long forgotten relative, I get a letter from AD's 
Munich Licence Management about my (not renewed) Subscription.
As I stopped maintenance on SI quite a while ago, I'm a bit surprised by this 
letter.

The letter goes into the fact that the Subscription Contract was not renewed 
(correct), and that the 'additional licensing benefits' are no longer active 
for the products covered. One of this benefits is the right to use 'previous 
versions'.
Blah blah blah. possible illegal use of previous versions of the software.. 
maybe without knowledge inside company yada yada..

Am I not allowed any SI version anymore from when that contract was active?
If so, how in the hell can I open up old projects, even for migration, if that 
is not allowed anymore? This letter makes absolutely no sense to me.

So can someone on this list that is AD, explain what the heck this letter is 
about?


--



thanks!



Rob

\/-\/\/
<>

RE: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

[Maurice Patel]

Also, I suspect these letters are being auto-generated by the EMEA office as 
part of a general campaign sent to all Autodesk customers (irrespective of 
product owned) that have expired Subscription contracts and so is generic and 
not specific to Softimage. This is because come Feb 1st you will no longer be 
able to renew maintenance subscription if you let it expire and either need to 
stay on the same version as you have when the contract expired perpetually or 
purchase a new desktop subscription contract with no perpetual rights – so it 
is kind of your last chance to do so. Also if you were on 2015 when subs 
expired you technically do not have the right to access versions prior to that.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 3:32 PM
To: 'r...@casema.nl' <r...@casema.nl>; softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

One of the benefits of Subscription is access to previous versions not just the 
version you have licensed, which is always is always latest available version 
of the software. This access goes away once you stop subscription though you 
can continue to use the last version you licensed perpetually.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Rob Wuijster
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 3:06 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

Hi guys,

Out of the blue, like a long forgotten relative, I get a letter from AD's 
Munich Licence Management about my (not renewed) Subscription.
As I stopped maintenance on SI quite a while ago, I'm a bit surprised by this 
letter.

The letter goes into the fact that the Subscription Contract was not renewed 
(correct), and that the 'additional licensing benefits' are no longer active 
for the products covered. One of this benefits is the right to use 'previous 
versions'.
Blah blah blah. possible illegal use of previous versions of the software.. 
maybe without knowledge inside company yada yada..

Am I not allowed any SI version anymore from when that contract was active?
If so, how in the hell can I open up old projects, even for migration, if that 
is not allowed anymore? This letter makes absolutely no sense to me.

So can someone on this list that is AD, explain what the heck this letter is 
about?

--



thanks!



Rob

\/-\/\/
<>

RE: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Rob,
Sorry about that letter. It actually has been escalated internally here (after 
feedback from other customers) and Autodesk is in the process of revising how 
local marketing communications get approved – although it is too late in the 
game for this initiative.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: Rob Wuijster [mailto:r...@casema.nl]
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 4:26 PM
To: Maurice Patel <maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>
Cc: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

Hi Maurice,

Yes, probably a auto-generated letter, but the tone and information in that 
letter was not very user friendly imho.

Thanks for the quick reply and existing/perpetual license info.






Rob



\/-\/\/
On 19-1-2016 21:43, Maurice Patel wrote:
Also, I suspect these letters are being auto-generated by the EMEA office as 
part of a general campaign sent to all Autodesk customers (irrespective of 
product owned) that have expired Subscription contracts and so is generic and 
not specific to Softimage. This is because come Feb 1st you will no longer be 
able to renew maintenance subscription if you let it expire and either need to 
stay on the same version as you have when the contract expired perpetually or 
purchase a new desktop subscription contract with no perpetual rights – so it 
is kind of your last chance to do so. Also if you were on 2015 when subs 
expired you technically do not have the right to access versions prior to that.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 3:32 PM
To: 'r...@casema.nl<mailto:r...@casema.nl>' 
<r...@casema.nl><mailto:r...@casema.nl>; 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

One of the benefits of Subscription is access to previous versions not just the 
version you have licensed, which is always is always latest available version 
of the software. This access goes away once you stop subscription though you 
can continue to use the last version you licensed perpetually.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Rob Wuijster
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 3:06 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: AD licensing letter - no longer applicable for 'benefits'???

Hi guys,

Out of the blue, like a long forgotten relative, I get a letter from AD's 
Munich Licence Management about my (not renewed) Subscription.
As I stopped maintenance on SI quite a while ago, I'm a bit surprised by this 
letter.

The letter goes into the fact that the Subscription Contract was not renewed 
(correct), and that the 'additional licensing benefits' are no longer active 
for the products covered. One of this benefits is the right to use 'previous 
versions'.
Blah blah blah. possible illegal use of previous versions of the software.. 
maybe without knowledge inside company yada yada..

Am I not allowed any SI version anymore from when that contract was active?
If so, how in the hell can I open up old projects, even for migration, if that 
is not allowed anymore? This letter makes absolutely no sense to me.

So can someone on this list that is AD, explain what the heck this letter is 
about?

--



thanks!



Rob

\/-\/\/
Geen virus gevonden in dit bericht.
Gecontroleerd door AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com>
Versie: 2016.0.7294 / Virusdatabase: 4522/11439 - datum van uitgifte: 01/19/16

<>

RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

[Maurice Patel]

Cool! I am glad it all worked out in the end. Sorry that you had to go through 
this.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 2:11 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

Problem solved...
After going back to registeronce and getting a new license file, there does 
appear to have been something wrong with my original license file,
dating from the time when the MayaS 2016 bundle was first released, as it was 
missing an "INCREMENT 86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F" block.
With this new license everything seems to work as expected.

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: hk-v...@iscs-i.com<mailto:hk-v...@iscs-i.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 6:23 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Cc: Leendert A. Hartog<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")


Have you tried Autodesk's licensing parser to validate your file:

http://www.licenseparser.com/

Cheers,

Henry

On 2015-12-10 10:17, Leendert A. Hartog wrote:

Could there be something wrong with my license file?

Is there someone who could check this, where I could send my current license 
file to?

Normal "interfaced" Softimage 2015 and Maya 2016 run properly off it,

Only problem I've faced so far are the missing "2016" batch licenses...



Greetz

Leendert

AKA Hirazi Blue

Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de



-Oorspronkelijk bericht- From: Maurice Patel

Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 4:44 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")



I can help clarify. There is no difference. There was no Softimage 2016 so for 
the 2016 release of the Suites and the Maya/3ds Max bundles a 'bridge' had to 
be created for Softimage 2015 to go into the new offering. This was the R2 
version and apart from licensing requirements there was no change in the 
software. The only software updates have been the service packs which were 
issued separately. Our QA team reported today that they have not yet identified 
an issue in their tests (Batch is working) but that they are continuing to look 
into this.



Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134

Cell: 514 242-6549



-Original Message-

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]

Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 9:53 AM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")



I just installed 2016 ECSU and recalled seeing this in the release notes:





https://knowledge.autodesk.com/sites/default/files/entertainment_creation_s

uites_2016_readme_enu.htm



The Softimage Notes suggest that SI 15 and 16 are identical. I suspected 
Softimage would be renamed 2016 in order to keep it included in the suites and 
keep it's identity as a suite component for reference. Thing is it says that 
that version with the 2016 suite is not "Softimage 2016 R2" but "Softimage 2015 
R2" and that 2015 R2 only works with 2016 license keys.

The installer doesn't install it automatically as in the past, but it does copy 
the necessary installation package to do so manually. I never installed it, 
figured I'd wait till next year to see if a final SP comes out.



Looking at these notes you'd think the only thing they spend any time working 
on is FBX but all you have to do is open Maya 2016 to know that¹s not the case. 
It would be nice though to have more information on what if anything makes 
these Softimage versions any different, assuming they might be.



Joey









On 12/9/15 5:15 PM, 
"softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 on behalf of Leendert A. Hartog" 
<softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 on behalf of hirazib...@live.nl<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>> wrote:
Thanks. The installed version is the R2-SP2 that is bundled with the license 
for Maya 2016. It was my impression that SP2 and R2-SP weren't identical, 
otherwise there wouldn't be a reason to distribute two different versions. But 
I could be mistaken... Greetz Leendert AKA Hirazi Blue Softimage hobbyist, 
admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de -Oorspron

RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

[Maurice Patel]

I can help clarify. There is no difference. There was no Softimage 2016 so for 
the 2016 release of the Suites and the Maya/3ds Max bundles a 'bridge' had to 
be created for Softimage 2015 to go into the new offering. This was the R2 
version and apart from licensing requirements there was no change in the 
software. The only software updates have been the service packs which were 
issued separately. Our QA team reported today that they have not yet identified 
an issue in their tests (Batch is working) but that they are continuing to look 
into this.

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 9:53 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

I just installed 2016 ECSU and recalled seeing this in the release notes:


https://knowledge.autodesk.com/sites/default/files/entertainment_creation_s
uites_2016_readme_enu.htm

The Softimage Notes suggest that SI 15 and 16 are identical. I suspected 
Softimage would be renamed 2016 in order to keep it included in the suites and 
keep it's identity as a suite component for reference. Thing is it says that 
that version with the 2016 suite is not "Softimage 2016 R2" but "Softimage 2015 
R2" and that 2015 R2 only works with 2016 license keys.
The installer doesn't install it automatically as in the past, but it does copy 
the necessary installation package to do so manually. I never installed it, 
figured I'd wait till next year to see if a final SP comes out. 

Looking at these notes you'd think the only thing they spend any time working 
on is FBX but all you have to do is open Maya 2016 to know that¹s not the case. 
It would be nice though to have more information on what if anything makes 
these Softimage versions any different, assuming they might be.

Joey




On 12/9/15 5:15 PM, "softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com on behalf of 
Leendert A. Hartog" <softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com on behalf of 
hirazib...@live.nl> wrote:

>Thanks. The installed version is the R2-SP2 that is bundled with the 
>license for Maya 2016.
>It was my impression that SP2 and R2-SP weren't identical, otherwise 
>there wouldn't be a reason to distribute two different versions.
>But I could be mistaken...
>
>Greetz
>Leendert
>AKA Hirazi Blue
>Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de
>
>-Oorspronkelijk bericht-
>From: Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
>Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 10:58 PM
>To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")
>
>Leendert,
>
>Is your install base strictly Softimage or is it a suite? I presume 
>whatever it is it must be installed from a 2016 package?
>
>There was a warning somewhere that said the two versions should not be 
>installed at the same time. Is it possible you have both installed 
>somehow?
>
>When I run xsibatch here using the 2015 version, it tells me it is 
>checking
>out:
>
>===
> Autodesk Softimage 13.0.114.0
>===
>
>License information: using [86269SFTIMSIB_2015_0F]
>
>I don't have SI 2016 R2 installed.
>
>If your version is looking to something with 2016 license code in it, 
>it must be the SI 2016 R2 version that you are trying to run?
>
>The reason I ask is that since the SI 2015 SP2 package is supposed to 
>be identical (?) to the SI 2016 R2 package, it might be possible to 
>uninstall the 2016 version and install the 2015 one that way the 2015 
>software might only look for licenses with "2015" in it. Maybe that 
>will let you get production going till the problem is sorted out?
>
>
>--
>Joey Ponthieux
>LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES II) Science 
>Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI) NASA Langley Research Center 
>__
>Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
>represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.
>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage- 
>> boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2015 4:35 PM
>> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>> Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")
>>
>> No problem, If others are having similar problems and can provide 
>>more  data  it may help find a

RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

[Maurice Patel]

My normal answer to this kind of question would typically be contact support. I 
am not sure otherwise as you would need to talk to the licensing team. You 
could try the chat here. 
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/contactus/activation-registration/registering-product
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 11:17 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

Could there be something wrong with my license file?
Is there someone who could check this, where I could send my current license 
file to?
Normal "interfaced" Softimage 2015 and Maya 2016 run properly off it, Only 
problem I've faced so far are the missing "2016" batch licenses...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

-Oorspronkelijk bericht-
From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 4:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

I can help clarify. There is no difference. There was no Softimage 2016 so for 
the 2016 release of the Suites and the Maya/3ds Max bundles a 'bridge' 
had to be created for Softimage 2015 to go into the new offering. This was the 
R2 version and apart from licensing requirements there was no change in the 
software. The only software updates have been the service packs which were 
issued separately. Our QA team reported today that they have not yet identified 
an issue in their tests (Batch is working) but that they are continuing to look 
into this.

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 9:53 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

I just installed 2016 ECSU and recalled seeing this in the release notes:


https://knowledge.autodesk.com/sites/default/files/entertainment_creation_s
uites_2016_readme_enu.htm

The Softimage Notes suggest that SI 15 and 16 are identical. I suspected 
Softimage would be renamed 2016 in order to keep it included in the suites and 
keep it's identity as a suite component for reference. Thing is it says that 
that version with the 2016 suite is not "Softimage 2016 R2" but "Softimage 2015 
R2" and that 2015 R2 only works with 2016 license keys.
The installer doesn't install it automatically as in the past, but it does copy 
the necessary installation package to do so manually. I never installed it, 
figured I'd wait till next year to see if a final SP comes out.

Looking at these notes you'd think the only thing they spend any time working 
on is FBX but all you have to do is open Maya 2016 to know that¹s not the case. 
It would be nice though to have more information on what if anything makes 
these Softimage versions any different, assuming they might be.

Joey




On 12/9/15 5:15 PM, "softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com on behalf of 
Leendert A. Hartog" <softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com on behalf of 
hirazib...@live.nl> wrote:

>Thanks. The installed version is the R2-SP2 that is bundled with the 
>license for Maya 2016.
>It was my impression that SP2 and R2-SP weren't identical, otherwise 
>there wouldn't be a reason to distribute two different versions.
>But I could be mistaken...
>
>Greetz
>Leendert
>AKA Hirazi Blue
>Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de
>
>-Oorspronkelijk bericht-
>From: Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
>Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 10:58 PM
>To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
>Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")
>
>Leendert,
>
>Is your install base strictly Softimage or is it a suite? I presume 
>whatever it is it must be installed from a 2016 package?
>
>There was a warning somewhere that said the two versions should not be 
>installed at the same time. Is it possible you have both installed 
>somehow?
>
>When I run xsibatch here using the 2015 version, it tells me it is 
>checking
>out:
>
>===
> Autodesk Softimage 13.0.114.0
>===
>
>License information: using [86269SFTIMSIB_2015_0F]
>
>I don't have SI 2016 R2 installed.
>
>If your version is looking to something with 2016 license code in it, 
>it must be the SI 2016 R2 version that you 

RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

[Maurice Patel]

No problem, If others are having similar problems and can provide more data it 
may help find a solution faster. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this 
quickly. 
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2015 3:56 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

Sorry, I understood your mail. The point I was trying to make was that others 
should probably speak up, if they experience the same problem.
I understand there is nothing much you can do for me if it is a problem that 
only affects me.
But if there is some bug lurking in the background, more reports would 
undoubtably help.
Sorry for the confusion, I didn't intentionally wanted to misrepresent your 
mail to me...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

-Oorspronkelijk bericht-
From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 9:32 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

Hi Leendert,

I think you misunderstood my response. My intention was not to imply that your 
report carried no weight otherwise why would we have already escalated your 
issue with the dev team, even before you contacted us?

My point was as you were not going through the normal support channels we could 
not help you if the problem is with your setup. As I mentioned in my email, we 
will keep you posted if our engineers find an issue/solution on our end.

Maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. 
Hartog
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2015 3:17 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

After having contacted Maurice Patel directly, I was informed this was the 
first time the devs heard of this issue.
My question to you all now is, does anyone else experience this problem as well?
I am not “on support” anymore, so my sole report doesn’t carry that much 
weight...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Leendert A. Hartog<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 10:35 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

I’ve changed the title of the thread to make it more meaningful and perhaps get 
it noticed better...
Would be nice, if someone from Autodesk could look into this issue, while the 
software technically is still supported.
I’m not on subscription any more,
so I have no other way to bring this to their attention...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Leendert A. Hartog<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 4:29 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F"

After having stopped the server, setting the FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS to 3 and 
running XSI.bat, all I get is the “there is no interactive network license 
(...)” error and nothing in the command window...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Stephen Blair<mailto:stephenrbl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 4:18 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F"

When Softimage can get a license, you won't see anything from
FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS=3
The license manager should show what licenses are checked out.

If you really wanted to see what license Softimage interactive tries to check 
out, you'd have to stop the license server and then start Softimage with 
FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS set.

Softimage 2015 SP1 will cascade through the licenses like this:

Feature:   86269SFTIM_2015_0F
Feature:   86270SIECS_2015_0F
Feature:   86458SIECS_2016_0F
Feature:   863983DSMXS_2015_0F
Feature:   864733DSMXS_2016_0F
Feature:   86400MAYAS_2015_0F
Feature:   86441MAYAS_2016_0F
Feature:   86243ENCSU_2015_0F
Feature:   86435ENCSU_2016_0F
Feature:   86248ESEC_2015_0F

---
Autodesk® Softimage® 2015
---
Error: there is no interactive network license available to run Autodesk 
Softimage 2015.
Would you like to run in Standalone mode?
---
Yes   No
---

Feature:   SFTIM_F_S





On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Lee

RE: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Leendert,

I think you misunderstood my response. My intention was not to imply that your 
report carried no weight otherwise why would we have already escalated your 
issue with the dev team, even before you contacted us?

My point was as you were not going through the normal support channels we could 
not help you if the problem is with your setup. As I mentioned in my email, we 
will keep you posted if our engineers find an issue/solution on our end.

Maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2015 3:17 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

After having contacted Maurice Patel directly, I was informed this was the 
first time the devs heard of this issue.
My question to you all now is, does anyone else experience this problem as well?
I am not “on support” anymore, so my sole report doesn’t carry that much 
weight...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Leendert A. Hartog<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 10:35 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Licensing error R2-SP2 (was ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F")

I’ve changed the title of the thread to make it more meaningful and perhaps get 
it noticed better...
Would be nice, if someone from Autodesk could look into this issue,
while the software technically is still supported.
I’m not on subscription any more,
so I have no other way to bring this to their attention...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Leendert A. Hartog<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 4:29 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F"

After having stopped the server, setting the FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS to 3 and 
running XSI.bat, all I get is the “there is no interactive network license 
(...)” error and nothing in the command window...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com & xsiforum.de

From: Stephen Blair<mailto:stephenrbl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 4:18 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F"

When Softimage can get a license, you won't see anything from 
FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS=3
The license manager should show what licenses are checked out.

If you really wanted to see what license Softimage interactive tries to check 
out, you'd have to stop the license server and then start Softimage with 
FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS set.

Softimage 2015 SP1 will cascade through the licenses like this:

Feature:   86269SFTIM_2015_0F
Feature:   86270SIECS_2015_0F
Feature:   86458SIECS_2016_0F
Feature:   863983DSMXS_2015_0F
Feature:   864733DSMXS_2016_0F
Feature:   86400MAYAS_2015_0F
Feature:   86441MAYAS_2016_0F
Feature:   86243ENCSU_2015_0F
Feature:   86435ENCSU_2016_0F
Feature:   86248ESEC_2015_0F

---
Autodesk® Softimage® 2015
---
Error: there is no interactive network license available to run Autodesk 
Softimage 2015.
Would you like to run in Standalone mode?
---
Yes   No
---

Feature:   SFTIM_F_S





On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Leendert A. Hartog 
<hirazib...@live.nl<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>> wrote:
The regular Softimage interface runs without errors, even started from the 
command prompt with “FLEXLM_DIAGNOSTICS” set to 3...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue
Softimage hobbyist, admin at si-community.com<http://si-community.com> & 
xsiforum.de<http://xsiforum.de>

From: Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]<mailto:j.ponthi...@nasa.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 3:27 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: ""86269SFTIMSIB_2016_0F"

The Softimage 15 R2 interface runs though, correct? Even though your license 
lists the item 86269SFTIMSIB_2015_0F. Its only the batch gives the error?

--
Joey Ponthieux
LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES II)
Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI)
NASA Langley Research Center
__
Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not
represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-bou

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Derek,
Most of what you said is accurate. Just to be clear:
All upgrades were discontinued at the start of this year. Your only option 
today is to purchase a new license of either Maya with Softimage or 3ds Max 
with Softimage. You must do this before February 1st 2016 which is the start of 
Autodesk's next fiscal year. At that point Softimage will be fully retired from 
sales. Anyone can purchase the software, there is no requirement to already 
have a license.
maurice


From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Derek Jenson
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 11:45 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?

Sorry not trying to be thick, just seeking a crystal clear answer.

As I understand, my 2011sp2 license is not upgrade-able now? I can not convert 
this license to a 2015sp2 license or Max/Maya plus Softimage 2015 license?

A Max/Maya 2016 plus Softimage 2015 product is available as a new purchase 
only? And only to Softimage license holders (is that legal in the US, 
restricting a product to a subset of people)?

And this transaction would need to happen before what date? January 1st, 2016? 
February 1st, 2016? April 1st, 2016?

Thanks for the clarity!

-Derek
<>

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

It would be through your local reseller. I am not sure who that is but there is 
3DV in Portland.

http://autodesk.force.com/plocator/PLocatorMapView?id=a5z30004DQdAAM=United%20States=en

Since there is almost no demand for Softimage any more it is possible that they 
might not be familiar with the product and its availability so just take along 
the reference numbers I posted earlier and they should be able to help you 
order it. Alternatively you can purchase from B - the links I forwarded 
earlier.

maurice

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Derek Jenson
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 12:45 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?

Thank you for the clarity. And who exactly would I make the purchase though? I 
live in Oregon.

From: maurice.pa...@autodesk.com
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2015 17:42:20 +
Hi Derek,
Most of what you said is accurate. Just to be clear:
All upgrades were discontinued at the start of this year. Your only option 
today is to purchase a new license of either Maya with Softimage or 3ds Max 
with Softimage. You must do this before February 1st 2016 which is the start of 
Autodesk's next fiscal year. At that point Softimage will be fully retired from 
sales. Anyone can purchase the software, there is no requirement to already 
have a license.
maurice


<>

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

Yes. It is typically 25% more though actual pricing may vary
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of phil harbath
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 1:35 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?

to get network you have to buy from reseller?  how much more?

From: Tim Crowson<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 1:04 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?

You can also get it from B 
online<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1154841-REG/autodesk_977h1_wwr11c_1001_vc_maya_with_softimage_2016.html>.

-Tim
On 11/24/2015 11:52 AM, Maurice Patel wrote:

It would be through your local reseller. I am not sure who that is but there is 
3DV in Portland.



http://autodesk.force.com/plocator/PLocatorMapView?id=a5z30004DQdAAM=United%20States=en



Since there is almost no demand for Softimage any more it is possible that they 
might not be familiar with the product and its availability so just take along 
the reference numbers I posted earlier and they should be able to help you 
order it. Alternatively you can purchase from B - the links I forwarded 
earlier.



maurice



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Derek Jenson

Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 12:45 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?



Thank you for the clarity. And who exactly would I make the purchase though? I 
live in Oregon.



From: 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com

To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com

Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?

Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2015 17:42:20 +

Hi Derek,

Most of what you said is accurate. Just to be clear:

All upgrades were discontinued at the start of this year. Your only option 
today is to purchase a new license of either Maya with Softimage or 3ds Max 
with Softimage. You must do this before February 1st 2016 which is the start of 
Autodesk's next fiscal year. At that point Softimage will be fully retired from 
sales. Anyone can purchase the software, there is no requirement to already 
have a license.

maurice





--


<>

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

This is correct you can still purchase standalone or network versions until Feb 
1st 2016
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sven Constable
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 7:43 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?

"At the time I was quoted $2200 to bring my 2011 license up to 2015. However, I 
would have received a Maya/Max & Softimage standalone license in place of my 
network license, losing all my batch licenses."

That was wrong information by your reseller. You could have upgraded your 
existing floating license to XSI2015 until the Feb 1st 2015 deadline. Remaining 
all batch licenses because it was an upgrade of your existing network license. 
The price sounds similar to what I was told at the time (in EUR). I upgraded my 
network license from 2011 to 2015 in Nov 2014.

sven

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Derek Jenson
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 5:23 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: RE: can I still get softimage?

I've done my best to keep up with the details of 'upgrading' to Softimage 2015, 
but still have a few questions; I have a network license of Softimage 2011sp2.

I likely should have upgraded when Autodesk still allowed upgrades, if I was 
going to switch to another AD tool. At the time I was quoted $2200 to bring my 
2011 license up to 2015. However, I would have received a Maya/Max & Softimage 
standalone license in place of my network license, losing all my batch 
licenses. I was also in mid production with 2011, so trying to look ahead 2 
years in this industry is impossible; things change quickly. Parting with with 
$$ for tools I can't use for at least a year just didn't make sense at the 
time. And honestly, I feel like I've been trying to protect myself against 
future AD decisions with the 'upgrade' offer... and that is not the 
relationship I want with a vendor.

So as I understand it, all 'upgrade' offers are for standalone, correct?
 And at this point there is no 'upgrade', they are simply offering a new 
Max/Maya & Softimage bundle product to existing holders of Softimage licenses; 
so I would retain my network 2011 license, correct?
In the US, this cost is $3600-3700?
And I could run both Softimage 2011sp2 and 2015sp2 at the same time, correct?
How has the license server changed from 2011 to 2015? It sounds like the client 
needs to check-in with an AD server?
Blender is open source and free right? Just joking, I know the answer to that 
one ;)

Any help with any of these questions is appreciated. My gut feeling is I will 
not upgrade, but will switch to another tool. I also feel that AD is pushing 
the monthly fee so I can easily pickup Max/Maya for a month here or there in 
the future as needed and keep my thou$ands under my pillow.

-Derek

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 09:58:56 -0500
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?
From: ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Rob,
Any chance you know a reseller honoring this? The one I talked to here in 
Toronto does not. : (

On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 8:29 AM, Rob Chapman 
<tekano@gmail.com<mailto:tekano@gmail.com>> wrote:
not necessarily only the suite, you can currently get Maya 2016 with softimage 
option. Standalone license with no maintenance.  have to be quick, this 'offer' 
wont be available for long as everything soon will be cloud subscription and 
softimage aint ever going to be on there

On 13 November 2015 at 13:21, Personal 
<srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>> wrote:
I think that is only option.

--
Micic Srecko
---
Mail:
srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>
Skype:srecko.micic
---
On 13/11/2015 14:17:20, Chris Johnson 
<ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>> wrote:
Sorry guysI disappeared from the list for a while...I'm sure this subject 
has come up a number of times!?
What is the cheapest/best way to get a license of soft? Or can I still even do 
that? Last time I touched base with a reseller I had to buy the Suite which was 
around $10,000 Canadian!



--
Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com<http://www.someonescousin.com/> | 
416.473.1624



<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>



<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>




-- <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>
Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com | 
416.473.1624<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>
 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=vi

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Chris,

Max should be the same price

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1154830-REG/autodesk_978h1_wwr111_1001_vc_3ds_max_with_softimage.html

maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Chris Johnson
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 4:12 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?

Hey Maurice,
What would the reasoning be that Max is more then $2000 more then Maya?

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 4:00 PM, Maurice Patel 
<maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
You should still be able to purchase Autodesk Maya with Softimage. The product 
reference is:

977H1-WWR11C-1001  - Autodesk Maya 2016 with Softimage Commercial New SLM ELD.

I did a quick check and it seems that its available here.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1154841-REG/autodesk_977h1_wwr11c_1001_vc_maya_with_softimage_2016.html

There is also a 3ds Max version too.

Maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>
Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Chris Johnson
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 2:54 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?

I talked to scalar and as you'll see from the string, as a new purchase,  the 
only way to do it is buy the ultimate which is close to $10,000 CAD. : (

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 1:14 PM, Daniel Brassard 
<dbrassar...@gmail.com<mailto:dbrassar...@gmail.com><mailto:dbrassar...@gmail.com<mailto:dbrassar...@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
Hi Chris,

Did you try Scalar?

https://www.scalar.ca/en/contact-us/

I deal with the office in Montreal but they have an office in Toronto.

My contact in Montreal is Joseph Ngo 
<joseph@scalar.ca<mailto:joseph@scalar.ca><mailto:joseph@scalar.ca<mailto:joseph@scalar.ca>>>

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 9:58 AM, Chris Johnson 
<ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com><mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>>>
 wrote:
Rob,
Any chance you know a reseller honoring this? The one I talked to here in 
Toronto does not. : (

On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 8:29 AM, Rob Chapman 
<tekano@gmail.com<mailto:tekano@gmail.com><mailto:tekano@gmail.com<mailto:tekano@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
not necessarily only the suite, you can currently get Maya 2016 with softimage 
option. Standalone license with no maintenance.  have to be quick, this 'offer' 
wont be available for long as everything soon will be cloud subscription and 
softimage aint ever going to be on there

On 13 November 2015 at 13:21, Personal 
<srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com><mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>>>
 wrote:
I think that is only option.

--
Micic Srecko
---
Mail:
srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com><mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>>
Skype:srecko.micic
---

On 13/11/2015 14:17:20, Chris Johnson 
<ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com><mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>>>
 wrote:
Sorry guysI disappeared from the list for a while...I'm sure this subject 
has come up a number of times!?
What is the cheapest/best way to get a license of soft? Or can I still even do 
that? Last time I touched base with a reseller I had to buy the Suite which was 
around $10,000 Canadian!



--

Chris Johnson | 
www.someonescousin.com<http://www.someonescousin.com><http://www.someonescousin.com/>
 | 416.473.1624

 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>


 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>



-- <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com<http://www.someonescousin.com> | 
416.473.1624<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67M0ZoQVlpblExTDg] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67MlJDWlJ0d0VVRlk] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67SVFaTnV0c1JmYzQ] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67UXVSMUU3V0JaelE] 
<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>
 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>



-- <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com<http://www.someonescousin.com> | 
416.473.

RE: can I still get softimage?

[Maurice Patel]

You should still be able to purchase Autodesk Maya with Softimage. The product 
reference is:

977H1-WWR11C-1001  - Autodesk Maya 2016 with Softimage Commercial New SLM ELD.

I did a quick check and it seems that its available here.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1154841-REG/autodesk_977h1_wwr11c_1001_vc_maya_with_softimage_2016.html

There is also a 3ds Max version too.

Maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Chris Johnson
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 2:54 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: can I still get softimage?

I talked to scalar and as you'll see from the string, as a new purchase,  the 
only way to do it is buy the ultimate which is close to $10,000 CAD. : (

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 1:14 PM, Daniel Brassard 
<dbrassar...@gmail.com<mailto:dbrassar...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Chris,

Did you try Scalar?

https://www.scalar.ca/en/contact-us/

I deal with the office in Montreal but they have an office in Toronto.

My contact in Montreal is Joseph Ngo 
<joseph@scalar.ca<mailto:joseph@scalar.ca>>

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 9:58 AM, Chris Johnson 
<ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>> wrote:
Rob,
Any chance you know a reseller honoring this? The one I talked to here in 
Toronto does not. : (

On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 8:29 AM, Rob Chapman 
<tekano@gmail.com<mailto:tekano@gmail.com>> wrote:
not necessarily only the suite, you can currently get Maya 2016 with softimage 
option. Standalone license with no maintenance.  have to be quick, this 'offer' 
wont be available for long as everything soon will be cloud subscription and 
softimage aint ever going to be on there

On 13 November 2015 at 13:21, Personal 
<srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>> wrote:
I think that is only option.

--
Micic Srecko
---
Mail:
srecko.mi...@gmail.com<mailto:srecko.mi...@gmail.com>
Skype:srecko.micic
---

On 13/11/2015 14:17:20, Chris Johnson 
<ch...@someonescousin.com<mailto:ch...@someonescousin.com>> wrote:
Sorry guysI disappeared from the list for a while...I'm sure this subject 
has come up a number of times!?
What is the cheapest/best way to get a license of soft? Or can I still even do 
that? Last time I touched base with a reseller I had to buy the Suite which was 
around $10,000 Canadian!



--

Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com<http://www.someonescousin.com/> | 
416.473.1624

 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>


 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>



-- <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com | 
416.473.1624<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67M0ZoQVlpblExTDg] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67MlJDWlJ0d0VVRlk] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67SVFaTnV0c1JmYzQ] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67UXVSMUU3V0JaelE] 
<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>
 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>



-- <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

Chris Johnson | www.someonescousin.com | 
416.473.1624<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67M0ZoQVlpblExTDg] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67MlJDWlJ0d0VVRlk] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67SVFaTnV0c1JmYzQ] 
[http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view=0B_cjTWWtAJ67UXVSMUU3V0JaelE] 
<https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>

 <https://www.facebook.com/someonescousin/>
<>

RE: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

[Maurice Patel]

Hi David,
Yes Softimage 2015 is part of the ultimate suite until Feb 1st 2016.
Availability and license term are different things. If a three year license is 
issued the software will work for three years. However the ability to download 
the software or to authorize a new license may not be available after that date.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Pierre Schiller
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 11:16 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Student *free trial* for 3 years on Entertainment Creation Suit

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/entertainment-creation-suite-ultimate
Under the choices, is there "softimage" available? At least that´s what anyone 
reads on the promo page so you´ll know what core features you´ll get on the 
Entertainment creation suite for edu purposes.
So if I understand correctly any educational institution can still download 
softimage and have a FREE 3 year licence for educational purposes? What will 
happen now that we only got softimage 2015, and there will be no more extension 
of "free 3 years use"?
Anyone´s got more insight about this?
Thanks.
David R.

--
Portfolio 2013<http://be.net/3dcinetv>
Cinema & TV production
Video Reel<https://vimeo.com/3dcinetv/reel2012>
<>

RE: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

[Maurice Patel]

Sorry about the problems. Did you resolve this issue Bradley?
Is there a contact email I can pass on to our EDU team to escalate?
Thanks
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Bradley Gabe
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 5:15 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

Hiya folks! Long time no see.

I'm attempting to download and install the creation suite from the Autodesk 
website from the education center. It downloads the 330KB insaller app without 
a problem, however when I try to run that app, nothing at all happens.

Has anyone else hit the same hurdle and figured out where the block is?

-Bradley
<>

RE: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

[Maurice Patel]

Thank you Bradley,
I will forward to our EDU team
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Bradley Gabe
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:29 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

Hi Maurice-

Problem still not resolved. I will send you my contact information off list. 
Thank you for following up on this.


On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 8:49 AM, Maurice Patel 
<maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
Sorry about the problems. Did you resolve this issue Bradley?
Is there a contact email I can pass on to our EDU team to escalate?
Thanks
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>
Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Bradley Gabe
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 5:15 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

Hiya folks! Long time no see.

I'm attempting to download and install the creation suite from the Autodesk 
website from the education center. It downloads the 330KB insaller app without 
a problem, however when I try to run that app, nothing at all happens.

Has anyone else hit the same hurdle and figured out where the block is?

-Bradley

<>

RE: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

[Maurice Patel]

Ah, c’est la vie – glad it all got resolved ☺
Thanks Bradley

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Bradley Gabe
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 12:56 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Downloading Entertainment Creation Suite

Ha! Up and Running. Hello old friend!

The list continues to work its magic for me in the same fashion as always. As 
soon as help is offered and escalated, the problem gets resolved.

Thanks Joey, Maurice, Adam, and others.
<>

RE: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Jason,
This would be a great idea if possible but unfortunately it is not feasible. 
When we announced EOL over a year and a half ago we did have a window where it 
was possible to buy Softimage standalone and then really was the time to get 
it. This reason its not feasible is because we no longer distribute the 
standalone version commercially  and the internal systems are no longer in 
place for it. The product is now retired and it would be too costly to relaunch 
it even in a limited capacity (certainly more costly than the current 
transition offering).
Sorry I don’t have better news to share with you – but the bundle really is the 
only way you can get a new permanent license today.
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jason S
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 2:11 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

Hi Maurice,

Considering that likely quite a few people (very-much including myself) would 
like to (legally) have access to the software they have been using for 
many-many years without necessarily wanting or needing a licence of Maya or 3DS 
Max, (even if using Maya or Max, licenses are typically already supplied by 
studios).

Nevertheless, now that we are coming close to the last chance before Feb 
deadline, would it be conceivable to have a short window to have Soft only 
purchases at what could be considered a fair price for unsupported and 
discontinued software?

Because nearly 4k (or the standard price of fully supported/updated software) 
is okay (even good) if looking to get Maya anyways,
but for probably the majority of people thinking of buying the bundle just to 
get Soft,
I think it can be understandable how that price can be considered 
unrealistically or otherwise extraordinarily high.


Perhaps not unlike how DS Studios were asking for an opportunity to upgrade 
without paying the price of fully supported and developped software, except in 
our case, most Softimage users didn't have licenses themselves.
[cid:image001.gif@01D0EFC1.F5747100]joeydanna:

I just think its absurd for avid to ask full price for the upgrade, especially 
when it will only be available until the end of september.



My plan was to upgrade next year. I can't really afford to right now. So 
basically my options are stay on 10.3 forever, or pay full price for an upgrade 
on a dead product, and do it much sooner then i was originally planning to.

Honestly - all i really want is the upgrade to windows 7. $5,000 is a hard pill 
to swallow for that. It was worth it for the upgrade when the system was still 
being developed, and staying current mattered. $5k to upgrade a dead-end 
system, that will no matter what eventually have to be retired just isn't worth 
it.



Avid: *please* think about discounting or comping 10.x owners for the 11 
upgrade.

If i can move to V11, i will almost certainly be maintaining and upgrading 
media composer on the system in the future.

You would absolutely be keeping a long time customer, and I know i'm not the 
only one out there.



Exactly the same here!

We've got 2 DS 10.2 workstations. The main reason I'd like to upgrade now is 
the win7 (x64) official support. As a faithful Avid customer we already 
upgraded 2 times our 2 DS workstations in 5 years (including full hardware 
upgrade).

Since Avid DS EOL, I'm wondering if Avid will offer or at least discount the 
10.x to 11.1 update?

___

Re: DS 11 cost?

Marianna<http://community.avid.com/members/Marianna/default.aspx> Avid 
Community Administrator

Anyone interested in DS 10 to 11, ping me on email.  The cost is less than you 
think and comes with support :)

Happy to get you to the right person - so let me know your region.

Marianna


So if a Soft only discount price would be possible (for say users on this list 
and on SI-Community?) ,
I'm quite positive that many people (including myself) would be quite greatful 
for an opportunity to (legally) continue using the software they have grown to 
love over the years and that has marked their careers.

In any event, thanks very much for your consideration,
Jason


On 09/15/15 12:57, Maurice Patel wrote:

These bundles are perpetual licenses

maurice



Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134

Cell: 514 242-6549



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Turman

Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 12:23 PM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: Re: Soft licenses still available for purchase?



Maurice,



Is it still a perpetual Soft license or do you lose it when you go off of 
subscription?



Cheers,

-=Eric



On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 10:26 AM, Maurice 

RE: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Tim,
Yes you can purchase “Maya with Softimage” or “3ds Max with Softimage” as 
individual licenses. You need to contact your reseller to place a purchase 
order with Autodesk as the offer Is not available through the estore.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tim Crowson
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 10:57 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

A while back we were informed that Autodesk was still selling individual 
licenses of Softimage, but we had to go through a local reseller or something 
(?). Does anyone know if this offer is still available, and what the terms are?
--



Tim Crowson
Lead CG Artist

Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214
Ph  615.885.6801 | Fax  615.889.4768 | 
www.magneticdreams.com<http://www.magneticdreams.com>
tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>
<>

RE: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

[Maurice Patel]

NP Tim,
It is essentially a bundle of these two products. It is the same price as 
either Maya or 3ds Max standalone. It was created for the transition and 
offered at the same price as those products alone. I think the price is $3950 
or something like that in the US (I am not sure of exact prices)
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tim Crowson
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 11:17 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

Thanks Maurice... What type of license is that and what is the price for this?

-Tim
On 9/15/2015 10:08 AM, Maurice Patel wrote:

Hi Tim,

Yes you can purchase “Maya with Softimage” or “3ds Max with Softimage” as 
individual licenses. You need to contact your reseller to place a purchase 
order with Autodesk as the offer Is not available through the estore.

Maurice



Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134

Cell: 514 242-6549



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tim Crowson

Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 10:57 AM

To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>

Subject: Soft licenses still available for purchase?



A while back we were informed that Autodesk was still selling individual 
licenses of Softimage, but we had to go through a local reseller or something 
(?). Does anyone know if this offer is still available, and what the terms are?

--







Tim Crowson

Lead CG Artist



Magnetic Dreams, Inc.

2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214

Ph  615.885.6801 | Fax  615.889.4768 | 
www.magneticdreams.com<http://www.magneticdreams.com><http://www.magneticdreams.com><http://www.magneticdreams.com>

tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com><mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com><mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>

--


<>

RE: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

[Maurice Patel]

These bundles are perpetual licenses
maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134
Cell: 514 242-6549

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Turman
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 12:23 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

Maurice,

Is it still a perpetual Soft license or do you lose it when you go off of 
subscription?

Cheers,
-=Eric

On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 10:26 AM, Maurice Patel 
<maurice.pa...@autodesk.com<mailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com>> wrote:
NP Tim,
It is essentially a bundle of these two products. It is the same price as 
either Maya or 3ds Max standalone. It was created for the transition and 
offered at the same price as those products alone. I think the price is $3950 
or something like that in the US (I am not sure of exact prices)
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>
Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Tim Crowson
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 11:17 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>
Subject: Re: Soft licenses still available for purchase?

Thanks Maurice... What type of license is that and what is the price for this?

-Tim
On 9/15/2015 10:08 AM, Maurice Patel wrote:

Hi Tim,

Yes you can purchase “Maya with Softimage” or “3ds Max with Softimage” as 
individual licenses. You need to contact your reseller to place a purchase 
order with Autodesk as the offer Is not available through the estore.

Maurice



Maurice Patel

Tél:  514 954-7134<tel:514%20954-7134>

Cell: 514 242-6549<tel:514%20242-6549>



From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com><mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>>
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>]
 On Behalf Of Tim Crowson

Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 10:57 AM

To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com><mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>>

Subject: Soft licenses still available for purchase?



A while back we were informed that Autodesk was still selling individual 
licenses of Softimage, but we had to go through a local reseller or something 
(?). Does anyone know if this offer is still available, and what the terms are?

--







Tim Crowson

Lead CG Artist



Magnetic Dreams, Inc.

2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214

Ph  615.885.6801 | Fax  615.889.4768 | 
www.magneticdreams.com<http://www.magneticdreams.com><http://www.magneticdreams.com><http://www.magneticdreams.com><http://www.magneticdreams.com>

tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com><mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>><mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>><mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com<mailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com>>

--




--




-=T=-
<>

RE: OT: Jurassic World, Mad Max, Avengers Ultron ... money

[Maurice Patel]

Very well put. This is my feeling too. 
Take Kurosawa. He uses movement so perfectly - it is not necessarily realistic 
in that it is heavily staged but it is 100% believable as natural. If directors 
paid as much attention to movement then a large part of this problem could be 
moot. With so many people involved in the CG production it is hard to fault the 
artists (they can make improvements but cannot save a badly directed movie), it 
really does fall on the director to make sure (s)he is getting the right 
performance, whether its real or CG, and that requires flawless planning, 
coordination and a vision of what the end result should be. It can't really be 
delegated.
maurice

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 5:00 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: OT: Jurassic World, Mad Max, Avengers Ultron ... money


I can go on, but the problem is everybody is trying to tell stories through FX 
rather than having the FX support the story.  So much emphasis is put on the 
'look' that it fails to consider the more important element - motion. 

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Will there be an SP2 for Softimage 2015?

[Maurice Patel]

HI Eric,
I am not sure about the status of the bug you reported, you had best contact 
support for that while still on Subscription. Your current license for 
Softimage is perpetual so you can continue to use it even if you do not renew 
subscription. If service packs are issued they are made available to all 
license holders whether they are on Subscription or not. Only extensions are 
reserved for Subscription customers and we are not developing new extensions 
for Softimage.
Hope that helps
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Turman
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 9:27 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Will there be an SP2 for Softimage 2015?

I had posted a replicable and verified bug regarding the fact that a few--and 
likely many--commands do not iterate over multiple deltas attached to a 
reference model. While I have no idea if that bug is a low enough hanging fruit 
to fix before all of us lose support in 2016, I also have no idea whether or 
not we will even be seeing an SP2 for Softimage. As my subscription is coming 
due in a couple months, I am wondering if it will even be worth it. It 
certainly is not worth it for Maya (even with Bifrost.) Also I am still unclear 
as to the status of the permanent license of Softimage if I do another 
subscription.

Thanks,
-=Eric
--




-=T=-
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Softimage Digest, Vol 74, Issue 45

[Maurice Patel]

Softimage licenses issued are perpetual licenses so you can use them in 
perpetuity. If you opted for the Maya or 3ds Max bundle this bundle is being 
retired. So when we ship a future version of 3ds Max or Maya after that date it 
will no longer be an option that includes Softimage, Instead those who have 
previously purchased the bundle will be able to download the software and 
license it (if the need to for some reason) via the subs center. 

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 11:51 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Softimage Digest, Vol 74, Issue 45

It's still a bit unclear: the 8 dec FAQ states After Feb 1, 2016 the special 
transition offering will be retired. 
After that date, Subscription customers will only receive new licenses of 
either Maya or 3ds Max with their future upgrades. 
However Subscription customers will be able to continue to access Softimage 
software and licenses through the Subscription Center.
Implying, if I read this correctly, Softimage to only be a subscription benefit.
But: I do not claim to understand any of this and it's not my job to do so, 
luckily...

Greetz
Leendert
AKA Hirazi Blue

-- 

Leendert A. Hartog AKA Hirazi Blue
Administrator NOT the owner of si-community.com

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Softimage Digest, Vol 74, Issue 45

[Maurice Patel]

No need to apologize :) - Our back end mechanics aren't exactly the simplest :(


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 12:05 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Softimage Digest, Vol 74, Issue 45

Good to know.
Sorry for the added confusion.

Greetz
Leendert

-- 

Leendert A. Hartog AKA Hirazi Blue
Administrator NOT the owner of si-community.com

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: A freelance job.... really?

[Maurice Patel]

It's a typo. He meant a budget of 4,000,000.

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: A freelance job.... really?

[Maurice Patel]

And throw in a previs for free because it is such a deal!


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Neese
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2014 12:06 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A freelance job really?

Let's see if my basic math is up to par.

188 seconds... let's say 24fps4,512 frames * (Let's just say by some 
miracle) 30 minutes a frame total with all passes... 135,360 rendering 
minutes...Let's say I had happened to have 5 servers running full time in my 
walk in closet as a freelance artist. 27,072 Minutes on each machine... That's 
19 days of rendering...just rendering assuming no issues...everything looks 
great and we are a 1:1 (Because our storyboards are so great and we even did 
animatics).  If I had to farm that out at 5 dollars per machine hour (12 
core/hours) $2,256

Shoot that leave $1,744 for modeling, rigging, animation, texture creation, 
texturing, lighting, simulation, custom tools, setting up render jobs, etc.  
I'm in!

On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 10:26 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
I am sorely tempted to register on the site just to send

Hahahahahaha!

As a response.



From: Paul Griswold 
pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.commailto:pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Friday 27 June 2014 at 4:47 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A freelance job really?

My favorite is (and I get this kind of email at least once a month):

 I have written a children's book and I need an animator to bring it to life.  
I don't have a budget, but you will get a lot of exposure and I will use you 
for all my future projects once this one gets off the ground.  I only need a 
very short animation.. probably only around 15-20 minutes, so it won't take you 
very long to do the work.  But it needs to be the same level of quality as 
Shrek or Toy Story, so I need your assurances that you'll produce high-quality 
work...

Classic.  Someone I've never heard of, with a book nobody has bought wants me 
to work for free so I can get the chance to have them hire me again someday 
once they hit it big...

-Paul


On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 10:37 AM, Tim Crowson 
tim.crow...@magneticdreams.commailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com wrote:
Everybody contact him, tell him exactly what he wants to hear, then start 
underbidding...
-Tim


On 6/27/2014 9:19 AM, Stefan Kubicek wrote:
I was torn between flagging it prohibited and best of. Ultimately I 
couldn't resist but going for the latter :-)



I know, that's why it seemed odd. Seriously though, is that a legit ad?

On 6/27/2014 9:04 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
No, that seems awfully typical.

On Friday, June 27, 2014 10:03:46 AM, Tim Crowson wrote:

That sounds awfully deliberate.  :-D

-Tim

On 6/27/2014 8:54 AM, Stephen Davidson wrote:

I just thought I would post this freelance 3D animation Job, from
Craigslist,
for our professional animation group's ammusement.

I sure gave me a good laugh

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cpg/4529563953.html

--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956tel:%28954%29%20552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.commailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

/Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic/

 - Arthur C. Clarke

http://www.3danimationmagic.comhttp://www.3danimationmagic.com

--
Signature


--


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   Stefan Kubicek 
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A-2380 Perchtoldsdorf bei Wien
 Phone: +43 (0) 699 12614231tel:%2B43%20%280%29%20699%2012614231
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 This email and its attachments are
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legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

I don’t think so  - that sounds right if you migrated and are on subs – you 
would have access to Maya 2012, 13, 14 and 15 as well as softimage 2012, 2013, 
2014 and 2015

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of John Richard 
Sanchez
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:18 PM
To: XSI List to post
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Is this a new glitch? I have networked set up and can go back all the way to 
2012 in both Maya and XSI.  ex-si support hads great videos on on installing 
and I always use them. Much better than the autodesk website.
http://xsisupport.com/?s=installingsubmit=Search

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 6:23 PM, Leoung O'Young 
digim...@digimata.commailto:digim...@digimata.com wrote:
Hi Maurice,

Just want to be sure I gt this right, I can have versions of Softimage 2015 all 
the way back to 7.5 running on the same computer if need be?

Thanks,
Leoung


On 14/05/2014 3:32 PM, Maurice Patel wrote:
Hi Matt,
Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need 
to migrate it to a new computer we so support that capability (through our 
customer support group). If you need to guarantee access to 7.5 your best bet 
is to keep some licenses. Your Subscription contract only provides access to 
the last three versions prior to the current release (i.e. 2014, 2013 and 
2012).  However, technically we can issue any license we have ever issued (but 
not licenses for versions that were issued by Avid). We only do that in 
exceptional cases and this is almost certainly something you would need to work 
out with Sales first. It is rather rare that we have to do this because, for 
software that old, you pretty much have to purchase a new license anyway (from 
a price perspective).- So why not keep your old one? You could instead purchase 
Maya with Softimage 2015 and keep Softimage 7.5. This would avoid a lot of 
hassle because, as per the usage agreement for prior versions, you cannot have 
concurrent versions of the same software running which would mean 
un-installing, re-installing software each time you switch versions. This is 
all managed on a trust basis. Since all licenses are permanent ones, there is 
nothing stopping you from doing this other than that the subscription contract 
stipulates that you do not. Prior versions were really created as a means for 
Subscription customers to maintain pipelines on 'recent' older versions and 
manage pipeline upgrades over a three year window and not as a means of 
accessing any software release we have ever developed.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hello Maurice,

Is there a limit how far back the license server will go in terms of supporting 
older versions of Softimage?  We currently use 2013 SP1, but prior to that we 
were using Softimage 7.5 and still need to occasionally jump into 7.5 to exhume 
old data which have dependencies specific to 7.5 (we have a ton of 7.5 data).


Matt




From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:49 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi everyone,
There appears to be some database glitches in our back end systems that are 
causing the problems like the case of Leendert. The ops team is trying to 
resolve this. This is a bit like  bug fixing - we need to find and identify the 
problem fix it so the problem does not reoccur. We are sorry if this is taking 
a bit longer than expected. If you migrate you ARE entitled to prior versions 
of Softimage as part of your Subscription. We just need to iron out some kinks 
so please bear with us
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:38 PM
To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

I e-mailed Maurice Patel directly a few days ago regarding

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Leoung,
No you can only have one version per license. Subscription entitles you to 
choose whether that is the latest version (2015) or any one of three versions 
prior (2012, 2013, 2014) as long as you have usage rights to that version. You 
cannot have multiple versions installed concurrently you must choose only one 
version. Usage rights require that you have actually purchased and used those 
prior versions. So for example if a new customer purchases software from 
Autodesk for the first time (with Subscription) they will have not have any 
prior versions to access. A year later a new release comes out  and they 
upgrade. They will now have 1 prior version they can access. A year later two 
and so on.

Prior versions were created so that companies/users could try out new versions 
without having to upgrade their pipeline (which might be disruptive to an 
ongoing production). They could upgrade licenses for testing and then switch 
them back to their production version when needed. 

Please note that we are creating a special exception for Softimage customers 
who migrate to Maya or 3ds Max whereby they will inherit prior version access 
for those products if they had them for Softimage. 

More than three years back are not supported. Exceptions can be negotiated with 
Sales in very special cases and typically only for large installations. It is 
not really feasible for Autodesk to keep supporting every version of every 
software they ever delivered, and the costs if we did so would be huge - and 
would make the software unnecessarily expensive to the end user.

If you absolutely must have access to 7.5 and still want access to our latest 
software the best solution is not to upgrade your license but to keep it and 
buy a new license of the Maya with Softimage bundle. That way you can continue 
forward with new releases and whenever you want to still fire up 7.5. 
Technically though your 7.5 license is permanent the agreement is contractual 

maurice  

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 6:24 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Maurice,

Just want to be sure I gt this right, I can have versions of Softimage
2015 all the way back to 7.5 running on the same computer if need be?

Thanks,
Leoung

On 14/05/2014 3:32 PM, Maurice Patel wrote:
 Hi Matt,
 Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need 
 to migrate it to a new computer we so support that capability (through our 
 customer support group). If you need to guarantee access to 7.5 your best bet 
 is to keep some licenses. Your Subscription contract only provides access to 
 the last three versions prior to the current release (i.e. 2014, 2013 and 
 2012).  However, technically we can issue any license we have ever issued 
 (but not licenses for versions that were issued by Avid). We only do that in 
 exceptional cases and this is almost certainly something you would need to 
 work out with Sales first. It is rather rare that we have to do this because, 
 for software that old, you pretty much have to purchase a new license anyway 
 (from a price perspective).- So why not keep your old one? You could instead 
 purchase Maya with Softimage 2015 and keep Softimage 7.5. This would avoid a 
 lot of hassle because, as per the usage agreement for prior versions, you 
 cannot have concurrent versions of the same software running which would mean 
 un-installing, re-installing software each time you switch versions. This is 
 all managed on a trust basis. Since all licenses are permanent ones, there is 
 nothing stopping you from doing this other than that the subscription 
 contract stipulates that you do not. Prior versions were really created as a 
 means for Subscription customers to maintain pipelines on 'recent' older 
 versions and manage pipeline upgrades over a three year window and not as a 
 means of accessing any software release we have ever developed.
 Maurice

 Maurice Patel
 Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt 
 Lind
 Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:41 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

 Hello Maurice,

 Is there a limit how far back the license server will go in terms of 
 supporting older versions of Softimage?  We currently use 2013 SP1, but prior 
 to that we were using Softimage 7.5 and still need to occasionally jump into 
 7.5 to exhume old data which have dependencies specific to 7.5 (we have a ton 
 of 7.5 data).


 Matt




 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice 
 Patel
 Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:49 AM
 To: softimage

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Matt,

I understand it is frustrating but you can continue to use 7.5. It is obviously 
the right thing you need to do for your production. I would not recommend 
trying to switch that pipeline now. Once the project is over is the best time 
to evaluate changing. With software that many versions back - you would have to 
repurchase whether it was Maya, 3ds Max or Softimage. This is no different we 
don't have upgrade paths for such old versions . However this is why I 
recommend talking to a Sales person. We have been pretty proactive at trying to 
find solutions where we can.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 2:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

So let me get this straight.

We have been developing a project for 9+ years starting in April 2005 using XSI 
v3.5.  As you can imagine, that's a ton of content.  Unlike most film/video 
projects which finish in 36 months or less and can sweep problems under the rug 
thereafter, our product will ship next month and will need to be maintained for 
many years while still needing access to data we created as much as 9 years ago.

We have tried to upgrade annually, but were stuck on Softimage 7.5 for nearly 5 
years because Autodesk could not produce a functional release of Softimage void 
of major showstoppers we could upgrade to until 2013 SP1 was released - even 
then we had to work around some issues to make the jump.  But because of 
changes to the real time shader API and other behavioral changes/regressions, 
we cannot open many of our scenes from 7.5 in 2013 SP1 or else they will break. 
 But instead of allowing us access to a version of the software to keep our 
production going, you're telling us we have to purchase more licenses to work 
around a problem you guys created and forced upon us?

I don't think that's fair or reasonable.

Matt




-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:42 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Leoung,
No you can only have one version per license. Subscription entitles you to 
choose whether that is the latest version (2015) or any one of three versions 
prior (2012, 2013, 2014) as long as you have usage rights to that version. You 
cannot have multiple versions installed concurrently you must choose only one 
version. Usage rights require that you have actually purchased and used those 
prior versions. So for example if a new customer purchases software from 
Autodesk for the first time (with Subscription) they will have not have any 
prior versions to access. A year later a new release comes out  and they 
upgrade. They will now have 1 prior version they can access. A year later two 
and so on.

Prior versions were created so that companies/users could try out new versions 
without having to upgrade their pipeline (which might be disruptive to an 
ongoing production). They could upgrade licenses for testing and then switch 
them back to their production version when needed. 

Please note that we are creating a special exception for Softimage customers 
who migrate to Maya or 3ds Max whereby they will inherit prior version access 
for those products if they had them for Softimage. 

More than three years back are not supported. Exceptions can be negotiated with 
Sales in very special cases and typically only for large installations. It is 
not really feasible for Autodesk to keep supporting every version of every 
software they ever delivered, and the costs if we did so would be huge - and 
would make the software unnecessarily expensive to the end user.

If you absolutely must have access to 7.5 and still want access to our latest 
software the best solution is not to upgrade your license but to keep it and 
buy a new license of the Maya with Softimage bundle. That way you can continue 
forward with new releases and whenever you want to still fire up 7.5. 
Technically though your 7.5 license is permanent the agreement is contractual 

maurice  

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 6:24 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Maurice,

Just want to be sure I gt this right, I can have versions of Softimage
2015 all the way back to 7.5 running on the same computer if need be?

Thanks,
Leoung

On 14/05/2014 3:32 PM, Maurice Patel wrote:
 Hi Matt,
 Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need 
 to migrate it to a new computer we so

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Leoung,

If we could do it easily we would because there would be no downside. Our back 
end and licensing systems cannot really deal with this effectively. Although it 
seems trivial it is not. We just don't have systems that enable us to manage 
this. So we manually manage exceptions and that takes time and is not scalable. 
Ultimately we have been trying to find solutions for customers to facilitate 
the transition but there are some things that we can and cannot implement in a 
systematic way. 

Our licensing policy is actually pretty flexible. I am not aware of any 
licensing managers that let you pick and choose whatever version you want to 
whenever you want to. So I don't think this is just an Autodesk implementation. 
Pretty much every vendor in the industry has similar EULAs and few allow you to 
access prior versions systematically. But then I could be wrong...

maurice 



Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 3:03 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Maurice,

I know you have been very understood and accommodating in the past, but this 
doesn't make sense in a production environment.
We have clients asking us to update projects from 4 years ago, it is pretty 
dangerous to bring old projects into the new version of the software.
This can really put us in a bind. I not asking Autodesk to support the old 
software but just give us the ability to use it.
We are not using on multiple computers but on the same computer, what harm is 
there to Autodesk?

Best Regards,
Leoung


On 15/05/2014 2:43 PM, Matt Lind wrote:
 So let me get this straight.

 We have been developing a project for 9+ years starting in April 2005 using 
 XSI v3.5.  As you can imagine, that's a ton of content.  Unlike most 
 film/video projects which finish in 36 months or less and can sweep problems 
 under the rug thereafter, our product will ship next month and will need to 
 be maintained for many years while still needing access to data we created as 
 much as 9 years ago.

 We have tried to upgrade annually, but were stuck on Softimage 7.5 for nearly 
 5 years because Autodesk could not produce a functional release of Softimage 
 void of major showstoppers we could upgrade to until 2013 SP1 was released - 
 even then we had to work around some issues to make the jump.  But because of 
 changes to the real time shader API and other behavioral changes/regressions, 
 we cannot open many of our scenes from 7.5 in 2013 SP1 or else they will 
 break.  But instead of allowing us access to a version of the software to 
 keep our production going, you're telling us we have to purchase more 
 licenses to work around a problem you guys created and forced upon us?

 I don't think that's fair or reasonable.

 Matt




 -Original Message-
 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice 
 Patel
 Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:42 AM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

 Hi Leoung,
 No you can only have one version per license. Subscription entitles you to 
 choose whether that is the latest version (2015) or any one of three versions 
 prior (2012, 2013, 2014) as long as you have usage rights to that version. 
 You cannot have multiple versions installed concurrently you must choose only 
 one version. Usage rights require that you have actually purchased and used 
 those prior versions. So for example if a new customer purchases software 
 from Autodesk for the first time (with Subscription) they will have not have 
 any prior versions to access. A year later a new release comes out  and they 
 upgrade. They will now have 1 prior version they can access. A year later two 
 and so on.

 Prior versions were created so that companies/users could try out new 
 versions without having to upgrade their pipeline (which might be disruptive 
 to an ongoing production). They could upgrade licenses for testing and then 
 switch them back to their production version when needed.

 Please note that we are creating a special exception for Softimage customers 
 who migrate to Maya or 3ds Max whereby they will inherit prior version access 
 for those products if they had them for Softimage.

 More than three years back are not supported. Exceptions can be negotiated 
 with Sales in very special cases and typically only for large installations. 
 It is not really feasible for Autodesk to keep supporting every version of 
 every software they ever delivered, and the costs if we did so would be huge 
 - and would make the software unnecessarily expensive to the end user.

 If you absolutely must have access to 7.5 and still want access to our 
 latest software the best solution is not to upgrade

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

I think we might be talking about different things. I am not really a licensing 
expert. Are you saying you can use more than one version of your current 
license?
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Greg Punchatz
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 4:52 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Maurice,

 What you and AD simply don't get,  are that projects are never over... The 
client reserves the right to say hey I need that tomorrow.

We have always been able to use more than one version of Softimage in 
practice... I don't understand the rational behind this detail at all.





On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 2:51 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Matt,

I understand it is frustrating but you can continue to use 7.5. It is obviously 
the right thing you need to do for your production. I would not recommend 
trying to switch that pipeline now. Once the project is over is the best time 
to evaluate changing. With software that many versions back - you would have to 
repurchase whether it was Maya, 3ds Max or Softimage. This is no different we 
don't have upgrade paths for such old versions . However this is why I 
recommend talking to a Sales person. We have been pretty proactive at trying to 
find solutions where we can.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 2:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

So let me get this straight.

We have been developing a project for 9+ years starting in April 2005 using XSI 
v3.5.  As you can imagine, that's a ton of content.  Unlike most film/video 
projects which finish in 36 months or less and can sweep problems under the rug 
thereafter, our product will ship next month and will need to be maintained for 
many years while still needing access to data we created as much as 9 years ago.

We have tried to upgrade annually, but were stuck on Softimage 7.5 for nearly 5 
years because Autodesk could not produce a functional release of Softimage void 
of major showstoppers we could upgrade to until 2013 SP1 was released - even 
then we had to work around some issues to make the jump.  But because of 
changes to the real time shader API and other behavioral changes/regressions, 
we cannot open many of our scenes from 7.5 in 2013 SP1 or else they will break. 
 But instead of allowing us access to a version of the software to keep our 
production going, you're telling us we have to purchase more licenses to work 
around a problem you guys created and forced upon us?

I don't think that's fair or reasonable.

Matt




-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:42 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Leoung,
No you can only have one version per license. Subscription entitles you to 
choose whether that is the latest version (2015) or any one of three versions 
prior (2012, 2013, 2014) as long as you have usage rights to that version. You 
cannot have multiple versions installed concurrently you must choose only one 
version. Usage rights require that you have actually purchased and used those 
prior versions. So for example if a new customer purchases software from 
Autodesk for the first time (with Subscription) they will have not have any 
prior versions to access. A year later a new release comes out  and they 
upgrade. They will now have 1 prior version they can access. A year later two 
and so on.

Prior versions were created so that companies/users could try out new versions 
without having to upgrade their pipeline (which might be disruptive to an 
ongoing production). They could upgrade licenses for testing and then switch 
them back to their production version when needed.

Please note that we are creating a special exception for Softimage customers 
who migrate to Maya or 3ds Max whereby they will inherit prior version access 
for those products if they had them for Softimage.

More than three years back are not supported. Exceptions can be negotiated with 
Sales in very special cases and typically only for large installations. It is 
not really feasible for Autodesk to keep supporting every version of every 
software they ever delivered, and the costs if we did so

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi everyone,
There appears to be some database glitches in our back end systems that are 
causing the problems like the case of Leendert. The ops team is trying to 
resolve this. This is a bit like  bug fixing - we need to find and identify the 
problem fix it so the problem does not reoccur. We are sorry if this is taking 
a bit longer than expected. If you migrate you ARE entitled to prior versions 
of Softimage as part of your Subscription. We just need to iron out some kinks 
so please bear with us
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:38 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

I e-mailed Maurice Patel directly a few days ago regarding Softimage Maya 
license transfer, he suggest we should be able to use
Softimage 2015 license and previous version access through the Subs center.
Although I haven't gone through this process myself, too busy with other things.

Leoung

On 14/05/2014 12:04 PM, Ciaran Moloney wrote:
Any chance you're trying to start 2014 while you already have 2015 open?

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 4:17 PM, Leendert A. Hartog 
hirazib...@live.nlmailto:hirazib...@live.nl wrote:
After a long struggle with the subscription center my new Maya with Softimage 
license finally arrived today. So happy, happy, joy, joy (Ren and Stimpy 
style). But there seems to be one downside to this, which those of you still 
planning this transition might want to know about. The new license apparently 
strips you of your previous versions usage rights, i.e. I wasn't able to run 
Softimage 2014 on this new license, whereas this was still possible with my 
recent Softimage 2015 license. It's possible that this has been mentioned 
before and/or this purely a mistake I am making, if so, I'm truly sorry for the 
additional noise, but I thought it was a fact worth noting. Personally I can 
probably live without the previous versions usage rights, but I doubt everybody 
on this list can quite as easily. If this, however, is simply me doing 
something stupidly wrong, please tell me, so I can hunt for the mistake at my 
end.

Greetz
Leendert

--

Leendert A. Hartog AKA Hirazi Blue
Administrator NOT the owner of si-community.comhttp://si-community.com



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Matt,
Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need 
to migrate it to a new computer we so support that capability (through our 
customer support group). If you need to guarantee access to 7.5 your best bet 
is to keep some licenses. Your Subscription contract only provides access to 
the last three versions prior to the current release (i.e. 2014, 2013 and 
2012).  However, technically we can issue any license we have ever issued (but 
not licenses for versions that were issued by Avid). We only do that in 
exceptional cases and this is almost certainly something you would need to work 
out with Sales first. It is rather rare that we have to do this because, for 
software that old, you pretty much have to purchase a new license anyway (from 
a price perspective).- So why not keep your old one? You could instead purchase 
Maya with Softimage 2015 and keep Softimage 7.5. This would avoid a lot of 
hassle because, as per the usage agreement for prior versions, you cannot have 
concurrent versions of the same software running which would mean 
un-installing, re-installing software each time you switch versions. This is 
all managed on a trust basis. Since all licenses are permanent ones, there is 
nothing stopping you from doing this other than that the subscription contract 
stipulates that you do not. Prior versions were really created as a means for 
Subscription customers to maintain pipelines on 'recent' older versions and 
manage pipeline upgrades over a three year window and not as a means of 
accessing any software release we have ever developed.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hello Maurice,

Is there a limit how far back the license server will go in terms of supporting 
older versions of Softimage?  We currently use 2013 SP1, but prior to that we 
were using Softimage 7.5 and still need to occasionally jump into 7.5 to exhume 
old data which have dependencies specific to 7.5 (we have a ton of 7.5 data).


Matt




From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:49 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi everyone,
There appears to be some database glitches in our back end systems that are 
causing the problems like the case of Leendert. The ops team is trying to 
resolve this. This is a bit like  bug fixing - we need to find and identify the 
problem fix it so the problem does not reoccur. We are sorry if this is taking 
a bit longer than expected. If you migrate you ARE entitled to prior versions 
of Softimage as part of your Subscription. We just need to iron out some kinks 
so please bear with us
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:38 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

I e-mailed Maurice Patel directly a few days ago regarding Softimage Maya 
license transfer, he suggest we should be able to use
Softimage 2015 license and previous version access through the Subs center.
Although I haven't gone through this process myself, too busy with other things.

Leoung

On 14/05/2014 12:04 PM, Ciaran Moloney wrote:
Any chance you're trying to start 2014 while you already have 2015 open?

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 4:17 PM, Leendert A. Hartog 
hirazib...@live.nlmailto:hirazib...@live.nl wrote:
After a long struggle with the subscription center my new Maya with Softimage 
license finally arrived today. So happy, happy, joy, joy (Ren and Stimpy 
style). But there seems to be one downside to this, which those of you still 
planning this transition might want to know about. The new license apparently 
strips you of your previous versions usage rights, i.e. I wasn't able to run 
Softimage 2014 on this new license, whereas this was still possible with my 
recent Softimage 2015 license. It's possible that this has been mentioned 
before and/or this purely a mistake I am making, if so, I'm truly sorry for the 
additional noise, but I thought it was a fact worth noting. Personally I can 
probably live without the previous versions usage rights, but I doubt everybody 
on this list can quite as easily. If this, however, is simply me doing 
something stupidly wrong, please tell me, so I can hunt for the mistake at my 
end.

Greetz
Leendert

--

Leendert A. Hartog AKA Hirazi Blue
Administrator NOT the owner of si-community.comhttp://si-community.com


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Angus

I will forward to Steve. Personally I am not familiar with ARC so I do not know 
if it supports single sign-on. It would only be the same login if they do.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 3:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Maurice

Perhaps you can explain to me.

On the new ARC schools website I request a licence for an autodesk product (so 
I have already logged in).

I get the email with the serial number, but when I install and try and register 
the product it says my username / password doesn't exist when it tries to 
connect to register once.

Surely they are the same login ?

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Wednesday 14 May 2014 at 9:32 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi Matt,
Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need 
to migrate it to a new computer we so support that capability (through our 
customer support group). If you need to guarantee access to 7.5 your best bet 
is to keep some licenses. Your Subscription contract only provides access to 
the last three versions prior to the current release (i.e. 2014, 2013 and 
2012).  However, technically we can issue any license we have ever issued (but 
not licenses for versions that were issued by Avid). We only do that in 
exceptional cases and this is almost certainly something you would need to work 
out with Sales first. It is rather rare that we have to do this because, for 
software that old, you pretty much have to purchase a new license anyway (from 
a price perspective).- So why not keep your old one? You could instead purchase 
Maya with Softimage 2015 and keep Softimage 7.5. This would avoid a lot of 
hassle because, as per the usage agreement for prior versions, you cannot have 
concurrent versions of the same software running which would mean 
un-installing, re-installing software each time you switch versions. This is 
all managed on a trust basis. Since all licenses are permanent ones, there is 
nothing stopping you from doing this other than that the subscription contract 
stipulates that you do not. Prior versions were really created as a means for 
Subscription customers to maintain pipelines on 'recent' older versions and 
manage pipeline upgrades over a three year window and not as a means of 
accessing any software release we have ever developed.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hello Maurice,

Is there a limit how far back the license server will go in terms of supporting 
older versions of Softimage?  We currently use 2013 SP1, but prior to that we 
were using Softimage 7.5 and still need to occasionally jump into 7.5 to exhume 
old data which have dependencies specific to 7.5 (we have a ton of 7.5 data).


Matt




From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:49 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions

Hi everyone,
There appears to be some database glitches in our back end systems that are 
causing the problems like the case of Leendert. The ops team is trying to 
resolve this. This is a bit like  bug fixing - we need to find and identify the 
problem fix it so the problem does not reoccur. We are sorry if this is taking 
a bit longer than expected. If you migrate you ARE entitled to prior versions 
of Softimage as part of your Subscription. We just need to iron out some kinks 
so please bear with us
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:38 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions

I e-mailed Maurice Patel directly a few days ago regarding Softimage Maya 
license transfer, he suggest we should be able to use
Softimage

RE: 2015 downloads

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Guys,
Softimage 2015 is now up on the student portal. Checked this morning
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 7:05 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Jon

I figured as such. That's why I have been trying to get something official from 
either Maurice or Steve  as it has rather big implications for the edu sector.

Kind regards

Angus

From: Jon Hunt jonathan.m.h...@gmail.commailto:jonathan.m.h...@gmail.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014 at 12:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Angus,
Yes it was during a call with Steve that he said that the student version would 
be made available.
Obviously me saying this isn't the official answer.
Jon


On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 10:31 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
Hi Tenshi

Only the 2015 versions of Maya and Maya LT are up at 
students.autodesk.comhttp://students.autodesk.com, No 2015 versions are up 
via the academic.autodesk.comhttp://academic.autodesk.com  portal yet.

We are still awaiting official confirmation to the mailing list that the 2015 
version of Softimage will indeed be offered for another year via the student 
site.

I am very angry at this current time. Audodesk gave the EDU community one month 
to sort out their entire future and they haven't been able to answer two simple 
questions and activate the 2015 versions of Softimage in either the academic or 
student download portals in the same time.

Incredibly frustrated. Their whole handling of the Academic side has been a 
joke.


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you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
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and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: 2015 downloads

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Angus,
We are still looking into that one. It's managed by a different team to the 
student education team.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 11:14 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Hi Maurice

Thank you very much.  Now we just need the 2015 versions on the 
academic.autodesk.com site (which is unfortunately still the one I need)

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel [maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 15 April 2014 04:00 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads
Hi Guys,
Softimage 2015 is now up on the student portal. Checked this morning
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 7:05 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Jon

I figured as such. That's why I have been trying to get something official from 
either Maurice or Steve  as it has rather big implications for the edu sector.

Kind regards

Angus

From: Jon Hunt jonathan.m.h...@gmail.commailto:jonathan.m.h...@gmail.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014 at 12:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Angus,
Yes it was during a call with Steve that he said that the student version would 
be made available.
Obviously me saying this isn't the official answer.
Jon


On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 10:31 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
Hi Tenshi

Only the 2015 versions of Maya and Maya LT are up at 
students.autodesk.comhttp://students.autodesk.com, No 2015 versions are up 
via the academic.autodesk.comhttp://academic.autodesk.com  portal yet.

We are still awaiting official confirmation to the mailing list that the 2015 
version of Softimage will indeed be offered for another year via the student 
site.

I am very angry at this current time. Audodesk gave the EDU community one month 
to sort out their entire future and they haven't been able to answer two simple 
questions and activate the 2015 versions of Softimage in either the academic or 
student download portals in the same time.

Incredibly frustrated. Their whole handling of the Academic side has been a 
joke.


This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: 2015 downloads

[Maurice Patel]

Yes, I understand. It will be uploaded to the ARC site I am just not sure when 
yet
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 11:43 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Hi Maurice

Thanks. Unfortunately installing the trial version doesn't allow us to then use 
the arc License (as it only allows up to the 2014 versions)

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel [maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 15 April 2014 05:33 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads
Hi Angus,
We are still looking into that one. It's managed by a different team to the 
student education team.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 11:14 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Hi Maurice

Thank you very much.  Now we just need the 2015 versions on the 
academic.autodesk.com site (which is unfortunately still the one I need)

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel [maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 15 April 2014 04:00 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads
Hi Guys,
Softimage 2015 is now up on the student portal. Checked this morning
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 7:05 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Jon

I figured as such. That's why I have been trying to get something official from 
either Maurice or Steve  as it has rather big implications for the edu sector.

Kind regards

Angus

From: Jon Hunt jonathan.m.h...@gmail.commailto:jonathan.m.h...@gmail.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014 at 12:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Angus,
Yes it was during a call with Steve that he said that the student version would 
be made available.
Obviously me saying this isn't the official answer.
Jon


On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 10:31 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
Hi Tenshi

Only the 2015 versions of Maya and Maya LT are up at 
students.autodesk.comhttp://students.autodesk.com, No 2015 versions are up 
via the academic.autodesk.comhttp://academic.autodesk.com  portal yet.

We are still awaiting official confirmation to the mailing list that the 2015 
version of Softimage will indeed be offered for another year via the student 
site.

I am very angry at this current time. Audodesk gave the EDU community one month 
to sort out their entire future and they haven't been able to answer two simple 
questions and activate the 2015 versions of Softimage in either the academic or 
student download portals in the same time.

Incredibly frustrated. Their whole handling of the Academic side has been a 
joke.


This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders

RE: 2015 downloads

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Angus,
I have heard back that Suites, including Softimage will go live on ARC on May 
7th
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 12:57 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Yes, I understand. It will be uploaded to the ARC site I am just not sure when 
yet
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 11:43 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Hi Maurice

Thanks. Unfortunately installing the trial version doesn't allow us to then use 
the arc License (as it only allows up to the 2014 versions)

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel [maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 15 April 2014 05:33 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads
Hi Angus,
We are still looking into that one. It's managed by a different team to the 
student education team.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 11:14 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads

Hi Maurice

Thank you very much.  Now we just need the 2015 versions on the 
academic.autodesk.com site (which is unfortunately still the one I need)

Kind regards

Angus

From: Maurice Patel [maurice.pa...@autodesk.com]
Sent: 15 April 2014 04:00 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: 2015 downloads
Hi Guys,
Softimage 2015 is now up on the student portal. Checked this morning
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 7:05 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Jon

I figured as such. That's why I have been trying to get something official from 
either Maurice or Steve  as it has rather big implications for the edu sector.

Kind regards

Angus

From: Jon Hunt jonathan.m.h...@gmail.commailto:jonathan.m.h...@gmail.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014 at 12:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Hi Angus,
Yes it was during a call with Steve that he said that the student version would 
be made available.
Obviously me saying this isn't the official answer.
Jon


On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 10:31 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
Hi Tenshi

Only the 2015 versions of Maya and Maya LT are up at 
students.autodesk.comhttp://students.autodesk.com, No 2015 versions are up 
via the academic.autodesk.comhttp://academic.autodesk.com  portal yet.

We are still awaiting official confirmation to the mailing list that the 2015 
version of Softimage will indeed be offered for another year via the student 
site.

I am very angry at this current time. Audodesk gave the EDU community one month 
to sort out their entire future and they haven't been able to answer two simple 
questions and activate the 2015 versions of Softimage in either the academic or 
student download portals in the same time.

Incredibly frustrated. Their whole handling of the Academic side has been a 
joke.


This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message

RE: 2015 downloads

[Maurice Patel]

Hi guys,
The software is being posted today to the subs center and for the 30-day 
trials. I am not sure about the student/edu sites. As soon as I know more I’ll 
let you know.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jon Hunt
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 8:18 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: 2015 downloads

Me too!
Thanks,
Jon

On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 11:43 AM, Perry Harovas 
perryharo...@gmail.commailto:perryharo...@gmail.com wrote:
I need to know as well.

Thank you.

On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 3:31 AM, Angus Davidson 
angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote:
Hi  Marice

Stil not reply from you or your academic guy on my last question.

Any news on when we will be able to download the 2015 versions of Maya and 
Softimage from academic.autodesk.wits.ac.zahttp://academic.autodesk.wits.ac.za

This is very important for us as an new maya course starts in less then 3 
months and we would like some time with the final release version.

Kind regards

Angus

From: Ciaran Moloney moloney.cia...@gmail.commailto:moloney.cia...@gmail.com
Reply-To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Date: Friday 11 April 2014 at 1:29 PM
To: Softimage Mailing list 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: SDK: finding parameters that are inputs to an expression

Hi,
working with a parameter object, is there an obvious way to find if it is 
connected as an input to an expression?
I can go the other way e.g. if a param is driven by an expression using 
Parameter.Source etc., but, I can't see a way to tell if a param is driving an 
expression.
I don't really want to iterate over all expressin nodes in the scene, but 
perhaps it's the only way...?


Thanks,
Ciaran
This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.





--




Perry Harovas
Animation and Visual Effects

http://www.TheAfterImage.comhttp://www.theafterimage.com/

-25 Years Experience
-Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: 答复: Re[2]: March 28, 2014

[Maurice Patel]

It's natural and logical that they believe it and the answer lies in factorial 
increase.
The number of combinations increases as a factorial as both company size and 
customer base increase, and that has a direct impact on interaction. Autodesk 
has more interactions with customers (total volume) than smaller companies but 
the sheer number of combinations makes it impossible to have the same level of 
intimacy between everyone at Autodesk ME and every customer. So there is a 
very real reason why large organizations appear less intimate, they are. But it 
does not mean we  either care less or communicate less or that small companies 
are necessarily more open. They won't tell you everything either. If asked all 
the companies discussed on this list to comment on the following question Have 
never in the past nor will ever in the future consider selling yourself to 
Autodesk? I wonder how many would really truthfully answer that question.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 1:09 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Cc: Graham Bell
Subject: Re: 答复: Re[2]: March 28, 2014

Then why is this what many might believe in the first place?

On Wednesday, April 02, 2014 12:05:44 PM, Graham Bell wrote:
 I'm sorry I wouldn't necessarily agree with the second point below.

 I'm not saying that we're perfect, but there are different levels of 
 engagement and we're not as invisible as many might seem to believe.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: A Good Read!

[Maurice Patel]

That article was a very interesting read. IMO (and I stress that is my opinion 
only): the one big challenge in the entertainment industry is the constant need 
 to be creative which means that as soon as you have perfected your formula 1 
race car, someone now wants it to fly to the moon, or to dive into the Marianas 
trench or do the Paris-Dakar or do something else it the designers never 
imagined doing in the first place - whereas in racing, any given track is a 
pretty fixed entity and the skill is indeed about optimization. This is also 
where ME differs from many other production processes such as manufacturing. 
While it is feasible these days to program robots to build cars it is not even 
remotely possible to do the same thing for VFX. I also agree that usability is 
THE big barrier in 3D. My wife is a jewellery designer and metalsmith who just 
started her first foray into Rhino and is not enjoying it (in her craft it is 
the industry standard). I have not had to replace any monitors yet but I soon 
might be :).

We often discuss this problem here. The Mudbox team went all out to focus on 
usability but there is this unfortunate damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't 
problem in our industry. Everyone wants more in the product and they are all 
doing different things, have different pipelines, different ways of working 
before you know it you have several ways of doing the same thing. And deep down 
people want more features - it is the only thing they really want to pay for. 
While everyone will argue that stability and usability are important they don't 
want to pay for it (and these things are complex and costly to solve). 3ds Max 
2015 focused heavily on these aspects - making five clicks two, cleaning up key 
problem areas of UI such as the scene navigator and we took a beating for it. 
And we know we have to do this for Maya too. The usability 'issue' is a very, 
very real one for all 3D applications and one that I don't think anyone has 
figured out a perfect solution for yet. The curve the author describes is 
pretty accurate. The problem is that you cannot easily keep things at that 
optimal point.

maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sebastien Sterling
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 2:25 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A Good Read!

Here is a better race related analogy
You are a race car driver, you've spent a career diligently homing your skills 
and natural talent, you know instinctively how to calculate angles, torque, 
speed, drifting, terrain, weather, pressure
you can read other drivers movements and anticipate their decisions.
When you go down into the pit, you don't get out of the car to see what is 
wrong, to remove the wheels or refuel, these are not your main priority, you 
just want to get back out there. There is a dedicated team there that take care 
of these thing, that is their job to make sure you and your machine can 
function as one and perform at your best.
It's about enabling an individual's, and giving them peace of mind.
Imagine you are that same race car driver, only instead of focusing on the 
important things (toque angles speed overtaking) half your brain is taken up by 
will it crash will it crash?, will it crash?, should i head down to the pit? 
are the wheels overheating?, what is making that sound? will it crash, WILL IT 
CRASH?
If you can't trust your car to perform, how can you trust yourself.

Now i know that we live in an imperfect world, and that in this industry 
artists are often obliged to get down on all fours and look under the hood. 
However this should not be viewed as a fatality, but an incentive, to build the 
most reliable and program with the most fluid interface that allows your users 
to reach that special place that 1:1 ratio where there is no more keyboard or 
stylus there's just you and the data, and you doing what you where made to do, 
unimpeded free.

This quality this lucidity, to my mind is more precious then all the bullshit 
and bells trotted out each release.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: A Good Read!

[Maurice Patel]

No I had not, thanks for sharing

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sebastien Sterling
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 3:56 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A Good Read!

Maurice, did you see the CAD Junky Zen slim UI presentation ? that is your 
solution right there. show people what it could be like, give them the option, 
doesn't have to be compulsory, Maya has that one thing going, that you can 
completely reshape the interface, every palette, role out menu, viewport. this 
would not be an expensive endeavor. and would give you a lot of good press. 
like it did for modo.

http://cadjunkie.com/zen


On 1 April 2014 20:39, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
That article was a very interesting read. IMO (and I stress that is my opinion 
only): the one big challenge in the entertainment industry is the constant need 
 to be creative which means that as soon as you have perfected your formula 1 
race car, someone now wants it to fly to the moon, or to dive into the Marianas 
trench or do the Paris-Dakar or do something else it the designers never 
imagined doing in the first place - whereas in racing, any given track is a 
pretty fixed entity and the skill is indeed about optimization. This is also 
where ME differs from many other production processes such as manufacturing. 
While it is feasible these days to program robots to build cars it is not even 
remotely possible to do the same thing for VFX. I also agree that usability is 
THE big barrier in 3D. My wife is a jewellery designer and metalsmith who just 
started her first foray into Rhino and is not enjoying it (in her craft it is 
the industry standard). I have not had to replace any monitors yet but I soon 
might be :).

We often discuss this problem here. The Mudbox team went all out to focus on 
usability but there is this unfortunate damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't 
problem in our industry. Everyone wants more in the product and they are all 
doing different things, have different pipelines, different ways of working 
before you know it you have several ways of doing the same thing. And deep down 
people want more features - it is the only thing they really want to pay for. 
While everyone will argue that stability and usability are important they don't 
want to pay for it (and these things are complex and costly to solve). 3ds Max 
2015 focused heavily on these aspects - making five clicks two, cleaning up key 
problem areas of UI such as the scene navigator and we took a beating for it. 
And we know we have to do this for Maya too. The usability 'issue' is a very, 
very real one for all 3D applications and one that I don't think anyone has 
figured out a perfect solution for yet. The curve the author describes is 
pretty accurate. The problem is that you cannot easily keep things at that 
optimal point.

maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Sebastien Sterling
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 2:25 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: A Good Read!
Here is a better race related analogy
You are a race car driver, you've spent a career diligently homing your skills 
and natural talent, you know instinctively how to calculate angles, torque, 
speed, drifting, terrain, weather, pressure
you can read other drivers movements and anticipate their decisions.
When you go down into the pit, you don't get out of the car to see what is 
wrong, to remove the wheels or refuel, these are not your main priority, you 
just want to get back out there. There is a dedicated team there that take care 
of these thing, that is their job to make sure you and your machine can 
function as one and perform at your best.
It's about enabling an individual's, and giving them peace of mind.
Imagine you are that same race car driver, only instead of focusing on the 
important things (toque angles speed overtaking) half your brain is taken up by 
will it crash will it crash?, will it crash?, should i head down to the pit? 
are the wheels overheating?, what is making that sound? will it crash, WILL IT 
CRASH?
If you can't trust your car to perform, how can you trust yourself.

Now i know that we live in an imperfect world, and that in this industry 
artists are often obliged to get down on all fours and look under the hood. 
However this should not be viewed as a fatality, but an incentive, to build the 
most reliable and program with the most fluid interface that allows your users 
to reach that special place that 1:1 ratio where there is no more keyboard or 
stylus there's just you and the data, and you

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Perry,
If you are quoting me, my meaning is that we were maintaining resources not 
investing more and not divesting. I was talking about increasing/decreasing 
resources on the project not about the software itself. Just want to make sure 
that was clear. If you have a team of 10, maintaining resources would keep it 
at current levels. Investing 10% would be increasing it to 11.
Thanks
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/autodesk-answers-your-questions-demise-softimage-31411069
We go through strategic planning each year, and it was part of that process 
that the decision was made. Softimage wasn't an area we were actively investing 
more resources in, it was something that we had outsourced to Singapore and was 
in a continue-to-maintain mode. But it wasn't something we were thinking of 
end-of-lifing until that strategic planning process.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

BTW I just chose those numbers because they were easy to calculate before I 
start another set of speculation
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:15 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Perry,
If you are quoting me, my meaning is that we were maintaining resources not 
investing more and not divesting. I was talking about increasing/decreasing 
resources on the project not about the software itself. Just want to make sure 
that was clear. If you have a team of 10, maintaining resources would keep it 
at current levels. Investing 10% would be increasing it to 11.
Thanks
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/autodesk-answers-your-questions-demise-softimage-31411069
We go through strategic planning each year, and it was part of that process 
that the decision was made. Softimage wasn't an area we were actively investing 
more resources in, it was something that we had outsourced to Singapore and was 
in a continue-to-maintain mode. But it wasn't something we were thinking of 
end-of-lifing until that strategic planning process.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Any such move has short term upfront costs. The hope in making such moves is 
that they translate into longer-term benefits which is what the thinking was at 
the time. I can't go into all the details of what costs what, so my statement 
was a simplification. We make these kinds of moves from time to time. This was 
not the first and won't be the last. Before even the Alias acquisition we moved 
the entire 3ds Max RD team from San Francisco to Montreal. People wondered why 
- it was very costly in  the short term but proved beneficial in the long run 
for many factors not just related to costs. Personally,  I don't actually know 
how many engineers we had before or after and we don't publicly discuss size of 
engineering teams, and even internally we leave that up to RD to figure out, 
because it is often a meaningless discussion without fully understanding what 
the exact experience and capability of each engineer and each team. Both 
increasing and decreasing team size can improve productivity depending on the 
situation. People are people so there is no real formula. If you want to really 
understand the exact details of how an organization like Autodesk functions I 
invite you to come visit us in Montreal. It would be the only real way to begin 
to try to do so. My point was that from an investment perspective the decisions 
being made were not about investing or divesting but about how we could be more 
productive overall with the similar budgets.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:25 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

OK, thank you for clearing that up, Maurice.

So you are saying that moving Softimage to the Singapore team was a direct 
lateral move, not an increase but also not a decrease, in the team that was 
previously on Softimage (apart from being different people, of course)?

So (for argument sake) if you had 10 people when Softimage was in-house, you 
had 10 people when it was moved to Singapore?

I just want to make sure I totally understand you, not trying to trap you or 
anything.

Thank you,

Perry





attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

I think I just answered this to Perry -  text communication just seems to be a 
natural  for reinforcing confirmation biases. I am simplifying and you are 
simplifying in order to communicate using this method, but we are not 
understanding each other - which is why, personally, I prefer to talk about 
things.

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Mirko Jankovic
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:34 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Also in same numbers, if you had 10 people that are experienced in Softimage, 
and you got another 10 people in Singapore, why you haven't added those 10 for 
Maya and keep Softimage people focused on their work.
By you mean AD and ofc it is just rhetorical...but even in that case isn;t 
replacing 10 years long experineced people with less experineced only short 
time transition period training on on software such as complex as 3d app already
reduction in resources?
10 seniors != 10 juniors


On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 7:25 PM, Perry Harovas 
perryharo...@gmail.commailto:perryharo...@gmail.com wrote:
OK, thank you for clearing that up, Maurice.

So you are saying that moving Softimage to the Singapore team was a direct 
lateral move, not an increase but also not a decrease, in the team that was 
previously on Softimage (apart from being different people, of course)?

So (for argument sake) if you had 10 people when Softimage was in-house, you 
had 10 people when it was moved to Singapore?

I just want to make sure I totally understand you, not trying to trap you or 
anything.

Thank you,

Perry





On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 2:15 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Perry,
If you are quoting me, my meaning is that we were maintaining resources not 
investing more and not divesting. I was talking about increasing/decreasing 
resources on the project not about the software itself. Just want to make sure 
that was clear. If you have a team of 10, maintaining resources would keep it 
at current levels. Investing 10% would be increasing it to 11.
Thanks
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/autodesk-answers-your-questions-demise-softimage-31411069
We go through strategic planning each year, and it was part of that process 
that the decision was made. Softimage wasn't an area we were actively investing 
more resources in, it was something that we had outsourced to Singapore and was 
in a continue-to-maintain mode. But it wasn't something we were thinking of 
end-of-lifing until that strategic planning process.



--




Perry Harovas
Animation and Visual Effects

http://www.TheAfterImage.comhttp://www.theafterimage.com/

-25 Years Experience
-Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

HI Francisco,
Did you get me email? I need your contact info so someone can call you 
regarding this. Please can you send it to my Autodesk account today?
Thanks
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Francisco Criado
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 6:57 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Maurice, for the third time now ...(seems you are too much worried with the 
discusion and not with the replies :) ) i would like to purchase a couple of 
licenses of Softimage, and your offices from Argentina don´t know what 
Softimage is, and they say that Autodesk doesn´t sell this product. Can you 
give me a hand with this?

Thanks in advance,
F.

(a simple latino from third world, nothing fancy here)

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Perry,
BTW. That was not an empty invite, If you ever do make your way to Montreal I 
will give you an in depth look at how we work.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 3:27 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Alright. Thank you Maurice.

Very well said, and I appreciate the difficulty in discussing this via email.



On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 2:47 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Any such move has short term upfront costs. The hope in making such moves is 
that they translate into longer-term benefits which is what the thinking was at 
the time. I can't go into all the details of what costs what, so my statement 
was a simplification. We make these kinds of moves from time to time. This was 
not the first and won't be the last. Before even the Alias acquisition we moved 
the entire 3ds Max RD team from San Francisco to Montreal. People wondered why 
- it was very costly in  the short term but proved beneficial in the long run 
for many factors not just related to costs. Personally,  I don't actually know 
how many engineers we had before or after and we don't publicly discuss size of 
engineering teams, and even internally we leave that up to RD to figure out, 
because it is often a meaningless discussion without fully understanding what 
the exact experience and capability of each engineer and each team. Both 
increasing and decreasing team size can improve productivity depending on the 
situation. People are people so there is no real formula. If you want to really 
understand the exact details of how an organization like Autodesk functions I 
invite you to come visit us in Montreal. It would be the only real way to begin 
to try to do so. My point was that from an investment perspective the decisions 
being made were not about investing or divesting but about how we could be more 
productive overall with the similar budgets.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:25 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass
OK, thank you for clearing that up, Maurice.

So you are saying that moving Softimage to the Singapore team was a direct 
lateral move, not an increase but also not a decrease, in the team that was 
previously on Softimage (apart from being different people, of course)?

So (for argument sake) if you had 10 people when Softimage was in-house, you 
had 10 people when it was moved to Singapore?

I just want to make sure I totally understand you, not trying to trap you or 
anything.

Thank you,

Perry







--




Perry Harovas
Animation and Visual Effects

http://www.TheAfterImage.comhttp://www.theafterimage.com/

-25 Years Experience
-Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Perry,

Softimage was marketed. It was marketed in ways that have, in most cases, 
actually proved successful for other Autodesk products but there are many 
factors at stake here. Hindsight is 20-20 but we used a model that actually 
worked extremely well for the Alias integration. We had one rapidly growing 
product (3ds max) added Maya and because of Autodesk's sales and distribution 
channel we were able to scale the Maya business dramatically without 
cannibalizing 3ds Max. Was it unreasonable not to expect the same results with 
Softimage? At the time of the acquisition all three product lines were growing 
fast and so it was assumed so - not that we did not know that it would not have 
its own set of problems - but we felt we could tackle them. When that did not 
work out we changed strategies to focus on Suites.

Marketing is a mix of things: product, price, promotion, place. As mentioned 
above 'place' is critical. It is the means of distributing your product - it 
requires all kinds of investment to do probably including a lot of systems 
integration. We invested in making it available in every EDU bundle, through 
student downloads, Suites etc to get it into the hands of as many people as 
possible. Another is price. We kept the lower price and that initially was to 
see if this would broaden adoption - it did not. The third is product and the 
product is a great product.

For promotion, we invested in integrating it into Autodesk systems and we 
actually invested more than other Autodesk products typically get given the 
revenue tier Softimage was in. What we did not do was maintain a separate web 
site for the product (we don't do that for any of our products). People often 
ask us why there were no campaigns to try and get Maya or 3ds Max users to 
switch to Softimage but the answer to that should be self-evident - and it was 
certainly never going to be a serious option for us. The main purpose of 
marketing campaigns is to generate revenue and so they tend to  focus on the 
where there is a revenue opportunity such as getting Maya or 3ds max users 
current (upgrades). Once we introduced Suites, the best revenue opportunity for 
Softimage was to get customers to upgrade to Suites and that was the focus.

From a business (and therefore marketing) perspective the question was always: 
could Softimage bring in net new business and how? Not how could it replace 
Maya or 3ds Max revenue. Given that it was actually cheaper, replacing 3ds Max 
or Maya would actually have meant a revenue decline not just a swap. 
Ultimately the hope was always that ICE would offer enough value to 3ds Max 
and Maya users drive Suite adoption. That was very much the product strategy 
and where the development team focused and so that is what we marketed. And 
yes I know that Softimage is more than just ICE and that it is a very capable 
all round animation solution - as did Marc Petit and the other execs in charge 
- but the strategy was to build, market and sell a suite of interoperable 
products (which we spent a lot of money doing). As a percentage of revenue 
Softimage got more investment than other products. In total dollar amounts a 
lot less (because it was a higher percentage of a much, much smaller base) . 
So whether we invested or not is relative to what point of view you take.

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 10:39 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Chris,

My appreciation of the effort you took to write all that, and the thought that 
must have went into it is considerable.
I truly and honestly appreciate that you did that, and I look forward (more 
than before) to your second part where you explain
why Autodesk can't just keep Softimage around (and perhaps why doing that is 
diffeent than doing that with Toxik and MatchMover).

Does this solve everything? Does this make me a renewed Autodesk customer? No, 
but your email really helped a lot with regards to understanding the
lay of the land as it has been leading up to now.

One other thing that would be helpful is:

Why Softimage was not marketed. Yes, you can blame (or partially hold as 
culpable) Microsoft and Avid as to the small sales numbers for Softimage, but 
after Autodesk
acquired it, in many ways the marketing was FURTHER reduced. This, I believe, 
leads mostly towards the mindset people have that either Autodesk was trying to 
kill it, or Autodesk didn't care if it died, or Autodesk only bought it for the 
technology and if it sold that was icing, but that it wasn't a goal. Those 
things directly come from a couple things: Lack of Softimage appearing on the 
home page, lack of advertising, lack of features while under Autodesk.
I would be interested in knowing how you respond to that.

Again, much appreciated, Chris.

Perry

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Jean-Louis,

That is not really the case. Our data shows that in the past two years there 
was a significant decline in both new seat sales and subscription renewal 
(note: this does not reflect declining usage as much as that usage was not 
growing and that users were choosing not to renew Subscription for reasons 
already discussed elsewhere). However more telling was what was happening with 
Suites. There has been a consistent but extremely low usage of Softimage in the 
Suites (less than 6% in 3ds Max ECS Premium, less than 2% in Maya ECS premium. 
Skeptics will say yes but that is to be expected why would anyone use two 
animation products. 

Things get very interesting (and telling) when you look at the ECS Ultimate 
though - and remember we are talking about usage of a single user license.  
Usage of 3ds Max is 53%  and Maya is 39% Softimage is less than 3%. So given a 
choice users do use two 3D animation applications, they just do not seem to 
want to use Softimage as much as they do either Maya or 3ds Max. Now before my 
words get thrown back in my face this is just ONE data point and we use many to 
make decisions - and like any data there are always caveats to take into 
consideration with any given data point. 

As to why you feel things were gaining ground. There is a good reason for that. 
There have always been great projects done by Softimage users - some recently 
were maybe more high profile than usual. More importantly, over the past year 
there has been an incredible increase in activity from Softimage users 
themselves, promoting their work, as the community rallied together. What you 
were seeing was more a result of that than an increase in the usage of 
Softimage. And I am not going to argue that this community was way more 
creative in doing this than Autodesk was, is or could be.

maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jean-Louis Billard
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 12:37 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Chris,

And thanks for having taken the time to write such a long explanation.

I too have been around Softimage for twenty years (as a user, but also as an 
instructor) and have followed it along its bumpy road, so nothing that you 
recount surprises me.

However, what *does* intrigue me is the fact that recently, in the last couple 
of years, and despite the lack of marketing push and development by Autodesk, I 
truly believe that Softimage was finally beginning to gain ground. Many, many 
high profile commercials had been made with it, as well as playing a big role 
in a few features (Lego being the obvious and most pertinent example).
This was in large part due to ICE, of course, but nevertheless it seemed that 
Softimage was being talked about more than ever before, and infact it seemed to 
be gaining ground in a few educational facilities too.

Of course I'm not privy to information about number of users or seats sold, but 
I can't help wondering if the figures haven't been skewed by the introduction 
of bundles that effectively show up as Maya or 3DSMax licenses, despite the 
fact that Softimage was the software being used. 

Care to comment?


Thanks,
Jean-Louis



Jean-Louis Billard


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Phil,
Yes, I referred to that in my reply. The question I was answering was whether 
there had been a gain in traction recently. My answer was “no.” I described 
what we were seeing and I explained that the reason that’s subs were declining 
was for reasons already discussed on the list, such as the reason you state 
below. So it is not ‘baloney.’ The reasons you state and that I allude to are 
valid.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of phil harbath
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 2:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

I don’t doubt that people were letting their subscriptions lapse, I let a 
couple of ours lapse to make a statement (look where that got me), the last 
couple of releases were horribly subpar compared with pre-acquisition.   I hate 
that argument, it is just baloney.  I agree with others, with autodesk, 
Softimage dies,  it is just plain redundant and an underachiever compared with 
the big two, and embarrassment to them,  most anywhere else it probably 
survives (I did not say thrive, I understand that Softimage is a niche product).

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: planned transitional training?

[Maurice Patel]

Sorry - It did get lost in all the threads

Yes we plan on rolling out webinars starting in May 

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leendert A. Hartog
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:03 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: planned transitional training?

Well, that's slightly less response than I had hoped for obviously, but in 
itself it's an answer too, I guess

Greetz
Leendert

-- 

Leendert A. Hartog - Softimage hobbyist
AKA Hirazi Blue - Administrator  @, NOT the owner of  si-community.com


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hey don't mess with my baloney
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_sausage
It helped build an empire :)

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of phil harbath
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:11 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwxdzP8rG4

:)


-Original Message-
From: Maurice Patel
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:06 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Phil,
Yes, I referred to that in my reply. The question I was answering was whether 
there had been a gain in traction recently. My answer was “no.” I described 
what we were seeing and I explained that the reason that’s subs were declining 
was for reasons already discussed on the list, such as the reason you state 
below. So it is not ‘baloney.’ The reasons you state and that I allude to are 
valid.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of phil harbath
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 2:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

I don’t doubt that people were letting their subscriptions lapse, I let a 
couple of ours lapse to make a statement (look where that got me), the last 
couple of releases were horribly subpar compared with pre-acquisition.   I 
hate that argument, it is just baloney.  I agree with others, with autodesk, 
Softimage dies,  it is just plain redundant and an underachiever compared with 
the big two, and embarrassment to them,  most anywhere else it probably 
survives (I did not say thrive, I understand that Softimage is a niche product).

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

We wanted an engineering team? I don’t think that as a secret we said so at the 
time

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:22 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

I think every softimage user would concede to the arguments given by autodesk 
if we had all witnessed them try their utmost in the marketing of softimage in 
the past 5 years.
However, it's been obvious from the outset of their plan and I believe that the 
fact this has occurred 5 years post acquisition us no coincidence. It was on 
the cards all along.
Making excuses about sales is a nonsense considering the effort to drive those 
sales.
And if softimage was doing so badly why buy it?  Nothing adds up in autodesks 
favour.

On 25 Mar 2014, at 19:13, Perry Harovas 
perryharo...@gmail.commailto:perryharo...@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Maurice,

I appreciate the detailed answer. It does help to know the details, and of 
course, you certainly know your own business better than we do.
One thing that just seems odd, why did I never see ads for Softimage? I 
understand that percentage wise, it was getting more ad dollars than
Max or Maya (which in and of itself is weird, because they seemingly don't need 
advertising as much as Softimage did, but anyway).
I would expect that I am more likely to notice a Softimage ad than a Maya user, 
because it already is something that I like and accept.
Maybe that assumption is incorrect, but it seems to make some sense.

I don't recall ever seeing an ad for Softimage.

Ever.

I don't doubt they existed, just that I never saw one. I have an almost 
insatiable thirst for CG news/content. It has been that way for 25 years now.
Every day (multiple times per day) I scour the internet for information on 3D, 
Softimage, new CG innovations, software, articles, reviews.
I read all the magazines I have time for, and even if I don't have time to read 
them, I flip through all the major ones, putting aside what I want to read 
later.

With all of that, I would have thought I would have seen SOME advertising about 
Softimage. But I didn't!
The only things I ever saw were articles about Lagoa (not ads, but articles), 
or articles about the acquisition.

Why was that (I am honestly asking, I am not being snarky)?

Also (and this has been asked so many times I feel that the answer to it is 
being withheld because it includes the location of Jimmy Hoffa's corpse), WHY 
WASN'T SOFTIMAGE PROMOTED ON YOUR HOMEPAGE?
Seems like free advertising might be the best advertising when you are trying 
to bring up the sales numbers of a fledgling product, no?

Thank you (and Chris) for answering these questions.
We don't always like the answers you give, we may not always believe the 
answers you give, but that does not mean that I don't appreciate that you and 
Chris are
trying to answer them anyway.


Perry



On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 1:07 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Perry,

Softimage was marketed. It was marketed in ways that have, in most cases, 
actually proved successful for other Autodesk products but there are many 
factors at stake here. Hindsight is 20-20 but we used a model that actually 
worked extremely well for the Alias integration. We had one rapidly growing 
product (3ds max) added Maya and because of Autodesk's sales and distribution 
channel we were able to scale the Maya business dramatically without 
cannibalizing 3ds Max. Was it unreasonable not to expect the same results with 
Softimage? At the time of the acquisition all three product lines were growing 
fast and so it was assumed so - not that we did not know that it would not have 
its own set of problems - but we felt we could tackle them. When that did not 
work out we changed strategies to focus on Suites.

Marketing is a mix of things: product, price, promotion, place. As mentioned 
above 'place' is critical. It is the means of distributing your product - it 
requires all kinds of investment to do probably including a lot of systems 
integration. We invested in making it available in every EDU bundle, through 
student downloads, Suites etc to get it into the hands of as many people as 
possible. Another is price. We kept the lower price and that initially was to 
see if this would broaden adoption - it did not. The third is product and the 
product is a great product.

For promotion, we invested in integrating it into Autodesk systems and we 
actually invested more than other Autodesk products typically get given the 
revenue tier Softimage was in. What we did not do was maintain a separate web 
site for the product (we don't do that for any of our products). People often 
ask us why there were no campaigns to try and get Maya or 3ds Max users to 
switch to Softimage but the answer to that should be self-evident

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

No, and we are going round in circles as multiple topics are getting meshed 
together. I doubt anything I can write will make you less furious. If you want 
to talk I am open to that. 
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Bk
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:55 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

So from the outset, you bought Softimage with the view to take all the 
engineers from it and put them onto another product?
If that is the case why not just be upfront about it and say this was your 5 
year plan instead of pretending you respected the userbase and pretending 
wanted to continue Softimage, then suddenly giving a months notice regarding 
the purchases of new licences?
Ive been frantic all month trying to figure out what I can or can't do with my 
new as yet unformed company regarding buying licences. 
I'm sorry, but I'm still furious. 




attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

If you mash up bits of different emails you can make me say anything you want :)
Chris and I have gone over this several times in past emails. In 2008 the world 
was very different. When we acquired Softimage we told everyone that we were 
doing it for two reasons. Softimage was good product and there was a highly 
trained and skilled engineering team that we wanted to work on other projects 
we had in mind. We already discussed this. 
maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Rob Chapman
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 4:07 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

please do! if your conversation can satisfy Paul then am sure a lot more of us 
will feel a heck of a lot more assured.

the main issue being.  you 'suddenly discover' the fact that you have
3 competing products. if we knew this was to happen 5 years ago, myself, Paul 
and many others would have a 5 year head start on what we now are forced to 
embark upon.

on one hand you say we did not plan this and in the other you say this is 
what we said at the beginning

does. not. compute.




On 25 March 2014 19:59, Maurice Patel maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
 . If you want to talk I am open to that.
 maurice
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Yes the frustration is natural - I understand that
If only the world were simple and clear cut :(. Neither A  nor B is an adequate 
description of what happened and what did includes aspects of both. Also I 
would not say we put 100% of our effort into Softimage. That was never the 
case, we are always balancing efforts. Softimage was run as a separate division 
at Avid and was 100% focused on its products pre-acquisition - but they had 
also had to make some tough decisions to EOL some of their products. But yes 
that 100% focus was lost when it was acquired as it is for any company that 
gets acquired. No-one wanted to cause hardship to any of our users (3ds Max, 
Maya or Softimage). The dynamics of human systems are chaotic, it is never 
possible to fully predict outcomes.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Paul Griswold
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 4:16 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

You do see the frustration here, right Maurice?

By nature I'd say most Softimage users are very logical, straight forward, 
thinking individuals who quite often either own their own business or work as 
freelancers and therefore have a good understanding of how to run a business.

Every reason given so far for this entire situation seems to fall under the 
concept of plausible deniability because otherwise none of it makes sense.  
You have to believe that Softimage either A. had an incredible string of bad 
luck which, despite Autodesk giving 100% of it's effort to develop, market and 
sell the product, caused it to fail.  or B. Autodesk bought Softimage for it's 
patents, technology and developers, then intentionally marginalized Softimage 
to the point of where a business case could be made to shut it down and force 
users to move to Maya.

-Paul

I think...a more reasonable view...[is] trying to allow customers to do what 
they want to do instead of being heavy-handed and forcing customers to do 
things that are in their best interest.  - Carl Bass


On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 3:59 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
No, and we are going round in circles as multiple topics are getting meshed 
together. I doubt anything I can write will make you less furious. If you want 
to talk I am open to that.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Bk
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:55 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass
So from the outset, you bought Softimage with the view to take all the 
engineers from it and put them onto another product?
If that is the case why not just be upfront about it and say this was your 5 
year plan instead of pretending you respected the userbase and pretending 
wanted to continue Softimage, then suddenly giving a months notice regarding 
the purchases of new licences?
Ive been frantic all month trying to figure out what I can or can't do with my 
new as yet unformed company regarding buying licences.
I'm sorry, but I'm still furious.




attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Rob,
We moved people off of other teams to work on Skyline too. And we did not say 
anything to those users either - resources get moved around regularly in 
organizations from project to project This is one of the reasons why we try to 
avoid getting into discussions about how many engineers are working on X, Y or 
Z - especially as that can always be subjective in terms of output sometimes a 
small team can be more productive than a big team and vice versa. When we moved 
all the Montreal engineers off of Softimage and moved development to Singapore 
we did talk about it.
maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Rob Chapman
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 5:51 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Maurice

yes sorry, my previous mail the 'you' was much more directed at Autodesk the 
entity than you personally, I hope you understand.  and yes it was mashed, but 
I hope to elaborate.

Now that 'you' (Autodesk) are making it is very clear that those great 
engineers that were moved onto other projects were one part of the reason for 
purchase, the other was Softimage the product. but at the time , whilst 
assuring us the existing customers of Softimage the product was going to be ok 
eg 'the future is bright' etc I do feel that the Softimage user base at that 
time were never informed properly of the true extent of the engineer stripping 
until long afterwards .

this is perhaps one of those lingering disagreeable tastes as is feels like 
your obligation was fulfilled with minimum effort whereas back then there was 
not a sense of EOL as we were assured the product was going to be ok. as long 
as it was sold as a plugin. or a suite. or not all...

so to clarify. with some actual history because yes I am not entirely sure of 
the facts here and others may be more clued :) but at what point were the 
Softimage customers informed that the entire engineering team had been moved to 
a new application? was this only, as you say in Autodesk's statement of intent? 
as this, in my opinion, was never truly communicated and somewhat hidden to the 
user base until much later on.
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Francisco. I am waiting an internal reply on this one. I do not know why 
your reseller cannot sell you Softimage or is saying this.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Francisco Criado
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 6:57 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Hi Maurice, for the third time now ...(seems you are too much worried with the 
discusion and not with the replies :) ) i would like to purchase a couple of 
licenses of Softimage, and your offices from Argentina don´t know what 
Softimage is, and they say that Autodesk doesn´t sell this product. Can you 
give me a hand with this?

Thanks in advance,
F.

(a simple latino from third world, nothing fancy here)

2014-03-25 19:45 GMT-03:00 Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com:
Hi Rob,
We moved people off of other teams to work on Skyline too. And we did not say 
anything to those users either - resources get moved around regularly in 
organizations from project to project This is one of the reasons why we try to 
avoid getting into discussions about how many engineers are working on X, Y or 
Z - especially as that can always be subjective in terms of output sometimes a 
small team can be more productive than a big team and vice versa. When we moved 
all the Montreal engineers off of Softimage and moved development to Singapore 
we did talk about it.
maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Rob Chapman
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 5:51 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass
Hi Maurice

yes sorry, my previous mail the 'you' was much more directed at Autodesk the 
entity than you personally, I hope you understand.  and yes it was mashed, but 
I hope to elaborate.

Now that 'you' (Autodesk) are making it is very clear that those great 
engineers that were moved onto other projects were one part of the reason for 
purchase, the other was Softimage the product. but at the time , whilst 
assuring us the existing customers of Softimage the product was going to be ok 
eg 'the future is bright' etc I do feel that the Softimage user base at that 
time were never informed properly of the true extent of the engineer stripping 
until long afterwards .

this is perhaps one of those lingering disagreeable tastes as is feels like 
your obligation was fulfilled with minimum effort whereas back then there was 
not a sense of EOL as we were assured the product was going to be ok. as long 
as it was sold as a plugin. or a suite. or not all...

so to clarify. with some actual history because yes I am not entirely sure of 
the facts here and others may be more clued :) but at what point were the 
Softimage customers informed that the entire engineering team had been moved to 
a new application? was this only, as you say in Autodesk's statement of intent? 
as this, in my opinion, was never truly communicated and somewhat hidden to the 
user base until much later on.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: new QA with AD

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Matt,

If it is OK with you I would like to talk on the phone. It is quite likely that 
my answers will just lead to more questions, and I have noticed that it has 
been more productive over the past week to actually just talk to customers who  
have questions. I can call you at your convenience or you can call me either at 
my desk (below) or on my cell phone 514 242 6549.

maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt Lind
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 8:16 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: new QA with AD

After reviewing all the information available thus far, I have one question 
that hasn't been answered:

If Softimage development was outsourced in continue and maintain mode, and the 
product no better than passively promoted, how is it sapping development 
resources on Max, Maya, and other M+E products to reach the conclusion 
Softimage had to be EOL'd?


Matt




From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 4:27 PM
To: davidsa...@sfr.fr; softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: new QA with AD

No this is not what I am saying,
I am starting to understand that every post begets a question and that probably 
the best way to discuss this face to face so I can answer questions properly. I 
keep seeing what I say taken out of context and twisted into things I don't 
mean. Given the complexity of the situation this is understandable but it is 
getting unproductive. So if you are truly interested . Ping me off-forum 
letting me know where and where to call
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of David Saber
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 7:22 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: new QA with AD

So if I understand correctly, Softimage is dead because of an AD mistake, right?
AD buys Softimage, puts all its developers on this new technology called 
Skyline. They keep Softimage in life support, knowing it will be replaced 
some day by all this new tech. The community is worried with the lack of 
development and keeps asking what's the roadmap for Soft, to no avail. Then AD 
realizes Skyline wasn't a good idea. So they kill all these new tech plans. And 
as Softimage has no more future replacement, they just kill it as well.
And now we all benefit from these superb strategies.

if I didn't get this right, perhaps somebody at Autodesk could answer some very 
important questions asked by Arvid (they went unnoticed I guess):
Maurice, could you explain this, either XSI was supposed to be part of the now 
failed project Skyline - or it was never meant to be kept alive, but only 
bought up for its resources to then be moved into project Skyline and other 
parts of AD ME. Which one is it?
Follow-up question, if it was the first option, how come XSI was never heavily 
marketed anywhere for this purpose? If it was the second, would you agree that 
you were not completely open with your intentions 5 years ago?

David


On 2014-03-20 18:09, rs3d wrote:
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/autodesk-answers-your-questions-demise-softimage-31411069


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: ICE - When will we have todays functionality in Maya?

[Maurice Patel]

Adrian was just trying to give those that are interested some insights into 
where Bifrost is today. Many Softimage users have asked us to know more and so 
we are giving those that want to know as much information as we can. However 
those that don't want to know, or care, about Bifrost can freely ignore our 
answers. It is your right to. But one point we do want to make clear: we have 
never said we will rebuild ICE in Maya. That is not our goal. Nor is our goal 
to rebuild Softimage. Our goal is to make Maya better by completely redesigning 
core areas: modeling, animation, rendering/lighting and effects to make 
something better. In pursuing that goal we will take great design concepts from 
Softimage, as well as new ones the teams create, and use them to build a better 
product.

Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Jason
You can no longer purchase either Composite (Toxik) or Combustion from Autodesk 
as products. Toxik is available if you buy Maya or 3ds Max. Softimage will be 
available too but under slightly different conditions: prior version usage. The 
software industry is full of companies buying tech and discontinuing tech. It 
is not unique to Autodesk and it is not unique to large companies and it is 
particularly prevalent in the entertainment industry.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jason S
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:58 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Maybe.. but the point is they are still availble,  and you can still buy 
Combustion 2008 today.

Saying like We had no other choice but to not make it available anymore can 
indeed stretch credulity.

From Wiki..


Some of Autodesk's retired products are listed here:
· Lightscape 3.2 Was the worlds only radiosity rendering package at the 
time (1991) developed from work done by Donald Greenberg at the Cornell 
Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University Department of 
Computer Graphics.
The problem with this part of Autodesk's history is that it was a time of 
discovery in computer graphics, and Cornell was one of the birthplaces for the 
technology.
In this sense Lightscape was more than just another product, it was an 
essential part of the development of rendering technology generally, and part 
of its evolution.
Additionally the software came from a university research department and 
represented the start of a development cycle that users the world over were 
watching closely.

Regardless, Autodesk purchased rights to the software and promptly discontinued 
its sale.
A very primitive version of the radiosity renderer was incorporated into the 
companies 3d Studio Max product, whilst existing Lightscape customers and the 
product were simply dropped.
The most likely reason for this was that Lightscape offered a number of 
features that were simply too ahead of its time and therefore did not offer the 
optimum economic return for the company.




attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

The bundle is a transition bundle therefore it is only for those who already 
have Softimage to get access to Maya or 3s Max for free
Existing customers can also purchase new seats to increase capacity if they 
need to
Softimage is discontinued from sale because we would prefer for anyone starting 
a career or a business not to do so on a product we are no longer developing. 
However if you really want it there is an option: Softimage will be in the 
Ultimate Suite for 2 more years, If you are a student with an accredited 
institution you should qualify for special discount rate too.
BTW - everything has a cost and implementing and maintaining offerings in our 
systems is not trivial
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Emilio Hernandez
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 2:59 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

What I still don't understand is why Autodesk cannot still deliver Softimage 
last version to Max or Maya suite, bundle or whatever name it has.
I know they've saying a lot of reasons, but really none of them makes anysense 
to me.

After all we will be buying Maya, MAX seats to get Softimage.  It still means 
revenue from them for a software they are going to stop devoloping, addressing 
bugs or fixes.
Ok. Don't sell Softimage seats perse, but package Softimage like Toxic.  Let 
the user decide what tool he wants to work with.  Just keep the Send to 
Softimage button regardless of the Maya version.
This is no additional cost to Autodesk.

Is this too much to ask?



---
Emilio Hernández   VFX  3D animation.

2014-03-24 12:23 GMT-06:00 Nuno Conceicao 
nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com:
So for what I understood you can buy your first license only till the 28th then 
after this you are able to purchase more.
If you have no licenses after this date you wont be able to purchase Softimage 
anymore... :(
So I would suggest you get in touch with a retailer asap, he will be able to 
confirm this info obviously


On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 6:19 PM, Nuno Conceicao 
nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com wrote:
I think you have until the 28th March to be able to purchase Softimage for the 
first time (not a current client)

On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:52 PM, Martin 
furik...@gmail.commailto:furik...@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Maurice,
Where can I have more info about this ? I was contemplating the possibility to 
buy a few licenses in the near future before the EOL announcement because I 
will most probably have some SI projects on my own and I don't have a 
commercial license right now (I work with my current employer license) and may 
need extra hands later, so If I buy the current version would I be able to 
purchase a few more seats later? Or am I too late for this?

Thanks

Martin
Sent from my iPhone

 On 2014/03/25, at 1:07, Maurice Patel 
 maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote

  Softimage will be available too but under slightly different conditions: 
 prior version usage.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Emilio,
I am not sure I follow the question
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Emilio Hernandez
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 3:44 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

Thank you for your response Maurice.
Another question.  Are you still going to include Toxic after 2 years if I am 
new customer?  fe.  If I open a new studio and I want to buy brand new seats of 
Maya, MAX?



---
Emilio Hernández   VFX  3D animation.

2014-03-24 13:27 GMT-06:00 Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com:
The bundle is a transition bundle therefore it is only for those who already 
have Softimage to get access to Maya or 3s Max for free
Existing customers can also purchase new seats to increase capacity if they 
need to
Softimage is discontinued from sale because we would prefer for anyone starting 
a career or a business not to do so on a product we are no longer developing. 
However if you really want it there is an option: Softimage will be in the 
Ultimate Suite for 2 more years, If you are a student with an accredited 
institution you should qualify for special discount rate too.
BTW - everything has a cost and implementing and maintaining offerings in our 
systems is not trivial
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Emilio Hernandez
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 2:59 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass
What I still don't understand is why Autodesk cannot still deliver Softimage 
last version to Max or Maya suite, bundle or whatever name it has.
I know they've saying a lot of reasons, but really none of them makes anysense 
to me.

After all we will be buying Maya, MAX seats to get Softimage.  It still means 
revenue from them for a software they are going to stop devoloping, addressing 
bugs or fixes.
Ok. Don't sell Softimage seats perse, but package Softimage like Toxic.  Let 
the user decide what tool he wants to work with.  Just keep the Send to 
Softimage button regardless of the Maya version.
This is no additional cost to Autodesk.

Is this too much to ask?



---
Emilio Hernández   VFX  3D animation.
2014-03-24 12:23 GMT-06:00 Nuno Conceicao 
nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com:
So for what I understood you can buy your first license only till the 28th then 
after this you are able to purchase more.
If you have no licenses after this date you wont be able to purchase Softimage 
anymore... :(
So I would suggest you get in touch with a retailer asap, he will be able to 
confirm this info obviously

On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 6:19 PM, Nuno Conceicao 
nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com
 wrote:
I think you have until the 28th March to be able to purchase Softimage for the 
first time (not a current client)
On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:52 PM, Martin 
furik...@gmail.commailto:furik...@gmail.commailto:furik...@gmail.commailto:furik...@gmail.com
 wrote:
Hi Maurice,
Where can I have more info about this ? I was contemplating the possibility to 
buy a few licenses in the near future before the EOL announcement because I 
will most probably have some SI projects on my own and I don't have a 
commercial license right now (I work with my current employer license) and may 
need extra hands later, so If I buy the current version would I be able to 
purchase a few more seats later? Or am I too late for this?

Thanks

Martin
Sent from my iPhone
 On 2014/03/25, at 1:07, Maurice Patel 
 maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com
  wrote

  Softimage will be available too but under slightly different conditions: 
 prior version usage.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: An Open Letter to Carl Bass

[Maurice Patel]

If you buy a license now you will have a certain flexibility later to add new 
licenses. But ultimately, yes, the program was built for existing customers to 
be able (if they want) to transition their licenses to 3ds Max and Maya and not 
really for new customers to be able to invest in Softimage. 
maurice



 On Mar 24, 2014, at 4:36 PM, Martin furik...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 Hi Maurice
 
 I don't think anyone who is going to start a CG career will do it based on SI 
 even if you don't stop selling it for a few months or years! It isn't logic 
 to do it. Only those who are already Softimage users and have Softimage based 
 projects running will need new licenses to use a few years more.
 
 There are still too many projects based on Softimage in the industry and we 
 need to be able to buy Softimage licenses for at least a year or two to be 
 able to pick those jobs and finish them!
 
 I was planning to buy one license soon, go freelance and probably buy a few 
 more later before the announcement. So should I just give up and don't take 
 those jobs ? just because you decided that that was the best solution for us? 
 You should have give us time to plan what to do with our business.
 
 Isn't it bad enough that you discontinue, without warning, the best tool we 
 have to make a living ?
 
 Martin
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On 2014/03/25, at 4:27, Maurice Patel maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
 
 The bundle is a transition bundle therefore it is only for those who 
 already have Softimage to get access to Maya or 3s Max for free 
 Existing customers can also purchase new seats to increase capacity if they 
 need to Softimage is discontinued from sale because we would prefer for 
 anyone starting a career or a business not to do so on a product we are no 
 longer developing. However if you really want it there is an option: 
 Softimage will be in the Ultimate Suite for 2 more years, If you are a 
 student with an accredited institution you should qualify for special 
 discount rate too.
 BTW - everything has a cost and implementing and maintaining 
 offerings in our systems is not trivial Maurice
 
 
 Maurice Patel
 Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134
 
 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Emilio 
 Hernandez
 Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 2:59 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: An Open Letter to Carl Bass
 
 What I still don't understand is why Autodesk cannot still deliver Softimage 
 last version to Max or Maya suite, bundle or whatever name it has.
 I know they've saying a lot of reasons, but really none of them makes 
 anysense to me.
 
 After all we will be buying Maya, MAX seats to get Softimage.  It still 
 means revenue from them for a software they are going to stop devoloping, 
 addressing bugs or fixes.
 Ok. Don't sell Softimage seats perse, but package Softimage like Toxic.  Let 
 the user decide what tool he wants to work with.  Just keep the Send to 
 Softimage button regardless of the Maya version.
 This is no additional cost to Autodesk.
 
 Is this too much to ask?
 
 
 
 ---
 Emilio Hernández   VFX  3D animation.
 
 2014-03-24 12:23 GMT-06:00 Nuno Conceicao 
 nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com:
 So for what I understood you can buy your first license only till the 28th 
 then after this you are able to purchase more.
 If you have no licenses after this date you wont be able to purchase 
 Softimage anymore... :( So I would suggest you get in touch with a 
 retailer asap, he will be able to confirm this info obviously
 
 
 On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 6:19 PM, Nuno Conceicao 
 nunoalexconcei...@gmail.commailto:nunoalexconcei...@gmail.com wrote:
 I think you have until the 28th March to be able to purchase 
 Softimage for the first time (not a current client)
 
 On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:52 PM, Martin 
 furik...@gmail.commailto:furik...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi Maurice,
 Where can I have more info about this ? I was contemplating the possibility 
 to buy a few licenses in the near future before the EOL announcement because 
 I will most probably have some SI projects on my own and I don't have a 
 commercial license right now (I work with my current employer license) and 
 may need extra hands later, so If I buy the current version would I be able 
 to purchase a few more seats later? Or am I too late for this?
 
 Thanks
 
 Martin
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On 2014/03/25, at 1:07, Maurice Patel 
 maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com 
 wrote
 
 Softimage will be available too but under slightly different conditions: 
 prior version usage.
 
 
 
 winmail.dat
 

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Why MAX is not option for me.

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Sebastien, Tenshi
Just for the record. Those features are NOT third party tech that we 
integrated, They are features we built into the product because a lot of users 
have been asking for them. Just because plug-ins exist does not mean the tech 
is a plug-in
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tenshi S.
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 4:41 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Why MAX is not option for me.

That's a joke right? I mean for the Most Requested Feature?... was another 
plugin? !!!

On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 2:48 AM, Sebastien Sterling 
sebastien.sterl...@gmail.commailto:sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote:
Turns out the MOST REQUESTED FEATURE for Max 2015, was a 30$ plugin 
http://www.vg2max.spb.ru/edgechex.htm

and looks like new Layer system and schematic nodel view was also third party 
tech https://vimeo.com/57075455

On 19 March 2014 07:26, Sebastien Sterling 
sebastien.sterl...@gmail.commailto:sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote:
It's just slow, they may have improved the viewport performance but its just 
slow, the constraints are slow.

On 19 March 2014 07:13, Szabolcs Matefy 
szabol...@crytek.commailto:szabol...@crytek.com wrote:
Hehe my PC is in good condition, and frankly has no problem with any other 
software, but Max. Only with Max.

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Alexander Akbarov
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 1:07 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Why MAX is not option for me.

If Max crashes about 5 times in an hour there is definitely something wrong  
with your PC. Max is shitty, old and awkward especially after using XSI, but 
it's very good for archviz. And its is pretty universal because of myriads 
plug-ins many of them much better than Max itself...

2014-03-17 11:26 GMT+02:00 Raffaele Fragapane 
raffsxsil...@googlemail.commailto:raffsxsil...@googlemail.com:

Max is a well known  Frankenstein monster that's only survived this long 
because it has a ridiculous installed user base.
I don't think anybody on this list would have ever have considered it. Even the 
game market has been trying as hard as they possibly can to move away from it 
despite a massive market pull.

It's almost literally the exact opposite of soft in every regard, from its 
history to it's identity.
Can't honestly blame AD for keeping that one alive though, it brings cash in 
with a ducking rake.




attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Why MAX is not option for me.

[Maurice Patel]

The interesting thing is that the ME industry is full of custom and 
specialized tech created to solve specific production problems. That is not 
going to change any time soon because people are always trying to do push 
boundaries (whether in games or VFX) and so build interesting solutions to 
their problems. Taking proven technology and productizing it, whether as 
individual products, (like the Foundry) or as features (like Autodesk) is not 
really a bad thing a-priori -  you could argue it is actually a very good thing 
as it benefits a lot more people if you do (assuming you do it well).

Now you may question our execution, but it is incorrect to think that (1) this 
is not an effective thing to do to ensure the best production technology can be 
accessed by more people or (2) to think that only Autodesk is interested in 
acquiring and productizing proven production solutions and (3) to think that 
Autodesk is only interested in acquiring technology. We develop a lot of 
features in-house including major architectural work which is complex, 
difficult to do and doesn't always reward you with a new 'shiny feature' that 
is easy to demo. We also acquire tech, redesign and re-engineer it, even 
rewrite it entirely, to fit into our products and workflows and yes, if it is 
more efficient to do so, we just integrate it.

But that is not all we do and there seem to be some popular misconceptions - 
such as the fact that the 'plug-ins' that referred to in the links are nothing 
to do with the features that were being described in 3ds Max 2015. Not that 3ds 
Max is Softimage - but it is not just a bunch of plug-ins either.

maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sebastien Sterling
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 8:40 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Why MAX is not option for me.

That's why I call 3DMax a Plugin Container
That not really the issue, maya is pretty much wall to wall third party as well 
by nature.
This is AD not being arsed with developing content, so it looks around for pre 
existing solutions, snaps them up, adds them in, Then they market them as New 
features...
It's not so much that they buy pre-made solutions, there are some really smart 
third party people out there, its the fact they through them in with minimal 
integration and little regard for workflow, that and having a 30 euros 
operator, being your highlight...
In all fairness the max people walked right into that one, they presented AD 
with the easy option.
, minimal effort required.
I mean what the hell can the AD dev's do, do they just re-purpose and integrate 
all day ?

On 20 March 2014 10:33, Daniel Kim 
danielki...@gmail.commailto:danielki...@gmail.com wrote:
That's why I call 3DMax as a Plugin Container, not a 3D package. ;)


---
Daniel Kim
Animation Director  Professional 3D Generalist
http://www.danielkim3d.com
---

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: new QA with AD

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Perry,

The article was a transcript of a verbal discussion so things are a bit 
rambling and maybe not always as clear as I intended. However I don't recall 
ever mentioning that we put Softimage on life support. What we were trying to 
do was see if we could keep developing it more efficiently. Yes we were not 
planning on increasing investment in it and we never stated that we were. 
However we were trying to find solutions to continue development.

I understand your frustration, but what we are doing now is exactly what you 
are asking for: telling you our plans (just as we have done in the past); which 
is that we have decided, now, to do no more than maintain Softimage for the 
next two years. And we are telling everyone that that is our intent. Sure we 
could have made that decision earlier - and then we a would have told you 
earlier - but when we spun up development in Singapore it was because we were 
looking for alternatives to continue developing Softimage not for ways to piss 
off Softimage customers.

It is not true that we do not care about keeping customers productive and 
minimizing disruption to their pipelines and business. Every year we spend 
significant resources maintaining legacy capabilities for just that reason. A 
lot of people ask why there are 6 ways to do the same thing in Maya - well 
because we continue to support the ability to open previous projects and 
integrate into existing pipelines to the best of our ability. It is incorrect 
to think that Autodesk invests millions of dollars into the ME business to do 
exactly this because we do not care about our customers - though it is quite 
understandable that at this point in time you feel we do not care about 
Softimage customers.

For all our products, Autodesk never states publicly what its plans are because 
we cannot (other than in very general high level terms). We cannot talk 
publicly about specific future product releases or features and inevitably 
those are the only questions people want answered when they talk about a 
product's future. We can only guarantee what the status of a software is at the 
present moment. We can talk about goals - such as our goal to integrate 
artist-friendly aspects of Softimage into Maya but not talk about exactly what 
or when. Not because we don't want to - it would make all our lives a whole lot 
easier. We don't enjoy being vague

However if we broke the rules we would go out of business very quickly. We 
would have to defer all our revenue which means not being able to pay our 
employees, suppliers and partners. To do so would be completely irresponsible 
and impact hundreds of thousands of customers in ME, millions if Autodesk did 
this across its industries. This is a very real challenge because the feedback 
from all our customers is consistently - how can we trust you when you do not? 
But you cannot ask us to break rules which were put in place for good measure - 
to stop companies selling vaporware to both customers and investors. Sure if 
you are a privately held company you can say what you want but not if you are 
publicly traded. Now we can all have our opinion of whether public trading as a 
means of securing investment is good or bad for society, but none of us can 
change the fact that Autodesk is publicly traded and therefore accountable to 
the SEC. This is a huge challenge. We have acquired products in the past from 
small start-ups where they had promised all kinds of future features. We have 
then had to defer all revenue on those products until we could actually build 
everything they promised which can take years. Years of development with no 
revenue. And we have done it because we felt it was the right and responsible 
thing to do. So these things are not trivial.

Finally, my comment on the 2-year mark was not meant as an insult. First we are 
here listening to feedback, dialoguing and responding. Changes in our plans 
reflect this so it is incorrect to assume that we don't care and are not trying 
- just because we cannot give you everything you are asking for. Secondly we 
actually are not experts at discontinuing products so we make mistakes - and 
then we try to fix them. Fixing things is not a bad thing. Third the reason we 
had a problem is because we created a special offering for Softimage users that 
was non-standard. From day one customers always had the option to continue to 
use their license in perpetuity. They even had an option to transition to Maya 
or 3ds Max and continue to use both licenses in perpetuity. Were we had a SNAFU 
was what happened on the licensing side if you stayed on subscription. There 
were some incorrect assumptions on our end and we fixed them.

Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 2:53 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: new QA

RE: Why MAX is not option for me.

[Maurice Patel]

Sebastian,

It may be easier to talk because I think a lot is getting lost in translation 
here...

We acquired Softimage for many reasons including a talented engineering team 
and the fact that they had great expertise creating IP like ICE that we wanted 
to leverage for projects like skyline
Open sourcing software would mean removing all parts of the IP that were 
licensed from third parties as well as Autodesk IP that we do not want to make 
public. This would require a lot of resources to do. And then we would have to 
fix it because with all that code missing it would not compile, and even if it 
did, it would not be the Softimage you know today. So open source is not really 
a serious proposal. It seems a great idea but it is completely impractical. 
Similarly selling it is not an option for similar reasons.

It is factually inaccurate to state that we do no  development and just buy 
things. We do a lot. We have large teams of engineers and we invest significant 
amounts of money paying their salaries - you just need to visit our facilities 
to see that. The bulk of our code is developed internally from scratch.

OpenSubdiv, Alembic, Open EXR are not acquired code - they are open-sourced 
standards that the industry is adopting that we support. It seems clear that 
you feel that those standards are of little use but I know that most of the 
industry wants us to support them. Customers are specifically asking us to 
embrace those standards and to NOT cook up proprietary formats of our own. And 
it is not simple to adapt your products to support new standards. It requires 
investment and work.

Bifrost is in-house tech. Yes the Naiad team contributed their expertise but it 
was built from the ground up by Autodesk.

Building a new DCC app from the ground up in the traditional way is really not 
a realistic expectation. It nearly killed both Alias and Softimage. We could 
take that risk if we were a start-up with no customers but we have hundreds of 
thousands. And they need their current products to move forward not to stop for 
the next 7 years while we try to do this. The bifrost approach is a far more 
effective one. Build new components that integrate into the core of our 
applications - as is vieeport 2.0 , the work we have done on the 3ds max 
viewport and other capabilities we are currently working on

maurice



Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sebastien Sterling
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:23 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Why MAX is not option for me.


It is incorrect to think that Autodesk is only interested in acquiring 
technology:

Did you consider the viability of selling Softimage?
There's too much tied into the software for us to do that safely. We've looked 
at open-sourcing, not just Softimage but other applications, but it's not 
trivial to do these things. There's code bases, third party IP, we have to go 
through all of it to understand where all the IP came from.


We wouldn't sell the software. We paid to acquire the IP


 Taking proven technology and productizing it, whether as individual products, 
(like the Foundry) or as features (like Autodesk) is not really a bad thing 
a-priori...
Yadadad... This is basically you going back on your previous statement, after 
realising the obvious fallacy, i get it.


Hard In house developing VS levering capital to buy Third party/free party 
tech, and display them as new features is one thing
But you will have a hard time selling the latter as innovation when your line 
up for 2015 is comprised of pre existing solutions dating back to 2008.
Personally i think it is a good thing that ingenious third party plugs find 
their way into an app, but only when they are well integrated. and i don't 
particularly like seeing something as trivial as a chamfer modifier elevated 
and flaunted as a flagship feature, i completely understand the reactions of 
the Max community.


 Yes, I guess I can start look for an alternative (even though that won't be 
easy) and that's not because with Max 2013 I'm not productive (even if I've to 
do several back and forth with C4D), but because at this point I don't believe 
AD will ever add any substantial new features to Max.

Considering recent Softimage users experience, I just wanna stay away from a 
company like this.

This is you, this is how you are seen, by a comunity of people who's DCC you 
are still supporting. if this account is anything less then soul crushing to 
you as a provider, then you have a serious problem. indeed you may well have 
lost 2 applications this day
I'm pretty sure that somewhere down the road in a few years time, somebody is 
going to posit: Of course ! let's retire max, we can't support another DCC and 
numbers are flagging...


We also acquire tech, redesign and re-engineer it, even rewrite it entirely, 
to fit into our products

RE: new QA with AD

[Maurice Patel]

Sorry Perry,
In my fatigue I may have been confusing threads. I saw several questions asking 
why we can't say what capabilities of Softimage will be built in Maya and when 
and communicate a clear roadmap. That is the bit that would be against SEC 
regulations.
You are right, we can talk about current plans and you are also right that we 
did not do so in any detail on this on this or  the beta forum. I am not 
familiar with the beta forum but these are questions that the engineering teams 
would not know how to answer and are not trained to do so. We have had to defer 
revenue when teams have released the wrong information at the wrong time so 
only a few people are authorized to answer such questions, as a result anything 
other than questions about the current beta cycle tend to be ignored. Also the 
more specific the line of questioning, the less likely you are going to get an 
answer.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:53 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: new QA with AD

Hi Maurice,

What it comes down to is that what you are doing now, answering questions 
giving us ideas of your intentions, is what we could have benefited from before.
You (Autodesk, not you personally) seems able to communicate to us and be 
forthcoming with information over the past week or two. This does not seem
to be against SEC laws (I would hope). Why would I and others who are so angry 
and have no reason to do so, give constant feedback that we appreciate the 
communication
we have been seeing since this announcement and wish it was like this before, 
if it WAS like this before? Answer is: because it wasn't like this before.

Look, I know this must not be fun in the least, and in that way, I sympathize 
with you all at Autodesk. I also realize that you cannot change the past.
But acknowledging the past can sometimes be enough. It seems to be revisionist 
history is more the norm. Saying you are communicating with us now, doesn't 
make us
all think you were doing so before. Is there an SEC law against apologizing and 
admitting massive insensitivity?
Why would many of us be saying this, if we honestly felt there had been honest 
communication before?

I don't think you (nor anyone at Autodesk) tried to piss off customers, and I 
wasn't trying to imply that when I mentioned Singapore.
If you had all been honest with us about the lack of effort that would be put 
into Softimage, you would have (as Adam said earlier) likely seen a rally of 
support for your efforts now.
If transparency (to the extent allowed by SEC law) had been the norm, we 
wouldn't be this pissed off. In many ways, the lack of honesty about what the 
change to a Singapore based
team was about (keeping Softimage going at a lower cost to Autodesk) was 
dishonest not because of what was said, but because of what WASN'T said. Even 
when asked point-blank.
I asked many times, publically, in Betas and in person, if moving the team to 
Singapore meant Autodesk wasn't going to be putting much into Softimage from 
now on, and I was met with constant silence.

You said that you never stated that you were planning to increase investment in 
Softimage. Of course not, because had you, you would have had to due to SEC 
laws.
But you also DIDN'T say that you planned to basically just maintain it with the 
majority of the focus going towards Maya.

You may say that you wouldn't have been able to say that, that SEC rules 
prevent you from saying that. But you are saying it now, and so did Marc! This 
is what I am talking about. I am not talking about knowing about
upcoming features, I know that you cannot comment on those publicly. I have 
known that for all the years I have been an Autodesk customer. I am talking 
about a lack of communication
on par with, ironically, the amount we are now getting from Autodesk.

You can't possibly expect us to believe that you couldn't be this open before, 
but you can now, yet SEC rules prevented you from revealing plans, because I am 
not talking
about future plans, I am talking about the state at which Autodesk designated 
for Softimage a year and a half ago. It wasn't a FUTURE event, it had happened! 
You could have talked about it with no worries about violating SEC laws!

Honesty at that point could have really made a huge amount of difference, and 
gone a long way towards building respect and faith in Autodesk, not destroying 
it. Instead, as always, it was vague. Being vague about the future
is one thing, being vague about the present is another. At that point it isn't 
being vague, it is being deceitful.

And to put my money where my mouth is, I didn't mean to imply that you had said 
Softimage was being put on Life Support. That was MY term, not meant to be 
implied that YOU said it that way.

Perry




On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 5:06 PM

RE: new QA with AD

[Maurice Patel]

No this is not what I am saying,
I am starting to understand that every post begets a question and that probably 
the best way to discuss this face to face so I can answer questions properly. I 
keep seeing what I say taken out of context and twisted into things I don't 
mean. Given the complexity of the situation this is understandable but it is 
getting unproductive. So if you are truly interested . Ping me off-forum 
letting me know where and where to call
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of David Saber
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 7:22 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: new QA with AD

So if I understand correctly, Softimage is dead because of an AD mistake, right?
AD buys Softimage, puts all its developers on this new technology called 
Skyline. They keep Softimage in life support, knowing it will be replaced 
some day by all this new tech. The community is worried with the lack of 
development and keeps asking what's the roadmap for Soft, to no avail. Then AD 
realizes Skyline wasn't a good idea. So they kill all these new tech plans. And 
as Softimage has no more future replacement, they just kill it as well.
And now we all benefit from these superb strategies.

if I didn't get this right, perhaps somebody at Autodesk could answer some very 
important questions asked by Arvid (they went unnoticed I guess):
Maurice, could you explain this, either XSI was supposed to be part of the now 
failed project Skyline - or it was never meant to be kept alive, but only 
bought up for its resources to then be moved into project Skyline and other 
parts of AD ME. Which one is it?
Follow-up question, if it was the first option, how come XSI was never heavily 
marketed anywhere for this purpose? If it was the second, would you agree that 
you were not completely open with your intentions 5 years ago?

David


On 2014-03-20 18:09, rs3d wrote:
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/autodesk-answers-your-questions-demise-softimage-31411069


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Thanks Nicolas.
I do remember seeing that video. This is good advice
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Nicolas Esposito
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 7:08 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

Hi Maurice,
Thanks again for the clarification on the Maya and Max game development focus, 
its a bit clearer now.

I saw all the new features available in the 2015 release, some of them are 
really interesting and probably suit my needs, but I have to test everything 
properly before judging if Maya could be my replacement or not.

Anyway, since AD is showing off their new features and its doing the webinars 
to clearify some aspect of the transition I would like to see something 
specific related to the workflow transition between Softimage to Maya.

Softimage vs Maya - Dorrito 
Techniquehttps://vimeo.com/groups/softimagetutorials/videos/87722342

Here Emilio Hernandez show us the same workflow in order to get the same 
results.

What I would like to see is more videos from you showing using a workflow 
inside Softimage translated to Maya, or using a different approach with the 
same results.
This will help clarify ( for those who aren't familiar with Maya as a daily 
base software, but in general to show how to get the same result inside Maya ) 
wheter or not could use Maya as the main tool in replacement of Softimage.

The example showed by Emilio is a case where Maya lacks the quick setup of the 
technique, so showing the How to in Maya could be an incentive to switch to 
Maya...
Of course I mean comparing both good and bad of Maya to Softimage, not only 
where Maya is better than Softimage

Cheers

2014-03-18 19:34 GMT+01:00 Paul Griswold 
pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.commailto:pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com:
Thanks Maurice,

So the information I have today is - most of my work is done with Softimage and 
there is 0% chance it will be continued.

Autodesk has a 99% failure rate internally with creating innovative products. 
(your words)

Autodesk wants me to move to Maya, an old, outdated package that cannot do what 
I need now, requires significant work (scripts, plugins, etc.) to make usable, 
is not conducive to small shops or freelancers, and there is no promise that it 
will ever be able to do what Softimage can do right now.  Making that move not 
only moves me back to the junior level, but reduces my pay, lowers the quality 
of my work, and significantly hampers my ability to compete.

Bifrost is being developed at a company with a 99% failure rate with creating 
innovative products.  Bifrost is not an ICE replacement and may never be one.

And, apparently in this industry you should not have all your eggs in one 
basket.  Unfortunately Autodesk bought the goose laying the golden eggs and 
wrung it's neck.  Now there's no more eggs.  I also find it ironic that someone 
from ADSK just said we shouldn't have all our eggs in one basket, yet they want 
everyone to buy suites and are trying to emulate the Adobe model  Or was 
that just something you say because there's really no answer for what Autodesk 
has done?

Yes, I think I can make a decision based on that information.


-Paul



On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:47 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Paul, Adam
We do understand that people build their livelihoods on our software. This is 
something we take seriously, although (with good reason)  you might find it 
hard to believe right now. Every year we spend significant resources 
maintaining legacy code so that the new features we add to our products don't 
radically disrupt customers workflows. We really do try not to take unnecessary 
risks with our software. And we have an incredibly long track record  of 
developing software for the long term - one can just look at AutoCAD and 3ds 
Max. Even acquisitions like Flame and Maya have continued to be extensively 
developed at Autodesk as have other product acquisitions.

We have stated and are committed both to developing our core products and to 
innovating. Our decision to focus on 3ds max and Maya was so we could continue 
to do both adequately (not one or the other). We are a high tech company so it 
wouldn't be realistic to expect us not to try to innovate even if the risks are 
high. That does not mean that is all we do.

I am not denying that Softimage customers are now facing some challenging 
decisions. But several have said on the forum, and I would personally agree 
with them, that in this industry - as in any high-tech industry - it can be 
risky to have all your eggs in one basket, even if that means looking outside 
of Autodesk (and there are some very interesting solutions out there). Giants 
fall (look at SGI). We are not immune to that either. Personally, I do not 
think that will happen, but no one at Autodesk

RE: EDU Versions

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Jon, Angus
I am working with Steve Vasko from our Education group on a solution for 
student licenses for students currently enrolled in programs and he will be 
reaching out to those who have contacted me off-list.
The EDU suite is like the commercial Ultimate suite so it will include 
Softimage 2015 for the next two years. He also has various options to help 
educational institutions transition if they wish to. Anyone who needs mode 
details, please feel free to contact me off list.
Thanks
maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jon Hunt
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 7:35 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: EDU Versions

Hi Maurice.
I mailed you directly with the same question a short while ago. Thank you for 
your response (the same as you have just given)
Angus,
Pending Maurice s response, I have expressed my concerns that the education 
community have not been given the same time scale as industry to migrate i.e. 
one month
Retirement has effected everyone in different ways but one month is not 
feasible.

I presume that our institutions ultimate entertainment suite will have the 2015 
version of Soft?
If its the students that aren't eligible for their free downloadable version, 
this also isnt a fair time scale.
I was going to contact my reseller but perhaps Maurice can answer.
We have the Entertainment suite that contains all 3 soft/max/maya
We have a games course that uses max and maya.
when we migrate are we only eligible for 2 of the 3?
We still need all 3 as we need to continue supporting students who are midway 
through their studies using Soft.

Kind regards,

Jon




On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 9:58 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Angus,
I believe so but let me check and confirm
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 5:43 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: EDU Versions

Hi Maurice

Will the edu versions (ie the ones downloadable from the ARC website)  be 
available when the others are released next month ? That only gives us a month 
and a bit before our course starts to change the course from Softimage to Maya.

Kind regards

Angus
This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If 
you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and 
destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this 
communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised 
signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University 
and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be 
legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and 
opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The 
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the 
University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University 
agrees in writing to the contrary.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Tim 
Your point is a very valid one. When it comes to cloud technology we are trying 
to be really pragmatic and not just do cloud for cloud's sake. We are trying to 
focus first on what is really going to be helpful for customers. For example 
many customers asked for rental type offerings so that they could ramp up 
production at peak times and when deadlines are approaching without having to 
buy new seats - but we also offer perpetual licenses. We offer electronic 
downloads primarily but still ship boxed software in regions where we know 
there are often internet issues accessing our servers. We recently surveyed 300 
customers (big and small and internationally) to understand what the industry 
felt about cloud technologies 3/4 said they felt they were important for 
collaboration (e.g. solutions dropbox). Just over 50% said they might like to 
use them for computationally-expensive services like simulations but very few 
are ready to go to rendering on the cloud - but already those statistics are up 
significantly over a couple of years ago. So we will continue to monitor the 
trends.
Regards
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134


-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tim Leydecker
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 4:59 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

Hi Maurice,

thanks for confronting this situation and the consequences.

Personally, I am not happy about the end of Softimage´s development.
I´ve come to like Softimage the most from the 3 DCC apps. XSI, Maya and 3dsMax.

That said, I give Autodesk credit for starting to branchout development and 
research during the last couple of years, including actually taking more risks 
than just resorting to rudimentarily developing a specific feature for a 
specific program.

It seems there has been a shift to first go and do a fundamental research, then 
see where and how this advance can be utilized across the range of individual 
apps.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. Not all those fundamental ideas make it.
I try to remember that now and generally welcome this broader approach to 
advancing things.

One thing I´d like to ask for, thought.

Please don´t fall for the cloud concept. It is not desireable, not even for 
vendor licensing...

It is common in the VFX/commercials industry to deny internet access to actual 
workstations.

Any such services requiring a internet connections has to be abandoned because 
it violates contracts with clients and poses a security risk and a 
business/financial risk.





Cheers,

tim

P.S: http://www.youtube.com/user/Autodesk/videos gives some examples about the 
other softwares/services Autodesk is developing and the progress made in other 
areas hopefully affecting 3d and VFX.








On 18.03.2014 00:52, Maurice Patel wrote:
 Hi Emilio et al.
 About the webinar: First sorry about the technical problems. Google servers 
 and our streaming servers had issues and we lost the service. Yes the 
 questions were screened. We were not sure of the volume of the questions we 
 would get and suspected it would be too high to try and handle onscreen on 
 the fly.  But behind the camera questions were being collected and fed to us 
 - such as Greg and others' question why should I trust Autodesk? - which 
 was the live component. We answered pretty much all the questions posed 
 although we tried to avoid repeating similar questions. We answered the key 
 recurring ones : why don't you sell/license/open source Softimage? Why don't 
 you continue development longer/forever? Why discontinue what we feel is your 
 best/most innovative product. The answer to those three questions are so we 
 can focus more of our efforts on Maya and 3ds Max. Now you may find our 
 answers unsatisfactory but that is why we are doing it.
 We have now posted the full recording should anyone want to refer to it 
 -ultimately there is not a whole much more new than what has been already 
 been discussed on this forum.
 maurice


 Maurice Patel
 Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Morten,
It’s http://area.autodesk.com/softimagetransition
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Morten Bartholdy
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 5:01 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Autodesk webinar


Maurice, could you please post a link to this - I am lost in thousands of mails 
in my inbox these days.



Morten



Den 18. marts 2014 kl. 00:52 skrev Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com:

 Hi Emilio et al.
 About the webinar: First sorry about the technical problems. Google servers 
 and our streaming servers had issues and we lost the service. Yes the 
 questions were screened. We were not sure of the volume of the questions we 
 would get and suspected it would be too high to try and handle onscreen on 
 the fly.  But behind the camera questions were being collected and fed to us 
 - such as Greg and others' question why should I trust Autodesk? - which 
 was the live component. We answered pretty much all the questions posed 
 although we tried to avoid repeating similar questions. We answered the key 
 recurring ones : why don't you sell/license/open source Softimage? Why don't 
 you continue development longer/forever? Why discontinue what we feel is your 
 best/most innovative product. The answer to those three questions are so we 
 can focus more of our efforts on Maya and 3ds Max. Now you may find our 
 answers unsatisfactory but that is why we are doing it.
 We have now posted the full recording should anyone want to refer to it 
 -ultimately there is not a whole much more new than what has been already 
 been discussed on this forum.
 maurice


 Maurice Patel
 Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

 From: 
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
  
 [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]mailto:[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
  On Behalf Of Emilio Hernandez
 Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 5:45 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Autodesk webinar

 Well I really do not understand this Autodesk client oriented policy. But 
 if I was there, at this time at least, I would have come in and asked at 
 least for an apology and will reschedule the webinar.

 What sense it makes to watch a recorded webinar without the live QA session? 
 They were already filtering the questions if it is true that they were 
 actually real questions more focused in the if I have a horse can I trade it 
 for a pony?

 We waited two weeks to hear what they have to offer us that will show how 
 wrong we were for not believe in them.

 This only confirms that we should not believe in them and that they really do 
 not care about us. Seems that the removal of the timebomb was more a taking 
 a step ahead before someone will come with a lawsuit based on damages.

 This two weeks of we are listening you were nothing else but BS, while they 
 were trying to make us sing everything is wonderful.

 Again the door of uncertainty and speculation is wide open.

 Nothing Autodesk has told us about why they decided to kill Softimage makes 
 full sense at all.

 The only thought in my mind is that Softimage was coming from behind even 
 without proper branding/marketing strategy, and their Maya cardhouse was 
 starting to fall apart.

 Cheaper than Maya, less human resources to operate, no big dev team behind to 
 create tools that should be out of the box or to fix things that get broken. 
 Better workflow...  Even without been truly improved since Autodesk acquired 
 it. ICE not only for particles or VFX but as well to find quick workarounds 
 for rigging and precedural modeling.

 Lots of money spent in Maya innovation but that it seems they only bought 
 plugins to Maya brand them.

 Call it the conspiracy theory if you want.  But it makes more sense than any 
 other official explanation.

 Imagine how they will look if Autodesk starts selling more Softimage seats 
 instead of Maya. Even that they have invested a lot in Maya and nearly 
 nothing in Softimage.






 --
 ---
 Emilio Hernández   VFX  3D animation.

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

We conceived to build a next generation technology. We are a high-tech software 
company it is what we do. It is what Softimage tried with XSI and Alias with 
Maya. We do not conceive to kill things. We try to build new things. And 
sometimes we have to fall back on our positions when our attempts fail
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Max Evgrafov
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 10:48 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

This is means you have conceived Kill softimage from the outset

2014-03-18 18:40 GMT+04:00 Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com:
Hi Alastair,
There were many reasons behind the acquisition but the main one was because we 
saw an opportunity not just in ICE but also in the engineering team that was 
capable of creating it. As Marc Petit stated in the press release at the time:
Upon the completion of this acquisition we will be adding Softimage technology 
and products to our portfolio, and welcoming one of the most talented teams in 
the industry to Autodesk Media  Entertainment. Both will help us accelerate 
the work of our Games Technology Group, as we build the next-generation of 
real-time, interactive 3D authoring tools for games, film and television.
We had plans to build a next generation technology, starting with games - we 
called it project skyline. The industry was in a growth period. Everyone was 
optimistic. And if we had succeeded we probably would not be having this 
conversation.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 4:42 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar
Xsi in the hands of Dassault would have been something, Adobe not so much ;). 
AD bought it purely because ICE was such a threat.


On 2014/03/18, 5:55 AM, David Saber 
davidsa...@sfr.frmailto:davidsa...@sfr.fr wrote:

Maurice,
Just one more question: couldn't you have realized that in 2008? Why
buy Softimage if it's just to realize you don't have enough resource to
develop it?
Back in 2008 there were other companies willing to acquire Softimage
and they would have kept developing it, not kill it.
Shame.
David




--
Евграфов Максим.(Summatr)
https://vimeo.com/user3098735/videos
---
Хорошего Вам настроения !!! :-)
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Actually at the time of the acquisition Maya and 3ds Max were about 50-50 in 
games other than Japan. Outside of Japan, Softimage's core has primarily been 
TVC. But this was more about building a run-time tool and so was different from 
all three. It was a radically different philosophy to DCC - maybe too radical.

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Nicolas Esposito
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 10:52 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

Hello Maurice,

What sound strange to me is this: Softimage for years had all the necessary 
tools in order to satisfy game development technology, which is way more 
advanced than 3ds and Maya.
Facerobot, even if old and not updated at all in the last years, is a quick way 
to produce head rigs with lipsync and optionally mocap, and it generate 
ready-to-use models for game engines
Rendermap, altough is a tool that is used right now in other 3d app, is a tool 
which was there since long time, same thing Ultimapper, GATOR ( which is unique 
and Ubisoft had to made their own GATOR inside 3DS ) and poly reduction, with 
many other useful tools.
Not even considering that lots of companies are still using Softimage for game 
development, and companies like Valve and Crytek release their own plugins in 
order to properly use propetary model export into their game engines.

What is not clear is, since Softimage had those tools for a very long time, you 
decided to push Maya into Game Development instead of Softimage, which was ( 
still, not the recent release, but for years ) the perfect candidate for that.

2014-03-18 15:40 GMT+01:00 Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com:
Hi Alastair,
There were many reasons behind the acquisition but the main one was because we 
saw an opportunity not just in ICE but also in the engineering team that was 
capable of creating it. As Marc Petit stated in the press release at the time:
Upon the completion of this acquisition we will be adding Softimage technology 
and products to our portfolio, and welcoming one of the most talented teams in 
the industry to Autodesk Media  Entertainment. Both will help us accelerate 
the work of our Games Technology Group, as we build the next-generation of 
real-time, interactive 3D authoring tools for games, film and television.
We had plans to build a next generation technology, starting with games - we 
called it project skyline. The industry was in a growth period. Everyone was 
optimistic. And if we had succeeded we probably would not be having this 
conversation.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134

-Original Message-
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Angus Davidson
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 4:42 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar
Xsi in the hands of Dassault would have been something, Adobe not so much ;). 
AD bought it purely because ICE was such a threat.


On 2014/03/18, 5:55 AM, David Saber 
davidsa...@sfr.frmailto:davidsa...@sfr.fr wrote:

Maurice,
Just one more question: couldn't you have realized that in 2008? Why
buy Softimage if it's just to realize you don't have enough resource to
develop it?
Back in 2008 there were other companies willing to acquire Softimage
and they would have kept developing it, not kill it.
Shame.
David


attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Perry,
At that time, although Softimage was not an area we were planning on investing 
more in, there was no plan to discontinue it. That decision was only made at 
the end of last year. Last year was a watershed one for the industry for many 
different reasons resulting in many significant changes to our strategy. At the 
time this statement was made we did not even have any plans for MayaLT. 
Unfortunately things can change very fast.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 11:12 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

Maurice, I know things change, but this statement from Marc was only a year and 
a half ago:

Autodesk plans to continue to develop all of products mentioned [in this 
story]. These are all solutions that serve many different customer needs across 
multiple industries and in many different types of workflows.
We are not discontinuing development on any of the products you mentioned but 
we will increase focus in specific areas where individual products are strong.



attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Peter,
That is not what I am saying. We will continue to build new technologies and we 
will continue to do research into new areas. And new projects have and will 
continue to be kicked off. Innovation is 99% failure 1% success. Does not mean 
we will not keep trying to do new and different things but our approaches will 
change and adapt. Bifrost  and Recap are two examples or recent projects – time 
will tell how successful they are – but we have not stopped trying.
maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of pete...@skynet.be
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 11:40 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

“...We had plans to build a next generation technology, starting with games - 
we called it project skyline. The industry was in a growth period. Everyone was 
optimistic. And if we had succeeded we probably would not be having this 
conversation.”

so – no next generation 3D authoring from Autodesk then – that’s official and 
final ?
As that’s all the info needed to move forward really.

Sad how the death of one exciting technology (Naiad) leads to the death of 
another (SI / ICE ) and it all ends up zombified in Maya.
Assimilate or die.



From: Perry Harovasmailto:perryharo...@gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 3:55 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

I would imagine he means Project Skyline.




On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Chris Marshall 
chrismarshal...@gmail.commailto:chrismarshal...@gmail.com wrote:

Which bit failed?

On 18 March 2014 14:51, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
sometimes we have to fall back on our positions when our attempts fail
Maurice





--





Perry Harovas
Animation and Visual Effects

http://www.TheAfterImage.comhttp://www.theafterimage.com/
attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Paul, Adam
We do understand that people build their livelihoods on our software. This is 
something we take seriously, although (with good reason)  you might find it 
hard to believe right now. Every year we spend significant resources 
maintaining legacy code so that the new features we add to our products don't 
radically disrupt customers workflows. We really do try not to take unnecessary 
risks with our software. And we have an incredibly long track record  of 
developing software for the long term - one can just look at AutoCAD and 3ds 
Max. Even acquisitions like Flame and Maya have continued to be extensively 
developed at Autodesk as have other product acquisitions.

We have stated and are committed both to developing our core products and to 
innovating. Our decision to focus on 3ds max and Maya was so we could continue 
to do both adequately (not one or the other). We are a high tech company so it 
wouldn't be realistic to expect us not to try to innovate even if the risks are 
high. That does not mean that is all we do.

I am not denying that Softimage customers are now facing some challenging 
decisions. But several have said on the forum, and I would personally agree 
with them, that in this industry - as in any high-tech industry - it can be 
risky to have all your eggs in one basket, even if that means looking outside 
of Autodesk (and there are some very interesting solutions out there). Giants 
fall (look at SGI). We are not immune to that either. Personally, I do not 
think that will happen, but no one at Autodesk will ever make any explicit 
guarantees about the future. All I can say is make your software decisions 
based on what you see today - anything else would be, to a certain extent, 
vaporware and speculation, especially the farther out you look.

maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Paul Griswold
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 12:15 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

In Softimage we have a production-proven, solid tool.  ICE works TODAY, not 2 
years from today, not in a dream of a product called Bifrost, but right NOW.

Are you telling everyone here who has based their ENTIRE business around 
Softimage, we should trust Autodesk to have a fully functioning tool ready that 
will do EVERYTHING Softimage can do TODAY by the time Softimage hits the end?  
We should believe that after you've just admitted that Skyline was a failure?

These aren't a bunch of ideas or concepts here, these are our businesses!  We 
feed our families, we pay our bills, we survive based on Softimage and now we 
have to hope that somehow Bifrost is not in the 99% failure, but 1% innovation?

Do you seriously want us to bet our future on that?  Would you go home and tell 
your significant other that rather than focusing on a tool that works for you, 
makes money for you right now, you're betting everything on a promise from 
Autodesk??

Who on earth does business like that??  Is Autodesk going to pay our mortgages 
or feed our families when Bifrost falls apart?  Because unless that's the plan, 
I can't think of a single sane person who would go along with this Maya-only 
plan.

This is absolutely a terrible way to do business and everyone at Autodesk knows 
it.  They've just dug in their heels to avoid looking like they've made a 
colossal mistake.

-Paul





On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Adam Sale 
adamfs...@gmail.commailto:adamfs...@gmail.com wrote:

Maurice, in all of this talk the one glaring omission is this. You guys are 
always trying to innovate. You have said success is often 99 percent failure to 
one percent success. Well, in the event bifrost falls by the wayside like 
skyline did, all of a sudden autodesk will have zero node based solutions to do 
the type of ice work we expect of a dcc product. How is that a wise move as a 
company? Its like throwing out the baby with the bath water and seems 
incredibly short sighted. So as we move to bifrost to begin our transition away 
from ICE, we may be in this same mess a couple years down the road if it doesnt 
pan out. Imagine the fallout then.. people will go absolutely nuclear on AD.

Adam

attachment: winmail.dat

RE: Autodesk webinar

[Maurice Patel]

Hi Paul
Just to put my words in context: innovation has a high failure rate in general 
- no matter who you are or what industry you are in. You will have a high 
probability of failure if you try to do innovative things. So this statement 
was a generalization. Autodesk's success rate is much higher than 1%.
Maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Paul Griswold
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 2:34 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar

Thanks Maurice,

So the information I have today is - most of my work is done with Softimage and 
there is 0% chance it will be continued.

Autodesk has a 99% failure rate internally with creating innovative products. 
(your words)

Autodesk wants me to move to Maya, an old, outdated package that cannot do what 
I need now, requires significant work (scripts, plugins, etc.) to make usable, 
is not conducive to small shops or freelancers, and there is no promise that it 
will ever be able to do what Softimage can do right now.  Making that move not 
only moves me back to the junior level, but reduces my pay, lowers the quality 
of my work, and significantly hampers my ability to compete.

Bifrost is being developed at a company with a 99% failure rate with creating 
innovative products.  Bifrost is not an ICE replacement and may never be one.

And, apparently in this industry you should not have all your eggs in one 
basket.  Unfortunately Autodesk bought the goose laying the golden eggs and 
wrung it's neck.  Now there's no more eggs.  I also find it ironic that someone 
from ADSK just said we shouldn't have all our eggs in one basket, yet they want 
everyone to buy suites and are trying to emulate the Adobe model  Or was 
that just something you say because there's really no answer for what Autodesk 
has done?

Yes, I think I can make a decision based on that information.


-Paul



On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:47 PM, Maurice Patel 
maurice.pa...@autodesk.commailto:maurice.pa...@autodesk.com wrote:
Hi Paul, Adam
We do understand that people build their livelihoods on our software. This is 
something we take seriously, although (with good reason)  you might find it 
hard to believe right now. Every year we spend significant resources 
maintaining legacy code so that the new features we add to our products don't 
radically disrupt customers workflows. We really do try not to take unnecessary 
risks with our software. And we have an incredibly long track record  of 
developing software for the long term - one can just look at AutoCAD and 3ds 
Max. Even acquisitions like Flame and Maya have continued to be extensively 
developed at Autodesk as have other product acquisitions.

We have stated and are committed both to developing our core products and to 
innovating. Our decision to focus on 3ds max and Maya was so we could continue 
to do both adequately (not one or the other). We are a high tech company so it 
wouldn't be realistic to expect us not to try to innovate even if the risks are 
high. That does not mean that is all we do.

I am not denying that Softimage customers are now facing some challenging 
decisions. But several have said on the forum, and I would personally agree 
with them, that in this industry - as in any high-tech industry - it can be 
risky to have all your eggs in one basket, even if that means looking outside 
of Autodesk (and there are some very interesting solutions out there). Giants 
fall (look at SGI). We are not immune to that either. Personally, I do not 
think that will happen, but no one at Autodesk will ever make any explicit 
guarantees about the future. All I can say is make your software decisions 
based on what you see today - anything else would be, to a certain extent, 
vaporware and speculation, especially the farther out you look.

maurice


Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134tel:514%20954-7134
From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Paul Griswold
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 12:15 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Autodesk webinar
In Softimage we have a production-proven, solid tool.  ICE works TODAY, not 2 
years from today, not in a dream of a product called Bifrost, but right NOW.

Are you telling everyone here who has based their ENTIRE business around 
Softimage, we should trust Autodesk to have a fully functioning tool ready that 
will do EVERYTHING Softimage can do TODAY by the time Softimage hits the end?  
We should believe that after you've just admitted that Skyline was a failure?

These aren't a bunch of ideas or concepts here, these are our businesses!  We 
feed our families, we pay our bills, we survive based on Softimage and now we 
have

RE: [OT] Autodesk announces 2015 3D product updates.

[Maurice Patel]

I want to be clear - my meaning was that innovation involves risk and we want 
to take that risk for certain projects. We do  NOT accept 99% failure. If uou 
have a chance of 1 in 100 of succeeding on project X that does not mean you 
should not try it. But it also does not mean you should bet everything on it. 
This is true of any company small or large. The further out there you want to 
be, the greater the risk.
Maurice

Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél:  514 954-7134

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Greg Punchatz
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 3:13 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: [OT] Autodesk announces 2015 3D product updates.

And shader effects are 3rd party I believe...and it only works for the view 
port... sigh

Same with the modeling tools...just upgraded what they bought

Here is the problem

The folks in charge don't know that they have a problem... They accept a 99 
percent failure rate as reasonable...smaller dev companies cant afford to fail 
nearly that much.

I will say I am looking forward to that viewport...

and geodeskic binding is uber cool. I wonder how long it will take some ICE wiz 
to make some of that for us :)

On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:59 PM, Alan Fregtman 
alan.fregt...@gmail.commailto:alan.fregt...@gmail.com wrote:
The Maya release feels like a list of plugins to me:

Bifrost... former 3rd-party sw (Naiiad), acquired...
XGen... 3rd-party Disney plugin, licensed...
Bullet Physics... free 3rd-party library...
OpenSubDiv... free 3rd-party library...

The only thing I see that's kind of cool is the geodesic voxel binding skin 
algorithm, but I'd expect that kind of thing in a service pack / point release.


On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 1:32 PM, Ben Rogall 
xsi_l...@shaders.moederogall.commailto:xsi_l...@shaders.moederogall.com 
wrote:
http://area.autodesk.com/march18


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