Also, Here it the address to the thread for context http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/cory/re-introducing-myself
best F ________________________________ From: Fx Person <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2012 2:05 PM Subject: Re: Rumors Hello! just to let you know, yesterday I have sent the following email to Cory Mogk Best Wishes! ( for the holidays and/or otherwise : ) ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Fx Person <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 11:49 PM Subject: "Hello again!" post on the "Re-Introducing myself" thread Hello Cory, to introduce myself, I have posted the Nov 12th post (FxPerson) on your "Re-Introducing myself" thread. I am writing to you because the very next day, I added a few remarks (see below) .. and was immediately presented with a "your post is held for moderation" message. After a week I assumed that it wouldn't show-up (as it didn't since), .. but what made me -NOT- think that "held for moderation" actually meant "held for censorship" (considering that any criticism was written with up-most respect) .. is that .. it wasn't long for myself to consider it to be more appropriate for those remarks to be communicated personally, as opposed to on the forum. So in case exclusively the site moderator saw my post, here it is... (below) (in it's somewhat modified form) Of course feel free to let me know your thoughts or if there is anything that you disagree with, thanks, and happy holidays to you and your family!! cheers _____________________________ Nov 12th post Hello again! If I may, May I suggest (to Maurice?) .. taking advantage of the 2014 launch to perhaps publicly announce something (comforting/reassuring) relative to Softimage? Of course only -IF- the idea would be to *sustain* it's user base, if not to somewhat expand/restore-it or to not basically let it wither away due to (honestly very-much unaddressed)lingering *uncertainty* Especially considering that it's not just media coverage that has seriously declined, but it has also come to a point where **actual SI|job postings/openings** have become either very scarse, to completely absent in certain areas. Maybe something in the same vein as this post from yourself (Cory) just prior to SI's acquisition, talking about the future of Maya .. ironically starting with a quote from a user worried about Maya's future .. http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/cory/whats_the_future_of_maya __________________________ Quote from you giving comfort food for the mind; << What's important about this is that I wouldn't take on this responsibility if I didn't believe in the future of Maya - that would just be an exercise in frustration. >> __________ Apart the fact that concerns of dire situations can currently absolutely apply much more in respects to (x)SI today.. (uncertain future due to (unadressed)uncertainty about it's future) .. but as many, I don't believe that in the best of worlds, that SI would takeover every single pipeline, Not just because I'm in favor of diversity(vs for monopoly) But the best description I heard of Maya, (apart other benifits like PaintFX sweetness & quite workable fluid particle motion+shading) .. was that it was like a "platform" to which it was relatively easy (for coders or artist/coders) to add their own software chunks customized to their pipelines. Doubled with it's ability to handle large amounts of data such as; handling large amounts of scene objects, or handling very heavy dense meshes. (this while Softimage excels at sub-d perfomance ) .. but things which makes Maya very suitable if not absolutely ideal or godsent for large facilities with the means to customize it to their needs. (without suggesting that SI can't be extended or can't handle large scenes) But to be honest, although it may be relatively easy to customize/extend or otherwise "fix", (for coders or artist/coders) .. it seams to be reasonably safe to say that ; With Maya, .. to this day , "customizing or extending" is not merely a possibility, but practically a **necessity** (without suggesting Maya to -completely- unworkable without custom code) But enough that students actually have trouble finishing their projects, and things like MentalCore and a bunch of scripts or "things you have to know" on forums (which are not always made public) .. pop-up here and there just to compensate for just *that*. But needleess to say, "that" is not at-all isolated to rendering, but seems to be consistent throughout the software (reference models.. general stability for certain tasks) All of which makes it's main strength, (natively focused around extensibility) also double as it's main drawback.. .. for any shop that doesn't have dedicated software development (or problem-solving) teams, departments or floors. But since "that" is *HIGHLY unlikely* to change at any foreseeable future, unless Autodesk's roadmap would include plans for an entirely new thing which would fit in ALL contexts.. (which would not come with any guarantees of any form) .. nevertheless, fact remains that there definitely seems to be a gap or a need, or a "market" for something, and I don't think I'm mistaking by thinking that you are absolutely **sitting on it** (!) and that the wheel need'nt be reinvented. Not unlike how SGI was "sitting" on TDI renderer, which was *at least* on-par with MR, which also had IPR.. YEARS before Arnold, and which can easily be considered like a self-defeating "mistake" (Enventually relying on 3rd party renderers) But I sincerely hope that that sort of situation would not repeat itself in respects to Softimage under Autodesk. While being positive that it would be in the upmost interest for everyone, **including Autodesk** to recognize it's share of strengths without suggesting it being "better" but just not the same thing... In other words to be Realistic and objective, for smaller shops (doing high-end work) (x)SI can absolutely "fit the bill" or fill that GAP **out of the box** as an overall package. That's if only Autodesk could consider it (more) for what it is, (as an actual complete solution) which would show whenever it would be mentioned. And I (as many others) would find it rather silly and *quite unnecessary* if it somewhat got (further) compromised due to fear (or childishness) or from Autodesk never getting-over seeing it as competition that it now owns, .. as opposed to actually seeing it as **one of it's own**. Now i would hate to think of Autodesk as a big stubborn baby that just can't get over itself, (at it's very own expense, and at the expense of many smaller VFX shops and many freelance artists) .. but I personally do believe what I said in my previous post, being that .. **there is place for every package** and that each can (natively) be "better" in different contexts. (none *and* both.. being "better" than each other) While Sincerely hoping that (& eagerly waiting to see if) yourself (and others at Autodesk) would share the sentiment, (or to be honest, have more maturity) in respects to Maya relative to (x)SI (and vice versa), for the benefit of Autodesk itself, and the VFX community at large (meaning not just SI users), I wish you the best of luck, thanks! __________________________________________________________________ PS :: The following bits are from a few treads, which i found to be very typical sentiments concerning SI. ( not sure about the " completely new rewritten code" part : ) _____________________________________ December 7th, 2012 about MR integration _____________________________________thetrooper0000 .... Is that true, are all new features exposed by default in Softimage? ____________________________________Remydrh Nope. Honestly, move to Maya. I say this for lots of reasons not just integration related but the overall strategy for Softimage seems to escape Autodesk, or they aren't being clear. Possibly both. mental ray integration in Softimage has also suffered lately and Maya gives you direct access to string options to add features. This makes it a lot easier to circumvent integration problems. ____________________________________thetrooper0000 Honestly mr integration is not the only thing that led me to Softimage. It was hearsay on forums also About how Softimage is more intuitive, "easier" to work with, with completely new rewritten code, smoother work flow, and all in all a more rounded piece of software. But, it could all be a matter of personal preference. ____________________________________Remydrh Softimage is definitely a nice piece of software and is typically stable. But we have migrated away to Houdini and Maya. We are more interested in the consistent long term commitment which is why Maya feels like the safer bet for now. Softimage feels somewhat like it's shifting focus lately but we don't know to what. ____________________________________McNistor Don't make your decision based on fear (of Autodesk killing Softimage) ... Think and inform well before making a decision. .... _________________________________________________ __________________________________________ Dec 20th 2012 I have found that it is very difficult to find work as a Softimage veteran now, pretty much 99% of listings are for Maya users, and unlike the older days when they would cross-train, they are looking for veteran Maya users, obviously to try and weed out the hordes of Maya wannabees - one of the drawbacks of Maya being so popular and accessible. Anyway - even if they are not going to do any of the 'rumoured' actions, AD's marketing direction is possibly drying up the opportunities for us older experienced softies. This in itself is the biggest worry for me, even if Softimage carries on as it is now, to get work opportunities, it has come to the stage where one has to consider jumping into something else! my feeble 0.02c S. __________________________ ______________________ Dec 21st If solving Maya issues was by means of wiping Softimage off the map as a comparison base, then it surely looks like the mission is acomplishing. The sad thing I think is that if for whatever reason Softimage would eventually face it's demise, that Maya would basically stop, or considerably slow it's own development along with it. which would be quite a bit of loss for my taste working with both! P.
