I think the new model is great. You might use the Unity engine/creation toolset as inspiration regarding business decisions, there are a lot of parallels.
I think the first modules are well-conceived. In regards to flora, I would look at speedtree - if you provide a well-targeted fraction of their capabilities at a fraction of their rather hefty price it becomes a no brainer for game studios and feature film projects which want either cost savings or to spend that savings on customization, I should think. I also like the idea of a simple workflow to bring in plants generated elsewhere like in xfrog and adapt them to use (presumably by either reading growth rules?) But I would consider first functionality for non-tree or unusual plant types, and root growth. It might be worth bringing in an artist to make a set of presets and act as a source of feedback. Think weeping willows, Aloe, the amazing trees coating the ruins at Angkor Wat, and a field of flowers. And look at the plant libraries at Evermotion, if you have some images which rival those and a price point at about $1k or less I bet the module would sell quite well. But that's just one guys musings. Anyway well done keep it up, Fabric is amazing and the foundation you've built seems quite strong, I expect one day many of us will be bragging that we saw Fabric back before there were even 1000 employees in the company. :D On Jan 30, 2013, at 11:25 AM, Paul Doyle <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Eugen - thanks for the feedback. At this stage we do not have plans to > provide plant libraries with Flora. It should be noted that the trees in the > demo videos were purchased from TurboSquid and then used to create the pieces > for procedural generation. As for importing - if you have purchased an asset > I assume you have the rights to use it in other applications. If so, then as > long as it's in a common format like obj then it will be fine (that's how we > got the turboquid trees in). > > The goal of the module is to make it easy to procedurally generate, > tweak/edit, simulate and render trees - the authoring of the original plant > pieces is something we leave to artists. I actually think it's non-ideal that > each system comes with it's own library - surely the ideal model is one that > will work with any asset you want to use? We literally browsed TurboSquid, > picked a few trees that were interesting, bought/downloaded them and used > them in the demos the next day. > > The other key element here is that the whole system is open - a TD can dig > into the code and adapt any part of the system to project requirements. Over > time we may see some of this customer effort merged into the main Flora > codebase. > > Thanks, > > Paul > > On 30 January 2013 06:07, Eugen Sares <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi, >> Flora... *like* >> Plant generation for Softimage was always less than ideal... hopefully this >> is going to change now once and for all! >> >> Please allow me some positive critics: the plants in the demo do not look >> too convincing yet. I know it's early... >> Don't forget: any decent plant generator needs a decent plant library. Any >> plans? Even botanically "correct"? I think this is an important point. >> Might depend on your target audience... if it's the bigger studios, there >> might be more time and money to create whatever is needed, but freelancers >> (like me) mostly need something ootb quickly, and might not have time to >> start from scratch (tried...). Of course being able to create new plants, >> adapt existing ones and simulate them is also key. >> >> Did you think about an importer for, say, greenworks XFrog or Onyx Trees? Is >> this technically and legally feasible? >> This would be a real "killer" feature, since there are no decent SI import >> plugins for those confessedly old but extensive and nice libraries, and it >> might help pick up the pace quickly. >> >> There's T-Gen as well, as you know, but development stalled years ago. I >> wonder why. Maybe also because of the lack of a good library? >> >> >> Your change of business model I think makes much sense. Includes a broader >> audience of clients now, not just the coding-savvy. >> Best wishes and much success!! >> Eugen >> >> >> Am 30.01.2013 11:07, schrieb Dan Yargici: >>> Sounds great! Seems like a way more sensible way of doing things to me! >>> >>> DAN >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 4:54 AM, Leonard Koch <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>>> That looks like a good model. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 3:41 AM, Nick Angus <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> Genius… >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> From: [email protected] >>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Doyle >>>>> Sent: Wednesday, 30 January 2013 4:09 AM >>>>> To: [email protected] >>>>> Subject: Introducing Creation: Flora (and a business model shift) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi everyone - I'm pleased to share some news with you. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Creation: Flora >>>>> >>>>> We've been working on a new vegetation system that we think you'll like - >>>>> we call it Creation: Flora. The system covers procedural generation of >>>>> vegetation (trees, grass, ferns, bushes, flowers etc), editing once >>>>> generated, simulation/animation, is integrated to Maya and Softimage, and >>>>> is integrated with Arnold for rendering. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Demo trailer: https://vimeo.com/groups/fabric/videos/58470126 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> More information: http://fabricengine.com/creation/flora/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> This system will be made available as a separate module, which brings me >>>>> onto the second part of this - business model changes. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Creation and Creation Modules >>>>> >>>>> The short version: we're selling the core platform at $250 per seat, per >>>>> year ($750 to purchase outright). We're selling modules separately for >>>>> things like vegetation, crowds, hair and other 'niche' systems. >>>>> >>>>> Long version that explains why we're doing it: >>>>> http://fabricengine.com/2013/01/creation-and-creation-modules/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Thanks, >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Paul >>>>> >>>>> CEO at Fabric Engine Inc >>>>> >
