Amen Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 25, 2013, at 8:43 AM, Paul Griswold <[email protected]> wrote: > > Am I the only one who thinks of the "prevent defense" when you look at what > Autodesk is doing with the entire Media & Entertainment line? > > For you non-Americans / non-American football fans. The prevent defense is > what some coaches use when they are in the lead and the game is near the end. > The idea is, maintain the lead and don't make any mistakes. It's an > extremely conservative, boring way to try to win a game. > > A lot of people would say the prevent defense prevents you from winning > because you don't try to do anything on offense except not screw up - you > don't try to score any more points, you just hold on to the ball and then > punt it back to the opposing team - and on defense you allow the opposition > to gain ground, hoping that if you give ground, they won't score more points. > Meanwhile the other team still wants to win, so they pull out all the stops > and try every innovative thing they can think of to score as many points as > possible as quickly as possible. > > I've seen a lot of games that ended badly for the team using the prevent > defense. > > Autodesk has the lead in the market & they just want to play prevent defense. > Meanwhile Fabric/Creation, Houdini, The Foundry, NewTek, etc., etc., realize > the game isn't over. > > -Paul > > > > > > On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 9:10 AM, Graham Bell <[email protected]> wrote: >> Fair dues Greg... >> >> Fyi, the 'boss' is Chris Bradshaw. He took over from Marc Petit and Marc and >> Frank report into him. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Punchatz >> Sent: 25 July 2013 14:07 >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: Future of Naiad >> >> :( bad choice ... Graham how was that supposed to make any of us feel >> better.? >> >> It almost felt like salt in a wound... >> >> I really appreciate that you try to keep us informed, but if you really >> don't have anything concrete or encouraging to say it might be better to let >> it rest at this point.. I know you're only the messenger, but there are >> certain people with a higher pay grade that should be giving us the bad >> news... >> >> Marc Stevens got his job because of us and softimage. Now he is the man >> behind killing soft and he has left us for dead... From an outsider's >> position that's exactly what seems to be happening. >> >> Who is Marc and the Max guy's boss? >> I think I might have a few things to say to him. >> >> I gave Autodesk more than a fair shake after the purchase. But all of my >> fears have come true.. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jul 25, 2013, at 5:17 AM, Graham Bell <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > Yes I know, but the original context was around Max, and a post made on a >> > Max site. >> > >> > I posted this just to add some additional info. >> > >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: [email protected] >> > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Massimo >> > Galluzzo >> > Sent: 25 July 2013 10:56 >> > To: [email protected] >> > Subject: Re: Future of Naiad >> > >> > Ok, so why no one speaks about Softimage? >> > Maya, Max, Maya Max, Maya, Max, Maya Max. >> > >> > Just tell us the product will end the development cycle and enter a bugfix >> > phase untill it dies so we know already. >> > This is pathetic. >> > >> > >> > >> > -----Messaggio originale----- >> > From: Graham Bell >> > Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 11:29 AM >> > To: [email protected] >> > Subject: RE: Future of Naiad >> > >> > Overnight, Frank Delise (used to head up Max, but now heads our Games >> > Solutions group, fyi, Marc Stevens heads up Film/TV), posted this to >> > the Max underground site >> > >> > >> > Hi all, I wanted to add some color to some of the concerns here. >> > >> > Yes, it was unfortunate that some of our max customer demos got >> > canceled last minute. Siggraph was a bit different for us this year vs >> > previous years. As a corp company, unfortunately we can’t disclose the >> > roadmap of our products anytime we want like the good old days. Not by >> > choice, but by revenue accounting laws. Since our product ship dates >> > are not aligned with Siggraph, this causes us to have limited news to >> > share about our products. >> > >> > This is why we have our own event, the Unfold event. This allows us to >> > share the roadmap that is aligned with ship dates. >> > >> > Then why did Maya show up with some cool stuff this year at Siggraph >> > user event and not max? It just so happens that the technology preview >> > for Maya was ready for Siggraph, whereas the 3ds max work that we are >> > doing is gearing up for a update soon and we will be discussing the >> > details of that in the near future.The timing wasn’t right for >> > Siggraph. Again not always in our control on what trade show they line up >> > to. >> > >> > On the general direction of Maya vs Max, nothing has changed. Maya was >> > designed for entertainment customers whom need a platform to extend. >> > Max was designed for the democratization of content creation for all >> > markets. So Maya may be better for deep pipeline integration, Where >> > Max is good for out of the box artist toolset for a broader markets. >> > >> > It also means that the Maya team focuses all its energy on >> > entertainment features and the Max team divides its energy on a >> > variation of markets, from design viz, VFX, Games, etc.. So naturally, >> > if you are a VFX artist only, you may see more progress on the Maya >> > front than you do on Max depending on the releases. >> > >> > When I took over the product for the 2014 release, I made some >> > significant changes. I refocused a lot the energy on stability and >> > performance. I also put a significant focus on “small annoying >> > things”. This resulted in some significant performance and stability >> > improvements and cleaned up some workflows. >> > >> > Did you get fluids :), No, not yet.. But it was the right thing to do >> > for Max’s continued growth. Meanwhile, we still managed to get in some >> > impressive features. >> > >> > As a Maya user, you would have noticed the same thing for the past >> > couple of years where Maya was pretty dry in the new feature >> > department but had significant scalability and API enhancements. >> > Sometime it takes entire teams to make big shifts like that. So let >> > the Maya team enjoy some new fun features :). >> > >> > As for Max, we are hard at work on features that have been raised up >> > from our customers. Some will be for entertainment, games and some >> > will be for design viz. >> > >> > For the Niad\Bifrost concern, Bifrost is being developed as an engine >> > with Maya as the first customer. We aren’t disclosing many details at >> > the moment, but it’s being designed to be agnostic to any one specific >> > tool. >> > >> > I hope that clarifies a few things for everyone. >> > Frank DeLise - >> > >> > >> > From: [email protected] >> > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rob >> > Chapman >> > Sent: 25 July 2013 10:01 >> > To: [email protected] >> > Subject: Re: Future of Naiad >> > >> > this is a forum with Autodesk etiquette..? very broadly speaking.. :) >> > you and me as well as countless others were on here long before it was >> > AD who owned the server where this mailing list lived, and hopefully >> > many will still be on here when it changes hands yet again. its been >> > utter lackluster so far from its current owners including the >> > potential Naiad / bifrost debacle therefore fingers crossed from me >> > this earthquake happens sooner rather than later! >> > >> > On 25 July 2013 10:35, Jordi Bares >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > Given we are in an Autodesk forum and given the basic etiquette I will >> > only say we are in a major tectonic shift and imho Autodesk need to >> > show some goods yesterday. >> > >> > Jordi Bares >> > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> >> > >> > On 25 Jul 2013, at 08:48, Eric Thivierge >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > >> > >> > >> > Hah, if you can call it a presence at all... >> > On Jul 24, 2013 9:20 PM, "Raffaele Fragapane" >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > I'm not quite sure I can fault them for not having their own floor space. >> > They were present at some partners', but Siggraph having shifted crowd >> > and attitude a fair bit I'm not sure they would have got a ton of >> > mileage out of their own, not to mention their big news came out >> > months ago with the 2014 releases, and if they have nothing for this >> > quarter they can't basically show anything else. >> > I can see why a big user event and floor presence scattered at other >> > stands would have been a better use of money for them. >> > >> > On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 2:09 PM, Eric Thivierge >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > >> > Speculating from Siggraph not having attended the Autodesk user event >> > knowing they would have nothing of interest to show me, it's apparent >> > they will be discontinuing all DCCs and focusing their efforts selling >> > their new product Autodesk Blender. >> > >> > Frankly i find the absence of Autodesk at the Siggraph floor either >> > arrogant or just plain stupid. >> > >> > Very apparent from all the talks this year that no one is really >> > taking Maya seriously for effects work aside from some bits of naiad. >> > SideFx is taking charge in a big way and have some big stuff coming >> > not including Houdini Engine. >> > >> > Sincerely, >> > Your embedded Siggraph journalist >> > On Jul 24, 2013 8:03 PM, "Greg Punchatz" >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > Ha! Good point on the flame .. I still maintain the emperor has no >> > clothes;) >> > >> > I am a complete believer in atomic software. I think it would allow >> > for greater innovation in each key area. Zbrush proved that to me. >> > >> > I am looking for someone to step up to the plate In the areas of >> > rigging and animation. I'm hoping the guys over at fabric engine might >> > do something for us in that regard. I know much higher frame rates are >> > possible at this point if all a program had to do was to spend it >> > cycles on those two areas, it is absolutely ridiculous that people >> > have to play blast there animations to view to see it at full frame >> > rate IMO. There is no app that focuses squarely on that subject right now. >> > There are countless modeling, painting programs. >> > >> > For myself and and Janimation I want us to move away from the single >> > beast program mentality. I plan to keep soft the glue that keeps it >> > all together for now and the foreseeable near future.. >> > >> > Right now I'm really enjoying learning Mari, I bought that for home >> > because I really don't see any other competition in that area. Because >> > it squarely focused on 3-D paint, it got so many things right. >> > Granted it took till 2.0 before I thought it was good enough to jump >> > on board. Now that I'm there I could not be happier. >> > >> > Clairese looks very interesting to me, it almost seems too good to be true. >> > >> > Arnold keeps me happy when I can use it, as we have a limited license >> > pool for the time being. >> > >> > I love Nuke as well, but I don't know it well enough for my taste yet. >> > >> > Modo has me interested as well, curious how the foundry leverages its >> > render engine. I tried it once and found clunky, but did not give it >> > enough of a chance. >> > >> > I also want us to move to an Alembic pipeline ASAP ... That's the next >> > big thing that I need to get pushed thru at the office. >> > >> > I'm just a bit grumpy on where we sit, I just wish things would've >> > turned out differently. C'est la vie. >> > >> > Sent from someone using his thumbs , Siri, and a healthy dose of >> > dyslexia ... >> > >> > On Jul 24, 2013, at 8:50 PM, Raffaele Fragapane >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > So they have a scarcely maintained aging PoS they are still managing >> > to sell for gazillions as a high prestige product, and have insofar >> > managed to distract the audience from the fact the emperor is >> > freeballing it, and you'd go to the board asking for the management >> > who's pulling that hat trick off to be replaced? :) They do feel >> > increasingly dysfunctional in their communication and user base >> > management, but so does nearly any large enough media oriented large >> > house these days. Only the Foundry seems to be closer in touch with >> > the top tiers of the VFX industry. >> > It's very possible AD is simply more Adobe than Alias/Soft, and we >> > just can't (nor should we be supposed to) be served by a company with >> > that kind of mentality. >> > >> > All that said, Foundry is doing better than ok and they seem to care a >> > lot for the VFX business at many levels, unlike AD as a larger entity >> > (which you have to remember is NOT Soft or Alias), and pipelines are >> > going atomic with OSS glue, so the days of Maya/Soft/MAX not being >> > required across the whole pipe are upon us already. >> > >> > When you think about it already entire chunks of the pipe in the top >> > end reflect that, and a lot of that is trickling down to the middle, >> > and will soon enough trickle further down again. >> > With Katana + PRMan + Alembic Surfacing and lighting is likely the >> > next bit breaking off the AD continent, much like modelling did >> > already with ZB + Topogun. >> > If Fabric manages to wedge in with splice and slowly abstract things >> > away from Maya and convert it from host to client of platform, that's >> > another big chunk going. >> > There is less every day in an A to B scenario I open Soft or Maya for >> > really. >> > >> > Whether that'll be viable for the small user, given the small user >> > needs the whole stretch of software for himself and doesn't get to >> > divide the expense across departments only needing parts of it like >> > the bigger pipes do, well, that remains to be seen. The monopoly feels >> > less and less like it's going to stay every day though. >> > If you're a small unit or work in a small shop, maybe it's time to >> > stop thinking like they want you to, that you NEED the all in one, and >> > start figuring out how you can re-engineer a staged process into your >> > needs and workflow. >> > I'm succeeding pretty well at home these days, better than I ever >> > expected to. Even as an individual I'm finding the big-arse DCC apps >> > are more and more expensive OGL and graph eval hosts than anything else. >> > This was simply impossible five years ago, We could barely do it at >> > the 300+ staff project scale, now... not so much. >> > >> > On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 11:17 AM, Greg Punchatz >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > Frankly M&E AD needs new TOP down leadership.... >> > >> > It's so beyond broken that no matter how hard the people below them >> > try to show them the light they refuse to look. >> > >> > They still think Flame is still a valid product.. Single threaded >> > piece of poo IMO. I am so surprised they can still sell the product >> > at all, especially for the outrageous prices. There are just a lot of >> > people who have not realized yet that the emperor has no clothes. >> > >> > And Maya is the future of 3d ... A code base nearing or past its 15 >> > year mark... Really? >> > >> > Sorry but I am just not a happy AD customer. >> > >> > >> > Sent from my iPhone >> > >> > On Jul 24, 2013, at 7:19 PM, Steven Caron >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > they, you, need a better PR department. >> > >> > it is simple, don't give us reason to speculate so wildly. >> > >> > *written with my thumbs >> > >> > On Jul 24, 2013, at 5:00 PM, Graham Bell >> > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> > >> > I'm saying nothing more, though if anyone wants to pvt me, then feel free. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship >> > it and let them flee like the dogs they are! >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship >> > it and let them flee like the dogs they are! >> > >> > >> > <winmail.dat> >
