We use Softimage for main production of our game as well as cinematics. It's the back bone of our art pipeline.
As for a cheaper version being available? It's already been done with both Softimage|3D and Softimage|XSI. 'Softimage|3D Games' didn't sell well at all. In fact I was told exactly 9 copies were sold, 3 of them coming from one of my former employers. We tried it and found it more of a handicap than a help because the feature set was so crippled we couldn't do anything significant in production. Not just because of fewer features, but because the crippled version of the software wasn't allowed to load scenes which were created in the regular Softimage|3D which had more advanced features incorporated in the scenes. Even if all we wanted to do was tweak a few polygons or UVs on textures we couldn't load them. That relegated those seats to starting new work or doing previz, and that was about it. Once the scene got into the rest of the pipeline it was past the point where it could be loaded by Softimage|3D Games. Softimage|XSI did better when 3Democracy was introduced, but in my opinion not really all that well. If it had, the mod tool wouldn't have been discontinued. I think you'll find they sound good on paper but rarely sell enough licenses to justify the cost in maintaining the extra code branch. The largest difficulty is blocking certain features from being available on licensing boundaries as it forces a conundrum - refactor code to satisfy the feature list of the license, or redefine the feature set based on how the software is written. What happens when a new advanced feature gets tightly integrated throughout the application? - does the LT version get that feature or do developers have to artificially cripple the feature by coding around license boundaries to prevent it from bleeding into the LT feature set? I think a better solution is to make the main software more affordable as it increases the user base. That has always been the problem with Softimage. They keep sticking with the higher price when it's clear there just isn't that much demand. Matt From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicolas Esposito Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 12:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: How to read .MEL script in Softimage mmmhh...prices are not that bad...but let me ask you this guys: If there was some kind of rental deal for SI without more or less the same features, lets say something similar to the Mod Tool, but without ICE and without rendering and scripting, could that be a good deal in your opinion? >From what I've seen a lots of studios ( obviously depends which one ) uses SI >mainly for cinematics and animations, while they do everything else inside 3ds >or Maya 2013/8/29 Luc-Eric Rousseau <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> n Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 11:49 AM, Greg Maguire <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> The Maya LT model is really rental, it's between 33$ to 40$ per month > > More like "Maya LT will be offered on $50/Month. With Quarterly, and Annual > rental options that will also be available." > > No scripting and no set-driven keys is a deal-breaker for me. > > it's 50$ month-to-month, 41$ per for 3 months, and 33$ per month for 12 months.
