although I haven't use soft for that long (..coming from 3ds max) it has become my favorite 3d application for a bunch of reasons (at least for what I use it shading & lighting works really well... ..everytime I open maya's hypergraph I am reminded at what point I like xsi! ..that being said I am not so sure how things will turn in the Montréal though... with the arrival of MPC, Framestore and Cinesite... 3 big maya houses... I believe that some local studios might start to think to switch either to houdini,maya or both.. it'll probably be easier to share assets, etc... in case some work is outsourced locally..
This is just a though, not positive I know, but I am hearing that more and more from peers around. Hope I am wrong and there's some actual good soft development news this year, we'll see Happy new years btw -Manuel IMDB | Portfolio | Vimeo | Linkedin From: [email protected] Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2014 09:20:12 -0800 Subject: Re: rumor, Soft dead within the next year To: [email protected] It doesn't change anything about the job market, but one thing to keep in mind about rumors from Autodesk: I may have it wrong, as I'm by no means a lawyer but I believe if there were an actual rumor about Autodesk's plans that wasn't issued publicly in a press release, it would be illegal, since people "in the know" could sell Autodesk stock on any rumors that Softimage would be getting shelved (the assumption being that the surge of new Houdini & Modo users would have some negative impact on AD stock prices). It's certainly possible for a legitimate leak of information to occur, but it most likely wouldn't be coming from anyone who _really_ knows what the plan is. If it were, that person would be taking a very big risk. Point being, I would take anything labeled as a "rumor" with a grain of salt. I'm not naive -- most things like this do originate somewhere. My guess would be that most such rumors are coming from AD employees trying to fend off ongoing questions about the future from industry people like us. So they might have some grain of truth behind them, but anything with a timestamp like "within the year" is likely to be somebody's own speculation. On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 9:03 AM, Stephen Davidson <[email protected]> wrote: I am extremely lucky to work freelance, so that I am not directed to use anyparticular software for any particular project. As long as it looks good, my customers are oblivious to what software I am using. Whenever I did work for a production facility, on site, I have always managedto justify their license purchase. It has a lot to do with the length of experiencethat I have on Softimage. So... I use what works best for me ... Softimage ... has since version 1.0At least, with all my 3D work. I have tried 3D Max and Maya, just to see ifthey could improve my workflow. I guess I am too entrenched in Softimage to be able to wrap my head around other 3D app's interface. The othersjust seem so clumsy. I realize it is because I am used to a certain ingrainedworkflow that I have developed over the years. The recent addition of RedShift3D render software has improved the render speeds, and quality, immensely.I doubt RedShift would put that much effort into supporting Softimage, as well asMaya, if they thought Softimage was going away any time soon. If Softimage goes away, which I doubt it will, I will probably learn to workBlender, as open source seems to live on forever. It probably has somethingto do with the cost. :) BTW... didn't Maya used to be called Wavefront ? Happy New Year, all! On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 10:46 AM, Mirko Jankovic <[email protected]> wrote: taking refuge in Maya??No thank you! better slow but painless death in never improved SI, like falling asleep slowly.. then looong torture and painful life in Maya! No thank you!SI.. I'm going down with you.. in the next 10-20 years... On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 4:42 PM, Jeffrey Dates <[email protected]> wrote: I'd think whomever makes the suite of scripts and plugins for Maya for the Softimage refugees soon to be converting over would certainly have a built-in base of users. I also think there is an opportunity for a Fabric Engine Developer to capture some of the refugees with the same thinking... On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 6:22 AM, Szabolcs Matefy <[email protected]> wrote: Actually, I am fairly experienced with Maya, yet I feel that it's a wheelchair with square wheels compared to Softimage. However, I see development in Maya a lot more than in Softimage. Houdini is quite out of my scope, being a character artist :). The fact is, if I want to get hired by a game development company, I have to learn Maya and Max, and I have to promote it. So my current project of Vinnie Jones went into Maya, and yes, it's quite painful, because some things are rather clumsy in Maya...:( But I want to get hired, and the companies who I want to work for are mostly Maya based companies. Max is pain in the ass, really, clumsy, mediocre, etc. UK is on my list to get a job there, but last year I was too lazy...This year I want to change a lot, and take my family to a better place :) Cheers PS. I hope that new Softimage will have a lot more for us, and will kick some Max and Maya ass. Chris Chia, will it? -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Leydecker Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2014 11:37 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: rumor, Soft dead within the next year Hey Szabolcs, even with your credentials? Fauna, a Tutor, etc. Judging on your email address, I would have thought you´d be 3DsMax centric at work, due to the Z-up preferences of the Cryengine and the tools/plugins available for a solid 3DSMax>Cryengine workflow. Here´s a few Maya secrets I´d like to share: Embrace Maya accepting that you will need a high treshold for pain to do so. Invert your favourite Normalmap´s green channel for use in Maya. Will make you feel home. There´s a huge community of hungarian 2D/3D artists in London, a friend of mine just went there and is now happy bitching about the insane costs of anything involving living a modest life but also straight out glad he did it, there was not enough work in either Budapest or Berlin. Both would have been the better cities to be at but I can really understand that a man wants to work :-) Cheers, tim On 02.01.2014 10:11, Szabolcs Matefy wrote: > I’ve lsot my positive thinking in the last year, so from now on, I’ll > move to maya. Why? Because as a Softimage artist I couldn’t find ANY > job. I am skilled in maya too, but having Softimage as my primary tool, I was > always rejected saying that they want somebody who knows maya on an expert > level. So, from today I’ll learn maya secrets. At work I’ll use Softimage. > Seeing no development really, makes me sad. > > *From:*[email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Aloys > Baillet > *Sent:* Tuesday, December 24, 2013 5:25 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: rumor, Soft dead within the next year > > C'mon! You have to trust that "Everything is Awesome", with the LEGO > movie entirely animated with Softimage! > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ_JOBCLF-I > > Merry XMas everyone! > > On Tue, Dec 24, 2013 at 9:37 AM, Arman Sernaz <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Such a Great Work Walter ! It was a pleasure watching this :) > > 2013/12/20 wavo <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > Merry Xmas and a happy new Year: > > done with one of the last version of softimage: > > http://www.bang-awards.com/en/movie/362-mite > > > > -- > > > *Walter Volbers* > Senior Animator > > *FIFTYEIGHT*3D > Animation & Digital Effects GmbH > > Kontorhaus Osthafen > Lindleystraße 12 > 60314 Frankfurt am Main > Germany > > Telefon +49 (0) 69.48 000 55.50 > <tel:%2B49%20%280%29%2069.48%20000%2055.50> > Telefax +49 (0) 69.48 000 55.15 > <tel:%2B49%20%280%29%2069.48%20000%2055.15> > > _mailto:[email protected] > http://www.fiftyeight.com > _ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > ESC*58* > Eine Kooperation der escape GmbH und der FIFTYEIGHT3D GmbH > > _http://www.ESC58.de <http://www.ESC58.de>_ > > > > -- > www.lhvfx.com <http://www.lhvfx.com> > > > > -- > > Aloys Baillet > Lead Software Developer > > Research & Development - Animal Logic > -- > > /Eat Real Food! I buy my sustainable produce from local farmers > through Food Connect Sydney. http://sydney.foodconnect.com.au/ > > -- > -- Best Regards, Stephen P. Davidson (954) 552-7956 [email protected] Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic - Arthur C. Clarke
