Now we’ve gone public with the official announcement, I can stick my head above the parapet.
Breaking the news to a loyal user base that their preferred software was being retired was never going to be easy, and Autodesk knew that. Rumours had begun to surface in the last few weeks, but myself and others were remaining silent so agreed plans and communications could be finalised. It’s unfortunately that some of our partners couldn’t honour these plans in same way. I’m just really sorry for how it was done, because it was not quite what was originally intended. I’d always intended on posting some thoughts and observations, but don’t want to get into a lengthy debate, so I’ll keep this post as short as possible, say my piece and get the hell out. It’s sometimes hard to defend history, so I won’t try to. People will no doubt call BS at me and others over things said in the past, and that’s totally their prerogative. But personally I have always spoken in good faith and I’ve never deliberately misled anyone and I’ve always tried to be as honest as I can be. On a personal note (takes Autodesk hat off), one thing I’d like to say is that I’m genuinely gutted and sad to see the end of Softimage. I maybe be just another Autodesk idiot to some, but I’ve also been a customer and user. I joined Psygnosis in 1996, which was my first job in games development and where I cut my teeth in games. It was also where I was introduced to a 3D package that I would come to love – Softimage 3D. And from there my Softimage journey to this point would begin. My wish and hope now, is that some of the amazing goodness from Softimage, (be it people, features, workflows and philosophy) continues in some way, shape or form. Some of that is already happening right now within Autodesk, and that (imho) can only be a good thing. Because the more of that goodness that gets out there, then the less room there is for some of the crap. Finally I’d like to thank you guys here, because through this community and others throughout the years, you guys made the product what it is. Sure you guys give us a hard time, but personally I wouldn’t have it any other way as it helps keep us on our toes. I have had some debates with some people here and si-community, but my goal has never been to antagonise. I’ve always tried to be as open and as up front as possible. I really hope that communities such as the list and si-community don’t die off as that really would be a shame. If you want some more information around the transition plans and our products, then Maurice is posting on the list, so let him know any queries you might have, as some of you already have. If you want to ask me questions around this announcement, then of course pvt mail me off list. I’ll try my best to answer any queries. Graham From: Dave Thomlison <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Reply-To: "[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2014 14:28:55 -0500 To: "[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: Softimage 2015 Last Release Announcement Suck a fat one, Autodesk execs. This industry is already artist-hostile as it is. And how can you possibly open a letter such as this with "committed to providing [y]our customers with the most technologically advanced products and highest quality customer service possible" ?? On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 2:23 PM, Steve Parish <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I don't actually see anything to aid the transition. How about some courses? Videos? The approach (so far) has been to "just use something else". For a company that has just screwed a portion of its users, I would have thought they would have bent over backwards to keep their loyalty. Its funny, I've known about this for a while and yet I knew when the news was announced it would be done completely unprofessionally, thanks for living up to my expectations Autodesk. On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 12:20 PM, Alex Arce <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: 2015 feature set... http://area.autodesk.com/userdata/products/What's_New_in_Autodesk_Softimage_2015_latest.pdf would have liked to see something a bit more exciting. -- Dave Thomlison
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