Yes that is correct - it's encapsulated R&D. If you watch the demo you'll see an example of a car rig moving between Maya and Soft, along with some other examples: https://vimeo.com/76325922 - what will be possible in 2.0 is for this to also run in the Fabric standalone application as well.
There are currently some things lacking - completely portable assets need the control system to move with them, which starts getting tricky. However, we're working on one of the main elements needed for that (paint weights). Eric T might have something to say here :) On 5 March 2014 13:48, Mirko Jankovic <[email protected]> wrote: > A bit more cleared things now :) > But let me be stupid now once and learn instead of not asking and staying > stupid. > So if I understood correctly.. for example tool that someone create for > rigging and animation for example, should be, in theory possible to work in > all supported applications via Splice. > So you can use that tool, rig in Maya, animate in SI or vice verse or > completely in one and use in another? > Just trying to figure out if I got a grasp of idea Thanks! > > > On Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 7:18 PM, Paul Doyle <[email protected]> wrote: > >> (cross-posted to SI-Community and to our mailing list) >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> We've been mentioned in a few places recently in relation to what has >> happened to Softimage, and particularly in discussions regarding 'what >> now?'. I'm going to try and cover everything that's come up in various >> emails and forum threads. If I missed anything, let me know and I'll do my >> best to get back to you. You can reach me directly using >> [email protected], and I will track responses in the places this is >> posted. >> >> Before getting into anything else, you need to know that *FABRIC IS FREE* to >> individuals. Freelancers, hobbyists, students, professionals - we don't >> care. We strongly believe that the way for Fabric to become successful is >> for people to have easy access to it. We make money from studios adopting >> the technology, not from people trying to use it. >> "What the &^%$ is Fabric Engine?" >> >> Fabric Engine is a platform for building custom tools and applications. >> It's designed to be open and extensible. That doesn't really mean much >> though, so let me explain a bit about the major components. >> >> *Fabric Core - *this is a high-performance multi-threading engine. It >> takes the code you write in KL, and makes sure that it runs as fast as >> possible on the hardware you're running it on. >> >> *Kernel Language (KL)* - this is the high-level language used for >> writing this code. KL has been designed to be accessible to someone that is >> most comfortable writing Python code - it behaves as a dynamic language, so >> you can iterate quickly. However, it is as fast as statically compiled >> code. Soon we will be able to execute KL on your graphics card, without >> needing to change a line of code - GPU compute for free, using a language >> that anyone can learn. You can learn a lot more about the KL language here: >> http://fabricengine.com/splice/kernel-language-kl/ >> >> *Extensions - *we ship a range of libraries that Fabric can use. >> Alembic, FBX, Bullet, Open Image IO, hardware devices and so on. We also >> ship the EDK to make your own extensions, and all the source code to our >> extensions, and tools to make it as easy possible. This means that you can >> use these libraries inside of your existing DCCs. >> >> *Splice API - *this API makes it possible for you to use the Fabric Core >> and KL within other applications. That might be a commercial DCC - we >> currently support Maya, Softimage, Arnold and Nuke (Max and Houdini coming >> soon) - or it could be a custom framework. This allows you to use Fabric to >> build tools that are DCC-agnostic - you can easily move them between >> applications, which can be very powerful. There is a full demo here: >> https://vimeo.com/76325922 >> >> *Get Started* >> >> So if you're a Softimage user, this is where I suggest you start - you'll >> be working within your familiar application environment, and you'll get a >> good sense of what is possible with the Fabric Core: >> >> 1) Get Fabric: http://fabricengine.com/get-fabric/ >> >> 2) Get Splice: http://dist.fabric-engine.com/FabricSplice/1.11.0/ >> >> 3) Follow the tutorials: >> http://documentation.fabric-engine.com/Splice/latest/HTML/Workshops/klworkshop.html >> >> *Scene Graph - *We also have a standalone Python/Qt framework. However - >> we are currently working on 2.0 of this (due early summer). My >> recommendation is that you take a look at the version 2.0 outline >> presentation: https://vimeo.com/84300368 but that you limit your testing >> to the Fabric in Softimage stuff linked above. >> >> *Managed transition - *Everything that you do in other applications with >> Fabric and the Splice API will be portable to the 2.0 scenegraph. This >> gives you a path to the future without abandoning your current toolset - >> you might decide to move to Maya down the line, or another application, or >> to the Fabric standalone framework. It gives you options and most >> importantly, it allows you a managed transition. >> >> *Real-Time Renderer (RTR) - *we have a powerful real-time renderer that >> is targeted at production. It's written completely in KL, which is >> testament to the power of the framework - it also means it's completely >> open. You must remember that it is a platform for building rendering >> applications - so far we have customers using Fabric and the RTR for deep >> image compositing, scene assembly with Arnold integration, animation >> preview, projection mapping and asset preview. You can see some additional >> information here: >> http://fabricengine.com/splice-2/fabric-engine/rendering/ >> >> *"What does it do out of the box?" - *right now, not much. We ship a >> range of demo applications, but right now if you aren't comfortable writing >> python or similar then you're going to struggle. However, Fabric 2.0 will >> have much more for you by way of visual programming and 'instant utility' >> tools that you can just use. Over time we will have more and more >> functionality like this, but we elected to start with the platform >> capabilities first - it's taken us a while but it's starting to pay off. This >> will change over the next year as we see the community pushing >> functionality themselves, and hopefully we'll see a few collaborative >> projects come to fruition soon. We're also supporting 3rd party developers >> like Eric Mootz, so we're looking forward to seeing more artist-centric >> tools coming through this year. >> >> *"What's the long term roadmap?" - *watch the Fabric 2.0 video (linked >> above - https://vimeo.com/84300368) for an inkling. We are thinking in >> broad strokes about: scene assembly, rigging and animation, virtual >> production and visual programming. We see these as areas that are ripe for >> some innovation and we have a platform that offers all of the building >> blocks to do this. However - we aren't beholden to investors or >> shareholders, so our roadmap sometimes changes according to what our >> customers are telling us they need. >> >> *"Are you in control of the company?" - *Yes. We have investors but >> Phil, Peter and I run the company. Nothing can happen without us agreeing >> to it. >> >> *We can't do it alone* - if you want to see change happen, you have to >> get involved. Small companies like Fabric need your support, we need you to >> kick things around and tell us what you think. We need to know what you >> need. It's immensely frustrating to be told "this is cool, if only it did >> X" and then we do X and the response is "now if it did Y then I'd take a >> look". Get involved - it's free! >> >> *Let's get creative - *we are open to creating a consortium and finding >> ways to open-source work done there. Obviously there are hooks into Fabric >> and the concern will be around vendor dependency - however, a lot of that >> can be addressed in the design of a particular project. We have done deals >> that give source code access to customers after a certain number of years, >> and we will work with studios to give that kind of security. We see this as >> something where we would not be controlling anything, but working on a >> partnership basis with the studios that want to do this. It has to be >> driven by studios that want to see some control over their destiny, with >> companies like Fabric getting involved to support and drive innovation. We >> are a platform, so for us this is the way to success - providing >> high-performance, dependable components that can be used to build >> production-specific tools, which are best built by you. If you are >> interested in becoming a part of this working group then please email me ( >> [email protected]) - right now I'm just gauging interest with the >> hope that we can do something amazing together. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Paul and the Fabric team >> > >
