Well speaking of soultions, what I use in my arsenal being Softimage the core of my small but efficient pipeline is:
3D related PFtrack Vue Realflow Zbrush Mari Comp related and VFX AE Nuke Mocha Editing Media Composer Finishing DS This one is now also discontinued by Avid, but I fell in love when Softimage launched it. Encoding Media Encoder I have Maya also to keep up with it and when I have to deliver assets in this platform, and 3DMax as they come together in the suite. But mostly when I buy some models that are only available in 3dMAX to click the "send to Softimage" button. I've spend a lot and I am still doing it just to keep current with all of these babies. Now getting Softimage out of the equation and buy a Modo license and add an aditional $7,000 for Houdini. Well, no thanks at this moment. And now that I don't have to keep current with Softimage, I can invest my money in new or udpated addons for SI. Yes I am a passionate of Softimage. But I have also a business to run and a family to support. So it is not a denial phase or fanatic stage. It is the way I bring food to the table. ------------------------------------------------------- Emilio Hernández VFX & 3D animation. 2014-03-05 23:29 GMT-06:00 Jason S <[email protected]>: > Perhaps 3 years might be pushing-it. > Most people having moved from 1 different solution in the past can become > productive after a month or two in a new environment, remapping pretty much > the same concepts in a different interface (and hotkeys) > (intimidation being the main obstacle) > > But looking (or especially experiencing) various steps involved for > achieving various things in various apps.. is where it becomes clear what > solution has been (and hasn't stopped being) on the bleeding edge. > (that being a more or less crude generalization of course) > > But enough for it to remain a reference of "what to top" in terms of how > streamlined many common tasks are, > but also in regards to .. lets call it "tool interop stability" > (or having/making elaborate setups work or not explode) for instance among > other core aspects, > (such as changing things after everyhtings done) > for any new app coming along. > > > > > On 03/05/14 23:31, Stephen Davidson wrote: > > I have to agree with Emilio. I have over 10 years of experience with the > present interface, and I remember > postponing the transition from Softimage 3D to XS,I in 2000, for almost 3 > years. I'm glad I did it now, but it was > painful. Now that I have a snappy render from Redshift 3D, and I'm finally > starting to play around with ICE > compounds, I really don't want to start that process all over again. > > One of the reason that I have stuck with Softimage is because I have > tried to learn other 3D Apps and > the path is so painfully slow, and I need to get work done quickly, as I > am a freelancer and not on > corporate welfare (my term for being able to educate yourself while on the > corporate dime) > > It is so much easier to add new tools (plugins and ICE compounds) a bit > at a time, as needed for > projects. > > I will give a simple example. I needed to animate grass growing and > blowing in the wind for a commercial. > I already knew that strands might be a good way to accomplish the basics > of the scene. I did a little > research and found Zybrand Grass 3.0 <http://vimeo.com/48832905> . Now, > through the kindness of Zybrand Jacobs, I has a nice set of > compounds that helped me design something more custom to the job. Plug and > play around a little, as > opposed to reinventing the wheel. > > I also know where all the "knobs and switches" are I am "comfortable" in > the cockpit of Softimage. > Maybe it is just a case of an old dog refusing to learn new tricks, but it > is invested time, that I > am not producing animation and making money. How bad can the SDK be, > anyway? I must > admit, I am clueless to that aspect, as I am not even a good TD. > > Alok, I like you attitude. working with what we already have and not > starting all over again. > Just my 2 (not TD) cents. > > > On Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 10:24 PM, Emilio Hernandez <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Not really Raffaele. >> >> There are a lot of us that switching to other tool will mean loss of >> time and be less competitive by using other software. Specially Maya. And >> that in my particular case I can hold up at Softimage as long as there is >> an OS that runs it. >> >> How far can you improve your workflow with other DCC tools compared to >> Softimage, if Softimage is still the best tool there, even if it is dead? >> >> How much development are you expecting of Maya to behave the way >> Softimage does. >> >> A fresh toolset will make a "dead" software even more efficient. So >> there is a market IMHO that will get this tools. >> >> The problem with Combustion is not that it was dumped or stopped running, >> It still runs very good. The problem was the lack of plugins that will >> actually will make me work faster. >> >> That is why I turned into other comp apps. Not because it is out of >> date or useless now. >> >> Just a thought. >> >> Cheers! >> >> ------------------------------------------------------- >> Emilio Hernández VFX & 3D animation. >> >> >> 2014-03-05 21:18 GMT-06:00 Raffaele Fragapane < >> [email protected]>: >> >> Can I humbly suggest TDs spend their time more productively instead, >>> for both themselves and the community, and start looking at other vendors? >>> >>> We can wish upon a star all we want, but, as hurtful as it might be, >>> Soft is dead and will not be brought back to life. You can tazer the corpse >>> until it spasms, but it won't be life. >>> >>> What you COULD do, however, for the sake of the same people that made >>> Soft what you loved as a software and as a community, is make good use of >>> your time to diversify your skills and give support to platforms such as >>> Fabric. >>> >>> Hopefully I won't get flamed or misunderstood for this, but honestly, >>> there'd be no worse thing to see than seeing people doing further damage to >>> themselves by clinging to a corpse after the damage done to the app and its >>> history. >>> Look at LW to see the depth of sadness this can get to. I'd rather the >>> people I've come to know and respect on this list don't devolve into what's >>> left of its userbase. >>> >>> You also get to make more of a difference for the future of industry >>> and vendors if you spend your time on a project that has a chance to live, >>> and you get to learn a lot of things that Soft is entirely too far behind >>> on for you to properly learn on. >>> >>> Sorry, might sound cold, but it's a helluva lot more practical. >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 2:05 PM, Alok Gandhi >>> <[email protected]>wrote: >>> >>>> Hey Guys, >>>> >>>> Calling out all the Soft Tool developers/ TDs out there. I know there >>>> are lots of awesome out there for Soft but let's create more tools for the >>>> community. >>>> >>>> >>>> I am willing to devote my time to develop more tools and will ask the >>>> same of other developers. >>>> >>>> If anyone has a request / idea for a Tool from Soft that they need, >>>> please post it here. >>>> >>>> Developers please feel free to take on this projects. >>>> >>>> If anyone likes this idea and can quickly setup a web page (like >>>> redmine ticket system), it will be great. >>>> >>>> Cheers ! >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it >>> and let them flee like the dogs they are! >>> >> >> > > > -- > > Best Regards, > * Stephen P. Davidson* > > *(954) 552-7956 * [email protected] > > *Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic* > > > - Arthur C. Clarke > > <http://www.3danimationmagic.com> > > >
