Hi Saf, I know you guys love Softimage, we all do! otherwise we wouldn't be here right ;).
Softimage was with a doubt was the best choice for a 1 year course where you are meant to learn everything from scratch and produce a short film at the end. Most of us picked up the software very quickly and learned the principles of computer animation which is the important skill. >From the people I've kept in touch from the course I would say 70% moved to Maya to work in the film/game industry so transferring those skills wasn't such a big deal for them since the key concepts were already there. I am very glad to hear you guys have a strong relationship with Sidefx and are planning of reinforce that. It's important to have convergence between the studios and the Universities pumping new blood. Interesting to hear that the MSC is all houdini now, in my times it was mainly Maya. By the way you are teaching all those apps to your new students? I feel cheated!!! ;) On Saturday, 8 March 2014, Sofronis Efstathiou < [email protected]> wrote: > I should clarify we one three Masters courses. Only one uses Softimage > (MA3D). The other two (MA digital Effects and MSc) use Houdini - hence > the potential transition is made a lot easier... > > > Sofronis Efstathiou > > Postgraduate Framework Leader and BFX Competition and Festival Director > Computer Animation Academic Group > National Centre for Computer Animation > > Email: [email protected] > > Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965805 > > Profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sofronisefstathiou > > Student Work: > http://www.youtube.com/NCCA3DAnimation > http://www.youtube.com/NCCADigitalFX > http://www.youtube.com/NCCAAnimation > > <http://ncca.bournemouth.ac.uk/> <http://www.bfxfestival.com/> > > > > > Awarded for world-class computer animation teaching > with wide scientific and creative applications > > > > > > > On 08/03/2014 13:15, "Sofronis Efstathiou" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > >Hey Cristobal, > > > >You know we love Softimage. Most students when they join the course > >complain that we should be teaching Maya. Then students work with > >Softimage and understand why we teach it. However, over the past 5 years > >(a little after you left) our pipeline is less dependent on a single > >application zBrush, Mari, Maxwell, V-Ray and Nuke form a critical part > >of the students work. Softimage continues to be used as the main > >animation, rigging, lighting tool as well shot assembly and rendering. > >To be fair we haven't decided on Maya yet in fact its likely to be a > >Houdini pipe within 2 years, with Maya as the rigging/animation app until > >Houdini implements many of the changes we have been discussing. As one > >of the few accredited Houdini training centres across the globe, we are > >talking soon to SideFX about their roadmap so we can plan for the future. > >This will effectively mean no Masters courses at the NCCA will run > >Autodesk products. > > > >Our Undergraduate uses Maya and Houdini as its main 3D applications. > >However, in previous reviews we have found the software used on the MA > >will eventually transition onto the BA (our staff each across both > >pathways). Its very likely that in 4-5years we could see very little AD > >products being used here. Which is a shame, as our graduates for the past > >23 years have formed the backbone of the VFX and animation industry here > >in the UK. > > > >Cheers > > > >Sofronis Efstathiou > > > >Postgraduate Framework Leader and BFX Competition and Festival Director > >Computer Animation Academic Group > >National Centre for Computer Animation > > > >Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected] > > > > > >Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965805 > > > >Profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sofronisefstathiou > > > >Student Work: > >http://www.youtube.com/NCCA3DAnimation > >http://www.youtube.com/NCCADigitalFX > >http://www.youtube.com/NCCAAnimation > > > >[cid:C68FD57D-D2DC-46C5-ABF9-714CD513676D]<http://ncca.bournemouth.ac.uk/ > > > > [cid:57BEF9EA-B3AC-48DD-991E-4260D153BC5E] <http://www.bfxfestival.com/ > > > > > > > >[cid:A49964BD-EA5F-4093-A952-82BE2FC37C4B] > > > >Awarded for world-class computer animation teaching > >with wide scientific and creative applications > > > > > >From: Cristobal Infante <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> > >Reply-To: Autodesk softimage > ><[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> > >Date: Saturday, 8 March 2014 13:01 > >To: Autodesk softimage > ><[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> > >Subject: Re: Good point well put > > > >I must clarify I was referring to students and young people getting into > >3D. I have no problem learning other software out there, I do it all the > >time. > > > >Let's not forget that once they have full control of the universities and > >training institutions it will just be a one way road. They were already > >90% there, but when I heard that the Bournemouth MA will probably go Maya > >is when the news really > >hit me. I studied there and still think softimage was the best choice for > >a 1 year course. > > > >We can of course try to change the course > >on our side by creating Modo/Houdini pipelines but the roots and new > >blood will be mostly Maya... > > > > > > > > developers for any appŠ that is a very small cost compared > > with the cost of advertising and PR, believe me. > > > > Regarding this implied direct relationship between pace of > > development and resources, it is so so obscene it is insulting > > to say that. By that rule all the software portfolio Autodesk > > manages hinders everything they do, let's face it, they have > > lots of products. > > > > If the case is pace of development just hire a few more good > > guys and make sure the effort does not go to waste by not > > promoting it well. > > > > The issue I have is that something does not add upŠ I still > > don't understand the decision and the more I think about it, > > the more suspicious it becomes.. .does not even seem a > > coordinated well put plan that is causing all this storm (all > > the handling has been awful and big companies tend to handle > > these things with utmost care as it casts a horrible light to > > the brand itself) > > > > Just look at how Apple handled Shake, they discontinued it but > > offer the possibility of buying the source code and carry on > > using it, it was bad but at least was a clean exit. Also helps > > that nuke was ready for prime time so felt like moving forward > > instead of moving back to the 80s with Maya. > > > > Jordi Bares > > [email protected] > > > > On 8 Mar 2014, at 11:05, Cristobal Infante <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > it's a bad decision in the eyes of who? > > > > They didn't really buy softimage because they thought is a > > software they could improve any further, they were actually > > really buying US the users. Some people call it killing the > > competition, a chess move. > > > > If xsi only had 8-10 developers, than It doesn't take a math > > genius to figure out that they were obviously making money > > with it. Maybe not as much as a lot of us would like to > > believe, but still surely enough to keep it going. > > > > From a business point of view, they are thinking "How can we > > make MORE money for less cost". How do we make our business > > more efficient on a long term plan? The answer is > > quite simple, you unify all your efforts into one money > > making machine that will eventually be Maya 2.0. It will look > > very similar to Maya if not identical otherwise they wouldn't > > have bothered "transitioning us" now. > > > > Some people say "bad costumer service" but I guess the > > mayority of their costumers are Maya so we were a small price > > to pay... > > > > They knew there was going to be a loss of costume, but in 5 > > years time that frequently asked question "What 3D package > > should I learn?" will be totally irrelevant. They are putting > > their money on that "bright" future. > > > > Anyone want to bet which Adsk 3d software will die next? No > > brainer. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Saturday, 8 March 2014, Chris Marshall > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I couldn't agree more > > > > On Friday, 7 March 2014, Jordi Bares > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Looking at things from another angle I am concerned > > with the whole decision because I don't understand > > it, abandoning Softimage seems such a bad decisionŠ > > > > > > > > > > > >[http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/Images/QueensAwardLogo.jpg] > > > >BU is a Disability Two Ticks Employer and has signed up to the Mindful > >Employer charter. Information about the accessibility of University > >buildings can be found on the BU DisabledGo > >webpages<http://www.disabledgo.com/en/org/bournemouth-university> > > > >This email is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and > >may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in > >error, please notify the sender and delete this email, which must not be > >copied, distributed or disclosed to any other person. > > > >Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not > >necessarily represent those of Bournemouth University or its subsidiary > >companies. Nor can any contract be formed on behalf of the University or > >its subsidiary companies via email. > > > >-- > >This message has been scanned for viruses and > >dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > >believed to be clean. > > > > > BU is a Disability Two Ticks Employer and has signed up to the Mindful > Employer charter. Information about the accessibility of University > buildings can be found on the BU DisabledGo webpages [ > http://www.disabledgo.com/en/org/bournemouth-university ] > This email is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may > contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, > please notify the sender and delete this email, which must not be copied, > distributed or disclosed to any other person. > Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not > necessarily represent those of Bournemouth University or its subsidiary > companies. Nor can any contract be formed on behalf of the University or > its subsidiary companies via email. > > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > > >
