not OT at all Dan. Could not agree more. Sebastian
Am 10.03.2014 um 13:15 schrieb Dan Yargici <[email protected]>: > How we got here. > I believe the reason we are where we are has been touched on in the various > threads of the last few days. > Sure, not having visibility on the Autodesk site or seeing banner ads for Max > and Maya and none for Softimage on the various social media platforms has > some influence on perception but I believe that the marketing of Softimage, > not just to new customers but crucially to the *resellers*, who in most cases > are the only interface between the client and customer, has been the area > where Autodesk failed us most. The resellers themselves never understood > Softimage, because Autodesk never educated them. Simple as that. If they > did, they could and, I believe would, have made many more sales. Instead you > hear time and time again of them touring even the Softimage studios, trying > to get them to use Maya. I repeat, *Studios that are already Softimage > customers*. Can you imagine how they talk about it and sell it to new > customers? A perception of Maya as the only serious solution for high-end > work pervades and I think it's been *heavily* influenced by reseller > ignorance. I don't believe it was a dark plot by Autodesk to snuff out > Softimage (at least not at first), more a sign of incompetence and dare I say > it, arrogance, but it was left unchecked and ate the ground from underneath > Softimage. > > How it played out. > The rumours of the impending end were rife for months, yes, months. I first > heard of this before Christmas. How is it that a company like Glassworks > that, as Alastair says, is essentially %100 Softimage (and loaded with > Autodesk's various 2D solutions), and creating such fantastic work was not on > the list of companies visited when Autodesk people made this famous tour of > doom? It's an affront to the people that were trying their best to champion > Softimage in the face of the neglect it was getting from marketing. Now > these same people are expected to glide over to Maya and get in line with > zero resentment? > > The people really affected. > The people that are most affected by all this are the *huge segment that none > of your other products cater for*. Please try to finally understand this. > The small to medium sized shops. It's my personal feeling that none of your > other products are as superior in this space. You *will not* succeed in > selling 3dsMax to your Softimage customers. To think you will is bone-headed > ignorance and only compounds the sense that your marketing team doesn't > understand the essence of what you are killing off. > > > The various options going forward. > As long as I can be as productive as I am and don't feel I'm missing out on > something that becomes an essential part of producing good work, I'll stick > with Softimage. But obviously, this is heavily dependent on there being > companies that share this opinion for me to work with. I will also be > evaluating and educating myself in various companions. I don't see any fully > rounded alternatives so I'll try to open my mind to a cross-product workflow. > > Houdini > The recent events have once-more jolted me into renewing my efforts in > evaluating Houdini. It, for me, is the most likely contender to satisfy my > professional needs going forward, but from my initial investigation has a way > to go before becoming as smooth a ride end-to-end as I'm looking for. The > fact that they have acknowledged this however and have been quite public in > stating their intent to address this side of things is very comforting. We > all know they have the chops (pun intended) to do it, and do it well. Having > Halfdan there as someone who understands our comments and can translate them > into meaningful terms to the Houdini developers is a huge plus. Jordi's > enthusiasm here is also a great inspiration to try and run with it. > > Fabric Engine > Every wants FE to be the knight in shining armour that will guide us out of > the darkness, myself included, but unless a consortium of companies > generously commit to writing and sharing a robust set of integrated tools > (with well defined pre-determined conventions and workflows) that work > together as something resembling an end-to-end DCC, it'll have very little > impact on me professionally for some time. I can see what they've done and I > love, respect and embrace it, but it will do very little for me in direct > relation to hole left by the demise of Softimage. > > Modo > I have a very mixed bag of feelings about it, and I'll reserve any comment > until I look at it more closely, but my feeling is it's not going to solve > any of my personal problems in any short measure of time unfortunately. > > Blender > Yes, Blender. I like Blender. I do my utmost to evangelize it wherever I > work and it's my personal opinion that everyone earning money from 3D ought > to contribute financially to it's support. I'm no great philanthropist - I > only donate a measly 5 dollars a month, it's the price of a pint and a packet > of peanuts but it doesn't take many 5 dollar donations to make a viable > difference. If all the Softimage users gave their input I feel it would > quickly become something that would satisfy them more than they imagine. > Sure it has it's quirks, but I've found plenty in Houdini also. > Unfortunately though, Z will always be up in Blender, we can't change that at > this stage :) I expect to use it more and more going forward. I plan to > write another post with regards to Blender... > > I'm all awash with all kinds of thoughts and emotions at the moment so I > apologize for pouring it all out here in one post. I feel like I've been > pinned down and forced to take a pill I don't want to, with the big dirty old > hand of Autodesk clasped over my mouth waiting for me to swallow. > > DAN
