Hi Alastair, Agreed. You did a fantastic job with your letter, and the more company owners, industry heads of departments and managers speaking out the better. As you say, they would generally feel like they have been given the cold shoulder by a supplier who then want's to sell you another product of theirs instead of the one you've already invested in. Maybe somewhere in AD's corporate brain, the words "customer" & "care" might blink a light on somewhere.
I would bet that the large Maya-centric companies that have been using soft on the side for it's ICE like capabilities won't be running to AD's products to fill the gap, they'll just beef up on Houdini. Although I deeply wish for it, I honestly don't think that they'll sell. It wouldn't take too much effort to increase market share if it was given the TLC it deserves and it would become direct competition once Maya and 3DS really start creaking with their old architecture. I guess a piece of software that affects so many people been simply killed by a company before? I guess it happens in big business sectors here and there. It stinks a bit of monopoly though, buying up top three products in a field and strategically killing off the last one through the door. In summary, bum, tits, poo! Adam. _____________________ http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamseeleyuk https://vimeo.com/adamseeley >________________________________ > From: Alastair Hearsum <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 15:15 >Subject: Re: Open letter to Autodesk > > > >Daniel > >My open letter has got a lot of attention. I would encourage you to do something similar with the company name behind you. It seems to get some results however small. At the risk of sounding patronising and contrary to my own behaviour on facebook in recent weeks, I'd say keep it calm and reasoned (everything you said was absolutely spot on but you did use the word "fuck":-) ). > >Alastair > > > > >Alastair Hearsum >Head of 3d > >33/34 Great Pulteney Street >London >W1F 9NP >+44 (0)20 7434 1182+44 (0)20 7434 1182 >glassworks.co.uk >Glassworks Terms and Conditions of Sale can be found at glassworks.co.uk >(Company registered in England with number 04759979. Registered office 25 >Harley Street, London, W1G 9BR. VAT registration number: 867290000) >Please consider the environment before you print this email. >DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and attachments are strictly privileged, private and >confidential and are intended solely for the stated recipient(s). Any views or >opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily >represent those of the Company. If you are not the intended recipient, be >advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, >dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly >prohibited. If this transmission is received in error please kindly return it >to the sender and delete this message from your system. On 11/03/2014 14:42, Daniel Jahnel wrote: > >Good stuff Alastair, what also really fucks me off is that in the last 2 years >with the takeover by Arnold as the primary render engine for most SI users it >has opened up big time! In combination with the powerful ICE features of SI >all of a sudden SI houses are producing work at a complexity and quality level >that only feature companies we are able to achieve with them investing tons in >R&D...Also things like Alembic or OpenVDB now contribute to the amazing work >coming out of SI... > >How can Autodesk get the timing so wrong? Just when everything was coming together that was missing in SI before...A great renderer, a great interchange format, a great procedural system at its core, plus awesome and experienced operators... > >We here at Sehsucht are only a small team of around 10 3d guys but expanding to twice that if needed easily, we pay shedloads of maintenance to Autodesk for SI and other AD products but now we will have to look for an exit strategy...The time and money we have invested in the last 4 years to build our custom pipeline around SI is not entirely wasted, but rest assured AD, the future for your products is not bright in our house... > >Daniel, Joint Head of 3D@Sehsucht Hamburg > > > > > >On 10/03/2014 11:20, Alastair Hearsum wrote: > >Folks >Dan Y and other folks, I hope this comes across as firm but reasonable. I will post it on other appropriate sites. Any ideas on that front? > > >An open letter to Autodesk. > >Dear Autodesk > >My name is Alastair Hearsum. I’m a founding partner, director and head of 3d >at Glassworks. If you haven’t heard of us, we are a small to midsized company >which has been creating VFX and animation for TV commercials for markets >around the world, for the past 20 years. We have branches in London, Amsterdam >and Barcelona. We create innovative and multi award winning work and we use >Softimage. > >Your announcement that you are retiring Softimage has left us saddened, >disappointed and not a little angry. The anger for two reasons; that you have >shot the racehorse of the 3d software world in the head in its prime but also >that you didn’t consult with us about this assassination or discuss any of >your plans for the future with us. We have no idea what the future from you >holds. We are big and longstanding users of other Autodesk products as well as >Softimage. The puzzling thing is, technologically speaking, there was no >writing on the wall as there was with Henry and Flame, for example, or these >days with Flame and Nuke. > >We have been punching above our weight, in London, for the past 20 years >competing well with the much larger organisations of MPC, Framestore and The >Mill. One of the reasons we have been able to do that, apart from the deep >talent of our crew is, I believe, because of the software that we chose. I’m >nearly 150 years old now but I still sit at the computer making pictures for >TV commercials to the same arduous schedule that I always have. So I know what >I’m talking about. For a period a few years back we had a 50/50 split of Maya >and Softimage. We chose to go 100% Softimage. Its better for the work that we >do and the sector we are in. Its no coincidence that all the finalists in the >recent British Animation Awards (tv commercials) did their work in Softimage. >Similarly, both silver and gold award winners in the 3d animation category at >this year’s British Television Advertising Craft awards were Softimage >companies. > >You may well go on to list major work that’s been done in Maya. Sure there >has, and great work too. But Maya is used as a shell in the major film effect >companies. It is heavily customised and unrecognisable as the product you >ship. We have our proprietary software and tailored workflow as well, but >Softimage remains pretty much untouched. It is lean, efficient, and the ICE >environment is innovative and empowering. > >So you’ve done it. What’s next? Like I said we have had vague information >about what the future holds. We hear rumours about bi-frost and that’s about >it. From what I understand from various sources there are no plans to >replicate the efficient workflow and full ice functionality that made us so >productive. You have offered free transitionary licenses of Maya with the >threat of having to discontinue using Softimage in 2 years time. > > >The final thought is not just about what software is best for our future but >also about what sort of software supply company we want to get into bed with. >The attributes that come top of my list: listening to customers, acting on >their recommendations, speedy development, innovation. Now does that sound >like you? > >Alastair HearsumGlassworks. > > > > >-- > >Alastair Hearsum >Head of 3d > >33/34 Great Pulteney Street >London >W1F 9NP >+44 (0)20 7434 1182+44 (0)20 7434 1182 >glassworks.co.uk >Glassworks Terms and Conditions of Sale can be found at glassworks.co.uk >(Company registered in England with number 04759979. Registered office 25 >Harley Street, London, W1G 9BR. VAT registration number: 867290000) >Please consider the environment before you print this email. >DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and attachments are strictly privileged, private and >confidential and are intended solely for the stated recipient(s). Any views or >opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily >represent those of the Company. If you are not the intended recipient, be >advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, >dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly >prohibited. If this transmission is received in error please kindly return it >to the sender and delete this message from your system. > > > >
