(to go back to the start of the thread - Nice job from Digital Golem!) If things like Elysium and 98% Human and many more have been made with Softimage - that’s enough for me. I don’t think I’ll ever need more, I have not explored all the possibilities and still have a lot to learn and plenty of room to grow in Softimage. In the end, what matters is the art you create. and this tool will allow you to do just that but, it’s not only about the art - this is also a job, and that’s where I see the major issue. This decision will hurt business. Less studios using it, less job opportunities, outsourcing possibilities, demand for Softimage specific assets, available talent, clients losing confidence since you use old tools, perhaps driving down budget because of it, less willingness to start long term, large projects with it. And if you decide to go change platforms, this also has a cost attached – in retraining time, in recreating tools and workflows, you will lose efficiency - temporarily for sure – arguably for good. (since we believe we are on the most efficient platform and no better alternatives are out there)
Yes – Softimage is not dead – and while it may persist in one way or other, the damage is done. A very real damage AD is inflicting upon the Softimage userbase and is not willing to make up for. (continuing to pay subscription to migrate to Maya is not a compensation by any stretch of the imagination) A damage that will be felt by all Softimage users in one way or other, and the ones being punished the hardest are those loyal customers that have been paying subscription. It’s a good lesson for the future – if paying subscription does not guarantee the survival and future of a software - do you really want to pay subscription? From: Bk Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 9:55 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Digital Golem : Brillant and beautiful I agree. I hate all this 'Softimage is dead' talk. Yes it's not being developed by AD, and will eventually become harder to work with, but that's a way off. If a slick feature page was made highlighting all the 'features' that had been made for Softimage ( for free) in the last year. ( just look at Rray.de for evidence ) I think it would seem far from dead. Softimage will continue to grow in tools and abilities without AD. It's not like they added much anyway but at least 2015 has some nice ICE enhancements and I'm grateful to the developers for that. (the management's guidance was probably ' Softimage? Oh whatever.. You two just put in what you want') So at least for the next few years, those of us that can, will continue to enjoy the thrill of going to work and firing up ICE and innovating and creating with it. On 19 Mar 2014, at 20:44, "Sven Constable" <[email protected]> wrote: I'm angry as every Softimage user but maybe I can help to tamper your anger down. My english is not so good to express my intentions in depth but maybe it comes through somehow. CG and 3D animation in general is not different from other businesses. It's all about perception. If a company produces clothes, they will not succeed by using the newest machines to make the cloth. In fact they can produce on old machines and child labour to produce a Levi's jeans. The market will see it as high quality because of the name and the output they will create with any machinery they use. Clients usually have no clue about 3D-Animation software in depth'and they really don't care most of the times. I had conversations with clients and they asked about the software I use. I told them I was using XSI (that was a few years ago when we used that term). They didn't had any idea what 'that XSI software' was all about and they seemed sceptical. Then I told them, it's 'Softimage'. They instantly changed their minds, recogniced the name and they were happy. :) Of course that will not work forever. What I really want to say is, that words do the damage to us. Words like 'EOL'. It's a killer! Its like telling someone he has bad breath. We were able to produce top notch 3D-animation four weeks ago. Now someone says a software is EOL and that should be the reason no one can produce anything with it? Lots of small studios, solo freelancers and even medium sized companys producing their animations with software from several years ago. It's a misconception, that we desperatly *need* every new fancy feature and the newest version of a software. Surely it's different for the big companies, but they have their own inhouse tools anyway. In fact even having those inhouse tools like Vodoo (and that seems to be something that AD will not remotly be able to develop in the next 10 years), it doesn't prevent them from going bankrupt. Of course they're other reasons for the VFX business situation in the US than that, but using newest software didn't help them. Somehow I think we are more concerned about a software than the actual work. Do you need Bifröst do be in the business? Do you really need an edge-loop-fancy-magnet function to do 3D-animation? There are so many workarounds, especially in Softimage so that we are not have to rely on a specific software or version. At least not for the next five years and thats a long time. sven From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Gallagher Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 8:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Digital Golem : Brillant and beautiful Our pipeline is Softimage->Arnold->Nuke and despite all the turmoil I can tell you I have no intention whatsoever to change that in the near future. It works, it works well, and nothing else right now can touch it. So Autodesk can shove their “innovation” right back up their collective arse and choke on it -- as far as I’m concerned they’ve just killed a member of my family. Exactly right. Trying to keep my anger tamped down. Cheers, Jean-Louis On 19 Mar 2014, at 04:39, Tenshi Sama <[email protected]> wrote: Nice! All in Softimage? On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 8:18 PM, Francisco Criado <[email protected]> wrote: Excelent work, so nice! On Tuesday, March 18, 2014, olivier jeannel <[email protected]> wrote: https://vimeo.com/groups/ice/videos/89426397 Kudos to Digital Golem !
