I feel it also, Paul. I've been trying to look ahead over the past few days, even trying to muster some enthusiasm for Maya; but every time I look back at what we are losing in Softimage, it feels like a kick in the gut.
I am sort of settling back in to reality here. I will probably use Softimage until things start to break, or until a better option arises. Funny thing is that I have been on maintenance all these years. Once 2015 ships, I have to decide whether Maya is worth paying maintenance on, or if I need to bail on AD altogether. My contract is up in December, and I don't expect the signs to be all that clear by then. I would imagine there are a number of people in the same boat. If by December I don't see a coherent roadmap for Maya that suits me, I guess ADSK will lose a paying customer. It's a quandary. It flat out sucks. On Mar 20, 2014, at 11:55 AM, Paul Griswold <[email protected]> wrote: > > I had some time away from the office today and while I was driving down the > highway I started thinking about the situation and I'm no less pissed off > today than I was when they made the announcement. > > I've been watching as many Modo and Houdini intro videos, tutorials, etc., > that I can find and what I've discovered is, neither of them can replace > Softimage today. > > If you're a TD, then Houdini is probably a great way to go, but I'm another > one of those people who don't like to script and want to keep things simple. > Everything in Houdini seems to involve writing at least a little script here > and there. > > Modo on the other hand looks very simple and straightforward, but it's > lacking a LOT of power. I noticed in some demos on things like instancing, > the viewport REALLY slowed down. It doesn't look like it's ready for > prime-time when it comes to dense scenes. The way everything you do is > "frozen" is crazy these days. I can't believe if you extrude along a curve > the geometry doesn't stay stuck to the curve. Until Modo makes some major > moves, I just think it's a step up from Lightwave. > > I'm leaving Maya out of the picture because in all honesty, Autodesk is > totally delusional if they think Maya will be a good fit for small shops > working on tight deadlines. Maybe in 5-8 years Maya will finally hit its > stride, but I'm assuming by then the entire M&E division will have been shut > down in favor of just licensing patents & technology. (seriously - mark my > words - I am confident the entire M&E division will be shut down) > > I started thinking about most of the jobs I've done over the past few years, > and I can honestly say I don't think I could do 90-95% of them in either > Houdini or Modo as easily as in Softimage - if at all. > > So where I stand now is - totally screwed. I either have to put faith in The > Foundry that they'll bring Modo up to Softimage's level in the next 2 years > or I have to spend the next 2 years really digging in to Houdini to get > myself up to speed again. > > In either case, I don't see a positive outcome. I'm not young and I have a > family. I can't work all day, then spend the evenings learning new software. > This BS about artists not putting all their eggs in one basket just is a > slap in my face. I put my faith in Autodesk when they said "the future of > Sofitmage is bright!" When I was told over and over again I was being a > conspiracy nut when I said Autodesk was intentionally trying to destroy > Softimage. Well, look where we are now. > > Murdering Softimage without having ANYTHING remotely close to replace it is > like peeing on my face and telling me it's liquid sunshine! > > Maybe Autodesk is right. Maybe the all-in-one approach of Softimage is dead. > Maybe I'm out of touch with how the world of animation & VFX works these > days. > > In any event. I'm a very unhappy paying Autodesk customer. I do not feel > like my money has gone to anything I paid for. > > -Paul > > > > > Michael Clarke Design Blue C Studios 713-927-9835
