You are 100% right, but remember the title is "Future". Import export is sometimes faster than switching mode in Maya or in Houdini. It is faster to edit UV in UV mapper pro than in Realsoft.
Learning Houdini is as long as learning 20 other applications. Mastering a software like XSI, Maya, Houdini is almost impossible. In a studio no one use the software entirely ony 1 or 2 modules per artist : texture, material, modeling, animation, lightening, rendering, compositing. Why would someone need to master renderman when there is plenty of software that connect to that renderer? You are right, I never worked for a studio. But I work with a team of 3 other people with all different tools. Ok, but admit that for the price and feature : buying many dedicated app is better. For 500$ of many small applications, you get more power than a full software. And if you are not happy, you are less dependent on the software maker, you can change easely the current app that is lagging. By dividing your problems into smaller other problems you are more independent. I mean you don't like the renderer, you change it. You don't like the modeler you change it. You don't have to wait 3 years for the company to implement it. By forcing your workflow to use many software you may access things that will never be done in a full package : tree/plant editor, terrain generator, character generator, motion for character. In my experience it is better to master a limited software than not mastering a much more powerfull software. Knowing a software 100% aloud you to think about the solution right in the beginning of the project. Ok, you are right but le me win on the price : it is a cheaper and more powerful solution to buy many dedicated 3D app than buying a one that pretend to do everything. Even if it may be difficulte to go from one another. Jean-Sebastien Perron www.neuroworld.ca -----Message d'origine----- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] De la part de BT-3D Envoyé : Friday, May 12, 2006 2:13 PM À : [email protected] Objet : AW: The future of the cg workflow and cg technologie and their cost in $$$ new version Sorry, normaly I don't go into such kind of discussions, but in this case I think you don't see some points (if I understood you wrong, sorry): > I just think that more and more the workflow of cg studios is changing. > Now, each employe use their own tools. > -Each modeler use is favorit modeler. > -The 2D personal that create the texture use their own tools (gimp, > photoshop, others) -The guy who does the uv texturing use his > best uveditor > application. > -Each animator use is favorit animating software. (some people have used > messiah only for camera animation to export it later to > lightwave) -The guy > who is responsible for the lightning and rendering decide witch > renderer to > use. Sorry, but have you ever worked for a cg studio, for a commercial or cinema spot, with a production pipeline or even a renderfarm, with a tight deadline and a team of people trying to hold it? Surely, many people tend to use the tools they like most, but a cg studio has to take a look at the whole workflow and I really doubt that they will change their whole rendering pipeline because a lighting artist say to the studio: Oh, I like messiah renderer more than MentalRay, so please don't use the crease feature on SDS in your XYZ modeling application because it will be ignored by the obj format. And also, please hire a new team of shading artists because we can not import the MR shader trees from your XSI licences into messiah. > Of course it would be better to only use one app. > But it never quiet work as expected. > Most software when used to a dedicated task are simpler to learn. No studio uses only one application, but it's not a matter of the artist only, but more a matter of the production pipeline they build up over the years (together with the artists). Most studios even don't use the latest versions of their major applications, because to be production proof is more worth than some new features (and mostly some new bugs) if you have a deadline. > By the way, since the invention of .obj (polygon, material, > texture)and .bvh > (motion export) who need a full package that is 4 times more > expensive than > all these application separetly. > > -Silo modler 100$ > -UV mapper 50$ > -Gimp free > -Plant and tree software free > -Terrain generator VistaPro 50$ > -Character generator Poser 100$ > -Messiah or any renderman renderer : free or 300$ So, please point me to a production proofed free tree software. I will be very interested. And, please also point me to a way on how to exchange shader trees between XSI (for example I like it to set up the shaders there), messiah (here I want to animate) and renderman (because that's the tool I want to use for rendering). > Each of these tools can be mastered in less than an houre Sorry, but I doubt you master renderman in one hour. > And you have a more powerfull set of tools than realosft, Softimage, > Houdini, 3D Studio Max, etc. that cost around 1000$ Only by the way: 3d Studio costs a lot more than 1000$ and if you need network rendering you have to pay a little bit more than 1000$ for example for Softimage. > Maybe it's time to think about the futur or the need of a > complete authoring > tool. > > Maybe it's time that realsoft focus on his strongest feature and abandon > others. Well, a sofware can't be good in every area. Because dividing the > brain power (RND) in too much different element is not productive. > > In real life most professional have their own tools. > Even if they work for a company, they bring their own tools. > Do you see some workers bashing each others about whitch has the best > hammer? No, surely not, but if you work for a studio you have to play with them and not against them. If they use a pipeline with Maya and XSI with a lot of MR licences you will not do the rendering in messiah. They will hire someone who fits into their pipeline. I don't want to sound harsh, and I really want the future to be so free and independent as you described. But at the moment in your described workflow with silo, Uvmapper and so on, you have to deal with a lot of import and export. This ins't always good for a production where are a lot of changes to different parts (modeling, shading, animation, rendering, lighting and so on), where a lot of people work on different stages of the production. That's the reason why studios build up their own pipeline carefully. Sometimes there is surely place for new tools but sometimes the production proofed existing pipeline is better. Depends as always on the job to do. Just my two cents Tim
