Jeff Mottle Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Autodesk Signs Agreement with Avid Technology to Acquire Softimage http://www.softimage.com/press/releases/2008/081023_adsk.aspx Autodesk Signs Agreement with Avid Technology to Acquire Softimage http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?id=12022457&siteID=123112 Avid Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results and Continued Business Transformation http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Avid-Technology-Inc-NASDAQ-AVID-913193.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creasia Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Holy Guacamole Batman! Can you say Monopoly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antisthenes Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 haha can't make something as good as XSI , buy it... this is no way to innovate but a good way to confused people and upset them first Maya next Revit then Ecotect now this... good thing McNeel will not sell out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 Holy Guacamole Batman! Can you say Monopoly? Not really. The 3D industry is pretty big and SI is only a small fraction of that. There are still companies like Bentley, Dassault Systems etc. They have most of the M&E market, but as far as 3D is concerned, not a monopoly yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creasia Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I guess not, but they certainly have a corner on Hollywood VFX now. It will actually be pretty cool to see the interoperability between these applications grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horhe Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I'll start worrying if they start buying 3d production companies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinHawaiian Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 LOL! Got the "news flash" from Autocad, and immediately went here to see the fallout. Quite shocking, but then again, Autodesk seems to be snapping up a lot of programs lately. Still... The optimist in me thinks that perhaps the autodesk/softmirage combined forces will come out with a super program to rule them all. However, the skeptic in me thinks that this super program probably will not have any real competitors and Autodesk will begin to demand critical appendages in exchange for said software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackb602 Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Ugh, I wonder what it takes to trigger US antitrust regulations. Happily for me, the last time I gave Autodesk money was for AutoCAD 2002. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandmanNinja Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I wonder if this is related to the recent event where questionable AutoDesk people were phoning/emailing people, asking if they wanted to upgrade/renew... CEO: "We want to buy more 'stuff'." CFO: "Sir, we need more money. The economy is in a downward..." CEO: "You're fired! You! I want to buy more 'stuff'." (new) CFO: "Well, we could ring up our existing customer base and encourage them to renew their licenses and buy upgrades?" CEO: "You just got a bonus!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Smith Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 what do you think they did with the money they got from VIZ migration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex York Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 what do you think they did with the money they got from VIZ migration? spent it all redesigning the error message screens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 spent it all redesigning the error message screens. hahaha good shout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 lol, new softimage looked great, all the particle tools and character stuff look amazing. if you cant better it, buy it and run it into the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nils Norgren Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 A quick observation about how to view this turn of events. Autodesk's Market Cap is currently 5.16 billion, the Softimage purchase was for 35 million. This was a fire sale for Avid (who many think only bought Softimage to get the Softimage|DS). This is a tiny blip on the Autodesk screen. I am betting that they will take the same strategy they have taken with Maya and keep it separate, with some integration through FBX. Spending Time at AU (with 10,000 others) it is amazing how many Autodesk consumers have never heard of Max, Maya let alone used them. Purchasing softimage seems like a seismic event in our industry but to the rest of the Autodesk community (inside and outside the company) it is a tiny ripple. My 2¢ -Nils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 (edited) Autodesk's Market Cap is currently 5.16 billion It's down to 4.92 billion this morning. I wonder if it's time to buy Edited October 24, 2008 by EddieLeon typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Smith Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Purchasing softimage seems like a seismic event in our industry but to the rest of the Autodesk community (inside and outside the company) it is a tiny ripple. -Nils Just curious, was the Rays (my town) defeat of the Red Sox (your town) last week a seismic event or a tiny ripple for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 A quick observation about how to view this turn of events. Autodesk's Market Cap is currently 5.16 billion, the Softimage purchase was for 35 million. This was a fire sale for Avid (who many think only bought Softimage to get the Softimage|DS). This is a tiny blip on the Autodesk screen. I am betting that they will take the same strategy they have taken with Maya and keep it separate, with some integration through FBX. Spending Time at AU (with 10,000 others) it is amazing how many Autodesk consumers have never heard of Max, Maya let alone used them. Purchasing softimage seems like a seismic event in our industry but to the rest of the Autodesk community (inside and outside the company) it is a tiny ripple. My 2¢ -Nils Agree 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antisthenes Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 and the lesson of this story is: Don't let it happen to you, your life and work you do to be owned by autodesk that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 and the lesson of this story is: Don't let it happen to you, your life and work you do to be owned by autodesk that is. Hmmm...I agree it's not good to sell out. But, keep in mind that that is usually the point of creating a technology company. Most investors that fund these types of companies want to have an exit strategy. Also, when a big company like Autodesk wants to rule the market they will pay top dollar to do it. For example, a tech company is usually worth a multiplier of 2x or 3x revenue. If Autodesk offers 4x to get the potential competitor out of the way or prevent a bigger one (Bentley, Dassault) from gaining advantage, then it would be foolish for Softimage not to sell or Autodesk not to buy. This is a win win for both of them and that's why these transactions occur. Ultimately, none of this will affect us in a negative way even though it does appear intimidating to see Autodesk gobbling up companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I disagree...gobbling up the competition gives you NO reason to compete... Ultimately, none of this will affect us in a negative way even though it does appear intimidating to see Autodesk gobbling up companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I disagree...gobbling up the competition gives you NO reason to compete... With whom? Are we competing with Autodesk? Besides, isn't the point of competing to win? What is Autodesk guilty of? Being successful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 question for ya... if you were the only runner in a race...how fast would you run ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billabong Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 question for ya... if you were the only runner in a race...how fast would you run ? quoted for 100% agreement Everytime AD has taken a hold of an app they give it 25% of thier attention, if that. Example you say? Combustion 2008 was suppose to be this big turn around for it. It hasnt had an update in so long it was very close to being dead, so what does AD do. They take the coders that were working on it and put them on Toxik. Make no mistake about it. Autodesk is the devil. If they own all the major apps, then there is no more comeptition. Competition is good, it keeps artists and companies on thier toes. I wouldnt put it past AD for a second, to start killing off some of the apps. Mainly XSI. This is just my thoughts on this "Please to meet you. Hope you guess my name" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 Someon sent this to me today. I thought it was hillarious: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7UWImpG54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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