Scott Schroeder Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 It finally came true... http://area.autodesk.com/softimagetransition Autodesk is killing Softimage. Let the Maxaya rumors beign! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anejo Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 And their next announcement will be "layoffs" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkylineArch Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Wow, AutoDesk is taking the "buy the competition to eliminate the competition" business strategy to new heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Beaulieu Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I really liked the power of Soft, but that UI was terrible. ICE is an amazing tool, but the terminology used was not very common and it made thinking linearly a difficult task. I'd love to see ICE re-written or Max or Maya, but beyond this and maybe Face-Robot, was there really much about Soft that was better or different enough to warrant another line of software? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Lagoa ICE and face robot was about it and I doubt they'll let those tools slide into nothingness. I would expect to see those tools get ported into Max/Maya/Mayax or Stand Alone by the release of the 2016 software cycle. If I had to bet on one software to get them, I'd bet Maya as Autodesk seems to be pushing Maya more towards games and film and Max more towards environments and architecture. I'd like to see their next announcement that to replace Softimage, they bought Modo or Blender. Ohhh that would be awesome if they bought Blender and turned it into a $2,000 app. The internet would go up in flames. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 is max is getting discontinued next or turned into a half baked arch vis tool....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Wienerroither Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 is max is getting discontinued next or turned into a half baked arch vis tool....? This article states the opposite.... http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/03/softimage-died-to-make-max-and-maya-stronger-says-autodesk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Man alive, what a joke! Autodesk can barely satisfy the Max users, never mind a flood of new ex-Softimage users. I really wouldn't mind if Max was progressing though the years, but it seems stuck in 2009. I don't think there's anything in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 that I couldn't live without. I do think Max is an awsome piece of software, but Autodesk have really lost their way. This year I seriously considered stopping my subscription, but I'm totally trapped by their terms and pricing model. And the sad thing is I had to choose between Max subscription over Vray 3, until the funds look healthy again! Autodesk really need to look at how Chaos Group operate. Try listening to your users, release a new version when you have something worthy of releasing, and impress us with new features and large improvements!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dollus Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Wow, AutoDesk is taking the "buy the competition to eliminate the competition" business strategy to new heights. This has always been their MO for at least a decade across all of their product lines. Autodesk really need to look at how Chaos Group operate. Try listening to your users, release a new version when you have something worthy of releasing, and impress us with new features and large improvements!!! They did and it was great. Unfortunately, it's rather unsustainable for a gigantic, publicly traded corporation. Also, Vray is constantly in beta with various nightly builds etc. and strange pricing policies ('call us when you upgrade to work something out regarding the costly renderfarm nodes') so it's not exactly the model solution either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 They did and it was great. Unfortunately, it's rather unsustainable for a gigantic, publicly traded corporation. Why is it? That's their excuse for ramming out crap upgrades, and still expecting their customers to pay for it?! Vray is constantly in beta with various nightly builds etc. And it's fantastic. They actually look at a problem, fix it, and then send a build out to solve the problem. I've worked on projects where there has been an issue with Vray, we talked to the Vray guys, send them the files, they sent a new build back. The fixes they made were then rolled out into their next public patch. What's wrong with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Penaloza Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I would expect to see those tools get ported into Max/Maya/Mayax or Stand Alone by the release of the 2016 software cycle. That is a nice dream but knowing Autodesk development, they will try to patch it over the centennial code that is MAYA and Max, and of course it wont be as functional and speedy like it used to work in Softimage. it will be a very cheap implementation. Softimage was and modern software from its core at difference with MAYA or MAX, mostly Max is a patch over a path, worse than California's Highways!! That's what make Softimage a great 3D App, interface, yes was strange, but not as clumsy as Blender or Lightwave(that they been fixing it thankfully) but it was a well round software, very sad see it dead for sure. I'd like to see their next announcement that to replace Softimage, they bought Modo or Blender. Ohhh that would be awesome if they bought Blender and turned it into a $2,000 app. The internet would go up in flames. Yes that's fear that we all have, thankfully MODO seems to be very well under Foundry, the developers are very proud of the software so they won't sell that easy, Blender, definitely they are not doing that for money , but hey you never know. Actually the only real contender at the same weight of MAYA and Softimage is Houdini so we will see.. is max is getting discontinued next or turned into a half baked arch vis tool....? Bingo that's the idea, consolidate MAYA as the "one to rule them all" software and ship Max as the rendering tool for REVIT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Wienerroither Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Bingo that's the idea, consolidate MAYA as the "one to rule them all" software and ship Max as the rendering tool for REVIT... That was the ultimate doomsday sceneario and fear of many for some time now, but glady they ( AD ) are steering away from that course currently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Actually the only real contender at the same weight of MAYA and Softimage is Houdini so we will see... My friends at Maxon would hope that Cinema4D would be a consideration. I'm certainly fond of it, partly because it is NOT subject to AutoDesk rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Penaloza Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 My friends at Maxon would hope that Cinema4D would be a consideration. I'm certainly fond of it, partly because it is NOT subject to AutoDesk rule. Well actually I do use Cinema 4D and MODO for my freelance work, here at the company that I work for, they are attached to the AD products, no way to change that for many reasons, but I long time ago decided to run free Cinema is a good contender for 3DsMax, actually Max tried several time to get all the motion graphic market that Cinema rule, but it didn't work, thankfully, variety is what make out business great, thanks to Chaos group and Brasil render(remember that one?) we have wealthy rendering engine competition if otherwise we still be paying incredible prices for an slow development in Mental Ray. That was the ultimate doomsday scenario and fear of many for some time now, but glady they ( AD ) are steering away from that course currently Well I want to believe that but, the same they say about Softimage last year, they are even releasing a new version in a few months, and I bet if it not for that mistaken post for the re-sealer website, they would wait until the last moment to announce the retirement of Softimage, right after everybody did the update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Wienerroither Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Well I want to believe that but, the same they say about Softimage last year, they are even releasing a new version in a few months, and I bet if it not for that mistaken post for the re-sealer website, they would wait until the last moment to announce the retirement of Softimage, right after everybody did the update The news that Softimage is going down after the 2015 version started making rounds already towards the end of 2013, but was sidelined pretty quickly by the SI community as the usuall "rumor" only. But Autodesk apparently already prepared their largest SI customers for the EOL of Softimage in advance and some of that info found it's way onto the web. At the time the jigsaw24 leak happened only the most positive-thinking SI users did'nt believe that the tsunami was coming ;-) Regarding the change in 3ds Max development focus: I definitely believe in it from the dev team and product design side, even from the M&E upper managment side. Currently new Max developers are getting hired and Martin Coven's role as product designer sure brings Max back into areas where development was neglected in the recent years ( Animation, VFX etc..). The one thing i fear though, are another couple of financially "bad" years for Autodesk ( the FY2014 numbers just recently announced where worse than the already FY2013 numbers as far i have read up the info) causing the top managment running havoc just another time to satisfy the shareholders. And that would mean announcements like: "We will cut another 7% of our workforce" without any concern about knowhow and human captial they are destroying while doing so... Generally speaking , i'm in a pretty comfortable role: i'm on multi year 3ds Max subscription that will end somewhen towards the end of summer 2015. And then i can decide wether i will give my money to Autodesk any longer or not. If not much has changed then, i seriously consider going totally Autodesk free , software wise Edited March 6, 2014 by spacefrog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 With the sneak peak at 2015, I'm pretty sure Max isn't going anywhere. They are implementing a proper scene management tool that gives us, wait for it, NESTED LAYERS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 With the sneak peak at 2015, I'm pretty sure Max isn't going anywhere. They are implementing a proper scene management tool that gives us, wait for it, NESTED LAYERS! Sneak Peak? Try giving us a road map for the next 5 years Autodesk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Hey guys, I was wondering what this actually means for the 3ds Max Architectural Visualisers. I can see positives and negatives, but overall I imagine that the net effect will be positive (for us). Specifically, I am thinking about the value placed on our skills with 3ds Max. When looking at job opportunities, presumably the more openings that say "must be highly proficient in 3ds Max" the better (?) I say this as someone who is confident with Max, yet have not practised with any other of the competing solutions (Maya et al.) and and would like to think that I have chosen to invest my time (learning a specific program) wisely. Personally, I do value stability and speed over gimmicks and yet more options. So if the demise of SoftImage means less "Go Faster Stripes" and more quality for Max, this might be good news. (I confess to being poor at determining sarcasm), do you think the nested layers ("Outliner copy"?) is lame? I think its overdue but nothing to shout about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Wienerroither Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Autodesk themself states that the EOL of Softimage gives them the oppertunity to invest and concentrate more resources in Max and Maya Wether that statement stands a reality check - or not - in a year or two remains to be seen.... I have the impression that there was some serious internal fight for resources ( and maybe even the future of whole products ala Softimage vs. Max *) going on inside Autodesk for some time now. So, finally: now it looks like 3ds Max is the winner of that fight It remains to be seen what developments happen over the next couple of years... interesting times ahead for sure... * In no way i want to imply that 3ds Max could be in the situation Softimage is right now, only that i think chances were high that future 3ds Max development could as well have been life support measures only. But as it looks now, Autodesk is again investing resources in 3ds Max and building up the devteam. That would not have happened if they would'nt have Softimage EOL'd, as bitter and hard-hearted this may sound ... Edited March 7, 2014 by spacefrog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beestee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I don't know what to think of these developments. I know that I am a bit let down because I want to see the options grow, not shrink...but if this is the cost to get Max back on track then I can't say that I am not also a bit optimistic for the time being. I am also pretty certain that there will be many XSI users that leave autodesk entirely because of this, and that can only make the options from Maxon and the Foundry stronger with the influx of users...let's just hope that it is more than money that is keeping those studios from selling to autodesk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich O Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 is max is getting discontinued next or turned into a half baked arch vis tool....? I'd say Max will be around for a long while yet. The user base is huge. In the long run though, I can see Maya winding up as Autodesk's sole DCC platform, because that's what it is, a framework, a platform that is easy to expand. Though at present they're just buying smaller companies and merging their products into it seemingly at random, because they're, well, Autodesk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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