Over at the XSIBase, mister Rousseau shared the following bit of fascinating news...
(Source - Malware Warning! - XSIBase)

Finally, someone admits it was a bad idea to begin with. Never thought they could make such a decision on single application level only. Of course, it could also mean various other things which i'm kinda not in the mood to discuss any more so here's hopping a yearly release actually justifies it.

cheers

Yeap makes sense, takes a lot of pressure also from the new team. Hoping for some sort of reassuring signs though until the 2014 release

This is actually great news.
I'd rather have a great release every 1 or 2 years than a crappy one every 6 months.

If only those were the only 2 scenarios.

hmmph so thats how we hear Softimage related news these days. from a Maya developer on a malware ridden site - then third hand from someone brave enough to visit - thanks to Hirazi keeping us updated!

please correct me if Im wrong but Ive yet to see / hear anything that these new developers are working on apart from bug fixing.

Autodesk don't normally post news like this, as essentially there is no news. Its rare that corporations make an announcement about something they're not doing, lol. Besides with Siggraph literally around the corner, there probably might be some more bits and bobs of news to come anyway.

As for the SAPs, they're kinda optional really and its not the first time that a product hasn't had on in recent years, Motionbuilder didn't get an SAP release for 2012 (and 2011 - I think). It simply wasn't worth it. I for one don't mind the SAPs, or extension releases as I kinda call them, but as long as they're worth doing. If there's only bug fixes, then I would like to see more hotfixes/service packs released, if possible.

As for what the teams are working on, again that comes under our old clause of not divulging roadmaps and future development, same as it is for Maya, Max, Mobu Mudbox, et al. But I am working on trying to get more information presented, but that might have to be for pvt meetings and not for posting to a public forum such as this.

calling you out on this one Bellsey - untrue. see here

http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/marcel/maya-directx-11-technology-preview

http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/craig/tech-preview-multi-touch-mudbox-with-the-new-wacom-cintiq-24hd-touch

true enough, but I think there can difference between previews such as these and actual roadmaps and features. There's no guarantee that any of what's being show will appear in a product and when it will do so. These types of previews are not new, Autodesk has a whole site showing stuff they're working on: http://labs.autodesk.com/

Besides I did some tech previews and no one liked them, so why should I/we bother?

yes, but at the very least we can see *something* is being researched regarding the product - its better than nothing. Also, don't be too hard on yourself, I don't remember seeing any of your technology previews for Softimage are they online anywhere? So that will be some folks didn't like them not everybody.

I vaguely remember some posts on here concerning new features videos you posted a while back and most of the negative comments were based upon Autodesk being a billion dollar profit corporation yet they are so tight they refuse to pay for web developers or demo artist material. Thats hardly your fault.