Buy Softimage!

[jamination]

Yeah, just when I think I understood things, something else pops up. This is a scary situation for me. I almost have to make the decision to drop subs before feb 2016 just to guarantee my usage of Softimage. I don't know how long I will need to use it, but for me, I am no where near a transition to another product, autodesk or otherwise, and I hate the idea that if I pay past 2016, and then decide to quit, my softimage which has tons of projects I will probably need to revisit will no longer be available. This is very sneaky as I thought we cleared this up a long time ago.

[FXDude]

Not directed at Jill of course as it's not up to her,
but not unlike 20 page long credit card "agreements", (or various financial instruments)
complication serves as like a cover, and to keep things (well) to the advantage of the authoring party,
and to always have some bit or part to fall back on.
(and/or to discourage from certain choices)

Why such (remarkably unnecessary) complication?
to the point of confusing even the experts. (then only decipherable by complication experts)

<< If this and that, AND that and this, plus that or that, (but not that, that, or that, exclusively in that order) then OK
but if that OR that, and this and that, then that's a no-go, unless ... >>

(very short version of sometimes -lists- of conditionals that can SO often just go on, and on, and on...)

So therefore what? well, it's not clear... or it's complicated (sigh)


Whereas, it could just as well be.. (as it should be in this case or otherwise):: If you buy it, you can have it.
(subs, no subs, transitionning, not transitionning, whatever.. without any of the extra legal 'BS' for lack of a better term)

If things were made simple, people could more clearly or easily see or point things that may not sound right, fair or acceptable,
and would not be dissuaded or scared-off by lingering doubts about some potentially overlooked crucial fine-print detail.

Nevertherless, kudos on going through & untangling some of that & finding those quotes Rez!

[jill.ramsay]

Hey guys,

I'm really sorry that I have confused things. I seem to have managed to confuse myself along the way too. I've read all the previous posts including ones from Maurice, where he states that you do NOT need to continue to be on subscription to use your Softimage license post 2016 and for sure your license will keep on working. The caveat, as Luc-Eric said, is that you will not be able to access the subs center to download the executable and license, so you'd need to be sure you make a back-up before dropping subs.

The advantage of staying on subs (apart from upgrades to the Maya/3ds Max part of your bundle, of course) is that you can use 3 previous versions of both Maya/Max and Softimage. Also, just as a reminder, upgrades are going away Feb 1, 2015, so staying on subs will make sense for anyone who wants to stay current.

Again, I apologize for adding to the confusion. I need a holiday.

Jill

[Hirazi Blue]

And you deserve one! ;)

What we as a community really would need right about now is an exhaustive, fully revamped FAQ, preferably with more info than we ever are going to need. The sparsity of some of the info and the way it lies scattered around isn't really helpful, as we probably can all agree...

[Alen]

We have purchased Maya/SI 2015 combo and I only have acess to previous 3 versions of Maya on subscription..not SI! Any thoughts?

[jill.ramsay]

As far as I understand, you should have them - can you open a case?

Jill

[Rez007]

Hey guys,

I'm really sorry that I have confused things. I seem to have managed to confuse myself along the way too. I've read all the previous posts including ones from Maurice, where he states that you do NOT need to continue to be on subscription to use your Softimage license post 2016 and for sure your license will keep on working. The caveat, as Luc-Eric said, is that you will not be able to access the subs center to download the executable and license, so you'd need to be sure you make a back-up before dropping subs.

The advantage of staying on subs (apart from upgrades to the Maya/3ds Max part of your bundle, of course) is that you can use 3 previous versions of both Maya/Max and Softimage. Also, just as a reminder, upgrades are going away Feb 1, 2015, so staying on subs will make sense for anyone who wants to stay current.

Again, I apologize for adding to the confusion. I need a holiday.

Jill

Hi Jill,

Thank you for looking in the matter and for the very prompt response. Your contribution to this website and others is greatly appreciated. I do agree with Hirazi, and I was going to mention this as well, I think we need some sort of updated FAQ (clear and concise), disclaimer, statement or something that is posted on the official Autodesk website that all of us can reference in case issues come up post Feb. 1 2016. I think that can help all of us Softimage users in what to expect moving forward.

I have one more additional question if you can answer this for me as well. For the upgrades that are ending Feb. 1 of 2015 (couple of months away) is this for only upgrades of the same software, i.e. upgrading from Softimage 2012 to Softimage 2015, in order for people to get current, or is this for all software upgrade routes that Autodesk offers? Example of the latter would be...I am currently on the Maya/Softimage Bundle and I may be interested in upgrading to the Ultimate Suite in order to grab Max for future client work. Would an upgrade from my current Maya/Softimage Bundle to the Ultimate Suite need to take place before Feb. 1 2015 as well?

Thank You in Advance.

[DanielGTG]

Hi everyone,

(it's a been a while since i've posted on this forum...)

Going forward I'll be helping out with any Softimage related transition question, service pack roll-outs and anything else on your minds. I can't come visit this board every day but will try to make it a point to check-in on regular basis. A couple of points to clarify

1. If you are on Softimage subscription and transition to to the Maya (or Max) + Soft bundles you get previous version (3 back) access to both products. If something isn't showing up on the subscription centre as it should, please report it to the support and then post me a note (i need to know your real name and the email you used to register so we can track you down in our backend and fix the entitlements)

2. "What's happens after Feb 2016?" It's true you'll no longer able to buy new seats. If you are on subs you stay a 'Maya+Softimage bundle' customer in our backend system which will continue to give you previous version use licensing of Softimage (standalone/rental or network licensing are different in how this is enabled where network licensing is more particular). The goal is as newer version of the Maya and Max are released, you will continue to have access to previous version entitlement (again 3 back) which will stop round out at Softimage 2015. We can still continue to offer Softimage 2015 previous version licenses beyond the 3 versions back policy if needed.

You will NOT become a 'Maya or Max only' customer in our system.

That's my update for today. Hope this helps.

Thanks
Daniel

(EDIT: Just realized my forum profile still shows me as the Softimage Product Manager... To clarifying that technically somewhat true again, even though I'm a Product Manager on the Maya team responsible for the platform or Foundation, but now also managing our the M&E)

[jill.ramsay]

Hi there,
Going from one product to another of the same version is not considered an upgrade, it's considered a crossgrade, so I don't think it would be affected. You would need to be on the same version, though: 2015 to 2015, or 2016 to 2016. I will double-check for you on the particular scenario that you mention, though.

Thanks,
Jill

I have one more additional question if you can answer this for me as well. For the upgrades that are ending Feb. 1 of 2015 (couple of months away) is this for only upgrades of the same software, i.e. upgrading from Softimage 2012 to Softimage 2015, in order for people to get current, or is this for all software upgrade routes that Autodesk offers? Example of the latter would be...I am currently on the Maya/Softimage Bundle and I may be interested in upgrading to the Ultimate Suite in order to grab Max for future client work. Would an upgrade from my current Maya/Softimage Bundle to the Ultimate Suite need to take place before Feb. 1 2015 as well?

Thank You in Advance.

[Alen]

I will! I thought only Maya should be available..therefore not asked, but now I will.

Edit: posted Case ID: 10247581.

As far as I understand, you should have them - can you open a case?

Jill

[jill.ramsay]

As Daniel mentions, he's taking over from me on Softimage transition as they cart me off to the madhouse to recover when my contract ends at the end of this month. ;) I hope you'll be as kind and patient with him as you have been with me. I'll stick around until then to help where I can.

Cheers,
Jill

Going forward I'll be helping out with any Softimage related transition question, service pack roll-outs and anything else on your minds. I can't come visit this board every day but will try to make it a point to check-in on regular basis.

[Hirazi Blue]

Thank you for all your good work over the past months! May you fare well! ;)

[Rez007]

As Daniel mentions, he's taking over from me on Softimage transition as they cart me off to the madhouse to recover when my contract ends at the end of this month. ;) I hope you'll be as kind and patient with him as you have been with me. I'll stick around until then to help where I can.

Cheers,
Jill

Going forward I'll be helping out with any Softimage related transition question, service pack roll-outs and anything else on your minds. I can't come visit this board every day but will try to make it a point to check-in on regular basis.

Autodesk should renew/extend your contract as your presence during these past months have helped us out a lot and you are one of the very few who kept us in the loop consistently. Thank you very much for your hard work and easing our transition over the months. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!

[FXDude]

Thank you very much for your hard work and easing our transition over the months. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!

Yes! and for going though what involved cutting through the noise!

... and once in a while, for putting-up with us

(also, RE-Welcome Daniel !) :o]

[jill.ramsay]

Hi there,
So I just got confirmation that what I said is the case. You'll be able to crossgrade current versions after Feb 1, 2015. So in order to crossgrade your current bundle to a suite if you are not on subs, you should do so while 2015 is the current release. I can't give you any dates of when (or even if!) the next releases will be coming out, but you would normally expect to get a pre-warning when a release is announced prior to shipping. Your other option should you miss the cut-off, would be to late-attach subscription (with 365 days of when you purchased).

Hope this helps,
Jill

PS, thanks everyone for the kind words!

Hi there,
Going from one product to another of the same version is not considered an upgrade, it's considered a crossgrade, so I don't think it would be affected. You would need to be on the same version, though: 2015 to 2015, or 2016 to 2016. I will double-check for you on the particular scenario that you mention, though.

Thanks,
Jill

I have one more additional question if you can answer this for me as well. For the upgrades that are ending Feb. 1 of 2015 (couple of months away) is this for only upgrades of the same software, i.e. upgrading from Softimage 2012 to Softimage 2015, in order for people to get current, or is this for all software upgrade routes that Autodesk offers? Example of the latter would be...I am currently on the Maya/Softimage Bundle and I may be interested in upgrading to the Ultimate Suite in order to grab Max for future client work. Would an upgrade from my current Maya/Softimage Bundle to the Ultimate Suite need to take place before Feb. 1 2015 as well?

Thank You in Advance.

[MauricioPC]

Autodesk should renew/extend your contract as your presence during these past months have helped us out a lot and you are one of the very few who kept us in the loop consistently. Thank you very much for your hard work and easing our transition over the months. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!

That's typical of Autodesk. When we have something good that works, they just yank it off.