SI 2013 sightings

[gfxman]

A quote from Guillaume Laforge's LinkedIn profile

Senior SW Engineer
Autodesk
Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; ADSK; Computer Software industry

March 2012 – Present (2 months) Montreal, Canada Area
Working in the Maya team on a new technology for the VFX industry

Speechless.

Wasn't he the main developer of ice in the last 2 years? Softimage future brighter and brighter, 2013 is just the tip of the iceberg

[Nizar]

the best place to convince a guy NOT invest in Softimage is ... any softimage forum

[Fer]

Lets not try and read too much into things, eh?

At this stage, everything is possible... specially the worst.
Guillaume Laforge and Luc-Eric Rousseau joining the maya team at the same time
Sorry but am bit concerned when Senior developers leave my software of choice en masse like that,
specially after a poor release like we got recently.

and, if we read correctly the Linkind'in page: the "Maya FX in Montreal" team are mentioned, meaning it's a new entity just for FX development.

[SreckoM]

Heh look at that.

So I might go back to Maya in few years ... If I do not enjoy working in Softimage so much I would say that I made huge mistake switching.

[gustavoeb]

aaaaand now it seems like a good time for a new "softimage future is bright" statment...
as long as it holds true

[Bellsey]

What would be the point? People wouldn't believe us anyway, lol

[SreckoM]

Hehe I would not be in you skin

Anyway, good luck to both Luc and Guillaume, and prepare for much, much more winning users

[gustavoeb]

What would be the point? People wouldn't believe us anyway, lol

lol, thats true

[Nizar]

What would be the point? People wouldn't believe us anyway, lol

the problem is not you, but, in general, ADSK marketing. Users don't love ADSK (and as I said in other thread, if a marketing don't work is always a fault of those thought it), and after years SI don't feel ADSK like a safer house.

[Kerro Perro]

What would be the point? People wouldn't believe us anyway, lol

Well some won't anyway no buuutt... are you the man to ask some burning questions?

Like why no rendering improvements? What is the directoin for the viewport upgrades? Like someone on here said it would be nice - comforting even to have some sort of roadmap. Also to learn who might be replacing said missing dev members or who is already there to take the reins - might be some young new genius with fresh ideas - you never know ;)

I don't mean that as an attack btw i just think that if you are in a postion to answer or even speculate on these things i would be very interested as would others... If not then nvm ;)

[gfxman]

What would be the point? People wouldn't believe us anyway, lol

Well some won't anyway no buuutt... are you the man to ask some burning questions?

Like why no rendering improvements? What is the directoin for the viewport upgrades? Like someone on here said it would be nice - comforting even to have some sort of roadmap. Also to learn who might be replacing said missing dev members or who is already there to take the reins - might be some young new genius with fresh ideas - you never know ;)

I don't mean that as an attack btw i just think that if you are in a postion to answer or even speculate on these things i would be very interested as would others... If not then nvm ;)

[Bellsey]

I said countless times, anything to do with future direction, developments and roadmaps is off limits. Due to Autodesk public listed status, we can't openly discuss these subjects. I know its frustrating, but its the same on my side. There's alot I would like to say, but can't.

As for guys moving projects, its odd that people always see this as a negative thing and not in the least bit positive. When guys like Ronald and Phil left Softimage, people spelled doom and gloom for ICE, and yet, years later it's still here and in even better shape. Essentially all Autodesk are doing is moving and re-focusing resource. Softimage isn't being singled out - Maya and Max have also done the same. As for guys like Luc-Eric and Guillaume moving to more Maya focused projects, then personally I think its a good thing as their experience will be useful.
As for replacements in the Softimage dev team, I don't manage or work in the dev team so I can't provide a full picture, though I do know there are new people in place, but it would be wholly inappropriate of me to name them and essentially 'out' them on this type of forum without their knowledge or input.

[Kerro Perro]

I said countless times, anything to do with future direction, developments and roadmaps is off limits. Due to Autodesk public listed status, we can't openly discuss these subjects. I know its frustrating, but its the same on my side. There's alot I would like to say, but can't.

Sorry i hadn't read that before - i'm not on here that much. Frankly yes i find it very frustrating and confusing but i'm gonna assume you're on our side and you're not senator Palpatine trying to lull us into a false sense of security!

As for guys moving projects, its odd that people always see this as a negative thing and not in the least bit positive. When guys like Ronald and Phil left Softimage, people spelled doom and gloom for ICE, and yet, years later it's still here and in even better shape. Essentially all Autodesk are doing is moving and re-focusing resource. Softimage isn't being singled out - Maya and Max have also done the same. As for guys like Luc-Eric and Guillaume moving to more Maya focused projects, then personally I think its a good thing as their experience will be useful.
As for replacements in the Softimage dev team, I don't manage or work in the dev team so I can't provide a full picture, though I do know there are new people in place, but it would be wholly inappropriate of me to name them and essentially 'out' them on this type of forum without their knowledge or input.

Fair enough - that all makes sense to me.

[jamination]

the bigger question that isn't being asked is WHY are they going over to the Maya team and why are they leaving the Softimage team, I think the answer could worry some Softimage users.

[Hirazi Blue]

The following isn't meant all that seriously,
but @jamination: based on your previous remarks on the lack of new features, it might just be the current Softimage developers were fresh out of ideas and had to be replaced (while the Maya development team could use an influx even of somewhat "stale"/older Softimage ideas).
(No offense, (ex)-SI guys, just kidding here... )

[Bellsey]

the bigger question that isn't being asked is WHY are they going over to the Maya team and why are they leaving the Softimage team, I think the answer could worry some Softimage users.

I think there's too much speculation here, that actually has blown things up to bigger than what they are. When Softimage was acquired by Autodesk, there were product/development guys who moved from the Softimage team to other Autodesk projects, you could easily apply the same question to that situation as well. Again Softimage has kept going and is (imo) stronger than ever.