SI 2013 sightings

Hirazi Blue · Post by **Hirazi Blue** » 19 Apr 2012, 15:05

Well the "move" to Singapore brings them a lot closer to DNA Research (makers of 3Delight)...

And didn't I read somewhere Softimage (when it still was a company) had its own offices there already also?

PS I hope to activate some new Autodesk-based accounts soon... ;)

gfxman · Post by **gfxman** » 19 Apr 2012, 16:06

Fer wrote:Three info I got from this mail: Guillaume Laferriere is gone also , Autodesk have gathered all the veterans for their maya project, and Softimage is now a low cost development project. Sorry if I sound harsh for the new recruits, but just don't like how this is turning out.

just who gonna fix mental ray in Softimage right know ?

Everyday is a better day (since xsi 2013 was announced!) for the softimage community

Bytheway let's see what this guys will come up with, i don't like to judge without "touching and seeing". They have at least 6 month to give us a 2013.sap edition.... if they'll manage to do it this year.

Daniel Brassard · Post by **Daniel Brassard** » 19 Apr 2012, 17:28

Some info gathered on Linkin for those named on the MailngList

Chun Pong …. I just manage the team so am the "overhead"

If you're ever in Singapore, we'd love to meet you.
http://sg.linkedin.com/pub/chun-pong-yu/21/63/5a6

Hsiao Ming Chia - Core, Ref Models. From NVIDIA, worked on games middleware and runtime engines for 8 yrs.
http://sg.linkedin.com/pub/hsiao-ming-chia/4/2a9/412
Yury Khmel - Core, ICE, FaceRobot. 12+ years, last 5 as an architect in games development.
http://sg.linkedin.com/pub/yury-khmel/27/623/a60
John Tensuan - Rendering, Data Management. Last in Ubisoft doing rendering and engine systems.
http://sg.linkedin.com/in/johntensuan
Ho Chung Nguyen - ICE, Simulation. Wrote core libraries for math, physics simulation, rendering while at LucasArts.
http://sg.linkedin.com/pub/chung-nguyen/14/115/61
Joany Yang - UI, SDK. Mainly engaged in UI projects using COM, MFC, C++, etc while at another team at Autodesk.
http://sg.linkedin.com/pub/joany-yang/24/52a/26a

Through Chun Pong Yu links

Sean Donnely
http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/sean-donnell ... =pub-pbmap
Marc-Andre Belzile
http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/marc-andr%C3 ... =pub-pbmap

Some good info on those devs ...I feel better now!

Bellsey · Post by **Bellsey** » 19 Apr 2012, 17:30

Nizar wrote:So old softimage montreal team is now Maya VFX labour and the new softimage team is Singapore based? I'm a bit confusing about.
The fact XSI is more strong in Asian/Japan studio influenced this decision or is only a coincidence related to tax and bureaucratic facility?

It's not anything really like that. It's not just Softimage dev that is based in Singapore, there is other M&E dev there (and places like Shanghai) as well. Having a base out there kinda makes sense, especially when you look at studios such as DNEG and Lucasfilm (among others) opening facilities out there as well.

Many of you I'm sure will remember Siddharth Bolurker from his days in Montreal and India support, well he does the same role as me and is based in Singapore.

I've already been talking to Chun Pong for some time already, but I'm pleased that he has has posted to the list.

jamination · Post by **jamination** » 19 Apr 2012, 18:05

brudney wrote:That's really interesting whats going on in AD right now.

When I read about oldies leaving SI team my heart stopped for a sec, but then I thought that maybe it's not the end of the world and hopefully the new guys will pump some fresh blood into SI. I guess time will tell. It would be a pity if SI slowly faded away... What would be even worse is that I'd have to start using maya again;)

Speaking of which, that's really interesting what they are planing to do with it. Hopefully they will do more than reanimate the corpse. What seems quite obvious to me is they're developing ICE-like platform and hopefully making the whole application take full advantage of its node based architecture and exposing them properly (houdini-sorta-thing?) Or maybe I'm just fantasising...

Anyway, who knows, maybe I'll take a look at maya in my spare time and try to remember what I tried to forget when I switched to SI;)

If every Softimage user eventually switched to Maya (or Max), I believe nothing would make Autodesk happier.

Kerro Perro · Post by **Kerro Perro** » 19 Apr 2012, 19:59

If it were really that simple they would've just killed xsi and offered Maya/Max licenses as replacements. I very much doubt they would have put the work in they have... Even if we think they could do more. ( as every userbase probably does )

Mathaeus · Post by **Mathaeus** » 19 Apr 2012, 20:13

Fer wrote:Three info I got from this mail: Guillaume Laferriere is gone also , Autodesk have gathered all the veterans for their maya project, and Softimage is now a low cost development project. Sorry if I sound harsh for the new recruits, but just don't like how this is turning out.

just who gonna fix mental ray in Softimage right know ?

well, maybe only veterans are able to decipher the Maya code

afaik, Singapore isn't "low cost" not nearly to that, for a very long time...
Here's a longer story about former Softimage people - couldn't resist to add something stupid, of course )

jamination · Post by **jamination** » 19 Apr 2012, 20:29

Kerro Perro wrote:If it were really that simple they would've just killed xsi and offered Maya/Max licenses as replacements. I very much doubt they would have put the work in they have... Even if we think they could do more. ( as every userbase probably does )

I think just killing it would create too much bad blood, I don't think EVERY user would take that deal. My point is that it is harder to maintain 3 packages as opposed to just 2 (or 1), if they could peacefully move Soft Users to Maya they would (and perhaps someday they try this approach).

Kerro Perro · Post by **Kerro Perro** » 19 Apr 2012, 20:35

Mathaeus wrote:
Fer wrote:Three info I got from this mail: Guillaume Laferriere is gone also , Autodesk have gathered all the veterans for their maya project, and Softimage is now a low cost development project. Sorry if I sound harsh for the new recruits, but just don't like how this is turning out.

just who gonna fix mental ray in Softimage right know ?
well, maybe only veterans are able to decipher the Maya code afaik, Singapore isn't "low cost" not nearly to that, for a very long time...
Here's a longer story about former Softimage people - couldn't resist to add something stupid, of course )

Haha yeah you will be assimilated - all your knowledge and experience will be part of maya Collective...

Hirazi Blue · Post by **Hirazi Blue** » 19 Apr 2012, 20:42

Now I think it's time to worry:
Jason "Chinny" Brynford-Jones apparently also jumped ship...

Well like most others on the team who have posted, I too will be working with them on something new. Softimage is mature enough now and in very capable hands.

While we will no longer be working on Softimage, we are all still here to help if the occasion arises.

(Quoted from here)

This at least explains why he couldn't be bothered with a new "Softimage message".
This is ridiculous, I'm not thinking happy thoughts now...
While this doesn't seem to be the end of Softimage (the software)
(good luck with that, new team - sincerely BTW

),
this definitely is a bitter end to an era IMHO...

T.I.M. · Post by **T.I.M.** » 19 Apr 2012, 21:17

jamination wrote:
Kerro Perro wrote:If it were really that simple they would've just killed xsi and offered Maya/Max licenses as replacements. I very much doubt they would have put the work in they have... Even if we think they could do more. ( as every userbase probably does )

I think just killing it would create too much bad blood, I don't think EVERY user would take that deal. My point is that it is harder to maintain 3 packages as opposed to just 2 (or 1), if they could peacefully move Soft Users to Maya they would (and perhaps someday they try this approach).

Yea, Just to add:They didn't kill Toxic they just left it to fade out slowly.The same is going on now with SI .Fade out transition (to Maya, Max) slowly and gently so nobody get hurt....
When the money are THE ONLY thing that takes control , things are going to regress not to progress...
My fade out transition will be definitely outside Autodesk.

Kerro Perro · Post by **Kerro Perro** » 19 Apr 2012, 21:50

T.I.M. wrote:
jamination wrote:
Kerro Perro wrote:If it were really that simple they would've just killed xsi and offered Maya/Max licenses as replacements. I very much doubt they would have put the work in they have... Even if we think they could do more. ( as every userbase probably does )

I think just killing it would create too much bad blood, I don't think EVERY user would take that deal. My point is that it is harder to maintain 3 packages as opposed to just 2 (or 1), if they could peacefully move Soft Users to Maya they would (and perhaps someday they try this approach).
Yea, Just to add:They didn't kill Toxic they just left it to fade out slowly.The same is going on now with SI .Fade out transition (to Maya, Max) slowly and gently so nobody get hurt....
When the money are THE ONLY thing that takes control , things are going to regress not to progress...
My fade out transition will be definitely outside Autodesk.

Still seems like a bit of a reach to me: afaik Toxik didn't get any "love" after aquisition - no new features added, but for chrissakes they just upgraded the viewport. Why the bleep would they do that if they plan to abandon? Makes no sense.

Worst case scenario SI becomes an app that's specialized for one particular market while Maya gets pushed as the ultimate film/vfx app. This would still be bad news though but to compare SI to Toxik....

I do agree that if - but to me that's still a big if - Autodesk kills SI i'd never buy their stuff again. Might learn Python and try to make Blender more like SI

Bellsey · Post by **Bellsey** » 19 Apr 2012, 21:51

There's no way you can compare Toxik to Softimage.

McNistor · Post by **McNistor** » 19 Apr 2012, 22:56

I don't think AD will ax XSI as this act would hurt their credibility very hard after they say said countless times that they will keep developing it. I also don't think they'll let wither away slowly as long as there will be sold licenses. What they will do and most likely they already started as things appear to be, is to divert resources away from XSI and keep it low on the spending radar.

Let's face it, people are stupid and I don't mean other people, all of us are stupid and who studied the psychology of the masses will tell you just that. We tend to make up our mind and stick with that for a very long time (sometimes forever) and refuse like pigheaded chimps to climb down a tree and maybe try another spot. If AD had in their portfolio the best 3d app software in the world scientifically proven (we know they already do but...) they would still be trying to improve the softwares that are selling the most and leave the great tech aside (or rip it apart to see what's inside like a toddler). They are doing it. It's because people want MAYA and nothing else.

Here's an idea AD: put Maya's logo on Softimage and sell it as "Maya - millenium edition" or something.
See my sig.

gfxman · Post by **gfxman** » 19 Apr 2012, 22:58

At least i have an explanation for this poor release and the the presentation video. They were all working or going to for that "new" Maya Project. mIce.

McNistor · Post by **McNistor** » 19 Apr 2012, 22:59

gfxman wrote:mIce.

SI 2013 sightings

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