Perpetual Licensing Changes Buyer's Guide - North America

[Rez007]

If it's the same as the student version, it's a 16gigs installer that lets you choose what to install (Maya, Max, Mudbox, Motionbuilder). It also has (the 2016 version at least), a folder for the 2015 Softimage version. But Softimage isn't on the main installer page anymore.

Great! Thank you for letting me know. That is good you can choose what you want installed.

[Draise]

Yeah.. I prefer a pay once policy...

Crikey Autodesk gets picky at times. Kind of afraid at any moment they would/could sue for X reason unless it's their way!

Maybe it's an American thing?

[wesserbro]

I would love to have like an hour subscription to send maya files to the customers several times a week )

[Rez007]

Quick question, would anyone be able to provide me with a link to the Softimage Webinar Q&A that took place a while ago? As I am unable to locate it. The webinar that I am looking for, dealt with the EOL of Softimage and questions related to the transition process. Thank You in advance.

[Rez007]

please post the answer in this thread if you will.

Hello,

I was able to get in contact with Maurice from Autodesk via the email address provided by Luc-Eric. I wanted to share what Maurice and I have been discussing over our numerous email communications. I would also like to thank Maurice for taking the time to answer all of my questions and to give the best feedback possible that he could provide.

I was able to find some answers as some might be curious in how to approach the perpetuity of Softimage - perhaps in more relativity to the Ultimate Suite. Maurice and I shared a lot of emails back-and-forth over the past weeks. I did ask Maurice if he would mind if I shared the information that he was able to provide me with the si-community. Since we had covered a lot of material, and not to confuse people by just copy-pasting our interaction on here, we decided to summarize it down to a few questions that covered the main points I inquired about, while also making it more streamlined for others in a re-post.

*A Couple of Notes: These are rephrased questions, from prior interactions, in purpose to be posted online. Some of you may already know these answers, however it doesn't hurt to have more information, if needed. My reference to Softimage being sold as "New" in the Ultimate Suite, is only a direct correlation to the Suite that it is bundled within and does not reflect Softimage being 'new' - just a misperception on wordage and not towards the Softimage product, which I clarified in a follow-up email.

My Questions/Text = Black
Maurice = Green

----Begin----

Thank you for sending your questions to me. Here are the answers as best I can answer them. However, I would still recommend that anyone with questions talk to an Autodesk sales representative or authorized channel partner before making any purchase decisions.

Best Regards

maurice

1.) For the ones of us who are currently on the “Maya with Softimage” or “Max with Softimage” bundles and are looking to upgrade to the Ultimate Suite, and also for those of whom are currently on the Ultimate Suite, and may have been for some time, how will Autodesk handle the perpetuity of Softimage in regards to the Ultimate Suite? What would be the path(s) if one were to: A.) Upgrade now and discontinue Subscription? B.) Upgrade now and continue Subscription for the unforeseeable future? (long-term) C.) Upgrade now and continue Subscription for roughly fives years and then discontinue at that time?

If you upgrade to the bundle or Suite today you will be issued with a perpetual license which will allow you to run the software, including Softimage, in perpetuity whether you are on Subscription or not. Today, if you are on subscription you also get prior version access which allows you to run versions up to 3 major releases back. We provide both access to the software (download) and license activation, which today is issued as a perpetual license. While we expect this to continue, we cannot guarantee that at a future date our Subscription services and policies might not change including the prior access policy. Autodesk is going through significant business model transitions at the moment so things could change both quickly and significantly and in ways that are unpredictable today. Which is why we cannot “guarantee’” future availability even though at the moment we do not have any plans to change the prior version access capability. This could impact your ability to download prior versions and get new licenses authorized. It does not affect the ability of previously installed perpetual licenses from functioning.

The reason for the varying time frames would come about due to Autodesk’s “Prior Versioning” program which maybe a caveat due to the limitations of a ‘3 prior version limit’ and the flushing-out of Softimage on the next release (Ultimate Suite 2017).


2.) Since the Softimage EOL webinar seems to no longer be available to viewers, what actions should current users take to ensure the continued usage rights of Softimage (perpetually) and not be locked out down the road due to unforeseen circumstances? (i.e. Would Enabling and Activating a license of Softimage - whether it be from the Ultimate Suite or Maya/Max with Softimage Bundles - on a computer and keeping that computer active allow for a perpetual state regardless of future changes?)

Yes. When we issue perpetual licenses they do not time out which means they technically will work as long as the system keeps running. What cannot be guaranteed in perpetuity is that you will be able to download the software from our site or reactivate a license at a future date. While we try our best to provide such services (as a license transfer for example) this cannot be guaranteed.


3.) Currently, Autodesk actively markets Softimage as a “new” product in their current release of the Ultimate Suite 2016. Is there a possibility to have the “GoTo Softimage” function enabled in an update, as that would make transferring of data easier and current for the last release?

I am not sure why this is happening and am sorry if I it is creating confusion. It’s a mistake which I will try to get fixed: please send me any links you find promoting Softimage as new. Currently there should not be any active marketing of Softimage; it is not part of any of our marketing plans. The only reference to Softimage should be the fact that it is still included in the Suite – which is the case. These references will be phased out when Softimage is retired from the Suite.

As regards the “go to” capability. We did ask engineering if this was feasible as it definitely would have been nice to have. However their assessment was that this would require significant redesign of our synhub system and was therefore not something that we would be able to do.

----End of Questions----


While we did cover more material, I think this should work for others as a reference point. Since the Softimage EOL Webinar is no longer available (as myself and Maurice were unable to track it down) some of the questions/answers above might help clarify some Softimage perpetuity concerns.

My take, which is just an opinion, seems to be that both the Ultimate Suite and Maya/Max Bundles should handle the same, in regards to Softimage. I guess having your software/licenses on hand and installed on a system will keep its perpetuity foregoing if for some reason hardware, OS, etc. changes happen in the future, and if Autodesk, for some reason cannot assist with a transfer of license - so far they will try their best in assistance with that.

As Maurice stated at the beginning - check with your Autodesk sales representative first before making any financial decisions.

- This is what I was able to find and is only a summary of my findings and should be read and taken/understood on an individual basis. The "prior version" system from Autodesk, is something I would be mindful about.

Thank you again to Maurice and Luc-Eric in taking the time to help me obtain the information I was looking for.

[FXDude]

Thand for the useful info Rez & Maurice !

[Rez007]

Thand for the useful info Rez & Maurice !

You are welcome.