Price change imminent?

[luceric]

@luceric - So what to make of Maurice Patel's post on the mailing list?
(see the link in my previous post)

The Product Manager told me, just now, that a Silver option is not planned.

[ThomasHelzle]

Hm, pretty bad news for a lot of people I guess.
I currently don't care too much either way.

If I will need later versions of XSI for a job that pays for it, fine, if not, good riddance.

Cheers,

Thomas

P.S. Thanks for the infos Luc-Eric - very much appreciated!

[azurecgi]

The Product Manager told me, just now, that a Silver option is not planned.

So much for bringing Softimage inline with Max and Maya!

I can only deduce from this what we have suspected from the start, that Autodesk really don't give a stuff about Softimage users. Well, if I have to drop Softimage due to this, it won't be to move to another Autodesk product. I suppose I'd better dust off my old Lightwave licenses.

Luceric, could you pass onto the Softimage product manager what a crappy job I think he is doing, because regardless of whether a Silver option was introduced or not, I don't know of one person who has had an official notification of this price increase. Those of us who run companies have to budget for maintenance costs of software, and it's pretty hard to do without being told about things like this!

[azurecgi]

Hm, pretty bad news for a lot of people I guess.
I currently don't care too much either way.
If I will need later versions of XSI for a job that pays for it, fine, if not, good riddance.
Cheers,
Thomas
P.S. Thanks for the infos Luc-Eric - very much appreciated!

Thomas, may I ask what 3D software you are now using, or are you still using Softimage, just without any support or maintenance?

[azurecgi]

Hope springs eternal...
http://groups.google.com/group/xsi_list ... 827ed56ce2

edit: I can't comment on Autodesk policies anymore, see earlier posts and threads.
As my subscription runs out early next year, there is still a theoretical chance
the "silver subscription" as mentioned in the link above, will have materialized before then.

Hope has just been smashed on the rocks!

[IveBeenPricedOut]

I expect the only thing that might change things is if lots of people don't renew their subscription?

Well done Autodesk - fantastic communication and PR.
Nothing like forcing pricing structures through without any explanation or justification.
In fact without any thought at all towards Softimage users.

[ThomasHelzle]

Thomas, may I ask what 3D software you are now using, or are you still using Softimage, just without any support or maintenance?

Several, I'm still in a testing and evaluation phase.
For rendering, I honestly like Lightwave a lot and rendercost is unbeatable. Many other things in the app feel rather ancient, but the renderer is just as good and flexible as ever, if not better.
I also have Fprime - still amazing.

MoI is my translator and go to software for everything NURBS - with XSI in the pipe or not. ;-)

For rendering I also own Fryrender (not recommended because of a stupid company behind it), Octane and my current favorite for photo-real: Thea render - http://www.thearender.com

Then I'm heavily testing and learning Blender. There are so many brilliant projects going on with it since the 2.5 overhaul, it's breathtaking - 2.6 is just about to be released with some of the Summer of code projects in it.
I like a lot of what I see but there are also a lot of limitations, compared with XSI.
I guess in one or two years this could become my software of choice, maybe combined with Vray, since a real production renderer is what's missing most IMO - and that works already very well:
http://vray.cgdo.ru/

For visualization, a friend of mine is using Cinema 4D and jobs we do together may be done with that, for data transfer simplicity - It's definitely not my personal choice but it works and it's easy to use, if pretty bland - I actually started out with it before I switched to using mostly Lightwave back in the days...

And sure I'll keep XSI around. It's the software I'm the most fluid in ATM and ICE is pretty handy.

And no, an Autodesk software is not on the list of alternatives ;-)

Cheers,

Thomas

[ximage]

il be honest with autodesk now. Not putting a silver subscription option out there is a complete and utter fucking joke.

i will not be renewing my subscription as it is just far to much money.

is there any way we can get a petition going??

Daniel

[Paulrus]

IMHO this is the perfect time for someone (Like SideFX) to swoop in with a "3Democracy" type program and offer cross-grades to everyone who's pissed off.

I'd consider looking at Houdini, but right now it's not reasonably priced compared to other apps.

I keep hearing more and more about Blender in the professional world. Who knows... maybe one of these days their interface won't make my head explode!

Paul

[ActionArt]

This seems a pretty strange decision to raise prices in the middle of a recession. Talk about kicking everyone while they're down. The SI user base seemed to be growing nicely. Great way to stop that AD!

[luceric]

Luceric, could you pass onto the Softimage product manager what a crappy job I think he is doing, because regardless of whether a Silver option was introduced or not, I don't know of one person who has had an official notification of this price increase.

Actually, this thread exists because at least one client was notified by their reseller. The software's price isn't going up anywhere other than in the EU, it affects less than 15% of the user base. I'm not saying that it doesn't suck. It's some kind of post-acquisition price exception that expired. All Autodesk products are apparently more expensive in the EU, they have price tables to work these things out, and Softimage had been exempt of it.

Softimage doesn't stop working and being good because a Silver subscription isn't going to be available, it's status quo, same as always. Softimage's user base is small, a silver subscription isn't viable; a movement from Gold to Silver would cut the product's air supply and hurt the whole user base in the process because then the product stops being profitable. Max and Maya can afford it with their enormous user base, they're making millions with just a few studios, it's just gravy on top.

[Hirazi Blue]

Still not commenting on the issue at hand: this thread exists because one user (me!) got an email, notifying me of the price change, from a FORMER reseller, who still had my name on its list. My actual reseller never sent out any such email. Something to think about, maybe...
;)

[azurecgi]

Actually, this thread exists because at least one client was notified by their reseller. The software's price isn't going up anywhere other than in the EU, it affects less than 15% of the user base. I'm not saying that it doesn't suck. It's some kind of post-acquisition price exception that expired. All Autodesk products are apparently more expensive in the EU, they have price tables to work these things out, and Softimage had been exempt of it.

I'll never understand why we have to pay more here, but really that's beside the point!

Softimage doesn't stop working and being good because a Silver subscription isn't going to be available, it's status quo, same as always. Softimage's user base is small, a silver subscription isn't viable; a movement from Gold to Silver would cut the product's air supply and hurt the whole user base in the process because then the product stops being profitable. Max and Maya can afford it with their enormous user base, they're making millions with just a few studios, it's just gravy on top.

I don't buy this explanation! How can letting users log in and download patches and upgrades with no additional support not be viable? You are forcing us to buy a service that a lot of us have never used and probably never will!

Plus how can you argue that only Gold support is practical due to the small user base, when it is exactly this policy that is ensuring that the user base becomes even smaller?

[ThomasHelzle]

I guess what we see ATM is an enlarging of a gap we got used to getting smaller.
When I started with 3D, softimage3d was completely out of reach. Even before the 3Democracy campaign it was still pretty steep. Then we had many years of relatively affordable access to this high profile software.
And now that there is a monopoly behind the 3 main production packages, this time comes to an end once more.
They no longer have to bother, all of the competition is either niche or somehow limited in one way or other.

And: they are in a "recession" too, so they cash in whatever is available.
...Growth is the only goal for a fat liver.

I can't see that as a clever move for XSI as a standalone app, but since the new idea is selling suites, all our quibbling will not change a thing. The individual software is getting more expensive to convince people that an even more expensive suite is actually a pretty good deal.
Works for Adobe too.

And the system will be made to work anyway.
Or some additional products will get bought or others trashed.
Or Software as a service will be made the next big thing.
Use all the software you want in the cloud by an hourly rate...?
You as a user own nothing at all and can only work if you pay...
They hardly can wait for that time to come I'm sure

And basically as a freelancer, you're only surfing the waves others make.
Everything else is an illusion.

That is why I personally try to work mostly with software from small companies and more and more open source where it's viable. And stay out of the way of the big hoodlums.

Cheers,

Thomas

[kiwimation]

I would be more than happy with the price of subs if they got rid of the resellers. In my country New Zealand. Subs come in just under $1800 a year from the reseller. Last time I looked they were around $1200 from the Autodesk site. If I Could buy from the autodesk website i would be pretty happy with the cost. Lets be honest if your a hobbiest $1200 - $2000 a year is pretty cheap. Used to fly rc planes and that cost way more per year due to crashes . And if your making money with soft and cant afford $1200 odd a year to maintain your tools then your doing something wrong.

[Hirazi Blue]

Lets be honest if your a hobbiest $1200 - $2000 a year is pretty cheap.

Sorry, but this is a ridiculous remark IMHO. Just to put things into perspective: With the new pricing here in Europe my hobby is going to cost me about a monthly income. Being a hobbyist doesn't automatically mean your rich...