Introducing Creation: Flora (and a business mode change)

[FabricPaul]

Hi everyone - I'm pleased to share some news with you.

Creation: Flora
We've been working on a new vegetation system that we think you'll like - we call it Creation: Flora. The system covers procedural generation of vegetation (trees, grass, ferns, bushes, flowers etc), editing once generated, simulation/animation, is integrated to Maya and Softimage, and is integrated with Arnold for rendering.

Demo trailer: https://vimeo.com/groups/fabric/videos/58470126

More information: http://fabricengine.com/creation/flora/

This system will be made available as a separate module, which brings me onto the second part of this - business model changes.

Creation and Creation Modules
The short version: we're selling the core platform at $250 per seat, per year ($750 to purchase outright). We're selling modules separately for things like vegetation, crowds, hair and other 'niche' systems.
Long version that explains why we're doing it: http://fabricengine.com/2013/01/creatio ... n-modules/

Thanks,

Paul
CEO at Fabric Engine Inc

[milanvasek]

i love what you did with the interface. those sliders look really intuitive...

are you going to add more control of the branch shape? like f-curve or things like that?

is it possible to use more points to deform a branch than 3?
it would be great to be able to sketch a curve (branch) like in speedtree modeler and then modify it with control points...

anyway, so far it looks great especially when simulated

[ActionArt]

Looks really interesting Paul. I'm a bit confused about the pricing.

Lets say, as an artist, I just want to use Flora. I don't want to develop new systems of my own, just use it. Do I need to purchase the "core", or just Flora or both? What are the upgrade paths?

Maybe it's obvious, I just haven't had much time to read up on it.

[jamination]

Is Flora (and the rest of the upcoming "modules") meant to be purchased by developers or end users I am still confused by this. If it is for end users do we just buy flora or do we need to buy the platform as well.

edit: basically i have the same question as ActionArt, posted at the same time.

thanks

[FabricPaul]

It's not an end-user product, it's a module for the Creation framework - it's something a TD or TA could take and adapt according to their requirements (all code is open and available, and the UI/workflow is Python and Qt). That said, an awful lot can be done with it as is - but as you see from earlier in the thread, there are various requirements that people have and often they will be conflicting requests. All of those requests can be implemented by customers, rather than waiting on us to do it. Ultimately this system has to work on Maya, Softimage (eventually Max, Houdini etc) and people will want to integrate with other renderers as well. That kind of work requires more developer expertise than tweaking the UI/workflow, and this layer is where a lot of our focus is.

This is really where we see 3rd party developers coming in - they can build the same kind of Creation tools themselves with much more prescriptive and polished workflows, focused on a particular set of technology choices. Someone may want to take this module and turn it into a complete product, or they may want to start from scratch with the core framework and build their own vegetation system. Both are good for us and for our customers.

Licensing-wise I'd be interested in feedback (since we haven't finalized pricing yet). There must be a license of Creation present in order for the module to run - does it make sense for one of these licenses to be included with each module? Or would you prefer to have a cheaper price per module and handle the Creation licenses separately? As we release additional modules for crowds, muscles etc it might make more sense to have licenses split out.

Thanks,

Paul

[ActionArt]

I would think that an end user product (developed by whoever) should be somehow be able to be all packaged together with one price to avoid confusion.

[FabricPaul]

Yes of course. I'm talking about Creation and Creation Modules that we sell directly rather than complete standalone applications.

[druitre]

we're selling the core platform at $250 per seat, per year ($750 to purchase outright).

How about the modules - do you plan to sell those on a per year basis and/or permanent license? And can you give a price indication for for instance Flora?

[FabricPaul]

Apologies for the delay in replying - things are a bit hectic.

Pricing is still not final - however, I can confirm we will offer annual rental and purchase options. If you follow our discussion list you'll see the pricing when we announce it: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgr ... onplatform

Thanks,

Paul

[angus_davidson]

It Looks really interesting. Do you have any plans for educational licensing?

Kind regards

[FabricPaul]

yes definitely - individuals are eligible for a free personal license of Creation already. For the modules, I think we'll have to limit educational pricing to educational establishments.

[angus_davidson]

Thats great. When we get to the point Ill get in touch about those modules for our 3D class ;)

[FabricPaul]

Hi guys – we’ve been pushing along with Flora (which is now being used in production), so we’ve got some new videos to share with you:

Highlights: https://vimeo.com/58470126
Tech Overview: https://vimeo.com/62722614
Main page: http://fabricengine.com/creation-modules/flora/

Most of our work on Flora has been going into the Softimage integration and Arnold integration (hence me posting this here). If you’d like to join the beta, please ping me directly and we’ll get you signed up.

Thanks,

Paul

p.s. cross-posted on a few lists

[angus_davidson]

Looking amazing.

[jamination]

Given the state of stagnation of Softimage development, I am wondering what these tools will offer the Softimage user with small companies or freelancers without programming resources. Will these tools ever be used to create plugins for us or is it more just for big studios to create their own tools. Watching the video makes it look a tool that is already to use, however, I keep reading that they are intended for developers. It is a little frustration to see what looks like progress in areas that Autodesk isn't developing for Softimage, only to find out that more than likely the tools will only be fore big studios.

[FabricPaul]

The modules we're working on: (Flora, Stage and Horde) are all going to become products that smaller studios can use. Flora is pretty solid now, so you can pick up the beta and see what you think. Creation itself is designed for TDs to build tools. Modules are our own tools that we're building to prove the platform (or solve problems where we have expertise).

If you don't have some TD skills (python in particular), then getting the most out of the modules is going to be challenging for a while. Eventually we will get to products that are more out-of-the-box, but our current focus is on the platform.

*edit: there's nothing that requires our customers to be 'big' studios.