Saving Softimage (Campaign 2013)

[TheDutchOracle]

Hi there

I was doing some thinking + discussing Softimage here with a few friends in Amsterdam today.
The occasion was the many ugly comments all over the web about the 2013 upgrade for softimage (compared to other recent 3d packages upgrades out there like maya 2014, modo 701, houdini 12,5 etc.)
so i decided to start a volunteering campaign to boost the popularity of softimage. (without autodesk)

why?
i'm relatively new to softimage but i absolutely fell in love with ice + the basic softimage workflow. (still learning it)
At the moment however i hear many people complaining about Autodesk and the energy that softimage gets. (i was one of them to be honest)
but to be frank, at the moment the popularity of softimage is not comparable to other packages like 3ds max and maya etc.
So it's semi-understandable why other packages seems to get more attention.

for example: of all the autodesk youtube channels the numbers are:
* 3dsMaxHowTos (youtube channel) = 54,325 subscribers (4,328,023 views)
* MayaHowTos (youtube channel) = 24,745 subscribers (732,007 views)
* SoftimageHowTos (youtube channel) = only 6,267 subscribers (172,128 views)

* The maxon Cinema 4D channnel = 45,257 subscribers
(all just as metaphoric indications off course)

* This softimage userbase forum counts +-: 1907 members
* The Cinema 4D forum userbase for example counts 25,000+ members (C4dcafe)

The reason i want to try to make softimage more popular is quite simple, to save it from dying a slow death.
No one would ever say that's the case, but when people start doing that it's always to late. I don't want it to get that far if i can help it.
A more popular softimage would possibly mean more users, + (i hope) more input from autodesk.
I personally don't believe at all that Autodesk can/will realistically make softimage more popular, the only people who can are softimage users.

How?

So the only way to make softimage more polurar in my opinion is to show more of it to the world + to discuss it more in context.
I think after effects got more popular mainly because of videocopilot back in the days.
Cinema 4D gained popularity much because of the greyscalegorilla blog in the last years etc. All showing real projects and scenes from beginning to end.
That might helps new people to follow along with the softimage ways and benefits.
I haven't seen much of that about softimage.

Possible actions we all can take to help:

* A) if you can + are allowed to, publishing more of your own scene breakdowns on Vimeo and youtube. (real scenes made with softimage)
* B) more project based tutorials if possible... like the one stephen blair published this week: https://vimeo.com/62899770
ICE is one the coolest thing i know, but of all the ICE tutorials at https://vimeo.com/channels/softimageice (300+ ) only 1 or 2 are project based. Most are (usefull) R&D type video's. (wich i think are freaking awesome) but not as easy for non-softimage users to get in to, out of context of real scenes .
* C) If you are in the position to, maybe discussing softimage verbally in tutorial video's that you publish (maybe comparing functionality here and there with other packages if you have the knowledge so non-softimage users can relate much faster).
* D) Might sound stupid, buy maybe "liking" youtube softimage video's more often and faster (videos that you really digg) etc, might help it's findability in some way? The same goes for mentionnig softimage projects in social media maybe whenever possible.
* E) Coming up with better ideas than mine, and posting them below off course ... : )

.... I will do what i can atm. = record a series of new project based tutorials whenever i can + a free course on mathematics and ICE (i do know math).



Anybody wanting to discuss this, contribute knowledge to it, of help out in any other way is welcome off course.

Take care.

TDC

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

This is a good idea regardless of what was happening.
I would also suggest to do comparisons of basic workflows like "this is how you do it in max/may/anywhere, and that's how you do it in SI", not as another application fight but as a direct comparison for both sides.

I have so many colleagues using maya and max, and most of them are just afraid trying Si (no offense meant) but they want to try. So you have to pick ém up where they live, so to speak.
I´m offering anyone near me (around duesseldorf, germany) free Si crash courses! ("crash" meaning quick, not unstable ;) )

[TheDutchOracle]

I think your comparison idea (direct comparissons) is a great one.

yes some might think it leads to flame wars, but hey let's be honest, the only way to learn something new is by first being able to ralate to it (in terms of something you already understand). That's why comparisons with other features in other packages might work very well.

You just gave me a tutorial idea as well. Showing a scene i did once in C4d (xpresso) , but now showing how much easier that same scene would be with ICE.
That local thing your are doing is also a great idea. i'll see if i can organise something similar in Amsterdam.

[bottleofram]

Alright, i'll be the one to rain on your parade.... You think Soft's problem is lack of community enthusiasm? You got it wrong, i'm afraid. Those examples of people popularizing one software or another... We have that in Paul Smith. Still, community cant help the perception while being constantly undermined by the software company itself.

As an example, i was just reading a thread on maya forums at cgtalk where a guy, quite interestingly, compares ice and houdini. He concludes that, ultimately, what made him choose the latter one is certainty and maturity of the product. Neither of which you're likely to influence, all things considered.

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

Alright, i'll be the one to rain on your parade.... You think Soft's problem is lack of community enthusiasm? You got it wrong, i'm afraid. Those examples of people popularizing one software or another... We have that in Paul Smith. Still, community cant help the perception while being constantly undermined by the software company itself.

As an example, i was just reading a thread on maya forums at cgtalk where a guy, quite interestingly, compares ice and houdini. He concludes that, ultimately, what made him choose the latter one is certainty and maturity of the product. Neither of which you're likely to influence, all things considered.

haha, there we go.....


This is not about what is better or not, but what do I have to do if I want to use Si. If it saves Si or not is not important for me.

[TheDutchOracle]

Hi there bottleofram

I have to agree with you on that.
These are not factors we can easily influence.
(induding factors like "what software students get to learn in CG schools" (also more often houdini than soft these days in my country)

But it it wasn't for people like paul smith, Stephen Blair and Christian Gotzinger just to name a few, i would never even have looked at Softimage.
So there is a degree of influence by publising things.

Plus there is a difference in "enthousiasm" (wich i agree is big among Softimage users) and "publicly expressed enthousiasm" i think.

[Chris_TC]

Alright, i'll be the one to rain on your parade.... You think Soft's problem is lack of community enthusiasm? You got it wrong, i'm afraid.

From what I've been reading around these forums lately he's precisely right. All the bickering and whining and doomsday talk among Softimage users is dreadful. Any "outsider" who happens to come here and sees how unsatisfied many people act will quickly leave.

The mailing list has been MUCH more neutral, for example towards Softimage 2014. On the forums I've mostly read negativity towards the new version, on the mailing list it's quite the opposite. But again, "outsiders" won't read the mailing list - they'll end up here. And things have been so pessimistic here that even I didn't feel like being around too much.

I guess many of us are too passionate about the product. When it doesn't deliver exactly what we want, we get cranky. To me personally, both SI 2013 and SI 2014 don't bring anything to the table that I really need. I could stick with SI 2012 for another year and not feel like I'm missing out. But I've never whined on any forum about it. Yes, I would by far prefer to have an ICE FX Tree by now instead of some crowd compounds, but overall it's quite simple: SI in its current form is a lot more awesome than anything else I've tried, so I'm fine.

[Mathaeus]

Hi there bottleofram

Plus there is a difference in "enthousiasm" (wich i agree is big among Softimage users) and "publicly expressed enthousiasm" i think.

as far as I remember, that is since XSI 4, criticism always been present. Some kind of "allowed attitude in public", or inverted fanboyism, whatever. Today is just a bit more depressive, that's all. It's always been small community, I remember when old XSI Base reached 5k members or so.
Anyway nice to see new people. Personally, I've been huge fanboy of old Softimage, Jeremy Birn's books about Softimage, so on. I've even believed the Mental Ray rendering speed is somehow limited in XSI Foundation, with something else instead 2-core limit. ("real one" must be faster...). Obviously, new galls and guys can't benefit of this kind of energy, which helped me to survive these first painful months of introduction.

[TheDutchOracle]

Hi chris,

that's a good point, talking about the negatives can makes us look unsatisfied. (i'm not by the way)
But i really believe that attempting to get us to 'share' our enthousiasm and the positives (workflows) more often to the outside world is something worth asking/posting.

[ActionArt]

I think one of the best things that one can point out about SI is third party development right now. It's amazing! Not too much you can't find and some real ground breaking stuff in the works! Much of it is freely shared or reasonably priced (unlike some Max plugins).

The rapid pace and high quality of this work will keep us going while the new team gets up to speed I think.

And of course this thread shows and amount of world class work being done in SI:

https://www.si-community.com/forum/v ... =36&t=2739

[druitre]

Well, one thing that I do when checking out new software is go and hang around the forums for that software and in that way see how helpful the community is, how accessible. How many plugins are being created, as a result of questions asked in the forum, and how many free plugins, scripts, tutorials there are.

So, a very simple thing to do that IMO helps spreading Soft is to come here often and help out people with questions, offer solutions, spread your knowledge, upload compounds/plugins/scripts. Not that I mean a forum should be just that, in fact I don't have any problem with critical/negative/doomsday-threads, it reflects the passionate way in which users see the software and that's cool too. But it must look dreadful from the outside.

Oh, and what I'd love to see is more of the SI crew/developers here. We've had Daniel (the AD PM for SI) just now, and it helps me at least in having a better feeling about the future of the product if the people responsible for it are communicating with the userbase.

[bottleofram]

Alright, i'll be the one to rain on your parade.... You think Soft's problem is lack of community enthusiasm? You got it wrong, i'm afraid.

From what I've been reading around these forums lately he's precisely right. All the bickering and whining and doomsday talk among Softimage users is dreadful. Any "outsider" who happens to come here and sees how unsatisfied many people act will quickly leave.

Softimage wasn't made yesterday. I was speaking more broadly. Turning a blind eye at everything negative, being overly excited and pushy about a peace of software is not what i consider enthusiasm. There's a different name for that. Sharing knowledge, helping each other out, spreading information and actively managing various databases and discussion boards (which Hirazi and rray have been doing with great dedication, for example) is. That vimeo group has been batter PR for Softimage than Autodesk will ever be.

I think one of the best things that one can point out about SI is third party development right now.

Isn't that exactly what is wrong with max these days? Far from the possibility Soft will ever enter the plugin culture of such proportions but i wouldn't be interested in having to replace two thirds of my package with the external code. Continues progress and development is crucial.

[xsisupport]

Turning a blind eye at everything negative, being overly excited and pushy about a peace of software is not what i consider enthusiasm.

Who is doing that?

[bottleofram]

Turning a blind eye at everything negative, being overly excited and pushy about a peace of software is not what i consider enthusiasm.

Who is doing that?

I wasn't saying anyone was doing that. Chris asks if people should maybe tone down the negative reaction to the latest release. That would be dishonesty. Fanboyism.

[xsisupport]

I wasn't saying anyone was doing that. Chris asks if people should maybe tone down the negative reaction to the latest release. That would be dishonesty. Fanboyism.

EDIT: Nevermind. Bad day.

[Chris_TC]

I wasn't saying anyone was doing that. Chris asks if people should maybe tone down the negative reaction to the latest release. That would be dishonesty. Fanboyism.

There's a huge gap between toning down the ranting and fanboyism.

We are on a really nice ship, cruising the ocean. Cool people, not too crowded. Sweetness. Barely operational dinghies, filled to the brim with passengers, float by. But there's a problem. Our captain has slightly changed the course. Should we simply mention how we're not happy with the course? Or should we scream "It's going to sink!" and dive for one of the dinghies?

I swear some of us already see the iceberg out there in the sunshine.