How long will softimage be Competative...?

[thorsnuts]

Hello,

I wanted opinions on how long you all think Softimage will be competitive for?

Eventually the lack of updates and support will slow us down, naturally. The technology in developing software will eventually pass us by... But in how long gets me wondering.

Better open gl, dealing with heavier scenes, new modeling tools, new materials and texturing techniques... blah blah blah

With Redshift around, that can hold us over for a couples years or so, but I assume they will eventually stop the effort to update it. Shit.. Windows might not work with it in years to come. Who's knows!?!?!

Where is everybody going afterwards? Maya, Modo, Lightwave... I mean, what compares to Softimage? What is the next awesome, intuitive, innovative software that compares to Soft?

I would really like your opinions because Im stuck on what to learn next!

thank you,

[Tekano]

until something as good or better comes along..? its subjective I know, but as soon as that is the case I will be on it like a rash, until then sticking with ol' marge with a bit of cross learning on Houdini and maybe Biifrost in a few years when it catches up to where Naiad was before. currently its still waaay behind unless you are happy with one big button thats says 'make water'. Maybe if Fabric eventually get their GUI nodes together then could hop over in that direction..

current maya 2015 startup action in production - disable biifrost otherwise all other custom maya tools crashes

[MauricioPC]

current maya 2015 startup action in production - disable biifrost otherwise all other custom maya tools crashes

That's nice!

Since I'll probably won't have the money to buy Softimage before February 2016, I would say ... go with Maya or go with Modo + Houdini.

[FXDude]

Maya can come with Softimage (if you ask for it)

Than you could make/bake assets in Softimage for standard Maya.

[Bullit]

Depends on what you use on Softimage. But if ICE and Animation, ease of use you don't get anything comparable for 3 years at least.

[MauricioPC]

Depends on what you use on Softimage. But if ICE and Animation, ease of use you don't get anything comparable for 3 years at least.

Modeling as well. I was watching Vitaly Bulgarov tutorial on modeling from Gnomon (great DVD) and he's kicking ass with XSI 6.5!!! If I get the chance to gather the money until 2016, I'll buy two licenses of Softimage to use indefinitely. I don't think technology will advance that much in the next ten years, except for rendering.

[Nox]

Actually he don't use anything XSI specific, mostly bevels, extrude, edge cut etc. You can do it in any package. It's all a matter of skill, not software.

[tarkovsky]

As bullit said, it depends so much, on what you are doing, but I would say,
even if you are the super generalist, I have a hard time seeing something else do what
SI does within 3 years too. Even if you dont use ICE that much, so many new fantastic plugins
and tools are centered around it.

The dream would be, that some people developed seriously competitive tools for SI, brushing up on
modelling, animation, and even ICE (new custom nodes). Or maybe some of the big studios
end up releasing their über toolsets, as they are moving to other packages.
I think that could easily give SI 5 years.

AND not forgetting Fabric. Who knows what they will bring to the table?

I'm a little surprised how many people want to jump ship already. Of course at some point, but then the choice will be obvious.

t

[MauricioPC]

Actually he don't use anything XSI specific, mostly bevels, extrude, edge cut etc. You can do it in any package. It's all a matter of skill, not software.

Yeah ... so I'm looking forward to seeing him doing this stuff in Houdini. I'm pretty sure Houdini has bevels, extrude, edge cut.

I'm not saying it's because of XSI he's good, but I would bet that XSI allows him to be more productive than say ... Maya or Houdini.

[Hirazi Blue]

It's all a matter of skill, not software.

I fully agree, but the software and one's proficiency in it safe-guards the artist's sanity i.e. wards off tons of frustration.

[thorsnuts]

Thanks guys...

[Draise]

I'm late to the discussion - but yeah... I agree. It has many years left.

I use old dead truespace, and develop my own tools in it and feel most comfortable with it, even if it died in beta 6 years ago. It's still great for some simple projects I do. I could learn another better tool (Softimage lol) , but even now I still am squeezing juice from it, earning contracts - playing with it's limits and unlocking abilities that still were ahead of its day when it died, with others still may be catching up to it now (better, but they took their time!) . If it runs on Windows 10, I'll keep using it, a first love.


There are some things great about something good that stops developing.. And that means you will learn it's secrets very well without having to stay up to date - focus on the art and story over the tech.

If the community keeps the material alive and downloadable, it'll keep producing very competitive work for a long while.. It's flexible enough. The only downside with time is relative speed - yet redshift and other modern render engines will keep the production speed to par a while.

Maybe the viewport will get old, fabric engine fixes that. Maybe rigging or procedural 3D will get old? ICE is a beast that will be hard to beat let alone kill....

As much as I hate the idea that things live and die, evolve and change... Having a great tool frozen in time to master is a blessing...


Now.... If only one could get more seats in time..........

[ActionArt]

I think it depends entirely on what you plan to do. If it's for freelance work or a hobby you intend to enjoy, SI is unbeatable IMO and will be for years. 3D packages are not progressing very quickly anymore. They'll be pretty much the same for the foreseeable future and 3rd party addons add all the new stuff you need.

If you're looking for work in the motion picture business, then Maya and Houdini would be the choice even if Maya is a pain. The worst often become the standard unfortunately and this goes for any software category.

I would recommend thinking about something entirely different if you want a good career. I moved away from entertainment 3D to engineering and I'm really glad I did. There are a couple reasons. VFX as a business is really taking a pounding and there is a lot of downward pressure on wages and company's ability to operate. There is no hope on the horizon for a change due to many factors. Alternately, there are a LOT of engineering related companies who seriously need help moving from 2D (AutoCAD) etc. to 3D. Believe it or not, many have not yet done it. They need people with real 3D experience. It doesn't matter what software.

The packages to consider learning for this would be Solidworks, Siemens NX, Catia, Creo and Inventor. The change is not that hard and the future is much brighter IMO. I have an engineering background but for many positions it's not a requirement.

Just something to think about.

[markraz]

Hello,

I wanted opinions on how long you all think Softimage will be competitive for?

Eventually the lack of updates and support will slow us down, naturally. The technology in developing software will eventually pass us by... But in how long gets me wondering.

Better open gl, dealing with heavier scenes, new modeling tools, new materials and texturing techniques... blah blah blah

With Redshift around, that can hold us over for a couples years or so, but I assume they will eventually stop the effort to update it. Shit.. Windows might not work with it in years to come. Who's knows!?!?!

Where is everybody going afterwards? Maya, Modo, Lightwave... I mean, what compares to Softimage? What is the next awesome, intuitive, innovative software that compares to Soft?

I would really like your opinions because Im stuck on what to learn next!

thank you,

I'm gonna go out on a limb here but I would say it would be competitive for quite a while.... Granted I'm not a Hollywood effects guru or anything close, but software can last a while, it's all in your creativity and your knowledge of the tools to maximize the software's potential.

What can't Softimage do with ICE and the SDK? It can do virtually anything now. Also Mental Ray has an SDK. XSI is still going to be a powerful tool for a long long time. I saw Jurassic park on TV recently and I still couldn't make life like dinosaurs like that in XSI never mind SI|3D
and there is 20 years of knowledge out there for free on how to do it... How many people could do something as epic as that? or Jumangi? etc.. Not alot. And those still hold up... The difference today is computers are so much more powerful so you can do larger scenes more quickly and efficiently and effect are easier for the CPUs to process. There is nothing knew in CG. It was all developed 30 years ago. It was just ICs that had to get to lightening speeds to be able to actually do what the maths and technology has always enabled.

Unless you are truly pushing the threshold of Hollywood Animation FX I could see XSI v2015 lasting another 10 years..... A prog like XSI was so before it's time it will remain relatively powerful for a while. Compare XSI to max or light-wave??... XSI is 10 years ahead of those clunky progs. The only program that rivals XSI is Houdini and it's a bear to get anything done with that app in a quick turnaround time.

It comes down to your production requirements and workflow. People do some amazing stuff with 3D Max and Blender and there are people who do some crappy stuff with XSI and Houdini. It's the carpenter not the hammer. I still use XSI 7 on my PC, for what I do (or don't do) it does the job. I don't use ICE. I don't need any of the new features. Some people may... Ask yourself... "What can't I do with XSI 2015???".... then think about how long it will last you from that perspective.

I just look at ICE and the SDK as something that will keep it going for a long time.. Granted I'm still using AutoCAD 2000i and alias 9.5 and XSI 7
so what do I know? lol But there are people who never use half the power of most softwares......

The only thing that will kill XSI is when it just stops working on the available OSs... Like SI|3D... it still runs just not on latest hardware and OSs.
but it still works if you want it to, and there was stuff done on SI|3D that most FX artists still can't do with modern tools.

rant over

[thorsnuts]

awesome feedback!! thanks everybody. It makes me comfortable to see this support and faith in XSI.

It's a god damn shame they bought it. Im sure by now it would have killer sculpting features, re-meshers, and other cool tools we couldn't even think of... so we didnt have to bounce around other software. you know! I guess that what bothers me most. They just ripped the carpet right out from under us.

thanks

[Helli]

This discussion somehow seems to go into a strange direction.

In case in this thread everybody is hobbyist or having a 1 man shop directly working for clients everything fine and please ignore me.

You can use it as long as you can feed yourself and your family.
Should you start learning a new Software so you will have a job in a couple of years ?
Well I guess everybody can answer this question.

In a couple of years (for SURE not more then 5 from now on) probably no company will hire a Softimage Artist anymore. Not for permanent nor for Freelance Jobs.
It might be hard to find a Job as Softimage Artist already.

You are either Hobbyist, or you better learn something new. (Even if you are working in a 1 man shop you might consider swapping, you never now if your business will still run in some years).