CGTalk - Motionbuilder 7.5 would not upgrade standard version

Jannis

03-22-2006, 06:05 PM

Damn, I had a feeling those Autodesk rats would pull this. Oh well, no reason not to keep on using v7 (or in my case, v.6.x).

it is funny but that was the reason I rang up Autodesk UK, I wanted to upgrade to 7 and they told me why not go to 7.5? But when they rang north america they said no go! Now I am waiting to see if I can upgrade to 7, which might still not be possible, I have 6 also.

markdc

03-22-2006, 06:59 PM

I can't say that I'm surprised. I think Alias wanted to kill it earlier. I just upgraded to 7 a couple of months ago, so I guess I'm lucky...

ooo

03-22-2006, 07:10 PM

I'm not sure if it is wise to upgrade to 7 when it seems to be a dead end. Unless you want to go Pro of course. It's a shame that such a great companion to C4D gets killed. Time for an "inhouse" solution from Maxon!

odo

robotbob

03-22-2006, 07:52 PM

this is a bummer but i heard a few studio managers grumbling about how 'close' the standard version was in features but so far away in price. perhaps autodesk will review the pricing structure and offer a decent upgrade to pro offer ????

InfoCentral

03-22-2006, 07:54 PM

Yep, I guess its down to Credo-Interactive's Life Forms and Messiah Animate now.

robotbob

03-22-2006, 08:10 PM

messiah aint gonna be in the running if youve running macs

velarde

03-22-2006, 08:40 PM

Hi.

You just confirmed my suspicions.. that they were going to kill the Standard version when I saw the their webpage..

Did they mention if the 7.5 will be available for Macs as an Universal application..?

Any idea how much to "upgrade" from 7 standard to 7.5 pro (if any)... ?
Way overkill for me really... but just to know the figure....

Thanks!

3DDave

03-22-2006, 08:51 PM

Do those morons know that the standard version is what brought it to the keyframe masses.

Kaydara's Film Box was priced like the pro version and was only used by a small number of mocap studios. Talk about one step forward, two steps back!

Doh!

AdamT

03-22-2006, 09:00 PM

Autodesk is where good software goes to die.

danb

03-22-2006, 09:36 PM

I had a fealing they would axe MB or at least morph it into something totally different. Seems like they got most of MB in character studio anyways.

Not to highjack the thread, but how is Messiah's c4d plugin these days? I remember it was unstable as heck in the 1.5 era.

Anyone actually using this now?

I used messiah a couple of times and loved it, but couldn't get a stable connection between c4d and it, so i just concentrated on getting and learning CD's plugins.

I wouldn't even think of using MB or Messiah if c4d's viewport was faster.

markdc

03-22-2006, 09:48 PM

I had a fealing they would axe MB or at least morph it into something totally different. Seems like they got most of MB in character studio anyways.
.

>Seems like they got most of MB in character studio anyways

I use both. They aren't close in terms of speed or features when it comes to NLA (story is much more advanced at this point).

Blur1

03-22-2006, 10:39 PM

Clamping onto this thread. Surely Autodesk will offer something to appease the MB Standard masses and retain what surely must be a large part of their user base....cheap upgrade to Pro version? New pricing structure? Crossgrade to Maya? I echo concern about getting a Universal version for OSX.

wuensch

03-22-2006, 10:54 PM

Yep, I guess its down to Credo-Interactive's Life Forms

Now that is truly *NOT* a serious alternative.
I still consider Life Forms the app with the worst of all interfaces---
an interface from below hell.
The rest is stable and working but really nowhere in the league of MB.
More like a trip back in time, to the dinosaurs of software--

THis is bad news, unless Autodesk lowers price for MBpro upgrade significantly---
but looking at Autodesk general pricing policy, I have little hope.
I have upgraded to 7 already( so i think I can survive for some time), the update to 7.5 does not really look like a must-have (but i thought that about 7 too and have to admit the many unspectacular changes added up to a decent boost).
But what when i buy my next computer, 64 bit and stuff--

*Sigh*
Company mergers--you have to love them.
"With only the best for our customers in mind, we fire the employes and discontinue the development of the fine products we just bought, because less choice means less headache for our most respected customers."
Olli

InfoCentral

03-22-2006, 10:55 PM

You know they're asking over $4,000 for MB 7?

wuensch

03-22-2006, 11:03 PM

You know they're asking over $4,000 for MB 7?

I know-- sounds like a joke, doesnt it .

but wait:
"includes one year of Autodesk Platinum Membership."
if that aint worth it I dont know--- yumyum---

Guess I have to put my hopes for the future on Maxon then-- go Rex, bite!

3DDave

03-22-2006, 11:14 PM

cheap upgrade to Pro version?

I had a good laugh at that one!

Zendorf

03-22-2006, 11:26 PM

That is a bummer , but kind of expected:rolleyes: Another option that should be considered (although may be seen as evil on this forum) is to use XSI as a companion app. Like MB, it has a stock rig, NLA functions and fast opengl (though not MB speed)...as well as fantastic skinning and of course the rest of a high end app. With the upcoming 5.1 update including point oven export, it should be a doddle to get animation into C4d.

I use the two apps, but have favoured MB for character work. Now with the double whammy of MB standard dying and XSI getting PO export, I know which direction I will be persuing!

Blur1

03-22-2006, 11:36 PM

That is a bummer , but kind of expected:rolleyes: Another option that should be considered (although may be seen as evil on this forum) is to use XSI as a companion app.

Does XSI have any kind of fbik rig? I don't think it does. That was one of my attractions to MB. If anything, Maya is the way to go, as more of MB gets put in over time. Also Maya + C4D is a great combo.

Zendorf

03-22-2006, 11:59 PM

Blur1

03-23-2006, 12:06 AM

Don't get me wrong, I love Maya as well! I was suggesting XSI as an alternative companion CA app since you can get it for $499 ....I haven't tried Maya 7, but have been told that the fbik rig is not terribly useable yet :shrug: And who knows what Autodesk is planning for Maya, they may very well pull the same stunt and pull the plug on Maya Complete on the next version and just release an Unlimited version....

The fbik in Maya has potential though. You can add scripts to create and rig the skeleton and also get the "surfer dude" keying/selection interface from MB. God forbid they would dump Maya Complete.
Regarding XSI, yeah obviously Foundation is an enticing proposition for many.

hundredthirtyseven

03-23-2006, 09:28 AM

XSI foundation comes nowhere close to MotionBuilder, especially in the area of Mocap non-linear editing.

Duffdaddy

03-23-2006, 09:52 AM

oh, that totally sucks! I have to agree with AdamT - Autodesk have some bad habits. I may not use MB professionally, but as a hobbyist character animator-tinkerer seeing this product climb into the price stratosphere is a real loss.
Can't say I feel vaguely valued as a customer - this is a real "hobsons choice".

Thalaxis

03-23-2006, 11:52 AM

oh, that totally sucks! I have to agree with AdamT - Autodesk have some bad habits.

Alias has has similar habits for many years, so in all honesty I've been expecting this ever since Alias acquired Kaydara.

bobzilla

03-23-2006, 12:03 PM

Kind of makes me think the whole "aquiring" deal was in the works back when we all bought MB for $200. Remember how many questiosn people asked? Where's the catch? Are you sure I can do this? I can upgrade in the future?

I don't know how many people bought it at that price, but I bet a lot more than the ones buying it for $4000.

We thought it was too good to be true. And it was... :deal:

AdamT

03-23-2006, 12:50 PM

We thought it was too good to be true. And it was... :deal:
Yes, but I definitely feel that I got my $200 worth. :)

Anyway, I guess that anyone who already has it can keep using it indefinitely--so long as fbx continues to be backward-compatible. I wouldn't count on Autodesk to maintain that, but hopefully Maxon will carry forward support for fbx 5 & 6 import/export.

Now where it might get interesting is if you get a new machine and install MB 5 or 6. Will Autodesk still provide serials?

pid

03-23-2006, 12:57 PM

i think, thats one more reason that maxon should think about a new mocca version.

ChrisCousins

03-23-2006, 01:16 PM

For what it's worth I've updated my Mac since Kaydara got bought by Alias - they were surprisingly straightforward, the new key (for MB5.5) got sent back almost immediately - I imagine the teams for each product are being kept fairly distinct atleast in the short term, so the terms of the license (which explicitly stated that there would be no problem with machine upgrades) should still apply.

Cheers - Chris

Yes, but I definitely feel that I got my $200 worth. :)

Anyway, I guess that anyone who already has it can keep using it indefinitely--so long as fbx continues to be backward-compatible. I wouldn't count on Autodesk to maintain that, but hopefully Maxon will carry forward support for fbx 5 & 6 import/export.

Now where it might get interesting is if you get a new machine and install MB 5 or 6. Will Autodesk still provide serials?

ooo

03-23-2006, 01:17 PM

Now where it might get interesting is if you get a new machine and install MB 5 or 6. Will Autodesk still provide serials?

ouch!! never thought of that...

michaeli

03-23-2006, 01:20 PM

i think, thats one more reason that maxon should think about a new mocca version.

And I hope the new mocca based on the CD's new wonderful joint system rather than the old bone system.

InfoCentral

03-23-2006, 09:06 PM

Now where it might get interesting is if you get a new machine and install MB 5 or 6. Will Autodesk still provide serials?

Yes, this really is the scary part.

shakes

03-24-2006, 10:41 AM

ouch..just bought Motionbuilder 7! oh well, at least everone raves about how good it is at this version!!

Blur1

03-25-2006, 01:27 AM

Has anyone got a MacTel machine who can install the OSX PLE version and see how it runs, if at all? I'm going to be upgrading my G5 to a MacTel at some point this year and I want to know wether my recently upgraded MB7 is going to work with any semblance of acceptability! This is a double blow for Mac users and I hope that Autodesk has some peace offering. Shouldn't they at least email all the Standard customers and inform them of the situation and options?