why should learn softimage

[Atyss]

I'm among those who beleive that XSI's future is bright, but at the present if the only thing that matters is to be employed I'll say go the most used one(s)..... :hmm:


Salutations - Cheers
Bernard Lebel

[dg]

I'm an XSI newbie too, and I was wondering the same thing some months ago, but some points that convince my self to go with XSI

-- Maya is in battle with 3D Max
-- Softimage 3D is a classic in Hollywood
-- Softimage don't want to be popular (For me this is good)
-- Avid has a serious business and take their consumer very
seriously
-- The XSI is absolutly great
-- Has an amazing built in renderer
-- I have heard that knowing XSI has some advantages in the
final sallary.

But of course I may be all wrong.
Please if anyone have a sugestion let me know, I'm in kind of the same doubt.

See Ya!
And sorry for my very terrible english, I hope you can understand :)

[wmendez]

I would say learn XSI now. Avid is doing very well and Softimage is too.

Orion- use what you have now and when you start making some money then purchase it.

[ggg]

Originally posted by diogo girondi

-- I have heard that knowing XSI has some advantages in the
final sallary.

Where ??? :p

Will, just to play devils advocate who says Soft is doing well now? (other than soft) Most of the XSI seats sold still seem to be mostly replacement seats for SI3D or to previous SI users.
If 3.5 or 4.0 takes a leap forward like 2.0 did within this year then OK it will be IT.
Many of us, especially here and at the other forums are taking a financial hit now and big risk for the future with XSI...
Based on discussions with SI people I'm still sticking in there.
I'd say if you like XSI then use it, it has a decent future, the market though is still struggling so not too many new seats, most sold I believe are still replacement seats.
Ed?

[wmendez]

You can play devils advocate any time

I'm going from the fact that they are not cutting down the price of the software, they have introduced Behavior at a Higher price than XSI and have not been laying people off but hiring.

[ggg]

hmm OK. The behavior one was a surprise. I thought it was going to be included. Too bad I liked playing with motion factory.

[orion 77]

yeah i cant find pricing. i dont care for dynamics or cloth to be honest.
i've made a decision to cut back on animation and concentrate on modelling and textures. although xsi has superb animation capabilities but not my main concern right now.

[Nurb'd]

"The SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 environment, which supports Windows, Linux and IRIX operating systems, is available today with pricing starting at $6,750*. For a limited time, until December 22, 2002, existing SOFTIMAGE|XSI customers can upgrade to version 3.0 of SOFTIMAGE|XSI for as little as $1,395* and SOFTIMAGE|3D customers can trade-up to the SOFTIMAGE|XSI environment starting at $3,500*. Additionally, until December 22, 2002, Softimage is offering attractive trade-in credits, for old 3-D software, towards the purchase of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI environment. By trading-in one of the following software packages, Alias|Wavefront Maya Builder, Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited, discreet 3ds max, NewTek Lightwave, Side Effects Houdini, companies can save up to $6,500* off the price of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software, the industry’s leading 3-D nonlinear production environment. Visit Softimage at www.softimage.com or call 1-800-576-3846 for more information on SOFTIMAGE|XSI software and other Softimage products, as well as all current promotions.
*All prices quoted are USMSRP and in U.S. dollars. International pricing may vary. "

[EdHarriss]

Originally posted by ggg
Most of the XSI seats sold still seem to be mostly replacement seats for SI3D or to previous SI users.
If 3.5 or 4.0 takes a leap forward like 2.0 did within this year then OK it will be IT.
Many of us, especially here and at the other forums are taking a financial hit now and big risk for the future with XSI...
Based on discussions with SI people I'm still sticking in there.
I'd say if you like XSI then use it, it has a decent future, the market though is still struggling so not too many new seats, most sold I believe are still replacement seats.
Ed?


For the longest time XSI seats sold did seem to be replacement seats for SI3D or to previous SI users. I got this feeling based on the types of people that I got e-mails from. Lots of people that use XSI e-mail me "XSI questions." Too many actually. (I get hundreds a day... ) Listen people, I am not Softimage tech support, please stop mailing me.) :p

Now I am starting to get a lot of "Our company used to use application 'X,' now we use XSI. Where is function 'Y' I can't seem to find it." (Most of the time the answer is right under their nose.)

These types of e-mails lead me to believe that a lot of "new" jobs are still not being created by XSI. But that old jobs are changing. If you are looking for work, I guess you need to wait for someone to get fired. ;)

Besides, how many new cg houses have you seen open up in the last year or so? It's not 1996 anymore.... (Unfortunately.)

[lmc]

XSI really good ler....example from 2.0 to xsi 3.0....they always keep upgrade and now i believe XSI was one of the powerful 3d tool in the world even its still not so popular...:bounce: :applause:

[ggg]

Originally posted by EdHarriss

If you are looking for work, I guess you need to wait for someone to get fired. ;)

hmmm. that's an interesting apporach I hadn't thought of, so many posts here, with the actual sig of the co. they work for, are innappropriate and should be reported ;)

[orion 77]

hehe im not payin 6k anyways im buyin british so its bout 4500k. still expensive. hmmm well i will get 2 or 2.5. i wonder if i could get it for 2k instead maybe - doubt it.:annoyed:

[orion 77]

Ed you say that old jobs are changing. Do you mean movies and broadcast houses?
Is xsi big in the usa cos being british i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of mill films who use xsi at all.
Huh with the way things are I had always prepared myself to go it alone from scratch setting up my own studio and going from there.

[Nurb'd]

orion why not get Maya complete or LW? Both could work great for starting a small studio. Both have been used plenty for that very reason.

[EdHarriss]

Originally posted by orion 77
Ed you say that old jobs are changing. Do you mean movies and broadcast houses?

I mean both. At first it seemed like it was only the small to medium shops. (Mostly doing commercials.) Then gradually more and more larger facilities started to creep in.


Originally posted by orion 77
Is xsi big in the usa cos being british i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of mill films who use xsi at all.


Other than Mill (which you mentioned) I can only think of these UK facilities that use XSI (off the top of my head)

Glassworks - http://www.glassworks.co.uk
Skaramoosh - http://www.skara.co.uk
Framestore - http://www.framestore.co.uk
Red Post - http://www.red-post.co.uk
Eclipse Creative - http://www.eclipsecreative.co.uk
Rushes - http://www.rushes.co.uk
Clear - http://www.clear.ltd.uk/ (http://www.clear.ltd.uk/reels.htm)
Jellyfish Pictures - http://www.jellyfishpictures.co.uk
Lola Post - http://www.lola-post.com
Bizarre Creations - http://www.bizarrecreations.com
Curly Monsters - http://www.curlymonsters.com
StudioAKA - http://www.studioaka.co.uk
PyramidTV - http://www.pyramidtv.co.uk
Climax - http://www.climax.co.uk
Pitbull - http://www.pitbull.co.uk
Seven - http://www.sevenww.co.uk

There are a lot more... if I thought about it for a while I could probably remember them. (Hmmm... I should make a list.)

[wmendez]

Nice list Ed!!

[ggg]

Great list!
$hit if that works.

Is xsi big in the usa cos being Canadian i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of Softimage who use xsi at all.

Is xsi big in the usa cos having a US visa i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of Ed Harriss who use xsi at all.

[dg]

Always will have some company that uses "Y" software, so what really matters is the final results that you can achieve, and belive me you can do allmost the very same things in all of them, some easier in one side and harder in other, but what matters is your technics and capabilities, software you can change with no problems, taking that you know one very well, when you change all you got to do is search where the tools are and adapt some procedures and pipelines.
In my humble opnion keep LW is a great software very used on the market, has a great renderer and amazing modeling features.
For me I don't like tendencies like the "Y Fever" so I don't folow them, you have to use the software that you think is good for you, besides if you have a pretty amazing work using the "x" software and the company that wanna hire you uses "Y" softs they will buy your "X" soft to maintain your great work and productivity, if not fine, you learn the new one based on what you already knows.

"Software dosn't matters, technics and creativity do"

See Ya! ;)

[ggg]

Originally posted by diogo girondi

"Software dosn't matters, technics and creativity do"

I couldn't disagree more. Tools definitely enable the artist and the longer you've been using CG tools the more apparent that becomes.

[piajartist]

"Because Im that damn good" - XSI


It has a bright future, and the numbers of use should and will grow in my opinion, thats the program I plan to major on at the academy of art.

[ThE_JacO]

Originally posted by orion 77
Ed you say that old jobs are changing. Do you mean movies and broadcast houses?
Is xsi big in the usa cos being british i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of mill films who use xsi at all.
Huh with the way things are I had always prepared myself to go it alone from scratch setting up my own studio and going from there.

XSI is doing extremely well in the UK. it's possibly the most fertile territory of EU for Softimage.
AFAIK almost all the high-end commercial work is being done in XSI or soon will be.

Outside London things could change a bit, but in SOHO the most used app is most def XSI.

to name just 2 of the major players: Mill and FrameStore.
there are lots of others but since they don't get advertised as much i'm not sure they want to be.
just have a look at the official XSI mailing list, there's lots of UKers all from different companies there, and it sure doesn't cover all the companies actually using it.

I think it's growing pretty well in the states too, but I'm not visiting the states from a long while now, so i can't really be as sure as about europe.

[orion 77]

well dress me up and call me sally. i never knew that. all jobs i see are max and maya. it must be well established studios maybe then. cheers for the list ed!!!

half the measure of artistic skill is using the tools but the magic comes from within not the software - in my opinion ( which i prob changed in the last 10 mins)

[orion 77]

nurb'd you said get maya nad lw. that would be bout 3.5k i would imagine.
nah i would go with xsi instead but its that render akwardness isnt it, what is the deal with the render seats?

[Nurb'd]

orion mind quoting where I said that? I said I use Maya at work and use LW at home. I plan on getting a seat of XSI soon unless NT comes out with some LW 8 version that just blows me out of my seat. I doubt that is going to happen.

I was saying if the price is too high then why not get maya or lw?

The render in XSI is a mental ray and it has been intergrated perfect from what I hear.

[Nurb'd]

Originally posted by orion 77
half the measure of artistic skill is using the tools but the magic comes from within not the software - in my opinion ( which i prob changed in the last 10 mins)

it does and while you could bring down a tree with a saw in a week you could bring it down with a chainsaw in a day

:shrug:

[ThE_JacO]

Originally posted by orion 77
well dress me up and call me sally. i never knew that. all jobs i see are max and maya. it must be well established studios maybe then. cheers for the list ed!!!


most are, some are freelances (there are some skilled elements that can afford investing on XSI without giving it a second thought) and some are relatively young structures.
Obviously enough not many very young structures (unless they are born from an internal company splitting) since with the recent crisis very few of those projects succeeded in the last year and half, no matter what asset/tools choices they made.

you could also want to consider that middle-high budgeted studios aiming at higher ends of the market tend to have the need and the resources to invest on permanent staff or at least long-term contracts.
Smaller contractors need and can risk more dynamic turnovers, and therefore generate more short term jobs, but if you had a look at long-term jobs once you have a bit of reputation, XSI's situation is sure presenting different numbers.
while job offers are reliable to know how much fresh jobs an application creates they are not an index of SW diffusion at all.


half the measure of artistic skill is using the tools but the magic comes from within not the software - in my opinion ( which i prob changed in the last 10 mins)

i'm also for the "tools matter" philosophy like others here, but i think there's the need to distinguish.
when it comes to the most artistical side of the jobs, modeling, limited amounts of animation, lighting supervision etc. obviously enough the artistical skills prevail, and therefore the SW is almost unrelevant, and even the production times are not so influenced.
But when it's about effects if you don't have the tools you can't do anything close to where someone with half your skills but better tools will get.
Same goes for asset management and complex productions, where workflow, interoperability, linux support and this kind of things are way more relevant.
In that case (and others) the difference between SWs used for different tasks turn the small differences into huge amounts of saved time or way different quality of the results.
If the specifc shots are paid enuf the cost differencies in SW start becoming marginal or even non-existant.

That's why you always hear that big studios have every SW around, it's true, since they can be asked ANYTHING and therefore need to be ready with a pipeline incorporating everything.

when you are a smaller structure you have to balance the learning times (you can't always hire specialists right and left everytime it's needed), the toolset and other factors with a smaller range of requests, and you need to find the most comprehensive tool as your mainstream tool and can only afford limited (if not at all) amounts of other licenses.
When you are on your own... well you'd better balance what you will be doing (specialist, allround, internship etc.) against your choice AND remember you need to keep growing and invest in your professional figure.

just my 2 cents (Euro cents, therefore slightly more valuable then USA cents :P)

[orion 77]

very informative, you seem to know what your talkin about. i take it you have been in the industry for a while.
lol im gettin a good little education in the softimage forum.

[EdHarriss]

Originally posted by ggg
Is xsi big in the usa cos being Canadian i hardly see xsi being used here. I only know of Softimage who use xsi at all.

Is xsi big in the usa

Here is a list compiled by Stefan Andersson. It lists a few more of the companies that use XSI.

http://medlem.spray.se/sbanders

[orion 77]

big houses with big budgets me thinks

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