I had a feeling something was up when they gave up the Foundation edition. Didnt realise it was this bad, though…
However, what AutoDesk is going to do with three 3D apps that practically do the same thing I dont know. Personally, I think AutoDesk would have been better off snapping up Lightwave so they would have owned games, films and tv.
Ok, so I have been thinking what good can come out of this, and I had these ideas:
For individuals and companies looking for more stability in their pipeline, I think they could start to look at Blender and the OSS community more closely. They could see the benefits in investing in a platform they can own and contribute to.
We now have a situation where all but one of the packages aimed at the larger studios is owned by one company. There is the potential for the other middle weight packages to try grow their market or for a new entrant to try and enter the market.
We might get to a possible golden age where the main 3D packages (certainly the ones owned by AD)to talk to one another with out some major translation. (I know it is a pipedream, but I can dream can’t I.)
We are in the consolidation phase of the industry at the moment. The innovations are small (compared to the early to mid ninties) and focus tends to be on UI and workflow solutions. But if we look at a lot of technical innovation curves, something or many ‘somethings’ that spark major innovation might be on the horizon.
Any more ideas?
That had nothing to do with the acquisition.
The people driving that decision were the same people who got to know about the acquisition pretty much with the official news or a handful of days before. It also wasn’t because foundation wasn’t sold at a sustainable price.
That decision was taken because decoupling ice from xsi would have been too much development effort, and leaving it in foundation would have made essentials a nearly useless version. That wasn’t sustainable, and the devlopment of ice, well before the AD deal was on the table, was the only thing making it clear.
Before we get off track…
(FIRST lets stops using for jest one of the ugliest chapters in human history).
I am saying that this is the end of 3d, I am just saying that there is definetly a pattern of a desire of TOTAL market integration from Autodesk.
Well I just wonder were we stand in terms of our future. Not only for Lightwave, but for ANYONE trying to do graphics of any sort with a computer…
Lets think about it…
One company effectively controls most of the computer graphics market.
It cannot be downplayed how monumental this purchase is for our industry.
In effect we have one player now controlling the destiny of the most Entertainment graphics industry an frankly , if history is any indicator, they really want to become the ONLY player in the world of graphics
As a company Autodesk, has expanded in the past 10 years into a force that DOMINATES all the markets they enter. Right now they control Architectural Design, Industrial Design & now the Gaming/ Film & Television markets.
They still don’t control the Web Design, Application Programming & the Video market. But that might be in the development stages…
What this means for us is that if this market integration continues you will have to deal with ONE company , Autodesk, to (as they say) make a buck…
Is it right for ONE company to have that much power over ALL the computer graphics markets?
[left]This means that one player an dictate terms to other companies and set up industry wide standards that benefit them[/left]
As I said before…
They could drop support on any 2d/3d format they wish, and move to proprietary formats for all 3d work.
Not only that, they could REFUSE to open the format…
Apple does this right now with their iTunes music player.
Hell if they wish now they could now establish subscription certification programs to “certify” that you can use their software.
This is quite common in other markets.
Oracle does this right for databases.
Microsoft does this for most of their tools
Here is a rundown
[ul]
[li]Architectural Design[/li]AutoCAD is the standard of that industry.
[li]Industrilal Design[/li]AliasStudio.(AKA studio tools)
[li]Gaming/ Film & Television [/li]One company, thanks to wise adquisitions, now controls the 3 biggest competitiors
Maya
3D Studio
Motion Builder
Mud Box
And of course Softimage…
[/ul]The only markets they do not yet control are:
[ul]
[li]Desktop Graphics & Publishing (Adobe, Microsoft)[/li][li]Web Design (Adobe, Microsoft)[/li][li]Application Programming (Microsoft, etc)[/li][li]Non Linear Editing (Pinnacle, Avid, Apple & Sony etc)[/li][/ul]
Who your guile is awesome. Kind of weird proportions, kingdom hearts like, but I love the head.
Are you saying that using MR within XSI is enjoyable ? Damn this announce seems to have more impact on you than expected 
Joke aside. What ever what they choose in term of rendered in the future. As far as the workflow is efficient and the renderer open enough than I don’t really care with label it will be on it.
When you look to the integration of 3delight in XSI even using a Rman renderer become a pleasure to work with.
please tell us something ! Iran and then Venezuela. Oops wrong scale, same idea, same rotten smell.
Its not a matter of what is best for the 3D industry (or country) is a matter of how powerful and rich they can get.
I hope Im not banned for attempting Autodisk home land security. :argh:
I’m pretty sure Adobe could buy Autodesk not the other way around. So if there were to be one company to rule them all that would be Adobe. If Apple were interested they could also possibly buy Autodesk.
Yay! Then we could finally get PRMan free with Maya! Or maybe AD should buy 3Delight 
The fact that both Marc Petit and Marc Stevens have a strong Softimage background is another interesting point about this aquisition. Lets see if this is gonna have any influence on future development.
IMO, the XSI / ICE architecture is the best candidate to built next gen software upon. Let’s just hope that dozens of product managers at AD will be able to join forces for a dawn in the 3D industry. Multithreading and GPU tech are making big impacts, times are changing fast.
ANother thing: Do you think the XSI 2010 interface will change?
Or will they keep the theme that is standart across most Avid products?
I too think that flexible open source projects like Blender will become pretty serious stuff in the future if not already. Ok Ok, I’ll keep quite. Big AD might listening…
Thanks for the posting Roberto Ortiz.
Except for this one moment, your postings have been fair and neutral always. I surmise that you just had to write what you did. I am adding my own two cents to the discussion:
I am located in the greater DC area and work for a construction general contractor. I am involved in 3d/ VDC (Virtual Design and Construction)/ BIM (Building Information Model). Worldwide, the construction industry is in the midst of an important reorganization/revolution of its very ‘structure’. I believe a virtual 3d model of a future construction project can define the actual building itself. Look Ma, no blueprints. I also believe that the software can accomplish such here and now (not future) if a pipeline between different softwares is established on a per project basis.
The software I use is: LightWave, Revit Architecture, ArchiCAD, ACAD Architecture and NavisWorks.
As an example, currently a surveying instrument (total station) can load a 3d model into its on board memory and provide a surveying engineer with the locations of everything to be transcribed into the real world. About a year ago I have done just that on a limited basis. That is I made a design model (lightWave) that was modified by a construction superintendent and a professional engineer. Points from that model were transferred to an Excel spreadsheet. In the field office trailer the spreadsheet info was transferred into a small “data collector”. That data collector was carried out into the REAL building and plugged into the surveying instrument. So the model became actual reality. That facet of the project recently won a local award (Washington Building Congress, I think).
AD is writing standards for the AEC (architect/engineer/construction) industry to adopt and follow. Thankfully there are competing standards being written by the AGC (Association of General Contractors), AIA (American Institute of Architects) and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). I do not know how this will play out.
Now to my real point in writing this posting:
Not until right now has any software developer made a “move” to control the entire building industry in the United States. Software used to be considered an enabler not a controller.
I am genuinely scared that the industry itself might stagnate and lose vitality. Some of the great, now completed, projects may not be possible in the future.
Government intervention is direly needed with regards to AD’s corporate behavior.
Riff
Good points…
Thanks for the added information.
And yes, I am VERY concerned.
-R
PS You shouldcome to one of our SIGGRAPH meetings…
I get the distinct impression that the government does not understand the 3d industry as we do, and thus does not see an emerging monopoly the way they would in the phone or cable TV industry.
This is all my impression, though, with no basis on any type of research, so take with a tablespoon of salt.
Isn’t Marc Petit mentioning FBX for interoperability already suggesting exactly that?
As far as I know, FBX is pretty much a closed format that is controlled by AD.
Am I the only one who thinks that concentrating on FBX for interoperability instead of Collada is rather a step back instead of forward?
Of course not, I never used that adjective.
But I have no problems to say that “it is more enjoyable using the mr XSI integration rather than the Maya one, in the same was as I prefer to type this answer on the keyboard sitting on a chair rather than blindfolded when performing a headstand on the table”.
Joke aside. What ever what they choose in term of rendered in the future. As far as the workflow is efficient and the renderer open enough than I don’t really care with label it will be on it.
As far as they are really open and let me be free to decide how to hammer down my nails with a proper tool and not with a marzipan hammer, then I don’t really care as well. 
When you look to the integration of 3delight in XSI even using a Rman renderer become a pleasure to work with.
I wonder what that “even” means.
Anyway. Fun reading through all this.
P.