Softimage|XSI 6.0 announced

#21

yea whats wrong with the article link :frowning: damnit I must see!

#22

Dunno what’s going on with the article but anyway:

Avid Technology, Inc. and Softimage have unveiled SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6, the latest version of its flagship 3D animation and character creation software. XSI 6 software introduces new solutions for accelerated animation that simplify working with 3D characters and motion capture data. A new collaborative framework allows 3D artists to work together non-destructively, in a studio environment that provides easy integration with other 3D applications. For the game development industry, Softimage XSI 6 will support the .NET framework and include integrated C#, an object-oriented programming language, popular with next-gen 3D game developers. The software also offers support for Python, a preferred scripting language used by technical directors for setting up film and visual effects pipelines.

“At Blur, our animations and stories are becoming more epic and definitely more complex. We chose to fold SOFTIMAGE|XSI software into our established 3D pipeline for our latest animated short film, ‘A Gentlemen’s Duel.’ We needed a very organized structure for the complex 3D character rigging, plus a solid animation package,” said Tim Miller, President and founder of Oscar-Nominated BLUR Studio. “By introducing XSI into our pipeline, our artists were able to bring our characters to life while effectively managing over 1800 parts to each human rig. Softimage performed like a champ,” added Miller.

Creating animated 3D visual effects, characters and 3D game titles for next-gen consoles - like the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 - is becoming increasingly complex. Because it is built on the newest code base of any comprehensive 3D application on the market, XSI software is best suited to operate with next-generation hardware and 3D game development and visual effects pipelines.

CROSSWALK
A dedicated toolset that offers extensive asset transfer to and from other 3D software, ideal for today’s mixed pipelines.

MOTOR
A streamlined way to transfer and move animation and motion capture data between arbitrary XSI rigs and other 3D software character rigs.

DELTA
A new lightweight production-level referencing solution that streamlines the process of working with and making changes to 3D models and scene set-ups.

Elastic Reality Warper and Morpher
Built into the Illusion compositor in XSI 6 software, this intuitive solution allows artists to ‘distort’ and ‘morph’ images and sequences.

QUICKSHADE
A fast way to preview rendering elements with large-scale materials management and support for mental ray 3.5 and a new open framework for integrating third-party renderers.

Discussing XSI 6 with Michael Isner, the Director of Product Management and Special Projects for Softimage, he enthusiastically described the ‘Elastic Reality,’ which has the ability to rig textures. “by switching over and working in the 2D space,” Isner said, “XSI 6 can work with material like a 2D compositing morpher with image-based lighting; and this works on the top of the 3D. The Gigapolygon core of XSI has been revamped, and allows for massive scenes and objects to be loaded, managed, and rendered very quickly.”

“Whether for its next-generation scalable architecture, or its ability to easily fit into existing 3D pipelines,” said Marc Stevens, VP and General Manager for Softimage. “XSI software offers a collaborative workflow environment that underlines our dedication and sole focus to offer the best 3D solutions for the entertainment market,”

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 will be available by the end of December 2006 as SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Foundation for US$495, SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Essentials will sell for US$1,995, while SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Advanced will sell for US$6,995.

Once shipping, all versions will be available for download for upgrades from existing licenses or first time 3D customers at www.softimage.com/download. With the launch of XSI 6, Softimage is offering a special, limited time upgrade promotion. All registered XSI Foundation customers can upgrade to XSI 6 Foundation for US$395 or XSI Essentials for US$1,495 until December 20th, 2006.

#23

Wooohooooooo, I can’t wait to see some videos. This is awesome news!

You probably misread the thread title, the announcement is for XSI.

#24

Too bad the site doesnt load :frowning:

#25

It does now!

However, the image links are incorrect. Here are the correct full size image links:





#26

Cool, thanks for the links guys. A couple of things they didn’t mention in the article but you can see in the images is the multi-render regions. You can have more than one render region. You also have render compare which allows you to toggle between your current render region and the previous ones to compare renders. Also, there is an animation layering system.

#27

Softimage had a private invite only NDA event at Siggraph called the Research Summit,
which was seperate from the user group event.

#28

Dont forget the shader bal…I mean…apples! :smiley:

This release is an animators dream. I can’t emphasize enough how cool the animation layers are.

#29

cool, so are the new animation features derived from the CAT tools? or are we still waiting for all the features to be eventually ported over (like the footplanting thing, that looked fantastic)

#30

aj9t08cur9msiovqs.jpg896x906

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aj9t1iee55n92uqpg.jpg855x816

#31

I would assume v6 was already close to Beta when the acquisition took place, so quite sure they are not.

#32

Yes :thumbsup::bounce: - along with layering animation on top of a mixer clip.

#33

them apples sure look good :thumbsup:

#34

oh man. sweeet.

and i notice these shot are from the 32 bit version.

look at the amount of poly.

softimage is really pushing foward with new toolsets . :thumbsup:

#35

[left]Softimage Announces SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6
[/left]
[left]Latest software version will offer accelerated animation tools, mixed-pipeline interoperability and collaborative framework for 3D artists and technical directors
[/left]

Tewksbury, Mass—November 15, 2006—Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), today announced that its Softimage, Co. subsidiary has unveiled SOFTIMAGE|®XSI® 6, the latest version of its flagship 3D animation and character creation software. XSI 6 software introduces new solutions for accelerated animation that simplify working with 3D characters and motion capture data. A new collaborative framework in XSI 6 software also allows 3D artists to work together non-destructively, in a studio environment that provides easy integration with other 3D applications.

SOFTIMAGE|oftXSI 6 will support the .NET framework and include integrated C#, an object-oriented programming language, popular with next-gen 3D game developers. The software also offers support for Python, a preferred scripting language used by technical directors for setting up film and visual effects pipelines. In addition, Softimage is working closely with industry partners to offer support for DirectX 10 hardware that will operate on Microsoft Windows Vista once it is available.

“At Blur, our animations and stories are becoming more epic and definitely more complex. We chose to fold SOFTIMAGE|XSI software into our established 3D pipeline for our latest animated short film, ‘A Gentlemen’s Duel.’ We needed a very organized structure for the complex 3D character rigging and a solid animation package,” said Tim Miller, President and founder of Oscar®-nominated BLUR Studio. “By introducing XSI software into our pipeline, our artists were able to bring our characters to life while effectively managing over 1800 parts to each human rig. XSI performed like a champ,” added Miller.

Creating animated 3D visual effects, characters and 3D game titles for next-gen consoles – like the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and SONY PLAYSTATION 3 – is becoming increasingly complex. Because it is built on the newest code base of any comprehensive 3D application on the market, XSI software is best suited to operate with next-generation hardware and 3D game development and visual effects pipelines.

Additional highlights of XSI 6 software include:

[ul]
[li]Crosswalk – a dedicated toolset that offers extensive asset transfer to and from other 3D software, ideal for today’s mixed pipelines;[/li][/ul]· MOTOR – a streamlined way to transfer and move animation and motion capture data between arbitrary XSI rigs and other 3D software character rigs;

· Delta Referencing – a new lightweight production-level referencing solution that streamlines the process of working with and making changes to 3D models and scene set-ups;

· Elastic Reality Warper and Morpher – built into the Illusion compositor in XSI 6 software, this intuitive solution allows artists to ‘distort’ and ‘morph’ images and sequences;

· Quick Shade – a fast way to preview rendering elements with large scale materials management and support for mental ray® 3.5 and an new open framework for integrating third-party renderers.

A full feature list for Softimage XSI 6 can be found at: www.softimage.com/xsi.

“With a next-generation scalable architecture, and the ability to easily fit into existing 3D pipelines, XSI software offers a collaborative workflow environment that underlines our dedication and sole focus to offer the best 3D solutions for the entertainment market,” said Marc Stevens, vice president and general manager for Softimage.

Pricing and Availability

SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 is expected to be available by the end of December 2006 in the following configurations:

¡ SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Foundation will sell for $495 USMSRP from the Softimage web site (www.softimage.com/store) or from authorized Softimage resellers.

¡ SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Essentials will sell for $1,995 USMSRP from authorized Softimage resellers.

¡ SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Advanced sell for $6,995 USMSRP from authorized Softimage resellers.

Once shipping, all versions will be available for download for upgrades from existing licenses or first time 3D customers at www.softimage.com/download.

Upgrade Promotion

With the launch of XSI 6, Softimage is offering a special, limited time upgrade promotion. All registered XSI Foundation customers can upgrade to XSI 6 Foundation for $395 USMSRP or XSI Essentials for $1,495 USMSRP until December 20. 2006. For more information about upgrades and maintenance pricing, visit: www.softimage.com to find a local reseller.

About Softimage Co.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., delivers innovative 3D character creation and effects tools to animators and digital artists in the film, broadcast, post-production and games industries. Its product line includes SOFTIMAGE|XSI, the most advanced 3D animation and character creation software for next generation games & film, and SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT™, the first production for lifelike facial animation, SOFTIMAGE|CAT™, a complete character animation system plug-in, and ALIENBRAIN™, an industry leading production asset management solution for creative teams. For more information about Softimage, please visit [color=windowtext]www.softimage.com.[/color]

About Avid Technology, Inc.[color=black][/color]

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy[font=Symbol]â[/font], and Emmy[font=Symbol]â[/font] award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

[color=black]© 2006 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. All prices are USMSRP for the U.S. and Canada only and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local Avid office or reseller for prices outside the U.S. and Canada. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid’s audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Avid, Digidesign, Film Composer, Pro Tools, SOFTIMAGE, FACE ROBOT, CAT and XSI are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. mental ray is a registered trademark of mental images GmbH in the USA and other countries. Alienbrain is a trademark of NXN Software GmbH. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.[/color]

#36

After the good things i said now the bad ones. The Softimage web site is disapointing concerning V6 information. 3 small wmv for features and that’s all. No fixing list, no MR3.5 information, no Elastic Reality Warping and Morphing. No many things.

#37

New features in XSI looks like some Cinema4D features :wink:
-Transform\coordinates
-Timeline
-Material Viewer
-etc…

.

#38

FAQ —> here

#39

Just responding to some concerns about the particle system (or lack of). Although we haven’t changed the particle system in v6.0, we are working on this and have been showing selected customers technology previews of research in this area. It’s happening, so don’t fret!

I also wanted to stress that the upgrade special for ALL Foundation users is time limited till 20 December. This is an AWESOME price of $395 to upgrade to Foundation v.6.

Thanks,

Leo

#40

New features in XSI looks like some Cinema4D features

Render Region? Seems Cinema still behind… http://webrel2.softimage.com/open/video/xsi06/QUICKSHADE.wmv :wink: