begin using Softimage 2014 ??

[miketoulsen]

Hi there !
I am a graphic designer, and wish to jump back to 3D. I learned a little about Softimage a couple of years ago and liked it very much, specially for ICE.
But unfortunately, I see that this software is pretty much cold now. There are a few studios still using it around the world as I understand and heard of some animators will continue using it for a few more years.

My questions to you guys are... is it worth the time to begin learning SoftImage?... I have the 2014 version installed.
If it is not worth the time... what are the Softimage users switching to ??

For your thoughts, many thanks !

[bb3d]

@miketoulsen:
Well, if you are running your own little studio and are not dependant on getting jobs in other studios, just use the software that works best for you. If you already have SI and like it, keep using it, assuming that it will run on future OS and hardware for the next couple of years.

I will continue using Softimage as long as possible, because it's still unmatched concerning usability and workflow efficiency. Since a few months I started to learn Blender and kinda like it. Currently it's not a full replacement for Softimage, but a very good addition, because it can do things that Soft can't and vice versa.

[Draise]

Ditto.

If you are freelance or have your own small studio - then SI is great. The way it manages assets is unparrallel for scalably large projects. I tried to do something similar in Blender - which has it's pro's and awesome features (grease pencil anyone!?), but it cannot handle large ammounts of assets very well or efficiently concering workflow.

I don't use much else other than Softimage and trueSpace which went kahput around 2009 - 7 years ago. Truespace still works on windows 10. That is one thing I trust with OS's these days - ICE will continue to be quite fast with it's multithreaded processing and SI can be good over time still - as apparently the industry will be very slow to evolve it's production pipelines as they are today - unless something amazing happens.

The only difficulty you will find is maybe finding an active or ready available educational material on Softimage. That might depend on you and how active you are in places like these forums. Also it may be difficult finding a job in Softimage specifically...

So sure, why not.

It's nice having a finite software that won't come out with new features for a long long long (infinate) time. That means you can master it really well without it every changing or getting new bugs on you.

It's like.. mastering a hammer and chisel really well. Some work just can't be made with a laser cutter that breaks down because it's still being developed.

That's why I will stick to SI for some time being - specially with the likes of modern futuristic tech savvy renderers like Redshift still stupporting the latest version of SI.

[Hirazi Blue]

The only difficulty you will find is maybe finding an active or ready available educational material on Softimage. That might depend on you and how active you are in places like these forums. Also it may be difficult finding a job in Softimage specifically...

There still is a lot of learning material online. Most of it is old, but not outdated. Take a look at our Tutorials on YouTube subforum and our Tutorials and ICE Tutorials forums...

And feel free to ask if you need help...

[myara]

It would depend on what do you want to do.

In general, Maya would be the best option to easily find a job and to be part of a team.

Softimage would probably be the best option to do it all by yourself, until the software eventually gets too old to keep up to the market standards. I assume it would be good enough for maybe 5 more years.

[FXDude]

Hi and welcome!


If you want, the following is found to be a quite condensed and relevant 1st guide that gets "straight to it"

XSI Beginner Tutorial - Valve Developer Community
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... r_Tutorial

It also includes a basic Sticky/Hotkey Map, but you can easily find some more complete hotkey listings.


And if you want to get into ICE, here are a few links ;

1: What does ICE do? on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/19028797

There are other basic videos, mostly from "Pooby", but also from others on vimeo.



This one is a great example of quite elaborate stuff that can be done in a jiffy. (a good "old" example of how ice can be)
showing how to modulate anything with dynamically driven weightmaps based on distance to surface (or other things) in ICE

2: Driving a weightmap in ICE on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/19031487



You can go-on browsing Pooby's clips, there's an impressive amount of things (dating to up to just recently) that will make you go "huh!"
while they mostly remain rather straightforward and graspable,
(great to demystify a bunch of stuff)

(also, don't expect to "get" everything all at once, there's like a threshold when many things become clear that's not too far off )


You can also visit http://www.RRay.de for things; from all sorts breadcrumbs, to "compounds" (collapsed self contained ICE trees),
some of which are nothing less than all-out "plugins".

Also the included Samples Database (with sample scenes), particularly for ICE but also for the Render tree which can be useful even if you eventually use other renderers.

_____
In other regards, while within 5 years there could indeed possibly be something that could be called an "XSI successor" (many are eager for possible or closer replacements), it's assuming at least one of several different solutions would change enough to allow for roughly similar user experiences each in different aspects over that time if it would happen for one, and that includes different things including C4d, and/or Houdini or Fabric for "ICE" (yet it could take a while, as for many, there can be some amounts of changes that some would consider to be fundemental, for some more than others).

But if some places and users go on with "Soft", it's typically due to how it can be used to do stuff that currently either can't easily, or can't often nearly as plainly be done using popular solutions (while of course anything can be done in anything, and each can have their own advantages ),

And many are hopeful that in a not too distant future, something would indeed allow for different yet similar experience generally as an environment (as a rather forgiving yet advanced DCC), or when authoring a variety of effects or more elaborate custom things that can otherwise easily involve much more setup time and/or technical wherewithal.

Until that time, if you're willing to give it a go don't be shy to ask away when you find yourself in a bind!

Cheers!

[Maximus]

I am still using it and frankly i dont see anything as a substitute in the 3d environment for a very long time.
The only issue you might face is only on rendering side, because mental ray is totally dead, so you are stuck with times/performance/integration dead old. You need an external engine, im using maxwell and maybe soon i'll grab a redshift license.

Consider there wont be any development left in terms of render engine in some year, thats why i picked maxwell because it has a standalone. Anyway just keep in mind those things when deciding.
At the moment Arnold, Maxwell, Redshift are fully supported. (You could also find a Vray release that Vlado put out as a final gift for Softimagers, but you have to ask chaos group cause i'm pretty sure they stopped developing).

[Bullit]

The importance of render engine. Things that many developers miss.

[Pooby]

The bottom line is, there is nothing remotely like Softimage, for getting things done in an elegant, immediate and powerful way. When you throw ice into the mix, that advantage becomes exponential.

My opinion is that, the advantage softimage has transcends the fact it's no longer developed, as it feels finished, in the better sense of the word.

I would never recommend that anyone learn it if they just want to make a living. That market has been truly decimated by AD.
But, if you want the best tool to amaze yourself with what you can make happen and have fun whilst doing so, you can't get anything even in the same ballpark as Soft.
By using ICE, you will learn far more about how 3D works and how to manipulate it than by playing by the maya rules.

My research tells me an equivalent is not on the horizon and may never be made. So you can cobble other solutions together and even exceed softs specs, technically, but achieving the speed and elegance and comprehensiveness is never likely to be matched.

We are about to embark on a large job lasting years, and softimage is at the heart of it.

[Hirazi Blue]

We are about to embark on a large job lasting years, and softimage is at the heart of it.

Interesting!
Are you allowed to disclose what kind of project this will be?

[Rez007]

Well, I think it is hard to say. Softimage is very capable and will be for quite some time. However, there is a difference in starting to learn 2014 or already knowing and using it. Most people posting in this thread, already know Softimage well. There is a time difference that you have to keep in mind when learning a software. If you like Softimage, then go for it, especially since you already have a license, and this community is great (about the best I have found for any software) in helping with your questions, but I would also keep an eye on something different, as well, so you can transition easier if the time comes. I chose the Maya route since Autodesk offered it, but there are always things/techniques you will miss when going to a different software. In short, keep your options open and have fun! And Softimage is definitely fun!

[FXDude]

It probably remains one of the easiest to learn,
(and/or to deal with on a daily basis)

For whoever continues to use it, or whoever happens to find out.

I suspect it would remain like a secret tool of choice for a while here and there whenever driven things themselves needed to be driven by other things, There's Houdini but it's not quite (at-all) the same thing.

If your deliverables is sequences of images (and/or perhaps cached assets/effects), then you're good.

But if indeed your goal is to learn software to get a 3d/Vfx job at a studio, Maya is (almost exclusively) all-over the place.