ICE in production..?

[NightroadAX]

I've been using XSI for a while now and I'm really getting into ICE, but most of my teachers advise against "wasting time on it," claiming that in production everyone still uses Houdini, Maya, and Nuke..

Out of curiosity (and for collecting evidence ) I wanted to come up with a list of productions which utilized ICE~

[Mathaeus]

You can make comparison between Softimage ICE and Houdini VOP. Maybe.... Cinema 4d XPresso. Others that you mentioned, I really don't know, how you got the idea to compare them with Softimage ICE....
So, if you take a small and mid-level productions into account, I'd believe that Softimage ICE is used more than Houdini. For Cinema 4d XPresso, I don't know, it seems to be a bit hard to find Cinema 4d user, who utilizes XPresso in everyday work.

Cheers

[Hirazi Blue]

Out of curiosity (and for collecting evidence ) I wanted to come up with a list of productions which utilized ICE~

Well, the most notable movie recently that utilized ICE was probably Predators,
for which the CG was done by Hybride.
There is an article on Awn.com
;)

[Bellsey]

I've been using XSI for a while now and I'm really getting into ICE, but most of my teachers advise against "wasting time on it," claiming that in production everyone still uses Houdini, Maya, and Nuke..

Out of curiosity (and for collecting evidence ) I wanted to come up with a list of productions which utilized ICE~

I'm very surprised by that response by someone who is supposed to be teaching people and advising people. And I fully understand perhaps the need to advise people on the best course of action in order to gain employment, but to dismiss it as a waste of time is odd to me, however they're entitled to their opinion. You only have to look at what Thiago has done though and see what can be done with ICE, with just one guy!
I'm not dismissing Houdini either, its a great package and I have alot of respect for it. Many film studios do use it, but its whole different approach and learning curve to many other packages. Those who use it, have invested alot into it.

If you are already an Softimage user (yes, it's not called XSI anymore), then you have to look at ICE, frankly it's a no brainer, especially if you are looking into tools and pipelines.

It's true that Maya, Houdini and Nuke are all used in production, but then so is Motionbuilder, Mudbox, Zbrush, Modo, Max, C4D, etc etc. Many film pipeline are based around Maya, but many studios will use a mix of software within those pipelines. Also, think about why we decided to introduce the ICEflow into the Maya/Softimage Advantage Packs, and also nCache support for Softimage?

It kinda becomes hard to list features that have used packages because it can be a real mix, so I think its better to look at which studios use Softimage, and then features they have worked on. Pretty much every Softimage studio I know, is using ICE to some degree.
There is a list of Softimage studios here:

http://monophyl.com/?p=794

[Cacoman]

I agree. I don't know what kind of teacher will say that.

Although Maya and Houdini have more users than Softimage. Softimage boils aside. Our studio has always used Softimage since it was Softimage 3D.

A few years ago as all of the other studios were getting Maya, we took a glance at Maya. In my personal opinion, Softimage is a Rolls Royce. Maya plug ins here, Maya plug ins there. Animating in Maya compared to Softimage is a real pain.

The only thing I complain against Softimage is Mental Ray. While Maya has a plethora of render engines. But still with a good render farm and knowing the tweaks, Softimage IMHO is much, much better than Maya. Now with Ice, Lagoa, emRCP, is light years ahead of Maya. I am only waiting for Arnold to come alive to us the mortals and small studios.

When it comes to 3d, we have a real competitive advantage against our competitors here. And yes, we are using ICE in production for TV commercials.

You can add our studio to the list using Softimage and ICE. I think not learning ICE will put you with the rest of the pack.

[luceric]

I'm not sure of the numbers but I don't think Houdini or nuke have more seats than Softimage.
The film market is a very small part of the overall CG market, and Nuke/Houdini is a niche market. (On the Softimage film side, don't forget Happy Feet/Animal Logic) Softimage is used in many small shops who do commercials, and large production pipelines doing console gaming. It's not very present in film, but the vast majority of people will never work in film.

[rray]

Learning Softimage being a "waste of time" sounds harsh ... seems slightly ignorant to me.
Kind of a shame hearing that from a teacher, or even several teachers. I guess they simply don't want to learn anything new.

[SamHowell]

I use ICE in production all the time. Your "teacher" probably doesn't want to leave their comfort zone.

[craft]

well, aren't you having fun at it? then just go ahead wasting time and never mind what they say hehehe
i've been using xsi ever since i started working on 3d and never had any trouble finding a job... hopefully
Statistics can be tricky! One may think that because a lot more people use other apps it'll be easier to find a decent job by doing the same, but to some point, it's all the other way around.
Be creative, the world needs passionate, open minded people!

and maybe your teacher meant something else, but here's a list kind of like the one you requested, just in case:
http://monophyl.com/?p=794

[Werner]

I use ICE in production all the time. Your "teacher" probably doesn't want to leave their comfort zone.

well said! It's amazing what BS comes from some teachers from time to time. They just don't know any better.

[Ahmidou]

I don't see the point comparing Softimage vs Nuke ...

[NightroadAX]

Thank you all for the replies and words of encouragement :]
I've discussed this with other teachers who still prefer Softimage and with their support, have split up my work between the two packages to learn how to execute the same techniques in both~ Though this slows me down a bit, I figure, at the end of the day, I'm in school to learn and absorb as much as I can from my instructors, and with the help of great communities like this, I can work my way through any difficulties!

[Sandy_S]

We use ICE heavily in Production here at Triggerfish - We are making a Stereoscopic Movie called Zambezia - without ICE all our Birds would have no feathers!!! We have flocks going with ICE, ICE in Rigs, sliding Eyelids using ICE etc...etc... - so for someone to say that is very shortsighted!!

S.