Nice to be using Softimage again. But where is everyone now?

[bvmadjen]

I'm still using Softimage, because there isn't anything else worth using (I use it mainly to model, with the occasional foray into particles).
I have Houdini, but I haven't touched it in months.

I also figured out how to turn a polygon object into a NURBS one without a plugin...though it's labor-intensive.
I also have (but haven't used) the OpenSubDiv plugin...

I'm glad to see there's still other users out there.
I will have to check out Cycles, though...

[Grims]

I'm mainly using Modo now, but i miss the way of working with Softimage. For me is hard to explain, but even the feel of interacting with the components and use transformations is very top-notch and robust. The "touch" of it is really flawless to me.

Maybe some of you guys here on the forum understand what I mean...

[3DTutorial]

It makes me really happy to see that some of us are still using and enjoying Softimage. Long may that continue !!

[bvmadjen]

I found a site with more plugins, including Sycles shaders and the XSI version of OpenSubDiv at https://ssoftadd.github.io/

[X-said]

2022 something like this

[MauricioPC]

Nice to see people still using Softimage and around here. I myself haven't been doing 3D for a few years now. After the EOL I kind of lost interest, specially since I was on the student version and never really committed to buying the full version of Softimage at the time. I thought I had more time. Safe to say I regret this daily.

[Maximus]

im still using and working solely with softimage

[MauricioPC]

Yeah ... I missed the opportunity of buying it. Never found a legit license on eBay or whatever. And of course AD never made that non-commercial or available again.

[FXDude]

<< Nice to be using Softimage again. But where is everyone now? >>

I was about to re-ask the same question lol

but it's not just here ... CGSociety's CGTalk Maya has even less post rate than here !
( just about 2 or 3 posts per month )

https://forums.cgsociety.org/c/autodesk/autodesk-maya

Perhaps has there been a further shift towards "Reddit" style discussion forums ?

The XSI Facebook page also has MUCH more activity than here.
( haven't posted there yet, but maybe I will .. but for several reasons do I not like friggen Facebook lol )

But anyhoo, maybe it's partly me not wanting to let go ( for some reason lol)

[FXDude]

I was about to re-ask the same question lol

But who am I to talk lol,
myself having been "away" for several years ...
( I took a long break from "social media" as a whole )

... and previously I would come and go, and come back with some "sample scene" or something at some point ( pretty much like now ),
and would post or respond to things here and there,
if not ALOT during "crisis times" lol (sigh)
( I think I was the 3rd or 4rth most frequent poster on the XSI list in 2014-15 lol
( based on a "most frequent posters word cloud" made by Stephen Blair )

But NOTHING could have been said or "concluded through consensus" or that could have been "commonly agreed to"
that could have changed anything ... like trying to reason with a giant monolythic rolling rock, pleading the rock to not roll on us, --> while it's doing just that lol
(also while being completely pointless to try to reason with a rock or a chair lol)

But I mean, there are actually humans making these decisions, but ...
---> was there a "public consultation" prior to this decision ?
and
---> what is often PRIORITARY (over human consideration) for supergiant entities ?

Such entities typically also have super-giant legal departments, ...
( like good luck brigning such entities to court lol )

... but don't they also have like "ethics departments" or "commitees" ?
that could potentially override decisions from shareholder votes? (lol)

Otherwise, we could say that this is how such entities often do NOT have "a conscience"
while sometimes rather carelessly stomping everywhere with super-giant feet,
or just eating / absorbing / assimilating anything of value that can be grabbed or baught.
with even a VERY small survival rate of whatever get grabbed,
or we could even say that -most- absorbed things DON'T survive, or otherwise -eventually- gets "shelved" or "abandoned".
( if not -instantly- in the case of Naiad, which was cancelled the moment it was baught )

[NaptuneImaging]

OMG!!!! I have not been on this forum in a VERY LONG time... Softimage was the very first 3D app that I bought with my own money, and I wish I could use it again for my animation projects. These days I am using Modo, but I might dip my feet back into XSI... I wish we could bring it back from the dead.

[talent103]

I had an eerie feeling this month. I feel like I am the last 3D artist in New York City using Softimage. The people who trained me and gave me my first jobs have all moved on a long time ago. I have been fortunate to keep using it but I feel like I am on an island by myself. I felt this way when I went to this months VES (Visual effects society) meetup and then looked at linkedin and saw where all the XSI masters were doing. They are not using XSI. It is bringing on a mid life crisis. As much as I love working on Softimage I may have to finally let go and move on so I can join the rest of the 3D world. But where do I go. Do I just give up 3D? I can work in Maya if i have too. Houdini will be a long while to master. Unreal Engine seems like a must know app now. I feel like I am back to zero. (except for Maya). We shall see.

[opoppopopp]

Mostly same here, but it no longer bother me for "on an island by myself"

Keep using SI till it is technically can not get most my work done

[munroe]

XSI will be back... just not this year. Do not give up!

[wireframex]

XSI will be back... just not this year. Do not give up!

?

[FXDude]

I feel like I am the last 3D artist in New York City using Softimage.
The people who trained me and gave me my first jobs have all moved on a long time ago.
I have been fortunate to keep using it but I feel like I am on an island by myself.

Well .. for many is it even "a requirement" to use whatever others use
IN ORDER to "not feel alone" ... ( like a "security/insecurity" thing )

While XSI was killed quite "properly"
although licenses weren't invalidated, studios had to choose between XSI --OR-- Maya
so what shop stuck with "unsupported software" ( really not many)

And then, if there are no opportunities in something... then why pursue !
( if something has been "discontinued", resulting in "no opportunities ")


But if you're lucky enough to still use it in professional contexts,
XSI remains just as much of a "workhorse" as it use to.
( to be fair, Maya became "not bad" ... for SOME things like modeling ...
at least when it's not crashing .. but Maya objectively still "sucks" in sooo many ways lol )

Nevertheless, it's otherwise indeed getting harder and harder for XSI users...
the SI-Wiki disappeared ... the Area forum became "read-only" ( at least it wasn't "purged" )
... this forum might go the same way in only a few months .... ( I certainly hope not )
... studios still using it can be counted on fingers
( which can include Glassworks, Seed animation studios, and maybe a few others, also in Japan )

Otherwise I still have a list of blogs/ websites that are still up, which are getting rare-er.
( will post them here)

But even if remaining users can be like "the last", however-much alive XSI is,
is due to it still being used ... maybe .. sometimes lol

For me personally, XSI became like a "hobby"
( as one of those that would do CG ... because of ... not money lol )

But anyway, it works (for now) and I'll continue "experimenting"
in that super-versatile "paintbrush" as long as it still works
while hoping that Blender jobs might eventually become more plentiful,
or these days, we could say the same for even -any- jobs in CG lol (sigh)

... because "market leaders" historically even quite often have "destroyed" entire job markets
in order to "save" (forever make more) money,
( there being no such thing as "enough money" )

But enough to say that VFX as a whole ( as well as other "Tech" sectors.. ) in western countries
seem to be "at risk" of getting the same fate as Detroit did for car production, if not already, ...
( specially with the advent of "telework"... like why pay ten times more for "western workers")

... while people essentially became "powerless" relative to the "whims of gods" running the show,
also because "masses" are often super easily "influenced" or "nudged",
if not "manipulated" or "forced" into things.

So anyway ... yep .. GOOD TIMES ! ( )