"Just to get the thread on track a bit (sort of) - would people share what it is they like/dislike about ICE (or any other visual programming system)?"
Big thumbs up Clean interface Low level access to basic maths functions (see also Houdini equivalent whose name always eludes me) Clear visualisation of different data types Definable position in the evaluation stack Polymorphic ports Locations What could be improved: The ICE modelling was probably *too* low level to be generally useful Can't easily control when to read data from other objects Kinematics was still a mess Some types of data were impossible to make shareable/procedural (e.g object references, object names and fcurves) On 28 February 2014 23:36, Nika Ragua <nikaragu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Just to get the thread on track a bit (sort of) - would people share what > it is they like/dislike about ICE (or any other visual programming system)? > My experience is there are often two camps: one group that are not > programmers (not even python), so ICE gives them a level of customization > previously closed to them. The other group like the emergent/tinkering > behaviour that node systems provide. I'm just wondering if the 'where do we > go next?' question is going to vary between those two sets. > > Hi, Paul, thanks for looking to the thread - i can give you a fundamental > feedback on this topic, if you would like to read it, because its very > important to me, i don`t know about the other guys exactly, how they feel > and where they were stuck, but in ICE there are some flaws - cryptic > parts, where people were stuck, and it took a lot of efforts to go through > them > > > > 2014-03-01 2:38 GMT+04:00 Eric Thivierge <ethivie...@hybride.com>: > > Haha, it's actually a bit interesting to see how much people are getting >> bent out of shape from my comment. You all know I'm a super huge fan of >> Softimage I hope. I've been around long enough contributing to the >> community enough to know that I think Softimage IS the best software to be >> doing rigging. I know Animal Logic is serious, erm, I worked there I should >> know. :P >> >> I'll try to clear it up a bit... >> >> Sorry I didn't understand it was for the pure ICE users here. For pure >> ICE related stuff, I'm not sure what to tell you. Probably Houdini? Maya's >> node graph isn't great by far. Not sure what the new versions are going to >> bring but it is clunky. >> >> I don't use ICE for rigging. I only use it for custom deformers and other >> tools. If I need to do some of that in the future Fabric is probably going >> to be the choice, but within Maya. >> >> Softimage is my preferred software and I'm going to be using it still >> within the next few years. However, during the same time I'm going to be >> working in Maya (I've been in both the past 9 months) and starting the >> transition over to Maya. Why switch? Well, you can't wait until Softimage >> no longer runs / isn't getting bug fixes that are crucial to getting your >> work done. If you're serious about working in this business, it's my >> opinion that you have to be pushing your tools and use of technology as >> much as you can or else you're going to stagnate and won't be able to pull >> in the work. It's nice to hear everyone that is going to continue to use >> and develop on Softimage once it's canned, but there have been many >> instances where there is a bug that needs to get fixed to get a project or >> plug-in done. If there is no one to fix it, how are you going to finish >> your tool? You're not. >> >> Animation wise, what other tool has the same level of animation editing >> tools with the level of rigging tools that we have in Softimage, other than >> Softimage? >> >> My classification of serious film work was meant that you need the full >> breadth of features that you find in Softimage and Maya to get the same >> work done that you're doing in Softimage. Do you have those tools currently >> in Modo? Houdini? I'm sorry but I can't take those apps seriously for >> rigging at this moment. >> >> I apologize for tossing in the "film" part in that statement. There are >> some insane work coming out of the commercial space as well. I know full >> well as I've done my fair share of freelance at some of those studios. >> >> Please trust me when I say I'd rather not use Maya. It's clunky, not a >> lot of essential small tools out of the box, full of bugs itself, but >> honestly it's the only valid app I see that anim and rigging can move to. >> >> Eric T. >> >> >
