Spot on, it feels really well balanced, mature and fair, the feedback of a true professional.
Jordi Bares jordiba...@gmail.com On 10 Mar 2014, at 10:20, Alastair Hearsum <hear...@glassworks.co.uk> wrote: > Folks > Dan Y and other folks, I hope this comes across as firm but reasonable. I > will post it on other appropriate sites. Any ideas on that front? > > An > open letter to Autodesk. > > Dear > Autodesk > > My > name is Alastair Hearsum. I’m a founding partner, director and > head of 3d at Glassworks. If you haven’t heard of us, we are a > small to midsized company which has been creating VFX and > animation for TV commercials for markets around the world, for > the past 20 years. We have branches in London, Amsterdam and > Barcelona. We create innovative and multi award winning work > and we use Softimage. > > Your > announcement that you are retiring Softimage has left us > saddened, disappointed and not a little angry. The anger for > two reasons; that you have shot the racehorse of the 3d > software world in the head in its prime but also that you > didn’t consult with us about this assassination or discuss any > of your plans for the future with us. We have no idea what the > future from you holds. We are big and longstanding users of > other Autodesk products as well as Softimage. The puzzling > thing is, technologically speaking, there was no writing on > the wall as there was with Henry and Flame, for example, or > these days with Flame and Nuke. > > We > have been punching above our weight, in London, for the past > 20 years competing well with the much larger organisations of > MPC, Framestore and The Mill. One of the reasons we have been > able to do that, apart from the deep talent of our crew is, I > believe, because of the software that we chose. I’m nearly 150 > years old now but I still sit at the computer making pictures > for TV commercials to the same arduous schedule that I always > have. So I know what I’m talking about. For a period a few > years back we had a 50/50 split of Maya and Softimage. We > chose to go 100% Softimage. Its better for the work that we do > and the sector we are in. Its no coincidence that all the > finalists in the recent British Animation Awards (tv > commercials) did their work in Softimage. Similarly, both > silver and gold award winners in the 3d animation category at > this year’s British Television Advertising Craft awards were > Softimage companies. > > You > may well go on to list major work that’s been done in Maya. > Sure there has, and great work too. But Maya is used as a > shell in the major film effect companies. It is heavily > customised and unrecognisable as the product you ship. We have > our proprietary software and tailored workflow as well, but > Softimage remains pretty much untouched. It is lean, > efficient, and the ICE environment is innovative and > empowering. > > So > you’ve done it. What’s next? Like I said we have had vague > information about what the future holds. We hear rumours about > bi-frost and that’s about it. From what I understand from > various sources there are no plans to replicate the efficient > workflow and full ice functionality that made us so > productive. You have offered free transitionary licenses of > Maya with the threat of having to discontinue using Softimage > in 2 years time. > > > The > final thought is not just about what software is best for our > future but also about what sort of software supply company we > want to get into bed with. The attributes that come top of my > list: listening to customers, acting on their recommendations, > speedy development, innovation. Now does that sound like you? > > Alastair > Hearsum > Glassworks. > > > > -- > Alastair Hearsum > Head of 3d > > 33/34 Great Pulteney Street > London > W1F 9NP > +44 (0)20 7434 1182 > glassworks.co.uk > Glassworks Terms and Conditions of Sale can be found at glassworks.co.uk > (Company registered in England with number 04759979. Registered office 25 > Harley Street, London, W1G 9BR. VAT registration number: 867290000) > Please consider the environment before you print this email. > DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and attachments are strictly privileged, private and > confidential and are intended solely for the stated recipient(s). Any views > or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily > represent those of the Company. If you are not the intended recipient, be > advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, > dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly > prohibited. If this transmission is received in error please kindly return it > to the sender and delete this message from your system.
