At the risk of contradicting myself here, we are actually very calm
here...The damage is done, Autodesk will have a very hard standpoint in
the future development of the company...There are other solutions, not
just buying into the next product may it be Autodesk, Foundry or Maxon,
but rather thinking of a much longer term development of software in our
field of work...
Sorry I did use the f-word, people offended may rephrase it mentally to
something more suitable...cant think of anything though at the moment:-)
On 11/03/2014 16:15, Alastair Hearsum wrote:
Daniel
My open letter has got a lot of attention. I would encourage you to do
something similar with the company name behind you. It seems to get
some results however small. At the risk of sounding patronising and
contrary to my own behaviour on facebook in recent weeks, I'd say keep
it calm and reasoned (everything you said was absolutely spot on but
you did use the word "fuck":-) ).
Alastair
Alastair Hearsum
Head of 3d
GLASSWORKS
33/34 Great Pulteney Street
London
W1F 9NP
+44 (0)20 7434 1182
glassworks.co.uk <http://www.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)
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On 11/03/2014 14:42, Daniel Jahnel wrote:
Good stuff Alastair, what also really fucks me off is that in the
last 2 years with the takeover by Arnold as the primary render engine
for most SI users it has opened up big time! In combination with the
powerful ICE features of SI all of a sudden SI houses are producing
work at a complexity and quality level that only feature companies we
are able to achieve with them investing tons in R&D...Also things
like Alembic or OpenVDB now contribute to the amazing work coming out
of SI...
How can Autodesk get the timing so wrong? Just when everything was
coming together that was missing in SI before...A great renderer, a
great interchange format, a great procedural system at its core, plus
awesome and experienced operators...
We here at Sehsucht are only a small team of around 10 3d guys but
expanding to twice that if needed easily, we pay shedloads of
maintenance to Autodesk for SI and other AD products but now we will
have to look for an exit strategy...The time and money we have
invested in the last 4 years to build our custom pipeline around SI
is not entirely wasted, but rest assured AD, the future for your
products is not bright in our house...
Daniel, Joint Head of 3D@Sehsucht Hamburg
On 10/03/2014 11:20, Alastair Hearsum 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
GLASSWORKS
33/34 Great Pulteney Street
London
W1F 9NP
+44 (0)20 7434 1182
glassworks.co.uk <http://www.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
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prohibited. If this transmission is received in error please kindly
return it to the sender and delete this message from your system.