So let me get this straight.
We have been developing a project for 9+ years starting in April 2005 using XSI
v3.5. As you can imagine, that's a ton of content. Unlike most film/video
projects which finish in 36 months or less and can sweep problems under the rug
thereafter, our product will ship next month and will need to be maintained for
many years while still needing access to data we created as much as 9 years ago.
We have tried to upgrade annually, but were stuck on Softimage 7.5 for nearly 5
years because Autodesk could not produce a functional release of Softimage void
of major showstoppers we could upgrade to until 2013 SP1 was released - even
then we had to work around some issues to make the jump. But because of
changes to the real time shader API and other behavioral changes/regressions,
we cannot open many of our scenes from 7.5 in 2013 SP1 or else they will break.
But instead of allowing us access to a version of the software to keep our
production going, you're telling us we have to purchase more licenses to work
around a problem you guys created and forced upon us?
I don't think that's fair or reasonable.
Matt
-----Original Message-----
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice Patel
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:42 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions
Hi Leoung,
No you can only have one version per license. Subscription entitles you to
choose whether that is the latest version (2015) or any one of three versions
prior (2012, 2013, 2014) as long as you have usage rights to that version. You
cannot have multiple versions installed concurrently you must choose only one
version. Usage rights require that you have actually purchased and used those
prior versions. So for example if a new customer purchases software from
Autodesk for the first time (with Subscription) they will have not have any
prior versions to access. A year later a new release comes out and they
upgrade. They will now have 1 prior version they can access. A year later two
and so on.
Prior versions were created so that companies/users could try out new versions
without having to upgrade their pipeline (which might be disruptive to an
ongoing production). They could upgrade licenses for testing and then switch
them back to their production version when needed.
Please note that we are creating a special exception for Softimage customers
who migrate to Maya or 3ds Max whereby they will inherit prior version access
for those products if they had them for Softimage.
More than three years back are not supported. Exceptions can be negotiated with
Sales in very special cases and typically only for large installations. It is
not really feasible for Autodesk to keep supporting every version of every
software they ever delivered, and the costs if we did so would be huge - and
would make the software unnecessarily expensive to the end user.
If you absolutely must have access to 7.5 and still want access to our latest
software the best solution is not to upgrade your license but to keep it and
buy a new license of the Maya with Softimage bundle. That way you can continue
forward with new releases and whenever you want to still fire up 7.5.
Technically though your 7.5 license is permanent the agreement is contractual
maurice
Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél: 514 954-7134
-----Original Message-----
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 6:24 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions
Hi Maurice,
Just want to be sure I gt this right, I can have versions of Softimage
2015 all the way back to 7.5 running on the same computer if need be?
Thanks,
Leoung
On 14/05/2014 3:32 PM, Maurice Patel wrote:
Hi Matt,
Any 7.5 license you have should continue to work indefinitely and if you need
to migrate it to a new computer we so support that capability (through our
customer support group). If you need to guarantee access to 7.5 your best bet
is to keep some licenses. Your Subscription contract only provides access to
the last three versions prior to the current release (i.e. 2014, 2013 and
2012). However, technically we can issue any license we have ever issued (but
not licenses for versions that were issued by Avid). We only do that in
exceptional cases and this is almost certainly something you would need to work
out with Sales first. It is rather rare that we have to do this because, for
software that old, you pretty much have to purchase a new license anyway (from
a price perspective).- So why not keep your old one? You could instead purchase
Maya with Softimage 2015 and keep Softimage 7.5. This would avoid a lot of
hassle because, as per the usage agreement for prior versions, you cannot have
concurrent versions of the same software running which would mean
un-installing, re-installing software each time you switch versions. This is
all managed on a trust basis. Since all licenses are permanent ones, there is
nothing stopping you from doing this other than that the subscription contract
stipulates that you do not. Prior versions were really created as a means for
Subscription customers to maintain pipelines on 'recent' older versions and
manage pipeline upgrades over a three year window and not as a means of
accessing any software release we have ever developed.
Maurice
Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél: 514 954-7134
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Matt
Lind
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions
Hello Maurice,
Is there a limit how far back the license server will go in terms of supporting
older versions of Softimage? We currently use 2013 SP1, but prior to that we
were using Softimage 7.5 and still need to occasionally jump into 7.5 to exhume
old data which have dependencies specific to 7.5 (we have a ton of 7.5 data).
Matt
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Maurice
Patel
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:49 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: MayaSoft - previous versions
Hi everyone,
There appears to be some database glitches in our back end systems
that are causing the problems like the case of Leendert. The ops team
is trying to resolve this. This is a bit like bug fixing - we need to
find and identify the problem fix it so the problem does not reoccur.
We are sorry if this is taking a bit longer than expected. If you
migrate you ARE entitled to prior versions of Softimage as part of
your Subscription. We just need to iron out some kinks so please bear
with us maurice
Maurice Patel
Autodesk : Tél: 514 954-7134
From:
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-bounces@listp
roc.autodesk.com> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On
Behalf Of Leoung O'Young
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:38 PM
To:
softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: MayaSoft - previous versions
I e-mailed Maurice Patel directly a few days ago regarding Softimage
Maya license transfer, he suggest we should be able to use Softimage 2015
license and previous version access through the Subs center.
Although I haven't gone through this process myself, too busy with other things.
Leoung
On 14/05/2014 12:04 PM, Ciaran Moloney wrote:
Any chance you're trying to start 2014 while you already have 2015 open?
On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 4:17 PM, Leendert A. Hartog
<hirazib...@live.nl<mailto:hirazib...@live.nl>> wrote:
After a long struggle with the subscription center my new "Maya with Softimage" license finally
arrived today. So "happy, happy, joy, joy" (Ren and Stimpy style). But there seems to be one
downside to this, which those of you still planning this "transition" might want to know about. The
new license apparently strips you of your previous versions usage rights, i.e. I wasn't able to run Softimage
2014 on this new license, whereas this was still possible with my recent Softimage 2015 license. It's
possible that this has been mentioned before and/or this purely a mistake I am making, if so, I'm truly sorry
for the additional noise, but I thought it was a fact worth noting. Personally I can probably live without
the previous versions usage rights, but I doubt everybody on this list can quite as easily. If this, however,
is simply me doing something stupidly wrong, please tell me, so I can hunt for the mistake at my end.
Greetz
Leendert
--
Leendert A. Hartog AKA Hirazi Blue
Administrator NOT the owner of
si-community.com<http://si-community.com>
