Although I understand where you are coming from the minimising risk side, it is also true that you end up investing a lot more in both, the software and glue to communicate various software applications with a myriad of file formats and what not, therefore I advocate for a hybrid approach in which;
- You define your FX and render backbone (one single application always) and everything else feeds it. - No plugins if possible unless you have a solid environment resolution system in place and are willing to maintain it. - No strategic dependencies with one manufacturer with a proven record of discontinuing software (Apple and Autodesk are specially bad) - And make sure you build as much as possible in open standards like Alembic, OpenColorIO, OpenImageIO, USD, VDB, etc... With that in my head, I go and evaluate the next things to define what should be my backbone. > Software companies with a fair price and licensing structure have 1 point. > Software companies that support and adopt open standards have an extra point. > Software companies with strong R&D also have another extra point. > Software companies that maintain their code have another extra point. > Software companies that top support have another extra point. > Software companies that understand what we do have another extra point. > Software companies that keep refining their UX have another extra point. > Software companies that keep refining their core have an extra point. > Software companies that listen to their customers in a prompt and agile way > have another extra point. You make the choice of course for your particular scenarios but this is my view of how to choose your backbone. Hope this makes sense. jb > On 28 Oct 2017, at 14:20, skuby <sku...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Investing your time into mastering the totality of one major software is > risky. > > The specific example that I want to test in the coming months doesn't seem > unreasonable for one person (and you could swap the parts out to suit your > tastes/budget/needs/prior experience) (but please critique the idea. I value > your experience Mirko and I've lurked around enough to pick up a lot from > you, so feel free to tear the idea apart): > > Modeling (Blender +Plug-ins & Marvelous Deisgner). Sculpting (Mudbox). Retopo > for baking/animation (ZBrush & Blender). UV's (semi-automated via Houdini). > Baking/Painting (Mudbox & Substance). Rigging+Animation (Houdini or possibly > Akeytsu). Everything else i.e. Shading/Lighting/Hair/Dynamics/FX/etc. > (Houdini or Unreal Engine 4). Then pick your favorite compositor. > > With the above, I already know Blender and the plug-ins I need for > modeling/Marvelous Designer/Mudbox/ZBrush (and a decent bit of UE4) for the > tasks I want to accomplish. The rest of it is a work in progress/I'm still > deciding. > > The cost isn't even too bad. Blender = free. Marvelous Designer = $50 a > month as needed. Mudbox $10 a month. ZBrush one time $800. Substance $20 a > month or as needed. Houdini Indie $200 a year (OR if you needed it Houdini > FX $2,495 a year after the first ($4,495) year). Akeytsu (Haven't tested it > yet, but it's cheap at $200 and it looks powerful). Unreal Engine Free up > front + 0% to 5% depending on the project. > > I cannot see myself mastering every single one of those (or even ever > mastering just Houdini on it's own), but I can see myself using each one to > great effect for a very very specific task and leveraging that tool's > specific strengths to improve the final quality (and perhaps in spots even > winning back some lost time). > > For me the options are stay with Softimage and eventually be completely > limited, try to pick a major software to master again to replace Softimage > (aka. Houdini / Blender / Maya) which seems very risky/foolish. Or go the > above route, changing things on an as needed basis. > > On Sat, Oct 28, 2017 at 7:39 PM, Mirko Jankovic <mirkoj.anima...@gmail.com > <mailto:mirkoj.anima...@gmail.com>> wrote: > How replacing 1 tool with 5 or more, and work that could be done by 1 man now > requires 5 or more as well can be advantage? > ᐧ > > ------ > Softimage Mailing List. > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com > <mailto:softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com> with "unsubscribe" in the > subject, and reply to confirm. > > ------ > Softimage Mailing List. > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with > "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
------ Softimage Mailing List. To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
