Re: Intro to the new team (was RE: Softimage development)

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David Gallagher

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Apr 19, 2012, 11:25:45 AM4/19/12
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Enthusiastic hello from me!
Dave G

On 4/19/2012 6:14 AM, Chun-Pong Yu wrote:
> Luc-Eric's comments are a good segway for me to introduce some members of the new team and what they're working on. We've been lurking on the list so far, and have been amazed by the passion of most in the community for Softimage and will support it as best as we can. Now that Luc-Eric, Guillaume LaForge, Guillaume Laferriere, etc. have moved to the Maya team, we'll be participating more actively especially when there're technical issues reported.
>
> We're all based in Singapore btw (so the comments on durians were apt) where the cost of labour isn't that much different from Montreal and certainly much higher (3x?) than in China. And there're more people in the team than there were in Montreal two years ago. Moreover, folks like JF, Francis, David, Manny, Graham, etc. are still around (the first 3 are in fact still developing enhancements and bug fixes for customers). Hence Autodesk is still investing in the Softimage since guess what? Soft still makes money for the company.
>
> It's true that the team doesn't know the code as well as Luc-Eric and team but that's not to say that we're newbies to software development, 3D graphics, simulations, rendering, etc. either. Sure, we don't have the 10-15 year histories with Soft that the "old" team had, but we're happy to say that they're still around (even many from the acquisition who eventually moved to other Autodesk teams) and still helping out when there's a need. But that should go down as we become more familiar with the code.
>
> So here goes:
>
> Hsiao Ming Chia - Core, Ref Models. From NVIDIA, worked on games middleware and runtime engines for 8 yrs.
> Yury Khmel - Core, ICE, FaceRobot. 12+ years, last 5 as an architect in games development.
> John Tensuan - Rendering, Data Management. Last in Ubisoft doing rendering and engine systems.
> Ho Chung Nguyen - ICE, Simulation. Wrote core libraries for math, physics simulation, rendering while at LucasArts.
> Joany Yang - UI, SDK. Mainly engaged in UI projects using COM, MFC, C++, etc while at another team at Autodesk.
>
> Me? I just manage the team so am the "overhead" :-)
>
> If you're ever in Singapore, we'd love to meet you.
>
> Regards,
> Chun Pong
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Luc-Eric Rousseau
> Sent: Wednesday, 18 April, 2012 10:38 PM
> To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Softimage development
>
> On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 3:26 AM, Mirko Jankovic<mirko.j...@aeonproduction.com> wrote:
>> It is a bit bad that even after so many concerns displayed from
>> customer about Softimage and AD's plans for it, that not a single
>> official line of word was put out.
>> Is it so hard to let people know what is going on and where does it
>> all lead?
> Actually, you're getting a lot of official information right here in this thread.
>
> None of us moving to the new Maya FX Montreal team, which is led by me, are really doing it to quit Softimage, it's just a natural evolution of thing. As written previously, this was planned and we've been hiring and training a whole lot of new group of great people to work on Softimage.
>
> So what does that mean? Well first it means that Autodesk is committed to continuing the development of Softimage - otherwise we wouldn't be spending so much effort building a new team. We worked a lot on this!
> I interviewed every single one of these guys - and some we rejected.
> The new guys have backgrounds in game production, real time shader, physics, etc. They're bring new ideas and skills.
>
> And it also means that Autodesk is renewing its effort on the Maya FX's toolset, which is not super interesting to you guys obviously, but is that a thing that makes sense.
>
> It's hard to leave Softimage, but it's also hard to not get excited with the new projects. We're going to Digital Domain and ILM this week with Duncan. New experiences! If we can just stop hitting the S key to orbit the camera, everything will be fine.

Eric Lampi

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Apr 19, 2012, 11:29:23 AM4/19/12
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Welcome!

Yes, this is a pretty enthusiastic group, and we look forward to the fruit of your efforts.

The tone of this list is sometimes pretty light, but in general you have a lot of very smart, talented folks many who have decades of production experience with SoftImage and other tools. Having visited other 3D forums in the past, you don't get a lot of nonsense here. Feel free to pick people's brains, I learn something new constantly on this list just by passively reading it.

Eric
--
Freelance 3D and VFX animator

Bradley Gabe

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Apr 19, 2012, 11:38:58 AM4/19/12
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Greetings and salutations!

I appreciate your taking the time to introduce the new team to the community. This is an important and helpful step.

Something the old devs hopefully made you aware of is that as SI users, we really do have a community of mutual support and mutual respect that centers around this mailing list.

Some of us have been on this list and its prior incarnations for almost 20 years, dating back to before XSI was even in development.

Don't be amazed by the passion expressed by those in the community. Passion is a necessary attribute (along with pigheaded stubbornness) for anyone who wishes to succeed in CG. It's that passion that inspires one to restart, reload, and retry until finally, a solution is found and the day is saved.

As Softimage users, we have always felt the underdogs. For the most part, we don't have the 500-artist studios with the internal RnD departments, and intranets with Q&A and support. All we have is each other, on this list and a couple of forums. And over the years, having devs and reps at the mothership who would go out of their way to talk to us was an important factor, a security blanket (whether real or only perceived), that helped stoke that passion.

One of my main concerns when Autodesk took over the reigns of Softimage was not about what they would do with the technology, but rather *would they continue to talk to us*, or would they be consumed into a distant posture more typical of the mega-corporate culture.

So don't be strangers. You have no idea how important it is to the well-being of this community.

-Bradley

an...@andynicholas.com

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Apr 19, 2012, 11:44:45 AM4/19/12
to Chun-Pong Yu, soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Cool! Welcome to the new team! Thanks for introducing them to us Chun Pong.

+1 on them sending out their Twitter IDs. Definitely encourage them to pop up on
the list and say hello "in person" if they want to.

Cheers,
Andy

Eric Turman

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Apr 19, 2012, 11:53:26 AM4/19/12
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Twitter is fine, but please don't forget to have a presence on this list too. There are some of us out here who do not use twitter or facebook.
--




-=T=-

Christian Gotzinger

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Apr 19, 2012, 12:58:42 PM4/19/12
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Hello and welcome!

Thank you for introducing yourself and the team. It really feels good to know that you guys are out there, and that you're a bigger team than team Montreal.

Steven Caron

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Apr 19, 2012, 1:05:46 PM4/19/12
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Laferriere too! doh! i just mentioned how he replaced halfdan and i felt comfort. lol. so John is our go to guy now?

anyways, welcome to the community!

s

Gustavo Eggert Boehs

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Apr 19, 2012, 1:08:05 PM4/19/12
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So is there a Montral team still? Or is it over?
--
Gustavo E Boehs
3d Artist
http://www.gustavoeb.com.br/blog

Vladimir Jankijevic

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Apr 19, 2012, 1:16:44 PM4/19/12
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Hi and welcome to the community

I hope you guys will continue to make this product a more stable and interesting place to be for the future generations of like minded people!

Thanks!
Vladimir
--
---------------------------------------
Vladimir Jankijevic
Technical Direction

Elefant Studios AG
Lessingstrasse 15
CH-8002 Zürich

+41 44 500 48 20

www.elefantstudios.ch
---------------------------------------

Alok Gandhi

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Apr 19, 2012, 1:51:21 PM4/19/12
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Welcome guys, you can treat this forum as the "nerve center" of the soft community. Hope to see you guys actively participate !

Matt Lind

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Apr 19, 2012, 2:56:53 PM4/19/12
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> So is there a Montral team still? Or is it over?

 

 

That is my question as well. 

 

Who has left, who’s still on the product, and who is in the process of moving on if they haven’t left already?

 

I’m not panicked, but one thing that separated Softimage from other products is the amount of interaction with the development team.  While it’s nice to see a hello message, it would be nicer to get an idea of the scope/magnitude of this change so we the customer can make our own adjustments to how we do things.  I’ve been around Softimage for 20 years (come July), and as Brad mentioned earlier I’m part of the group that pre-dates the current product’s existence.   In that time I have seen plenty of people come and go, but not wholesale like this.

 

 

Matt

Stefan Andersson

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Apr 19, 2012, 3:10:03 PM4/19/12
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Is Chinny still there? :) When he leaves, that's when you can panic.

regards
stefan
--

STEFAN ANDERSSON // Creative Director // Mad Crew AB // http://www.madcrew.se


Scott Lange

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Apr 19, 2012, 3:13:10 PM4/19/12
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"In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."

 

Scott Lange

Animation and VFX

 

 

 

 

From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Andersson


Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 3:10 PM
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com

Steven Caron

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Apr 19, 2012, 3:13:44 PM4/19/12
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i literally held my breath and cringed for few seconds... dont make me sad stefan. plz :(

Stefan Andersson

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Apr 19, 2012, 3:31:17 PM4/19/12
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we'll see what the official channel has to say. I'm just surprised that he hasn't chimed in yet... he usually does that to calm us all down....

Christian Gotzinger

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Apr 19, 2012, 3:55:10 PM4/19/12
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My god, what an awful thought. Chinny, please post!

klak06

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:09:59 PM4/19/12
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Welcome to the list!
 
Hopefully you find the time to be as active as the guys from the dev team have been on this list over the years.
Curious about the things to come...
cheers, Klaus  

Jason Brynford-Jones

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:29:26 PM4/19/12
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Well like most others on the team who have posted, I too will be working with them on something new. Softimage is mature enough now and in very capable hands.

While we will no longer be working on Softimage, we are all still here to help if the occasion arises.

As you have seen, we are still on this list ;-)

Chinny

From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Christian Gotzinger
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 3:55 PM
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Intro to the new team (was RE: Softimage development)

My god, what an awful thought. Chinny, please post!

winmail.dat

Christian Gotzinger

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:36:24 PM4/19/12
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And apparently Maya still needs lots of help. It sounds like the entire SI team has been dissolved.

Steven Caron

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:36:41 PM4/19/12
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grumble...grunt... grrr

have fun guys.

Chris Marshall

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:38:00 PM4/19/12
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Well good luck Chin! I'm slightly sad to hear you've moved on. There was never anyone with more passion and raw enthusiasm for Sumatra/XSI/Softimage than you! Respect!!
--

Chris Marshall
Mint Motion Limited
029 2002 5762
07730 533 115


Greg Punchatz

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:45:58 PM4/19/12
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Good luck to you and everyone else... I truly cant  thank all of you enough for the amazing ride softimage has been.

All this does make me sad, but I hope something good comes out of it.... ohh and please make maya less stupid ;)

Greg Punchatz
Sr. Creative Director
Janimation
214.823.7760
www.janimation.com

Bradley Gabe

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:46:25 PM4/19/12
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They were originally going to make these announcements 2 and a half weeks ago. Imagine how confusing THAT would have been!

Eric Lampi

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:47:35 PM4/19/12
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Well I don't know anyone who loves Maya past the fact that a lot of work has come out of it. Most people who have used both are in a world of hurt, because they know it can be better.

Here's an idea: Why don't you guys just re-write Maya as ICE nodes and package it up so it runs on top of SoftImage. No one would ever know.

At least they'd have working passes. Ha ha.

Scott Lange

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:51:56 PM4/19/12
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Matt Morris

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:54:22 PM4/19/12
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Well that's a bit of a shock. Thanks for the good times Chinny! Good luck with the new roles to everyone.
--
www.matinai.com

David Barosin

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:55:28 PM4/19/12
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Yes a big thank you for all the amazing work.   I hope the move is a good one.   Keep the spirit alive. 


Tim Crowson

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Apr 19, 2012, 4:58:41 PM4/19/12
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Don't what else to say. I think this sums things up....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oabcM9SOF-E

I only know one thing for sure: I hate modeling in Maya.


Tim Crowson
Lead CG Artist

Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, Inc.
2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. Nashville, TN 37214
Ph  615.885.6801 | Fax  615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com
tim.c...@magneticdreams.com



On 4/19/2012 3:38 PM, Chris Marshall wrote:
--

 




 

tak...@earthlink.net

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Apr 19, 2012, 5:05:47 PM4/19/12
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Agree 1000%. 

Party on...

-T
-----Original Message-----
From: David Barosin
Sent: Apr 19, 2012 4:55 PM
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Intro to the new team (was RE: Softimage development)

john clausing

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Apr 19, 2012, 5:08:38 PM4/19/12
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Yes, of course thank you Guillame, Chinny, etc. we all wish you the best.

Is everyone really just sanguine about this? losing some of the best developers we've known of, and counted on for years?
It goes without saying that this is not a reflection on the new folks that are taking over the Softimage dev.......

But really? What the hell?
To suggest that this wasn't expected is foolish, but i repeat.

What the Hell? Autodesk? Care to comment?

John


From: Tim Crowson <tim.c...@magneticdreams.com>
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 4:58 PM

Stefan Andersson

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Apr 19, 2012, 5:13:15 PM4/19/12
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+1 to that. Good luck everyone! It's sad, but I'm not surprised. I hope the people in Singapore will have their jobs at least a year or two before the complimentary coffee cup from Autodesk shows up. Unlike Greg, I don't think anything good will come out from this (but he has always seen the glas half full and not half empty).

But good news everyone! There are actually a lot of softwares out there which is just longing for your expertise and knowledge. And lots of black frames that needs content, and the frames doesn't give a **** what kind of software you used :)

best regards
stefan andersson

Eric Lampi

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Apr 19, 2012, 5:16:11 PM4/19/12
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RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
END OF LINE.