Re: Intro to the new team (was RE: Softimage development)
David Gallagher
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
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
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
+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
-=T=-
Christian Gotzinger
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
Gustavo Eggert Boehs
Gustavo E Boehs
3d Artist
http://www.gustavoeb.com.br/blog
Vladimir Jankijevic
---------------------------------------
Vladimir Jankijevic
Technical Direction
Elefant Studios AG
Lessingstrasse 15
CH-8002 Zürich
+41 44 500 48 20
www.elefantstudios.ch
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Alok Gandhi
Matt Lind
> 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
Scott Lange
"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
Stefan Andersson
Christian Gotzinger
klak06
Jason Brynford-Jones
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!
Christian Gotzinger
Steven Caron
Chris Marshall
Greg Punchatz
All this does make me sad, but I hope something good comes out of it.... ohh and please make maya less stupid ;)
Greg Punchatz
Bradley Gabe
Eric Lampi
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
Scott Lange
Animation and VFX
Matt Morris
www.matinai.com
David Barosin
Tim Crowson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oabcM9SOF-E
I only know one thing for sure: I hate modeling in Maya.
|
Tim Crowson |
|
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
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
From: Tim Crowson <tim.c...@magneticdreams.com>
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 4:58 PM
Stefan Andersson
Eric Lampi
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