SimplyMaya.com Evolution
 

We'd like your opinion on our new proposed merger with SimplyMax.com and SimplyLightwave.com into one single larger site called Simply3DWorld. This would not only give us a much larger user base but also the ability to offer training in other packages.

Your user account would be automatically transferred to the new site and obviously you'd have access to the same tutorials you have now. The forums would be merged together giving us a much bigger community.

All of us here see this as a good thing for our members. However as it was the members that helped turn SimplyMaya.com into one of the largest 3D training sites on the Internet today, we ask you to vote on the option you most like to see the Simply family of sites take for the future. Would you like to keep the site as it is today? Or would you like to see us evolve into a much larger site, with training on offer for different software?

Cast your vote here http://www.simplymaya.com/sitevote.mhtml

I voted yes.

Although I appear here as a new user, I have read SimplyMaya on and off for a couple of years. And while the video tutorials alone are worth the visit, the forum is an encyclopedia of valuable Maya information.

I do have some reservations. The reason I come here is because, like the name suggests, it is simply Maya and very focused. If the merge is to go ahead I'd prefer and option to exclude non-maya related information (perhaps by login preference). There are other sites that combine what Simply3dWorld propose to do, the beauty of this site at the moment is that I don't have to trawl through the irrelevant.

If I'll be able to go to simply3dworld.com while logged in and have it Maya specific that'd be great. If I get a front page full of banners for tutorials and software that I don't and will never use or news about products that aren't Maya or Maya related it will detract from it's usefulness.

that would sort of defeat the pupose right.
if u dont use LW, then dont click on LW tuts.
im sure there will be clearly visible sections saying "maya tuts, or LW tuts... but a specific frontpage depending on your software... i dont know if that a little over asking

Not really. If in my preferences I had Maya ticked, someone else could equally have say Lightwave and Photoshop ticked. The whole idea of the web is that it is dynamic. If I wanted to trawl through a load of stuff that doesn't interest me just to find the good bits I'd buy a PC magazine like Computer Arts (UK).

Just have login preferences to show as much or as little as you want to see. You might want to tick everything but not everyone has the same preferences as you.

A quick and accessable front page tailored to the user's preference is not too much to ask.

There will be an option to customise the site to your preferences :)

David

Excellent, thanks :)

I vote yes only if the there are 3 forums and 3 dvd selections.

If not i think it would be a bad idea.

I reckon one forum, like some other websites, but with sepperate applications areas, if you know what I mean,and then some general forums, that way everyone can have their say on modeling topology etc regardless of application.

One big challenge forum, WIP, finished work forum would bring (hopefully) more comments, crits entrants etc.

IP Address Already Used?
 

I wanted to vote yes as I think this is an excellent idea but when I try and vote I get the following:

Sorry a vote from your IP address has already been counted.

I think this is because I am on NTL and public IP address and NAT issues with groups of people with the same IP address. I'll have to wait until I get to work and then make my vote.

David,

I voted yes on this one because I would love to see Cinema 4D R10 tutorials in the same fashion as the current Simply Maya tutorials. I mentioned that I am a C4D user looking for tutorials in a another post (http://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...threadid=24644).
I have purchased a few tutorials when I used Maya in the past and I was very impressed with them. I am frustrated at the availability of tutorials for C4D users. I have all of the 3D Fluff volumes as well as the Vital Distraction Cloth DVD. What I would like to see most are tutorials on character rigging and animation using Mocca, using Xpresso and Bodypaint. Hopefully this merger will go through quickly and I can start spending a lot more money on Simply3DWorld.com!

Vince

That's a nice changing... btw there's a typo in the table's header in the voting page -> "Sould" the sites merge:

From a coding point of view, it seems like it'd be easier to maintain with everything under one roof....and easier to judge challenges if the finished entries are all in one place.

You have my "aye;" in my schooling, I've already taken a Modeling and Animation course with Maya, and just this past fall another course with Houdini. Coming up this spring, I'll be taking a course with StudioMax; I've had it in mind to get my mind wrapped around as many programs as I can.

I do indeed think a merger would not just be a good thing for me, but also everyone else; no point in each person having multiple accounts, one for each website. Better if it's all together in one space, me thinks ^.^

EDIT:

I just hope that won't become a murderous task of forum organization and management for ye olde administrators and mods...

I'm a big yes for this. I use xsi and lw as a long term enthusiast of all things 3D, I learn loads from the tutorials on all the sites and just work out how to do the same thing in my software of choice.

The fact that you are going to expand the tutorials offered to include other packages is simply positive, but in my opinion I would like for you to maintain the quality and to a lesser extent the quantity of training produced.

Having a single points account as well would be welcome as I am often transferring points from account to account as new training is released.

This is a fantastic resource and I welcome positive growth for the simply sites. Including training for other packages is going to benefit me no matter what I use.

Looking forward to this if it goes ahead.

Adaptability & change...

I love it, lets go for it.