Autodesk buys Alias - Page 4 - Simply Maya User Community

# 46 29-10-2005 , 06:46 PM

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I can spring 20$ :p

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# 47 03-11-2005 , 07:26 PM

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I knew something strange is happening...
Well, Alias want to sell one BIIIIIIIIIG bundle- WHOLE THIER PRODUCTS for just 2000$.

Damn, I won't be able to use my Maya books anymore!

If the worst hasn't happened yet, that's because you haven't tried everything yet!

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# 48 09-11-2005 , 10:59 AM

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Well all I can think is that Autodesk will slowly fade out Maya and incorporate some of its key features into Max. But I think this will take time. From what I have read nearly every major studio out there uses Maya as its front end with loads of custom plug-ins and things written for them. I can imagaine that they would be loath to change their Maya production pipelines to 3DS Max…

I think the whole thing just smacks of share price, someone just wants to make money and doesn't really care about the end-users. Maya and 3DS Max are BIG competitiors in the games market and with Autodesk buying out Alias and eventually phasing it out they will rule the gaming world - not sure abot the film world.

As far as the film world is concerned I can sense SOFTIMAGE licking its lips that a lot of people are going to switch to it's software along with a lot of studios.

Anyway, I am probably wrong on a lot of points so those in the know don't chastise me I am just airing my thoughts. I must admit I will be sad to see Maya in the hands of Autodesk even though I don't use Maya much - I still love the program!

Tickety boo and ta ta for a bit...
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# 49 10-11-2005 , 07:43 PM

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Hmm yeah it does kinda suck. But I wouldnt woryy just yet as its gonna take months to sort, no money has been exchanged yet, so fingers crossed.

I have the latest 3d world and its all pretty positive thought there are some industry dudes voicing their own opinions.

But myself see an upside to it. Users of Maya Complete may could actually have access to plugins that are similar to Maxs'.

Autodesk could actually rewrite the plugins for cloth and fur in Maya to be a little more user friendly, as we know right now they are ball ache when trying to achieve the desired result. These could then be sold off to lower end Maya dudes like myself who dont use or cant afford Unlimited, (I use Complete) And the uv editor could use a kick up the arse with something like the new Pelt Mapper that max has too. Thats frickin awsome. I dont mind the UV process but there are days when I have gone blind from pulling those uvs around. Even Modo has got something similar now as well which I saw earlier in the week. Alias has always voiced the speed of work flow that Maya can do and well lets face it, as much as I love using the package, its having its butt whipped by the other packages, one of which is half the frickin price!!

I wouldnt want Maya taken away, just a decent re write in areas would be good, oh and the software renderer could do with a bit of speed, maybe newtek could help...no I'll give that a miss

Some thoughts anyway...

Jay

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# 50 10-11-2005 , 08:24 PM

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Dont forget that autodesk are spending money to make money. They'll follow the path that makes the most profit and if that means running the products in parallel till one easily starts outpacing the other then things wont change too much. Also as already mentioned, maya has made huge inbounds into the gaming arena so they might push that angle more...
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# 51 10-11-2005 , 08:45 PM

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Yeah but spending money to make money is an everyday occurance for most companies wanting to succeed, I think the saying is : you have to speculate to accumulate!!

But as you say lots to come yet

Jay

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# 52 11-11-2005 , 06:59 AM

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It is going to be interesting

Here are some points to ponder.

Max has strengths in the world building (gaming) arena.

Religion aside.

Are there any aspects of Max that are a) implemented better than Maya, and b) exist that are not in Maya at this time? Any aspects, even tiny aspects, any at all that would enhance Maya in future generations?

There is a lot of very good 3D Applications out there. Some are proprietary, belonging to various houses. ILM, Pixar, et al. all have in house tools that provide specialty and general purpose 3D production.

A movie I saw recently had a virtual Soup to Nuts line up of Applications that were used to create all of the CGI.

Houdini was used for particle effects. Keep in mind that MAX's reactor dynamics do some really unique things also and Maya, with an easier to understand interface is a strong player in the particle arena. In today’s world no one application can do it all. ILM has some incredible tools at its disposal, Maya is just simply one of them.

Speaking as a developer, top notch programmers from both camps will now have access to “peek” under each others cloaked secrets, or under the hood.

I suspect that ideas will flow and some people will have epiphanies and other celestial awakenings with the new code that they see and start to see strategies of implementing some new features.

How do you suppose Maya would improve if say, Maya had bought https://www.naturalmotion.com/files/e...v2_5_Oct05.pdf (and these folks only want 9 to 11 thou https://www.naturalmotion.com/pages/sales.htm for their stuff.

Corel purchased Jasc Software awhile back and to tell you the truth I haven’t noticed any changes at all from a users perspective. They introduced a new version fairly quickly this have been about 5 or 6 months.

It takes time for restructuring and all sorts of other things to have any real impact on everyday life with Maya users. Maya has a large installed base and any company that did NOT recognize that factor would be idiotic. Autodesk is NOT idiotic. The two companies started within a year of each other.

It is my belief that Maya will continue in its present form for some time to come, and gradually over time, some new features may be added that will only make it better.

Chill, the sky in NOT falling in …. At least not YET or today
Many Regards,

wizzie

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# 53 11-11-2005 , 07:59 AM

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Wizzie

Some interesting points, I did kinda get lost thru your thread a bit, (no offence) I think most people are chilled about it though myself being one of them.

As always panic starts at the drop of a hat, nobody likes change at the best of times when something has been good for so long.

Although we have SSS, hair, cloth and fluids to name a few, 3d is still in a evolutionary stage and we are all probably looking at the next stage forward in that evolution..

Cheers

Jay

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# 54 11-11-2005 , 11:46 AM

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I was Max user a year ago and some things became clear to me when I switched to Maya...since then I can say that in some avarage relations Maya is better package.

Jay, about UV editor and mapping I think Maya is way simplier then Max.

Cloth,Fur and fludis are not the reasons why Maya is better then Max, the nodes are!

What I really hated in Max is the way they put all the animation deformers and modeling tools in one stack!

So as I was new it took a while to figure the relation between UV projectors and Unwarp UV and the order how they should be put.

Once I switched to Maya UV editor became a child's play!

And yes, Maya's software renderer should and can be faster!

I love the way Maya allways offers more than one solution to your request or problem.

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Last edited by darijo203; 11-11-2005 at 11:49 AM.

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# 55 11-11-2005 , 02:07 PM

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Jay, about UV editor and mapping I think Maya is way simplier then Max.

Originally Posted by

Not now, its not, you said you were using it a year ago. 'Pelt mapping' wasnt available then for the uv editor in Max (if Im, not mistaken), check it out, you may change your mind. Modo has one similar to it now as well. Very fast and very tidy.

Cheers Dude

Jay

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# 56 18-11-2005 , 06:09 AM

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Originally posted by Jay
Wizzie

Some interesting points, I did kinda get lost thru your thread a bit, (no offence) I think most people are chilled about it though myself being one of them.

As always panic starts at the drop of a hat, nobody likes change at the best of times when something has been good for so long.

Although we have SSS, hair, cloth and fluids to name a few, 3d is still in a evolutionary stage and we are all probably looking at the next stage forward in that evolution..

Cheers

Jay

Originally Posted by

Hi,
Sorry if I confused anyone.

High level ... simply put.

The sky is not falling ... yet.

Maya has a large user base.

Autodesk would be catastrophically stupid to make any major changes in the short term (next couple of years)

If, when the Senior Software people have had a chance to really look things over, the strengths and weaknesses of both products, they may see some things that can be improved.

This could mean some positive changes introduced into both products. The opposite is true too.

There are always improvements that can be made. Software continues to evolve.

Here's a real kicker. One of the simplest and easiest interfaces I have seen with respect to modeling with just primitive shapes is found in an online game called Second Life.
Ha .. No kidding.

When you translate any object you have made, the interface displays extended 'infinite' x,y,z axis. This, I have to say is really far sighted. It is a snap to place an object, without having to change the viewing perspective, almost exactly where you want to place it.

For an online game that allows for the creation of 3D objects in real time (that can be scripted to move themselves, the ability animate avitars that sit or stand on them, and spawn other objects or destroy (die) themselves is pretty darn incredible.

With infinite axis during translation it is easy to see exactly where an object is with respect to the ground and other objects.

I don't know, perhaps someone has already written a mel script or there is already an option to do that but I'd love to see 'infinite' axis in Mayaif it were possible.

Sorry, I digressed.

No one likes change and often times change spells disaster.

I just have a gut feeling that Autodesk, didn't buy Maya to trash it or to alienate the entire community.

Just trying to bring some peace and calm to those who may be a little stressed. The version of Maya that anyone has will still work the same way tomorrow and the next day.

We just have to wait and see what happens to future versions.

Have a great day all,

wizzie

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# 57 18-11-2005 , 07:26 AM

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Originally posted by Jay
Not now, its not, you said you were using it a year ago. 'Pelt mapping' wasnt available then for the uv editor in Max (if Im, not mistaken), check it out, you may change your mind. Modo has one similar to it now as well. Very fast and very tidy.

Cheers Dude

Jay

Originally Posted by

Yeah, cold be...a year is a long time period. user added image

I just wonder will Autodest maintain Maya master classes and all the DVD, books support...?

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Last edited by darijo203; 18-11-2005 at 07:28 AM.

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# 58 26-11-2005 , 10:35 PM

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Dear God,

Well, this can not turn into anything healthy for the little end users like us. Expect maya and max to loose some key features so they can make a hybrid program that everyone will have to buy. We're on easy street now, but soon very soon the shit will show it's undigested corn.

can you imagine; All of the improvements made to Maya in each version being halved to feed the new bastard child software? a bunch of individual add on's created not only by alias but also autodesk. Products marketed to get you to buy them by the component so that they can take more money from the user.

I can see it now....

Maya core software $2000
Maya Fluids ad on $1000
Maya Cloth ad on $1000
Maya Renderer Package $1500
Maya Hair and Fur $1000
Maya Live $1000
Any new Maya Components $1000
Maya/Max Bastard Child $2000

switching to Softimage XSI Priceless :rant:

Get Mad People.. This can't be good.

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# 59 27-11-2005 , 05:59 AM

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Honestly, at first I was really upset about this (and I'm a Max user user added image

)

But Alias was having some troubles. Anyway, they're running them in parallel for now in any case. Given that Autodesk has never been one to trade convenience for money, the chances are it'll continue this way - split - for quite some time. I may be a bit biased, but I think this may be a good change. Nothing big will change for quite some time - at least nothing for the worse. It just means that Maya's going to have a stronger and more financially stable parent-company. I could be wrong, but who's to know, really. Let's calm down and see.

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