SoftImage XSI Fundamental available for $495

[Kai Backman]

SoftImage has released a version of their XSI 3D modelling software, XSI Fundamental, with a new price tag of $495. This is basically their XSI Essentials ($1995) software missing some higher end (mostly movie related) features. XSI Fundamentals is fully working and contains the SDK.

SoftImage has a similar price history as Maya, as they have been picking up volume and competition the price has lost almost two magnitudes on the way. This new release is very obviously aimed at small businesses, with maybe a slight eye towards independent game developers. There is a 30 day trial available that actually tries to upsell the full version, which makes me think this is a real commercial venture for them... :D

Are there any XSI users out there, both artists and programmers? What are your experiences with XSI? (I know HL2 switched over to XSI and the few users I have been talking with like it very much)

[dreeze]

I downloaded that demo a few days ago. Thus far, I think it's ok. They've created their GUI around not having that many icons around, and instead use text descriptions (trueSpace being in the other end of the icon-spectrum) which took a while for me to get used to. I've still to try animating and uvmapping and if I like that, I will probably buy it.

I think this is a good buy for an indie who needs good 3D software. There are a few alternatives in this price range and XSI seems to be the most complete.

[svero]

SoftImage has a similar price history as Maya, as they have been picking up volume and competition the price has lost almost two magnitudes on the way.

I love maya.. probably my favorite 3D app... But why do you say the price has come down? Isn't it still 2k? I can't find any evidence of a cheaper version.

[Reactor]

They dropped the price a little while ago- in fact, the included video training offer ends at the end of this month. Anyway, I'm a day or so away from buying Foundation. It took me a while, personally, to decide if I wanted to buy into a high-end app, mainly because the upgrade policies can be quite pricey and the program itself is only designed to run on pro 3D cards. If they happen to run on your gamers card then... that's just plain lucky! :P

Anyway, the program itself on the surface looks fairly much like any other $500 app, but underneath the hood are some really powerful functions. The animation timeline is amazing, and the operator stack allows for a great deal of flexibility. Most of all though, XSI gets artists to work with a proper workflow- something I know I personally need to improve. Lastly, I'm impressed with the UV tools, which are really well designed. On the flipside of the coin, however, XSI's modelling tools aren't groundbreaking (even though fairly good) and Mental Ray is a slow and complex beast to use, unless you're had prior experience with it... and I mean a couple of years experience.

Anyway, I'm sure lots of people will buy it, just because it was a pricey app gone cheap, but I think people should buy it because they know exactly what it is they're getting themselves into, and not because Sharktale was rendered with Mental Ray :)

[Kai Backman]

I love maya.. probably my favorite 3D app... But why do you say the price has come down? Isn't it still 2k? I can't find any evidence of a cheaper version.

Sorry. I was talking about the price drop a few years back when Maya Complete changed from $8-$9k to $2k. And their upgrade is still pricey (either a fixed $1.5k/year or the same amount in point upgrades). Maya is definetly nice, and has a good sounding name too .. ;)

However, the XSI users I talked with were using it when it was considerably more pricey than Maya, and would choose it today even if they had the extra money for Maya. Might just be a matter of getting used to.

[otaku]

I just reviewed the lates version of SoftImage XSI for the October issue of Game Developer magazine. I've trained on SoftImage since the early days (circa 1995) and I love the program, I also like Maya too. I have two SoftImage XSI licenses and two Maya licenses and until XSI 4.0 was released I'd have said that Maya was the better option for game developers. With the release of XSI 4.0 SoftImage has added in a lot of features that make it more appealing and are really trying to corner the game developer market. Having said that, Maya (and 3DS Max) are still better supported by the external community, especially when it comes to plug-ins and exporters.

[Kai Backman]

Thank you Otaku, that was a very informed opinion. :D

[svero]

Just went over to their site. Thought maybe I could try the demo. I'm stuck on a regular phone modem at the moment so wasn't sure if I could download it or not.

So I get to their site and hit the button for a free demo. Then they ask me for about 1000 fields of information in some form. Normally I'd give up at this point but I really wanted to try it. There's no way to tell what the size is. So I fill in the form with my usual set of fields

First Name : Goto
Last Name : Hell
Address : 123 noneofyoureffingbusiness lane

and so on...

Then it tells me I need to retrieve an email. I cleverly use a real temporary email so as not to get screwed by that trick. I get a password. I enter the password in. Bleep! Your account not activated. Click the activation link. After all that finally something that looks like a download link. AND NOW! NOW they have the nerve to tell me their demo download is 170mb. I wasn't expecting it to be tiny, but it may have be 30-40mb.

Anyway..I guess I'll just assume the program sucks if the same people behind the design of the website are also working on the app.