![]() ![]() Original Reviews and Comments Copyright © 2000-2003 by Jeremy Birn. Microsoft later sold Softimage to Avid, in exchange for a portion of Avid's stock which Microsoft still owns. Softimage had been an independent company in Montreal, but was acquired by Microsoft in 1994, and became the first of the high-end programs that had been based on the SGI (IRIX) platform to port to Windows NT. ![]() The Softimage Creative Environment (the earlier name for Softimage|3D) was the first commercial package to support Inverse Kinematics and other animation break-throughs. (view screenshot) was a popular animation system used in many feature films. HISTORY: Before XSI, the earlier Softimage product called Softimage|3D The Rendering system also has the most complete support for customized render passes implemented in any package, and XSI now also includes an integrated compositing system. XSI comes with a seamlessly integrated copy of the popular Mental Ray renderer, and includes support for "render regions" which let artists drag a box over any part of any modeling window, and see a fully raytraced mental ray rendering of the corresponding part of the window, which updates as parameters are adjusted, such as moving a shadow when a light is moved, or updating with changes to the camera position or animation. XSI's non-linear animation system sequences clips of animation, but also allows animators to blend and transition between different riggings, constraints, expressions, and externally referenced models. The choice of professionals who demand the highest-quality content, Softimage has consistently raised the bar from which other systems are measured. KEY FEATURES: Modeling in XSI is very strong when working with polygons, as well as multiple types of subdivision surfaces, although NURBS functionality is still very limited. SOFTIMAGE3D, the flagship of the Softimage product line, has consistently set the benchmarks for fully integrated professional 3-D modeling, animation and rendering software. Softimage lost a lot of market share to Maya during the years that they were developing XSI, but have recently began gaining some ground back now that XSI has shaped-up as a formidable competitor to Maya. MARKET: XSI is the latest big player in the high-end 3D animation software market, and is being developed by the company that once ruled the market with their earlier Softimage 3D product. Softimage|XSI ( Softimage, owned by Avid) High-end 3D animation and rendering software
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