XSI 6 promotion

ElysiumGX

http://softimage.com/purchase/get_current/Default.aspx

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From now until December 20th, 2006, upgrade to SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 from any previous version of XSI Foundation.
* Upgrade from any version of XSI Foundation to XSI Foundation 6 for $395 USMSRP.
* Upgrade from any version of XSI Foundation to XSI Essentials 6 for $1,495 USMSRP.
* Upgrade from any version of XSI Foundation to XSI Advanced 6 for $6,495 USMSRP.


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Upgrading to version 6 Essentials saves you $500. That seems like the best deal. Foundations is cool, but I'd like a few more toys to play with.

PeterK

how about upgrading to 3dsmax? I know Xsi is one hell of an awesome tool, but it's not that widespread in the games biz.

Zcubed

Maybe it's because I don't have any experience in the industry, but that argument hardly seems vital to the success of a modeler (especially in the games industry). I've tried the trial versions of most packages, and I really haven't seen anything that really sets one polymodeling toolset apart from the others. I really only find myself using basic tools like extrude, cut, weld, and soft selection. Why not just use the package that you're most familiar with? Surely most of the skills that you acquire will carry over. I know that I could have picked up modeling a lot faster if I had stuck with a toolset and focused on the art rather than learning a new interface each month.

It seems that other tasks such as rigging and rendering are where the apps really differ, though they seem to be coming together to some extent on that front as well (Most packages seem to offer Mental Ray, etc.)

EDIT - Heh, completely forgot the topic of the thread. The new XSI 6 tools look very nice. I know there have always been solid workarounds, but I'm happy to see true symmetry modeling on the list. The low price tag on FND is as attractive as ever; I think I'll probably pick up either Silo or XSI FND in the near future.

ElysiumGX

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how about upgrading to 3dsmax? I know Xsi is one hell of an awesome tool, but it's not that widespread in the games biz.

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Does it have to be widespread? What the hell kind of logic is that? In order for something to become widespread, or merely competition, people must use it. And many more people are. Those, like yourself, who know it's an awesome tool for artists. Why did you post in this thread? I upgraded FROM Max years ago. I found a better option for me. A company that gives you options, and listens to its community. Get over it.

Jelmer

All modeling packages look like eachother, the difference is in the ease of accesing tools. I find XSI working a lot quicker and easier then Max and Maya for modeling.
Blur studios is using XSI as their main CG package right now, and so is The Mill. I'm sure XSI will gain marketshare, just give it some time.
The reason it isn't used as much as Max and Maya is that it was released later then those two. It's hard for a studio to change 3d package all of the sudden, it takes time to grow from 2-3 license to an entire production based XSI pipeline.

PeterK

Don't flip out if people don't agree with you.

retleks

XSI for the win. I fully encourage the use of it. This day and age, it's important to be able to pull 1 million + polygons into a package and expect it to be completely stable, xsi has been doing this since 4.2. And you have to try hard to crash it in most cases. Oh and then there's that whole non destructive workflow bit, being able to move freely up and down the stack without losing any work is key. But, hey, they're just tools, to accomplish what we need... who needs them to be fast, intuitive, and stable?

kendo

these updates come so quick it seems, still have hardly used the features in 5.1, i think i shall wait until future releases before i upgrade again.