Autodesk acquires Skymatter
polycounter lvl 20
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?id=9931455&siteID=123112
So, this is interesting. Autodesk buys Alias first and now Skymatter. Discuss.
So, this is interesting. Autodesk buys Alias first and now Skymatter. Discuss.
Replies
in the words of Lois' dad:
that'd be sweeeeeet
I've actually done a decent amount of sculpting in Max using the paint deformation tools. Not super great, but it gets smaller jobs done.
I don't know how I feel about the buy-out all together, though.
it would save a lot of time if done right. no need to worry about import/export problems. no problems with UVW map issues. and it could even lead to better use of normalmap generation etc.
I don't see this acquisition as a bad thing though. Autodesk didn't have a digital sculpting tool and was missing out. I don't think they'd buy skymatter and stagnate Mudbox, I think they'll actually pump more money into it and increase development. It's not like buying Alias and have both of the big 3d modelers... they only have ONE digital sculpting program and they're going to want to make money from it. With ZBrush 3, there's still BIG competition and version 2 of Mudbox is going to have to be very impressive.
I honestly don't see integration to the point of merging mudbox into max... Max wouldn't be able to handle the polygons. Now I think it would be bad-ass if they continue a standalone version of Mudbox, and create a new program the is solely a modeling/texturing program... Think Silo, but with the power of Mudbox, and texture painting capabilities... now Autodesk needs to acquire Adobe and integrate photoshop into Mudbox.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I want to take stuff from Max to Maya to Mudbox to Motionbuilder cleanly.
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It'd also be nice if some things like baking of normal maps behaved the same in Max, Maya, and Mudbox.
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Damn straight. Max needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, in a serious way. I love the app, but it's buggy as all hell, and it's still got it's wacky ass Z-up axis setup.
Has anyone else read the Q&A session about the acquisition (available on the site linked in the first post)? It's amazing how there's 22 questions and absolutely no answers that matter... even some of the answers aren't really answering anything. LOL. Oh well, the sucky thing is that I'm sure we'll have to wait at least 2 months until the deal is done to find out any news on Mudbox 2.0
I really hope that this just gives skymatter the resources they need to kick some Zbrush rear really fast and repeatedly haha! I like both apps but mudbox is a winner for me just cause of its interface, if it got integrated into another app(max or maya) I for one would not be impressed.
they gonna take some time and make an ultimate package?
it will just turn into shit, like motionbuilder.
i'm glad i stayed on zbrush all along.
glad for now, that is.
less competition is less need to develop oneself.
i hope 3d Studio Mayabox is good and not just 3ds Max with certain changes, which is what it'll most likely be.
as of now, the only thing i could want is proper 3d texture painting directly onto my model [bodypaint doesn't support normals maps i believe?]
"playing with 'my-box'"
"aaaargh!"
"sure man, but i have a huge load in my-box right now, can you give me half hour to clean up?"
Whiners are a bit quick to judge this time around, eh?
-caseyjones
While the opportunities for combining the best of Max,Maya, and Mudbox are there, I don't have a good feeling about this currently. I'm not whining, as I don't use Mudbox right now in any case. I'm just looking at the history of Autodesk, they collect software. Take a look at their products page http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=8909451, it's fucking obscene.
I'd have never said this a couple years ago, being the Maya fanboy that I am, but Max and Maya really have no reason to be separate products any longer. A sculpt and this generation paint feature brought into the modeling package would make them a one stop shop that we all want.
The best thing that could happen is Autodesk is mum on the subject for a couple years, then comes out with a new product, built from the ground up in a lot of places that combines the best of all three products. Keep what works, drop what doesn't. Maya's sculpt for example, it's a POS in comparison to Mudbox (as I'm sure many here know)
I'm hoping for the best, but expecting a mediocre result.
I'd have never said this a couple years ago, being the Maya fanboy that I am, but Max and Maya really have no reason to be separate products any longer. A sculpt and this generation paint feature brought into the modeling package would make them a one stop shop that we all want.
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Well the more I use maya the less likely I think that's ever going to happen. Now that the both ship with mental ray out of the box, max really has nothing going for it when it comes to serious animation, save perhaps some poymodeling tools. Since maya will only set you back about half of what max costs, you can easily get nex.
Obviously for gaming this isn't as true and the renderer doesn't even come into play, but most people who use maya probably wouldn't want any of max's functionality infest their beloved software.
I think it sucks autodesk purchased maya. With mudbox it's hopefully a different thing though, since autodesk doesn't have a product that used to compete with it there's a big chance it might actually get better. Then again they'll more likely fail to implement any of the wishes from the userbase and release an overpriced update mainly based on some obscure notion of 'improved viewport speed'.
most people who use maya probably wouldn't want any of max's functionality infest their beloved software.
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I don't know theres one area that sticks out to me like a sore thumb to me having used maya for a few years after learning max. mayas history sucks compared to maxs modifier stack.. I would love to have it replace history. Its clunky, doesn't work nearly as robustly and regularly throws a bunch of junk nodes into the outliner
good for messing around with,making rough sketchy sort of sculpts but not for serious production pipeine work IMHO, so I am not too bothered personally.
zbrush 3 has everything I need
mayas history sucks compared to maxs modifier stack.. I would love to have it replace history. Its clunky, doesn't work nearly as robustly and regularly throws a bunch of junk nodes into the outliner
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How I hate Maya's history!
-caseyjones