Introduced Extreme edition (particles, metaballs, mental ray) Introduced Actor module, IK, constraints, deformation latticesĪdded clusters, weighted envelopes. Release history Versionīeta debuted at Siggraph '88, v1.0 commercial release in 1989 Because of Softimage|3D's entrenched user base, minor revisions continued until the final version of Softimage|3D, version 4.0, was released in 2002. Development was delayed during a 1998 acquisition by Avid Technology, and in the summer of 2000 Softimage|3D's successor was finally released as Softimage XSI. began developing a successor to Softimage|3D codenamed "Sumatra," which was designed with a more modern and extensible architecture to compete with other major packages like Alias|Wavefront's Maya. 3D paint functionality was added a year later in version 3.7. Softimage|3D Extreme 3.5, released later that year, included particle effects and the mental ray renderer, which offered area lights, ray tracing, and other advanced features.
The first Windows port of Softimage|3D, version 3.0, was released in early 1996.
with the intention of introducing high-end 3D animation software to its Windows NT platform, and subsequently renamed it "Softimage|3D." In January 1995, Softimage|3D was announced as the official 3D development tool for the Sega Saturn. In 1994, Microsoft acquired Softimage, Co. Its character animation toolset expanded substantially with the addition of inverse kinematics in version 2, which was used to animate the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Softimage Creative Environment was adopted by major visual effects studios like Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Domain for use in their production pipelines, which also typically included software from Alias Research, Big Idea Productions, Kroyer Films, Angel Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation Inc., and Pixar Animation Studios Inc.
The software was initially demonstrated at SIGGRAPH in 1988 and was released for Silicon Graphics workstations the following year as the Softimage Creative Environment™. Sadly I won’t make anything using softimage.In 1986, National Film Board of Canada filmmaker Daniel Langlois, in partnership with software engineers Richard Mercille and Laurent Lauzon, began developing an integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering package with a graphical interface targeted at visual artists. That was what got me learning 3D CG VFX and Games Design.
the first company to port animation tools to PC (NT).
the first integrated animation and effects system.) Several important milestones that have influenced the industry have come from the “artist/technology” vision: Other important members of the company included artist Char Davies (Davies left the company at the end of 1997 to pursue her artistic research separately. He felt that the concept marked a fundamental shift in how the industry viewed visual effects creation and generated a new breed of visual effects artists and animators. His vision was a software company that addressed the creation of 3-D animation software not only for, but by artists. Langlois wanted to create animated films but was dissatisfied with the existing technology, which he felt was insufficient for his needs and designed to be used by computer scientists and technologists. Softimage was founded in 1986 by National Film Board of Canada filmmaker Daniel Langlois. Some of computer graphics history I will be quoting and using from PressBook.