Just wondering…

With the lack of physical conventions and all the press that generally accompanies them, upgrade cycles have taken a back seat for better or worse. SideFX is one of several companies who seems to have shifted their release intervals. I wouldn't expect any major announcement at least until the Summer.

Well, at least there is a thread about it now. That's usually the first step!

It will come right after RenderMan 24.

I just want to say that artists should stop being spoiled and stop pressuring these companies, especially private ones. Be happy that SideFX is not owned by shareholders otherwise you would see the dark side of development. Let them do what they need to do to make sure every next release is solid. After 7y of Cinema 4D I switched to Houdini and one of the reasons was exactly that one, company that is privately owned. I just hope devs and everyone else in the company is treated well and that SideFX is from its core a good guy, just as Houdini(software) itself is.

SIgor420
I just want to say that artists should stop being spoiled and stop pressuring these companies, especially private ones.

I hope you're joking...right? First of all, these "artists" that you're referring to are customers, some of us paying thousands of dollars each year for the "privilege" of using Houdini. Secondly, there are a lot of things about Houdini that still need work and improvement and I don't see anything "spoiled" about asking for updates at semi-regular intervals. Thirdly the reason why Maxon's development is so slow has nothing to do with it being publicly owned, it's got to do with poor management and lack of ideas -- there are plenty of examples of publicly owned companies who have great update releases with innovative ideas. And finally, the rest of the world is moving on with some pretty massive updates in case you haven't noticed lately, so for Houdini to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry, it has to continue to evolve just as rapidly.

There is nothing spoiled about customers inquiring as to what the status of the next update is, and SideFX is about overdue for an announcement. Hopefully this thread puts a wee bit of pressure on them to speak up.

I think it's smart to keep the pressure on. All organizations, no matter how great, have a natural tendency to stagnate. Need to remind them not to settle for that!

Midphase

SIgor420
I just want to say that artists should stop being spoiled and stop pressuring these companies, especially private ones.

I hope you're joking...right? First of all, these "artists" that you're referring to are customers, some of us paying thousands of dollars each year for the "privilege" of using Houdini. Secondly, there are a lot of things about Houdini that still need work and improvement and I don't see anything "spoiled" about asking for updates at semi-regular intervals. Thirdly the reason why Maxon's development is so slow has nothing to do with it being publicly owned, it's got to do with poor management and lack of ideas -- there are plenty of examples of publicly owned companies who have great update releases with innovative ideas. And finally, the rest of the world is moving on with some pretty massive updates in case you haven't noticed lately, so for Houdini to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry, it has to continue to evolve just as rapidly.

There is nothing spoiled about customers inquiring as to what the status of the next update is, and SideFX is about overdue for an announcement. Hopefully, this thread puts a wee bit of pressure on them to speak up.

No, I am not joking, you already have more than any other 3D app has. Of course, no 3D app is perfect and always lacking something. Putting pressure on SideFX is basically putting pressure on people who develop, test etc.. not really on the management. In the end, management pushes others to do things which makes everyone miserable because you need that feature now and cannot wait a bit longer. So when you pressure them you are producing lower quality software and these complex features need time to be completed, tested etc. So if you want buggy releases, feel free to pressure them and in the end, no one is winning.

Also, you are very wrong about Maxon. You are right about management, but those shareholders are the ones who demand more revenue per year, thus more pressure on development and management == poor quality because the goal is more releases per year and so on. And if you ever worked in a development environment, you would know how complex things can be. And no, Maxon is not out of ideas, not at all. Usually, development is planned few years in front and the roadmap is known. Of course, things can change but some things you simply cannot control. You devs get sick, or anyone else, and things can be slow down. Even if you have a new developer that doesn't mean he can jump immediately and start coding things, he will need at least a few months to be productive and so on. So, no need to pressure, I am sure SideFX is doing everything they can to finish the next release as soon as possible because in the end they are not stupid and they are very aware of pleasing the customers is a must due to $$. But anyway, I guess everyone have different point of view...so I say, tak etime SideFX and bring us solid release and not a buggy one.

Dont have any statistics, but ~a major each year is a pattern I recognise.
18.5 was late October and with daily releases on top, I'm not sure I agree with the "overdue".

SIgor420
Putting pressure on SideFX is basically putting pressure on people who develop

If you call this "putting pressure" on someone, I wonder how you'd handle working in an actual production environment!

Midphase

SIgor420
Putting pressure on SideFX is basically putting pressure on people who develop

If you call this "putting pressure" on someone, I wonder how you'd handle working in an actual production environment!

Good point, hopefully, it stays as it is and SideFX delivers with H19. Now I switched to Houdini just two months ago so Ill not gonna pretend like I know how is in the world of Houdini, but after 7y or Cinema 4D I can already tell you how much better Houdini is doing in all aspects while the price is at the level of C4D, on top of that there is at least Indie licence which Maxon doesn't offer at all. So, I am just grateful and don't want to complain because I have experienced the other side of the force and I know something about development as I actually worked at Maxon and I kinda feel bad for them at this point. Mostly for my colleges that are still there. They deserve so much praise but unfortunately community putting the pressure which is in the end justified, but those guys don't deserve it at all, they do so much yet people are never happy and trust me, they feel it on their skin, especially if they are passionate about the software, which many are. And this pressure doesn't help at all, what helps is having a passionate community and those other 3D apps which are here to pressure on their own, so additional pressure from artists really ain't helping but makes things harder, simply because they will never be able to please all of them, just some.

mawi
Dont have any statistics, but ~a major each year is a pattern I recognise.
18.5 was late October and with daily releases on top, I'm not sure I agree with the "overdue".

It could be due to the rise in the complexity of development. Every cycle becomes more complex due to new features, so the more features you implement, the more you need to do to make sure other things still working. With Houdini, this must be such pain due to its capability and complexity. So this trend might continue in the future. And trust me guys, you don't want shiny and buggy releases, rather more stable and solid ones, even if they take a bit more time.

SIgor420
Good point, hopefully, it stays as it is and SideFX delivers with H19. Now I switched to Houdini just two months ago so Ill not gonna pretend like I know how is in the world of Houdini, but after 7y or Cinema 4D I can already tell you how much better Houdini is doing in all aspects while the price is at the level of C4D, on top of that there is at least Indie licence which Maxon doesn't offer at all. So, I am just grateful and don't want to complain because I have experienced the other side of the force and I know something about development as I actually worked at Maxon and I kinda feel bad for them at this point. Mostly for my colleges that are still there. They deserve so much praise but unfortunately community putting the pressure which is in the end justified, but those guys don't deserve it at all, they do so much yet people are never happy and trust me, they feel it on their skin, especially if they are passionate about the software, which many are. And this pressure doesn't help at all, what helps is having a passionate community and those other 3D apps which are here to pressure on their own, so additional pressure from artists really ain't helping but makes things harder, simply because they will never be able to please all of them, just some.


It could be due to the rise in the complexity of development. Every cycle becomes more complex due to new features, so the more features you implement, the more you need to do to make sure other things still working. With Houdini, this must be such pain due to its capability and complexity. So this trend might continue in the future. And trust me guys, you don't want shiny and buggy releases, rather more stable and solid ones, even if they take a bit more time.

I used C4D for many years,C4D is a really good program but I left after R20 release with so-so releases and that it was going subscription. I got tired of the underdeliver on releases, they would have some good things in a release but not $700 annual MSA worth. I kept wanting update UV tools - nothing but crickets. I gave up and moved to Houdini a couple of years and have not looked back. (yeah I kept my old user name, like a comfortable worn in jeans just cant give it up.)

I know Houdini will deliver when it is ready, I do not live on each release. one thing I love about their support is they listen and they do make quick changes if something is buggy as I have found a bug, summited it and next minor release they fixed it.

I don't think anyone has to wonder/worry about sidefx stagnating. Unless you've been asleep in a cave since H9.

H19 trailer soon?
need to cool down a bit, this Summer is getting too hot

Can't wait for the new Karma render with GPU support!

BerkErdag
Can't wait for the new Karma render with GPU support!

Me too! I want to test it.

Also remembering the changes from 18.0 to 18.5 I can't wait to see how much changes from 18.5 to 19.0 we will see

They seem to be presenting new features in SIGGRAPH in August.
I expect to hear news on a new version this Summer.

ifree
They seem to be presenting new features in SIGGRAPH in August.
I expect to hear news on a new version this Summer.

I saw there was a talk about MaterialX in Karma, outside of Siggraph I think... what have you seen?

jarenas

ifree
They seem to be presenting new features in SIGGRAPH in August.
I expect to hear news on a new version this Summer.

I saw there was a talk about MaterialX in Karma, outside of Siggraph I think... what have you seen?

Now I’m curious

Also, judging by the passionate comments, H20 could come with a new Community Pressure Solver, a first but important step of the new FOPs context.

There are no mentions of H19 in the Siggraph 2021 HIVE presentations.