http://features.cgsociety.org/story.php?story_id=3166 [features.cgsociety.org]

will that be the big push towards Houdini?

My opinion only

It's just the end of Max, since Max's architecture is so old, and it's Windows only. I don't think it will have a big impact, since Houdini doesn't gun for Max's market anyways. It probably means Maya's modelling will get some neat new features, but that's probably it. Most of what Autodesk is interested in appears to be the design and games markets, and Maya has cut deeply into the game's market, so they're taking action to regain it )

I think it will spook some bigger studios a bit, who may investigate alternatives (which at the high-end really just means Houdini) which is a good thing for SESI but I really don't see a huge impact overall.

I do think it was long overdue, the market is too small to support 5 apps (Houdini, Maya, XSI, Max and Lightwave) and I expect to see Lightwave fall away in the next few years when Luxology gets themselves on the market in a big way.

Cheers,
Peter B

I think Autodesk just wanted to get their hands on Studio Tools…

Hey Guys,

I think Autodesk wanted studio tools but I also think they wanted Maya and motion builder. It was pretty much a win win in all areas for Autodesk so it makes a lot of sense from their perspective. I think XSI will kill Lightwave. Its already happening. I seen a ton of new users coming from Lightwave to XSI in the last 9 months. Lightwave has now cut their prices in half for their newest version. This is not just a promotional but the actual new price. XSI Foundation is at $500 and is still cheaper than Lightwave and quite honestly offers more in my opinion. So I agree lightwave won't be around all that long. I don't know what luxology will do. We will have to see what the future brings. Me personally I am more focused on XSI, Houdini, and ZBrush. I am teaching Max but I don't like it. lol

Cheers,
Nate Nesler