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Its Houdini guys and an amazing feat ... comments please!
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Its Houdini guys and an amazing feat ... comments please! // Roundtable
Post by aidanodr // Nov 18, 2007, 4:14pm
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aidanodr
Total Posts: 90
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Hi Guys,
I am flumuxed and cannot get my head around this -
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1002&Itemid=66
Houdini apprentice HD for $99. Now you might go - well so what - its a learning edition with all the usual watermarks etc.
NOPE, your wrong. For the $99 you get the full UNFETTERED version of Houdini Master - thats the $8000 version - NO WATERMARKS and unlimited render sizes for stills AND all the features to boot, as the FAQ states:
"Houdini Apprentice HD does not put the Houdini wordmark in your renders. Further, for still images, your render size is unlimited. For animations, you are restricted to HD 1080p resolution - 1920x1080."
It has no export and saves with a special format. Full import is there.
Now before you go - ah well - their you have it. Its the full $8000 app FOR PERSONAL USE. Whats personal use? Its HOBBY Use is it not? Alot of people fall under this category & would be very happy with this price. This initiative could hover up alot of Hobby users.
Even at CGTALK - a sidefx rep has said you can use it for showreels and festivals - anything - as long as it does not involve profit directly.
It just shows how competitive the 3D market space has become - a space where Truespace exists. I would even go so far as to say this SideFX offer is a bit insane, as it ramps up the anti to a level that may be rather scary to other apps out their. It now could become an expectation for all. Who will make and What will be the next insane move? Could this damage the 3D Market space?
Roman - I would be intrigued with your thoughts on the above Houdini marketing ploy. And more in the spirit that it is being asked - out of a keen interest in the 3D industry itself - that I, you and many may have here.
And no I dont have a vested interest or otherwise in SideFX or Houdini, my apps are Truespace, Modo and Realsoft3D. Spotted this originally at CGTALK. Love 3D and always keep an eye on all things 3D, this I find an interesting move.
Cheers
Aidan - TS 5 'til now! |
Post by 3dfrog // Nov 18, 2007, 5:33pm
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3dfrog
Total Posts: 1225
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I saw this posted on another forum as well. I don't think I'd buy it, I make some profit in other apps and hope to make some profit with truespace in the future. If I was gonna blow 8000 dollars on a 3d app I don't think I'd go with houdini anyway. I downloaded the free houdini to look at and wasn't that impressed right off. I'll probably mess around with it here and there and see if i have any use for it in personal projects, it's supposed to be good with effects.
I'm happy with truespace and it keeps getting better. I've been investing a lot of time in Truespace and I'm gonna stick with it. It's cool houdini is trying to reach out to artists starting out. But I don't think it beats a full commercial license for 600 dollars, often cheaper on sale as well. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Nov 18, 2007, 5:44pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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I think the prosumer 3D market is getting very competitive. Especially when you look at that there are a lot of great tools coming out in the $100 to $200 price range. Look at Silo for example. A lot of tS users have added Silo ($150) to their tool set to use as a companion product with TrueSpace.
GameSpace is Caligari's product line targeted at this market. It'll be interesting to watch and see what Caligari plans for GameSpace in the future with reguards to the new 7.x technology. |
Post by transient // Nov 18, 2007, 6:13pm
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transient
Total Posts: 977
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I honestly can't see many people using Houdini for hobby work. I'd like to check it out some day as it has an impressive history, but it also has a reputation for having a massive learning curve.
I think this kind of marketing by sidefx (and others) may be inspired by the rise of Blender, as well as the huge popularity of 3dsMax on the warez scene (which has endeared it to an entire generation of modders, many of whom now work on AAA titles).
I also wouldn't dismiss Truespace as hobbyware as there seems to be many people using it to make a living.
Also Caligari currently have a demo that doesn't expire and costs nothing. Even Modo are charging for a 30 day demo now.
I personally don't think this will affect them, or the industry in general, very much. However, I do agree that it is an interesting development, and there have been plenty of those in the industry lately. |
Post by Liger ZERO // Nov 18, 2007, 7:37pm
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Liger ZERO
Total Posts: 124
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It looks like a good deal and I think some of the other higher end programs should fallow there lead. *cough* RealFlow *cough*. I don't see myself getting Houdini because trueSpace has some great features and it's always growing. TrueSpace also has a good community like none other I've seen in other forums. |
Post by splinters // Nov 19, 2007, 1:16am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I don't know about the rest of you but I simply do not have time to learn another app. TS gets all my time and I am still learning it. Projects need artwork which tS gives me. I have Hexagon, Bryce 6, Poser 5 Photoshop to name a few and they just don't get touched, well except for Photoshop.
Houdini is very powerful and if I were looking to work in industry I would seriously consider it but I simply don't have the time to learn regardless of price.
Thanks for the headsup though...:D |
Post by aidanodr // Nov 19, 2007, 2:48am
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aidanodr
Total Posts: 90
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Hi Guys,
Just to be clear on my intention with posting this message - It was not to get people to move to Houdini or even buy it. It was more to generate a discussion on such a seemingly [ as I call ], insane move by SideFX. Will it perculate through the Industry? As was mentioned - is it the Blender effect?
My salient point is that the $99 version is for personal use. Hence hobby use. When most using 3D [ I think ] use apps for personal use, then an offer of $99 like this for a complete top end 3D app worth $8000 IS insane. It will be interesting to see how much of the hobby market it will suck up. SideFX are currently beavering away at adding a large Video tute content area for it too it seems:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=129&Itemid=241
This is something similar to the Luxology.TV free video initiative over at:
http://www.luxology.com/training/
All free high quality videos.
Over at the Sidefx forums the Marketing Manager left some notes -
"The term starving artist is a bit tongue in cheek but at the same time it represents the stage in an artists development when they are focusing on their craft and not really making money from it. We didn't make Apprentice a purely student driven initiative because we see a lot of other types of people interested in CG who could benefit from this program without competing and possibly underbidding commercial Houdini customers."
AND
"I mentioned in another forum that if someone starts out working on an art piece such as an animation for a festival and this results in you receiving financial reward then a couple things could happen. If your reward is substantial then it would be wonderful to think that you would purchase a commercial version at that point. If it was something less then tell us your story and let us use your art to help show off what Houdini is capable of. I am sure that there is a win-win in there somewhere."
It looks as though they are aggressively after market share now, maybe that the app has matured enough GUI wise and use wise. I can see down the line - an offer or two coming via mail to those who buy the Houdini AHD version - price breaks on the mother app, that kind of thing.
So - as I said, interesting move and interesting discussion, keep the comments coming along and dont feel the need to say you are not moving from TS etc, that wasnt the point, just a genneral CG discussion!
Aidan |
Post by RichLevy // Nov 19, 2007, 3:14am
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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Houdini is a very powerful tool, I doubt I would ever consider it a hobbyist tool though. A program like Cinema 4D, TrueSpace, Modo and several others offer a more user friendly way to get into 3D and create for the fun of it. Programs like XSI, Maya, 3DMax and Houdini all offer a lot of power for the hobbyist, though they are going to offer a very large learning curve too. Finding a place for a not to advanced 3D hobbyist to learn a program and than grow into it and mature as an artist with it will offer a big challenge. Where do you get the friendly hand holding and walk thrus that a hobbyist is likely going to need?
Ask a basic rookie mistake question here and you are going to get someone to walk you thru it and offer some nice encouraging comments... ask that same question on one of the larger 3D related sites and you will likely get a slew of responses in the general tone of "RTFM!!!"...
Of course the last statement may be an over exergeration, but I believe that may be the general tone you may get. 3D is a very complex field that encompasses many very complicated fields, being able to master all of them is hard, having a program at your disposal that is easy for you to work with and provides an outlet to get answers from (internet, company site with tutorials, forums and hopefully some book references) are all strong points.
I have not decided whether I will purchase Houdini, I already own more 3D applications than I can master ( Modo, XSI Foundation, C4D, TS and several specilized modeling tools).... though having the Houdini Particles system and Dynamics to play around with and use in my small movie animation projects is enticing :)
It was interesting reading Roman's view on XSI Foundation when SoftImage released it, hopefully he would like to offer his view of this event in the industry also.
My 2 cents USD on the matter (and we all know how badly the USD is tanking right now, so that makes my 2 cents worthless :D)
Rich |
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