Hands-on review of Softimage 2010

1. A Hands-On Review of Autodesk Softimage 2010
A Look at Softimage 2010, a tool for 3-D creation
A professional solution for rigging and animating large numbers of 3-D faces quickly and easily.
Face Robot enables games and visual effects studios to create life-like facial animation at
incredible speeds. Using Face Robot, animators are free to concentrate on emotion, expression
and delivering unforgettable performances. An Autodesk Maya software exporter allows you to
bring a fully solved Face Robot head into Maya for more integrated computer graphics (CG)
character workflows.(Courtesy of Autodesk)
A flood of new software has recently hit the 3-D creative community. Nearly all major developers
are producing programs with exciting new features that are sure to be showcased in upcoming
films, video games, and commercials.
Among these new products is Autodesk’s Softimage 2010, which specializes in 3-D modeling,
animation, visual effects, rendering and compositing. Previous releases were used in films
including Transformers, 300, and Sin City. The program has also been used in popular video
games including Metal Gear Solid 4 and the legendary Half-Life 2.
Softimage 2010 is a bit of a lone wolf among Autodesk’s 3-D creation software line. While the
2010 releases of Maya, Mudbox, MotionBuilder and 3ds Max come with the option of being
happily bundled together in software suites, Softimage 2010 stands on its own—and does so
proudly.
Autodesk acquired Softimage from Avid Technology in October 2008. The software maintains a
following of users from its days as XSI, although it does share quite a bit in common with
programs such as Maya 2010 and Maxon’s Cinema 4D Studio in terms of functionality. Still,
Softimage 2010 packs a few good punches that can’t be found elsewhere.
What’s new in Softimage 2010
There are some fantastic new features in Softimage 2010, and a few performance enhancements
that make the recent update well worth its cost.
Perhaps the best of the new additions is GigaCore III, which helps speed up the time it takes to
load and save large scenes, making the whole process run much more efficiently. The
performance is about three to 10 times faster, or more.
Now you can have massive amounts of objects in one scene, even thousands, without it
becoming too slow or cumbersome. An example video from Autodesk shows a user selecting
more than two million keyframes nearly instantly, and making a copy of them and their associated
objects—something which would have put users to sleep with wait times in the previous version
of Softimage.
Users will certainly welcome the complete Face Robot, previously a stand-alone product, which is
now built into Softimage 2010. It quickly became one of my favorite features. This facial rigging
and animation tool allows users to create character faces and render just about every facial
contortion you could imagine—every twitch of an eyebrow, smile, sneer, pucker of the lips, or
whatever expression you need.

2. A professional solution for rigging and animating large numbers of 3-D faces quickly and
easily. Face Robot enables games and visual effects studios to create life-like facial animation
at incredible speeds. Using Face Robot, animators are free to concentrate on emotion,
expression and delivering unforgettable performances. An Autodesk Maya software exporter
allows you to bring a fully solved Face Robot head into Maya for more integrated computer
graphics (CG) character workflows.(Courtesy of Autodesk)
The final results are some highly realistic animations that can really bring a character to life.
Autodesk has a great example of this feature in action on the Softimage 2010 segment of their
Web site.
The ICE (Interactive Creative Environment) system also received some new enhancements. The
node-based simulator can create some amazing special effects and now includes features such
as custom-node creation options and tools to determine where any nodes are getting
bottlenecked.
Among the other features are a new autokey for scene cameras and the latest version of the
Autodesk Crosswalk content transfer toolset, which helps import and export content between
Maya and 3ds Max.
A Look at the Workspace
Softimage has a rather intuitive workspace and most functions are clearly labeled, making them
easy to sort through and find. Plus, if you are already familiar with 3-D creation software, then the
language of each function and menu will not be too far from home.

3. As with most software of its type, Softimage 2010 can create imagery as complicated as your
imagination allows. It has some intricate features to edit even the minutest of details, but can also
ably handle a relatively simple example. It really comes down to how you plan on using it and
how much of its power you plan to unleash on any given project.
Luckily, there is a wonderful set of tutorial videos to go along with the software, which can be
downloaded free from Autodesk’s Web site. The tutorials are produced by digital-tutors, one of
the leading Web sites for subscription-based software tutorials. There are also some simple built-
in tutorials which are available in the start-up screen of Softimage 2010.
After going through the various training modules, which takes several hours, most users should
have a pretty good understanding of how the program works and how versatile it can be. For this
review, I went through nearly every training segment, and found them all rather helpful.
With the aid of these video tutorials, even users without much experience should be able to learn
Softimage 2010.
In a Nutshell
Softimage 2010 definitely has its perks, and the new release has quite a bit to offer. The
performance enhancements alone make it worth the upgrade.
For users who already have Maya or Cinema 4D Studio, moving to Softimage 2010 may not be
necessary, as all three programs have similar functions and unique perks that help them stand on
their own. However, the addition of Face Robot definitely gives Softimage an edge.
When you also consider its unique tools for animation, camera control and price—about $500
cheaper than Maya 2010—Softimage may even lure a few more animators and game developers
to its user base.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for
the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its
introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio
of state-of-the-art software to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are built.
Fortune 100 companies -- as well as the last 14 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects -
- use Autodesk software tools to design, visualize and simulate their ideas to save time and
money, enhance quality, and foster innovation for competitive advantage. For additional
information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Algor, AutoCAD LT, Autodesk Inventor, Inventor and Inventor LT are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in
the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to
their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications
at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may
appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.