XSI Foundation, Fare Thee Well
It has come to my attention that XSI Foundation is no longer available. To most people who know the company this isn’t news, but for those who haven’t stayed up to date on XSI this is certainly interesting to note. To me, this news is both understandable and frightening. Understandable because, having used Foundation, it was severely limited and I couldn’t imagine users getting the most out of the software. Frightening because it just goes to show how precarious acquiring affordable industry leading production level software is for training and/or noncommercial work. Even more frightening because it could happen to any application. One would think that it won’t, perhaps being unchanging and everlasting, but with XSI Foundation disappearing after a 3 year run my beliefs have been shaken. It is surprising though that XSI Essentials has everything I would want in a package for only 3 grand.

BTW, I still have XSI Foundation 4.2
I would love to understand the business of selling 3D software. I would really like to see the costs involved in producing the software and maintaining the business and what profit is expected from sales. Obviously if these “affordably awesome” packages (e.g. XSI Foundation (R.I.P), Maya PLE, and Houdini Apprentice) don’t make money, don’t increase sales of the full-version packages, or actually hurt the sales of the full-version packages, then they will no longer be offered. I can understand that. So for me, I would like to greatly help in finding a way to help these companies make these affordably awesome packages work for the company to increase sales of the full applications.
Of course, with all this talk I start sounding like a leech. You know the ones. They want everything free and when it’s not they complain (and even when it is they complain even more). They want greatness for cheap, and when they can’t get it they whine. I think I can separate myself from this cadre since I really do think that the higher end software is really worth the 2 to 8 grand they sell it for. And I use the “affordably awesome” software with the intent that I will one day buy the full version and no longer dwell in the shadows with leeches.
Still, the thought of no longer having free/cheap training tools available for the production level packages is a thought I would rather not have at all. Especially if it’s one I have invested a great deal of time in. Trust me, switching apps (by necessity or choice) isn’t always a joy – it’s a quick journey from prince to pauper when it comes to knowledge of the tools. But one must prepare. If you are investing your effort into an application using the affordably awesome packages, one must be mentally prepared to be ready to either make the leap of purchasing the full version or be ready to stand alone on a sinking ship.
knee jerk comments follow… ;o)
I started w/ XSI when it was at version 4.2 … in a classroom setting. Being only able to use XSI in the classroom was a thorn… one that could have been remedied w/ the purchase of the software w/ a student discount.* Around the same time, a “Mod Kit” version was offered for free that was aimed at game content creation. This version was based off of the then v4.2..
Time went on and the classroom upgraded to XSI v5 then v6 and then the Mod Kit was upgraded to v6… It still is available and listed as free. Note: it is a bit limited from the regular version, but given what it’s aimed at, this might not be an issue. Furthermore, it can import / export dotXSI files which can be opened / saved from XSI (you might need to untriangulate…).
Shortly after signing up for this class a fellow student said that it wasn’t really in our interest as students (total beginners) to purchase the student version as new versions were more than likely to come along before we mastered anything. His advice was rather wise as to this day I don’t feel I have any mastery of XSI. I should add that Blender was a favorite of my friend, especially at that time, as it was (is) free and had/has a rather good release schedule. For sake of clarity, I remind everybody that we were in a 3D Animation class that was taught w/ XSI, not Blender.
* Student Discounts…. these seem to have been more prevalent in the past and are falling away, I’m really not certain… but the concept was, if you’re a student, we’ll sell you the full software for under $500… under $300 in some cases. But you can’t make money off the software.
This sounds good, but you were locked into the version you bought, and had to buy in again, if you wanted to upgrade.
Enter Houdni, at $17,000+, they offered a free, very nonrestrictive version. Small watermark, save enabled!!! for free. Remember this $17k version did not have fluid dynamics… yet.
So they dropped their price and continued to offer the Apprentice version… which is great! Later they added the Apprentice HD version for $100. wow!
What was the question, again?
peace & 42