Packages like SOFTIMAGE|XSI were once out of reach of your average Joe…but now high end animation systems are much more accessible. Image courtesy of Softimage Co. and Avid Technology Inc. Scene and Volkswagen material courtesy of PSYOP, inc.

For years the word Softimage has been synonymous with high-end professional 3D animation. Since 1986, the company has paved the way forward in the world of digital media creation, helping to set milestone after milestone in the field of visual effects and animation; building a set of tools that enabled artists and filmmakers to realise their dreams in the most astonishing ways. This is a company that has been there from day one — developing a creative 3D environment that has set the standard in all of the packages we see on the market today.

Hands Off The Goods!
Once upon a time software like this was out of reach for the aspiring animator…the several thousand-dollar price tag was slightly off-putting! But those days are gone – the prices of animation packages have gone down, and down, and down. So today we find that these high-end packages are more accessible than ever. In fact, if you want to produce animation with an industry standard program, it doesn’t even have to set you back a penny.

Last month Softimage released XSI 3.0 EXP — a free version of SOFTIMAGE|XSI 3.0 available for download from their Website. EXP is the successor to the XSI Experience CD, which was released this time last year. The two-pack CD contained the SOFTIMAGE|XSI 2.0 Advanced system, full documentation and a video-based training module. This time around, Softimage have opted to place EXP on the Web available as a free download, or it can be ordered on a CD from the Softimage Website (priced at US$14.95).

The EXP Learning Kit — a 470 page book of tutorials and a media CD with all of the necessary scene files on it — can be purchased separately. For those of us new to Softimage, this will prove a worthwhile investment, as getting your head around such an advanced piece of software can often prove challenging. US$69.95 is a fair price to pay for anyone serious about learning a serious animation package.

Access For All
The release of EXP has opened a door for anyone enthusiastic about animation and 3D. According to Michael Stojda, managing director of Softimage, “Everyone from professional digital artists to 3D enthusiasts will benefit from the advanced learning tools of the EXP and also from the community created to support it. I’m looking forward to the results of the explosion of content and creativity we’ll be seeing posted to the gallery on our Website.”

Because Softimage has such a wide array of uses in so many types of digital media, EXP is a package that will be of interest to artists from every corner of the industry. Its high-end features will be welcomed by everyone from animators to visual effects artists, illustrators to game developers, post-production artists to general 3D hobbyists.

Moving Up In The World
Those who choose to download EXP will be opening the doors to a myriad of professional tools and features. Initially, the most striking feature of EXP is the distinctive Softimage interface. Like any 3D package, it can be somewhat disconcerting at first, but taking the time to read through the manual and figure out where everything is will pay off quickly. After getting your head around the basics, the XSI interface is very intuitive.

EXP contains all of the usual modelling tools we’ve come to expect from the latest 3D packages, but they’re faster, more refined, and more suited to those who favour a creative workflow that allows them to change their mind on the spur of the moment and not have to start again from scratch. Every object created, every modification to that object, every keyframe set is stored in a hierarchy with unlimited undo levels, even for camera movements.