Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology Inc., today announced the availability of SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5.
Both SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials and Advanced software include more than 30 enhancements that were developed for key customers such as Lionhead Studios, Valve, EA, Animal Logic, Nerdcorps, Pandemic and NCSoft. Some of the new enhancements, which improve production efficiency and meet the specific workflow needs of the game development, visual effects and visualization industries, include:
* HDR (high dynamic range) rendermap support* Additional SDK (Software Developer's Kit) APIs (Application programming interface)* UV Editing enhancements (2D image data on a 3D model)* Enhanced audio support
In addition, each SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 application delivers specific features designed to meet the needs of target customers:
* SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials version now includes Hair & Fur, and Syflex Cloth capabilities. The price for Essentials will increase to $2,995; maintenance remains unchanged at $799, and upgrades remain unchanged at $999. XSI 6.5 Essentials will only be available to new customers and customers on active maintenance.
* SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 XSI Advanced enables technical directors and studio IT managers to set up and run a creative animation facility with a robust toolset, including everything in the SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 XSI Essentials package, plus Behavior, a crowd and behavioral simulation system, as well as five additional XSI Batch rendering licenses. The price for Advanced will decrease to $4,995 and maintenance will decrease to $1,333.
For details on the enhancements can be found at www.softimage.com/products/xsi/whats_new.aspx.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
