Attached Link: http://www.softimage.com/Products/xsi/v2/ExperienceCD/

Hi y'all Following hot on the heels of the 'free' Maya' comes free Softimage XSI 2.0. While there have been gripes about limiting features, alien file formats, and dibilatating watermarks in the viewports of the free Maya, the Softimage looks to contain none of these shortcomings. From the website: "SOFTIMAGE|XSI Experience includes both the full feature set of the ground-breaking SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.2.0 Advanced system, the complete, searchable, SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.2.0 Online Documentation Library, and a comprehensive video-based training module. This CD set gives 3-D animation professionals as well as anyone interested in learning or mastering the art of 3-D unlimited and FREE access to the flagship Softimage NLA system and the tools to learn it from the ground up." We may have need of another forum and soon.

That is SoftImage grasping at straws to stay alive IMHO. A good friend of mine worked for them as a sales rep for many years. Last year they layed him off with no warning. SoftImage has never really taken off in the consumer market because you needed to buy the whole Silicon Graphics work station to use it. Now it seems they are trying to appeal to a wider consumer base by making their software work on standard PC's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking SoftImage. I've tried it at trade shows and liked it a lot, but it was never a cheap item once you factored in the cost of the machine. Unless you are running a professional animation house it was just not cost effective. Especially with what MAYA was offering for less money.

"While there have been gripes about limiting features, alien file formats, and dibilatating watermarks in the viewports of the free Maya, the Softimage looks to contain none of these shortcomings." Except I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it's save-disabled. It can open standard XSI files, but I don't think you can save anything, which is one hell of a limitation. No matter how much documentation and training they give you, it's not worth much if you can't save your work. I'd rather go the Gmax route, where you lose some features, but you can make the most of the ones you DO have. No matter how much they talk it up, it's still only a demo.

Eghad! Save disabled!? That's no good. I am looking forward to the video training though... As we have two seats of it at the studio and I've only ever stared agog in it's direction.