Montreal - Softimage Co., part of Avid Technology Inc., has announced Softimage|XSI 7, an upgraded version of its 3D animation software for games, film, and television.
Softimage|XSI 7 software will introduce a transformative open platform, called ICE, designed to capture the creative vision of content producers. Users will be able to create complex visual effects quickly. ICE enables artists to explore, learn, and modify the library of particle-based visual effects and deformation tools that will ship in the software, or to build new ones from scratch.
Powering the ICE platform will be the GigaCore II parallel processing engine. The Softimage ICE platform, designed to take advantage of multicore workstations, will directly scale with the number and speed of processing cores available.
Softimage will offer pre-built, production-ready ICE compounds for particle-based effects and deformations. Customers who create their own ICE compounds can share them in their facility or with the global community on Softimage|Net in either an open XML format or a locked binary file to protect their intellectual property (IP).
Other new features in Version 7 include:
- Support for mental ray v.3.6
- Delta II update to the lightweight referencing system
- RTS III real-time shading architecture
- A streamlined licensing process
- A free Training DVD with Official Softimage Training Material provided exclusively for this newest version by Digital-Tutors
Softimage|XSI 7 is expected to be available in Q3 2008. Pricing for Softimage|XSI 7 Essentials will be $2,995. Pricing for Softimage|XSI 7 Advanced will be $4,995.