OVERVIEW

Right out of the box, SOFTIMAGE|XSI has everything post-production studios need to deliver great looking 3D on time and on budget. XSI is designed to let you work fast so you can get concepts off the ground early and spend more time on client-attended review and approval cycles. XSI’s non-destructive workflows mean you quickly go back and make important changes at any point in a production, without destroying the work that you’ve already done.

Here are just a few of the reasons leading post-production studios are switching to XSI:

ICE - Interactive Creative Environment

XSI 7 introduces ICE (Interactive Creative Environment), a groundbreaking technology that transforms XSI from just another 3D product into a powerful and flexible open platform.

ICE greatly improves collaboration between artists and technical directors, allowing them to create custom tools and effects visually, see the results interactively, and do it all without scripting, or writing a line of code. Effects built or modified in ICE are performance tuned and multi-threaded, so they perform at maximum efficiency across all available processors.

The ICE environment – XSI functionality is displayed using a node-based dataflow diagram. Each node has specific capabilities. Users connect nodes to create a desired effect. A group of nodes can be packaged together into a “compound”, which is displayed as a single node. As a result, highly complex tools can be deployed and re-used without writing code.

ICE - Interactive Creative Environment

XSI fits easily into existing pipelines

Already using another 3D application? No problem. XSI complements your existing pipeline with a comprehensive toolset for working with high detail, high-quality assets. It's easy to share content between XSI and other 3D applications like Autodesk® 3ds Max® and Maya® (or even between 3ds Max and Maya!) using Crosswalk.

XSI is easy to learn

Are your artists trained on other 3D applications? Don't worry. A host of readily available training materials, and transition features built right into the software makeXSI easy to learn.

Training resources include :

• In-Box Training XSI comes with a free copy of The Artist’s Guide to XSI training DVD, from Softimage training partners, Digital Tutors.
• Vibrant online community – The SOFTIMAGE|NET forums are packed with training videos, tutorials, lively discussions, helpful support information, and more.
• 3rd Party Training – Take advantage of a growing library of independent training DVDs available from Digital Tutors, Noesis Interactive, The Gnomon Workshop and others.
• Certified training centers – Over 80 training centers worldwide teach XSI. Visit the Education pages to find the training center nearest you.
• On top of all that, XSI eases the transition from other 3D packages by letting you choose familiar key mappings and navigation models. You can quickly configure XSI to use the same keyboard and mouse interactions as 3ds Max or Maya., or even modify the layout to look like another 3D package.

Within days of using XSI, artists can enjoy the additional power and flexibility that XSI offers, resulting in greater overall productivity and higher quality results.

Softimage Support is the best in the business

Regardless of the size of your project, or your production team, when you begin a project you are making a commitment to your future. To keep your work at its best and to avoid shifting your deadlines, you need superior toolsets as well as the most complete support available.

You’ve got deadlines. We’re here to help.

Softimage Maintenance

Softimage maintenance programs give you exclusive maintenance services including free software upgrades and access to our world-class customer support team.

As a maintenance customer, you get access to all software upgrades, including major releases and point releases, for free as soon as they are available so you're set-up and running on the most current version of the software, complete with the most recent performance and workflow enhancements.

You also get access to our production-savvy support staff, who can offer solutions to problems ranging from the most difficult production tasks, to installation and setup issues. As a maintenance customer, you can submit questions to Softimage Customer Support 24-hours a day. Find out more >>

Escalation - top-tier engineering support

Escalation is the ultimate support option, focused on delivering quick-turnaround engineering solutions to immediate production problems. Escalation gives you direct access to Softimage’s R&D team. On short notice, we can create custom builds of XSI with fixes or special features so that your production never skips a beat.