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Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

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Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#61

Post by greggman »

Silhouette wrote: post #37
greggman wrote: post #34

I really wish all the various companies that use 3D modeling and animations software would fund and/or contribute to Blender (or some other open source 3D app) Maya and 3dsmax are great and arguably better than Blender but it seems like if they pooled their resources they could change that and everyone would be better off for it.

Part of the trouble is that the FBX format in parts of these industries is like the DOC(X) and XLS(X) formats in office productivity software: everyone uses it, so if you want to use a tool that doesn't reliably convert to/from it losslessly you are at risk of severe friction when working with others. And like DOC(X) and XLS(X), it's a proprietary format, which creates various complications for anyone who wants to cr…

I agree the Blender has problems. All I'm saying is the combined amount of money that companies like Pixar + Dreamworks + Disney + EA + Rockstar + Valve + Sony + Microsoft + all the other movie, CGI, and game companies spend on Autodesk software would probably fund 30-40 + well paid engineers and they could get an open source piece of software that they could all modify anyway they want VS what they have now, which is Maya and 3dsmax of which they are at the mercy of Autodesk AND for which they have to deal with all kinds of licensing issues.

I know it's not that simple. Each of those companies will want different features. But, with the right leadership (hardest part) it seems like it would be good thing for them to do.

I don't think the FBX format is the deal breaker.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#62

Post by sjclemmy »

I had an interview for a contract as a front end coder before Christmas and got offered the position at the end of the interview - he asked all the right questions - but after Christmas the contract details were taking a while to sort until I got a call saying the offer was rescinded. It seems this is why!

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#63

Post by ghaff »

frik wrote: post #12
blue1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, the hate is about several things: (a) CC's price make sense only when compared to the price of upgrading the Creative Suite at every release (under the old model). But I did not do that; I used to upgrade every two/three releases: the Suite is mature software and in most cases there is no need to be on the cutting edge. By the way, I work in the design industry and this was standard practice. So for a lot of…

Your are right. David Wadhwani was responsible at Adobe for the switch to the SaaS business model. Because of that he got a job as CEO of AppDynamics, to make them ready for an IPO.

It's more accurate to describe it as a subscription model. SaaS typically means that the software is delivered as a service (hence the name) and is not installed locally. That's not the case with most of Adobe's products--although they do have SaaS elements (e.g. cloud storage) of various sorts.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#64

Post by zanny »

Animats wrote: post #54
isaiahg wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> notably a lack of UI refinement That's a common misconception. Blender's UI is extremely simple and innovative.

Here is the Blender hotkey chart.[1] All 9 pages. With the different hotkeys for each of 12 modes. Any questions? [1] http://download.blender.org/documentation/BlenderHotkeyRefer...

3d modeling is not a consumer activity. You can start a Blender tutorial and start putting cubes or spheres together in an hour, or you could make 3d animated movies of the same quality as any major animation studio.

The complexity involved is not a mistake, it is inherent to the artform. Blender does a fine job of layering the tools and UI so that as you need more complicated features they are there for you.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#65

Post by zanny »

Going to plug freecad - http://www.freecadweb.org/

Of course its not Autodesk, it does not have millions of active subscriptions pumping money into it. But it is pretty fun to play with, I made a 3d model of my house in it about two years ago. For recreational CAD it is more than sufficient.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#66

Post by chefkoch »

imgabe wrote: post #56
chefkoch wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They are a huge player with many expensive software suits. But they are not very innovative. In architecture and construction they are by far the leader in Building Information Modeling, so i think it depends on what you put in the spotlight.

They are a leader because everybody uses them and if you need to collaborate (which you do, as architects, engineers, contractors are all separate companies) you need to use what everyone else is using. Revit has come a long way and it's starting to fulfill it's promise, but it's been a slow road.

Atm there is no real competitor to revit as openbim is not really market ready and all other software lacks compability.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#67

Post by chefkoch »

imgabe wrote: post #56
chefkoch wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They are a huge player with many expensive software suits. But they are not very innovative. In architecture and construction they are by far the leader in Building Information Modeling, so i think it depends on what you put in the spotlight.

They are a leader because everybody uses them and if you need to collaborate (which you do, as architects, engineers, contractors are all separate companies) you need to use what everyone else is using. Revit has come a long way and it's starting to fulfill it's promise, but it's been a slow road.

Atm there is no real competitor to revit as openbim is not really market ready and all other software lacks compability.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#68

Post by peeters »

foofoo55 wrote: post #36
coldtea wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are a huge player with many expensive software suits. But they are not very innovative. Compared to what? "Disruptive" social sites and Uber for X? There is orders of magnitude more computer science innovation in Autodesk than in the average "unicorn".

Compared to SolidWorks, SketchUp, and even parts of MS Visio. The UI and meta-data handling is very cumbersome and every time we use it we think how much better some parts could be. As with many mega-corps they tend to follow or buy the innovations of others, eventually.

Hmm, I tried to use SketchUp a month or so ago, after being a proficient AutoCAD user but not touching it since around 2005. I'm curious what parts of the UI are more usable in SketchUp than AutoCAD. For 2D drafting, I got up to speed fairly quick in SketchUp but it became apparent to me that in terms of drafting productivity, SketchUp in 2015 couldn't really compete with AutoCAD circa 2005.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#69

Post by orf »

My father is a quantity surveyor and Autodesk rules his industry. If you're making, sending or receiving technical drawings of buildings you use Autodesk software (and/or PDF unfortunately). From watching him work I think the biggest feature they are missing is integration with smartphones. That might sound cliche but for a surveyor having an app that helps you measure rooms (like one of these[1]) that tightly integrated with Autodesk software would be hugely useful.

Edit: Another thing they are missing out on is some kind of storage system that integrates with Autodesk. The industries Autodesk are invested in have huge archival needs, and most smaller practices have an old server in the corner running a Windows shared folder that someone set up a while back with an unbelievable volume of huge AutoCAD files clogging it up. Companies would pay a lot of money for an integrated system like that, where they don't need to worry about it and it's easy for their non-technical staff to deal with.

I also remember seeing the old AutoCAD logos around the house when I was a kid and even installed a trial on my first computer, but had no clue what the hell to do. Growing up around anyone in the surveying industry is awesome - they use huge A2/A1 pieces of paper for drawings which quickly become outdated and those are super fun to play with when you're younger (paper planes, massive large-scale drawings etc).

1. http://houseit.com/blog/2015/01/top-5-room-measurement-apps/

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