XSI

Softimage XSI was released in 2000 as the successor to Softimage|3D. Softimage made a considerable impact in film and TV work with Softimage|3D. This was the software used for Jurassic Park. A history of the Softimage company is available here at Softimage.com/Corporate/Press/Facts.

There are Four versions of Softimage XSI.

Advanced. £4485 Windows|Linux
Essentials. £1275 Windows|Linux
Foundation. £299 Windows|Linux
Foundation Trial. Free Windows|Linux
These prices correct at the time of writing.

What's it like?

Well like all 3D software, if you're new to this sort of thing your first reaction on seeing the user interface could be "HuH". However it's not as mind bending as it first appears. The tools you need are presented as you need them. The left hand tool selection bar provides four sets of tools for modelling, rendering, dynamics and animation. The version of XSI I'm currently using is Foundation 4.2. This is the entry level version, it's obviously a cut down version of both Essentials and Advanced. However it does offer a lot of good stuff for the price. A full list of whats included in each version of XSI is included here softimage.com/products/Xsi/v5/comparison

The version of XSI thats available now is version 5. There is a fifth version of XSI available which is the student license version. This is the full XSI advanced version, the expensive one thats available to students for around the price of £290.

3D Animation and HTML Connection

This is something I found interesting. You might think that 3D animation and HTML are unrelated, however heres a video I made showing how the two can have a connection. In the video I'm using a web page running in XSI's built in web browser to pick parts of a model so that they can be animated. The video is 7MB in size, sorry about the voice but thats the way I talk :)

XSI and HTML video ( link opens a new window )