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I have been lately moving away from 3D studio max and now been using Softimage XSI for some 3 months. Conclusion: max is crap, XSI rocks! Modelling is very quick once you master the shortcut keys. Animation tracking feels easy. Node-based material editor is excellent... Everything can be grouped to hierarchy... etc. I can recommend to everyone (I guess many artists like it too)! Might take some weeks to get familiar but after that it's great.

Today's great discoverement, glsl realtime editing:



Now basically most of the demo content can be made in one tool instead of hacking own run-time shader compilation systems etc :) \o/ This is the "demotool" I've been looking for.

(dunno if 3dsmax allows all this stuff, but it's not that user-friendly imho)

shadez: i don't want to ruin your excitement, but you know that Autodesk (3ds Max, Maya) has just bought Softimage so the future of XSI may be compromised...

I do know that, but didn't they say that developing xsi as individual product will continue as normally? Of course that might be bullshit...

I have been using XSI for quite a while now and I must confirm - it's exceptional especially for realtime applications - integrated shader authoring, node-based manipulation of objects on the scene and very good API supporting emedding your own engine into XSI window (you can't do that in 3dsmax).

And I didn't know that Autodesk bought Softimage. Hope they don't turn XSI into 3dsMax or Maya. And what's next? Isn't that NewTek with Lightwave the only one left besides Autodesk? Well hope they don't buy them or we're gonna have a little nice monopoly on the market.

Autodesk at first got Autocad... did they turn 3DS into Autocad.. not really no.

Autodesk bought Alias in 2006 (or was it 2005?) and they're still developing Maya separately so maybe there's still hope for XSI.

Well, there is still cinema4d, which I happen to like and creepy stuff like blender.

and there's always blender!!!! if you're a sadomasochist!

And the best thing: You can get XSI for only 2742,95€!

Oh, and Blender isn't so bad once you get used to it.

That's the problem. You never get used to it. Unless you're a masochist.

I always used lightwave, tough i want to give XSI i try

GUI in blender is overrated, you can model a dodecahedron only with keyboard shortcuts :P

Trying to find how to convert LWO (from LW9) to XSI, any suggestions? Google directs me mostly here: "http://www.xsibase.com/users/Lightwave to XSI Quickstart.pdf" but this does not exist anymore.

how about http://web.archive.org/web/20090124135913/http://www.xsibase.com/users/Lightwave%20to%20XSI%20Quickstart.pdf? :)

Ultimately, however, I think what you need is a conversion tool like Deep Exploration.

Thanks for tip Gargaj, tool looks promising ;o)