XSI Educational Version, Linux

[reaver]

I'm trying to find out for a friend of mine, if it would be possible to run the Educational version of XSI on Linux. He can't stand windows, and some of the instructors at his school advocate learning Linux if you want to get into film work, since much of it is done there.

Anyways, is the Educational version windows only, or can it run on linux as well?

Thanks.

[mi_echo_log.txt]

Hi Brian,

XSI Academic is only available for Windows (32 and 64 bit).

[reaver]

Well, I'll give him the bad news....looks like he'll be learning maya instead :(

If I may ask, does anyone know why that is? It would make sense to me, since a majority of film 3d is done on Linux, that they would offer a Linux educational version as well.

[ThE_JacO]

Probably because to learn a software the OS platform doesn't really matter?
Linux is also a much harder platform to support, and it's easier for soft to guarantee an artificially uniform platform like windows for something that doesn't exactly reap in loads of cash :)

While I'd rather chew on glass than using windows if offered the alternative (sadly a couple places I worked for using windows wouldn't let me migrate the pipeline to linux even if I promised to chew on a royal pint glass) I can't say this seems such a big deal if you are determined to learn XSI in particular.

It's also a myth that the majority of film 3d is done on Linux.
Most of the big shops are on Linux, that's true, but that also normally means that, unless you do dev or pipeline work, you're also uninvolved with the OS since it's usually wrapped to the point where all you have to deal with is basic shell operation. Plenty frames for films are produced by window based shops btw, and a few of them are also pretty big (IE: Orphanage and, at least until now, Animal Logic)

[mi_echo_log.txt]

We do support Linux for the commercial versions of XSI.

As for why there is no academic products for Linux at this time. I think that question should be directed to Sales@Softimage.com (Sales@Softimage.com) or Support@Softimage.com (Support@Softimage.com); they will be able to give you a formal response to this question.

[reaver]

I'm aware of the Linux support for the commercial version. However, the commercial version is $3000, and the education version is $300....

Anyways, I'll give him the news, and let him make the decision. Thanks for the help.