Free Training Videos now available

[Leonard]

Hi all,

We've begun encoding and posting all our existing training videos. The first two to go up today are the First Contact and Tips & Tricks DVDs.

>> XSI First Contact << (http://community.softimage.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58)
>> XSI Tips & Tricks << (http://community.softimage.com/forumdisplay.php?f=60)

Althought these were made originally for v.5, the user interface hasn't changed much so the training is still relevant for learning XSI.

We'll be posting the 5-DVD Softimage Production Series set soon, as well as training from various Softimage training partners.

If you'd like to contribute tutorials, please PM me, or email me at leonard_teo@softimage.com.

Best,

Leo

[Takayuki]

Great thanks to Softimage.
You guys are rolling.
:tank:

[Shine]

Usefull stuff, good commitment guys.

[olsen]

Great,

thx...

[Hirazi Blue]

Great news, thanks!

[Charlotte]

great, thank you :)

[Ooops]

This is excellent. Thanks!!

[lildragon]

Thanx much Leo! That's quite a bit of stuff there... Perfect!

~t

[toxic_gfx]

thanks so much .. this is so good

[Leo]

Hey Leo, this is truly magnificent!!! :)
Thanks a lot,
Leo.

[ndog]

Fantastic resource! The guys and gals putting this site togther are really doing a great job.

[GreasyMnky]

Many thanks for providing these ressources. I am shure this will help a lot of people.

[Macphisto]

Good... thanks

[silk]

What are all these 'thanks' for?
They're not doing this out of the goodness in their hearts you know, it's a commercial ploy to get more people into using XSI.
They're basically the dealers at the school gates, getting the kids hooked at a young age on their particular drug.
Give them a little something for free to start with, and then...

Some people are so gullible.

[lildragon]

What are all these 'thanks' for?
They're not doing this out of the goodness in their hearts you know, it's a commercial ploy to get more people into using XSI.
They're basically the dealers at the school gates, getting the kids hooked at a young age on their particular drug.
Give them a little something for free to start with, and then...

Some people are so gullible.

Are you being facetious? I really hope so.

~t

[silk]

No, I just have my eyes open, that's all.
You only thanks someone when they do you a good deed, not when they're simply eyeing you up as potential customers.
What do you think this whole 'free versions for game modding' is all about with the 3d apps?
They're all trying to get the kids at the earliest age possible to get them used to their particular app, and to create a culture where their app seems the best choice in appropriately conditioned minds.
It's hardly something that deserves gratitude.
It's pure, cynical, cutthoat business.
I seriously wonder if some of you sheep ever open you eyes at all, or just spend your entire lives being dragged around by the nose.

[Takayuki]

I think it's great to get new XSI users.
By having more users, we can share each others knowledge with more people, we can talk about XSI more and by taking more people's suggestion's, we can help Softimage build this software(XSI) to a better place.
There is absolutely nothing wrong about it.

[silk]

Yeah, like a bunch of kids using the mod tool to make guns for their crysis mod are going to be giving useful suggestions regarding product development...

[Takayuki]

If I don't have my eyes open, I'd think the same as you do, and I agree.
But not all those kid's that are out there just making guns, you know what I mean right?

[mechis]

Of course they're trying to sell their product. I think it's good that they're being pro-active though. People (like me) have been asking softimage for a long time to put up the training that they have made and they've finally started to do it. I mean, would you rather that they not put up FREE education videos????

I hope that this commitment to educating their userbase does bring them a lot of new customers and that softimage continues to create new videos in the future.
~Mechis

[sulsa]

Softimage dropped the ball in capitalizing on the Valve/Source Engine tie in a few years back. They succeeded in being the #1 content/animation tool for the largest and most anticipated game release in years and failed to provide anything more than just basic knowledge about their product.
The XSI Mod Tool was brilliant, but because it wasn't backed up by thorough, official documentation, Softimage lost out on a huge amount of new talent who would have given XSI a shot. Instead, people stuck with Max and Maya and made those work through less efficient 1st/3rd party compilers.

I'm extremely happy that Softimage is trying to correct this and are putting in a huge new effort to teach people about their fantastic product. I am an XSI snob, so I love it that they are developing a huge official resource for the users.

I'll add my 'Thank You!' to this thread :)

[thiago]

Hi Leonard,
Wanna say that I'm really impressed with those last moves you guys are doing.
Congratulations.

It's great to see these lessons available for everybody, I'm sure it will help a lot all new users trying to get into XSI.
BUT... (theres always a "but"). Is Softimage going to be more active and catch up with the XSI version sometime? It's almost time to release version 7 and we are seeing videos of version 5 being uploaded just today.

Don't get me wrong, you are doing great putting these videos on-line even being for a old version of XSI... would be a total waste if you didn't. :)
Just would love to see version 7 coming out with support of this kind of educational incentive... even if it start slow, but with a perfect timing.

[Leonard]

Hi Leonard,
Wanna say that I'm really impressed with those last moves you guys are doing.
Congratulations.

It's great to see these lessons available for everybody, I'm sure it will help a lot all new users trying to get into XSI.
BUT... (theres always a "but"). Is Softimage going to be more active and catch up with the XSI version sometime? It's almost time to release version 7 and we are seeing videos of version 5 being uploaded just today.

Don't get me wrong, you are doing great putting these videos on-line even being for a old version of XSI... would be a total waste if you didn't. :)
Just would love to see version 7 coming out with support of this kind of educational incentive... even if it start slow, but with a perfect timing.

Well we're doing everything we can given the resources. There is training for 6.x that I'm in the process of preparing to put online. I decided to put the XSI 5.x First Contact and Tips and Tricks because they provide very good and current training for those wanting to get into XSI. Much of the stuff taught hasn't changed between versions 5-6 so it's still current.

The main thing was getting an infrastructure in place where we can deploy training and camtasia screencasts very quickly. I think we've worked out a good system here and the quality is pretty good.

Best,

Leo

[pablo]

Thanks! This is amazing for the community and the new users, you guys make a huge job in the last months.

I can´t imagine a near future without Softimage products on top of any vfx house.

[giant551]

Well i got to say this is one huge leap in the right direction for softimage. Ive always thought the training and getting new users involved in XSI has always been weak.

But this is great well done to everyone involved. I am starting to really like the way this community is coming together.

[MmAaXx]

wow ! thx!!

[M-TUNE]

yeaaaa .!!!! thanks

[rezamgm]

I have to agree with most of the posts and give a big thumbs-up and huge thank you for an effort that is considerable and not as easy as it seems. It has been long over-due and gives me great hope for the future of XSI.

The quality of the videos are very high and being so short, concise and easy to find, they become very usable.

Thank you again for this effort.

[lildragon]

and being so short, concise and easy to find, they become very usable.



That's something I wanted to mention before and forgot :) The length of the videos are perfect, they keep you engaged long enough not letting your mind drift off into something else...

Kudos!

~t