Softimage 3D, stylized as Softimage, 3D, is a discontinued high-end 3D graphics application developed by
Softimage, which was used predominantly in the
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
,
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
,
gaming, and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
industries for the production of 3D animation. It was superseded by
Softimage XSI in 2000.
History
In 1986,
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
filmmaker
Daniel Langlois
Daniel Langlois (6 April 1957 – 2023) was a Canadian businessman who was the president and founder of the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Ex-Centris, and Media Principia Inc.
He was founder and inaugural president of Softimage Inc., which i ...
, in partnership with software engineers Richard Mercille and Laurent Lauzon, began developing an integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering package with a graphical interface targeted at visual artists. The software was initially demonstrated at
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference centered around computer graphics organized by ACM, starting in 1974 in Boulder, CO. The main conference has always been held in North ...
in 1988 and was released for
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...
workstations the following year as the Softimage Creative Environment.
Softimage Creative Environment was adopted by major visual effects studios like
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
and
Digital Domain
Digital Domain (also known as Digital Domain Media Group or DDMG) is an American visual effects, computer animation and digital production company headquartered in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California.
Digital Domain has produced visual effects ...
for use in their production pipelines, which also typically included software from
Alias Research,
Big Idea Productions
Big Idea Productions, LLC (formerly known as Big Idea Productions, Inc., Big Idea, Inc. and Big Idea Entertainment, LLC; also known simply as Big Idea) is an American animation production company and is currently an in-name only unit, best kno ...
,
Kroyer Films,
Angel Studios
Angel Studios, Inc. is an American independent Christian media company and Film distributor, film distribution studio based in Provo, Utah. It operates the Over-the-top media service, over-the-top video on demand, video on-demand service Angel. ...
,
Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
, and
Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...
as well as a variety of custom tools. Its character animation toolset expanded substantially with the addition of
inverse kinematics
In computer animation and robotics, inverse kinematics is the mathematical process of calculating the variable joint parameters needed to place the end of a kinematic chain, such as a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton, in a g ...
in version 2, which was used to animate the dinosaurs in ''
Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
''. In 1994,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
acquired
Softimage with the intention of introducing high-end 3D animation software to its
Windows NT platform, and subsequently renamed it "Softimage 3D". In January 1995, Softimage 3D was announced as the official 3D development tool for the
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...
.
The first Windows port of Softimage 3D, version 3.0, was released in early 1996. Softimage 3D Extreme 3.5, released later that year, included
particle effects and the
mental ray
Mental Ray (stylized as mental ray) is a production-quality Ray tracing (graphics), ray tracing application for 3D rendering. Its Berlin-based developer Mental Images (firm), Mental Images was acquired by Nvidia in 2007 and Mental Ray was discon ...
renderer, which offered area lights,
ray tracing, and other advanced features. 3D paint functionality was added a year later in version 3.7.
In the late 1990s, Softimage began developing a successor to Softimage 3D codenamed "Sumatra", which was designed with a more modern and extensible architecture to compete with other major packages like Alias, Wavefront's Maya. Development was delayed during a 1998 acquisition by
Avid Technology
Avid Technology, Inc. is a global technology company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, and was founded in August 1987 by Bill Warner. It develops software, SaaS, and hardware products used in media and entertainment.
History
Avid wa ...
, and in August 2000 Softimage 3D's successor was finally released as
Softimage XSI. Because of Softimage 3D's entrenched user base, minor revisions continued until the final version of Softimage 3D, version 4.0, was released in 2002.
Release history
Features
The Softimage 3D feature set was divided between five menu sets: Model, Motion, Actor, Matter and Tools, each corresponding to a different part of the 3D production process:
[.]
Model: Tools for creating spline, polygon, patch, and
NURBS
Non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) is a mathematical model using basis splines (B-splines) that is commonly used in computer graphics for representing curves and surfaces. It offers great flexibility and precision for handling both analy ...
primitives (later releases also included
Metaballs).
Boolean operations, extrusions, revolves, and bevels, as well as lattice deformations and relational modeling tools.
Subdivision surface
In the field of 3D computer graphics, a subdivision surface (commonly shortened to SubD surface or Subsurf) is a curved Computer representation of surfaces, surface represented by the specification of a coarser polygon mesh and produced by a re ...
modeling was available via a third-party plugin from Phoenix Tools called MetaMesh.
Motion: Animation of objects and parameters via
keyframe
In animation and filmmaking, a key frame (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of a smooth transition. These are called ''frames'' because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film ...
s, constraints,
mathematical expression
In mathematics, an expression is a written arrangement of symbols following the context-dependent, syntactic conventions of mathematical notation. Symbols can denote numbers, variables, operations, and functions. Other symbols include punct ...
s, paths, and function curves. Animatable cluster and lattice deformations.
Motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...
through a variety of input devices.
Actor: Rigging and animation of digital characters using
skeletons
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fram ...
, as well as dynamics tools for physics simulations of object interactions. Included
inverse kinematics
In computer animation and robotics, inverse kinematics is the mathematical process of calculating the variable joint parameters needed to place the end of a kinematic chain, such as a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton, in a g ...
and weighted / rigid skinning.
Matter: Creation of materials and rendering images for output. Standard features included 2D and 3D textures, field rendering, fog,
motion blur
Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or l ...
, and raytracing.
Tools: Utilities for viewing, editing, and
compositing
Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live action, Live-action shooting for compositing ...
rendered image sequences, color reduction, and importing/exporting images and 3D geometry.
Notes
References
{{Silicon Graphics
3D graphics software
Animation software
IRIX software
1989 software
Windows software