Softimage, Co. /ˌsɒftɪˈmɑːʒ/ was a company located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that produced 3D animation software. A subsidiary of Microsoft in the 1990s, it was sold to Avid Technology, who would eventually sell the name and assets of Softimage's 3D-animation business to Autodesk.
Its first product, Softimage 3D, was used in the creation of special effects for movies such as Jurassic Park, Titanic and The Fifth Element. Its successor, Softimage XSI, was used in the production of the Academy Award-winning feature film Happy Feet, 300 and Charlotte's Web (2006) and the production of games such as Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
In 1997, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Softimage a Scientific and Engineering Award for the development of the 'Actor' component of Softimage|3D.
During the Microsoft years, Softimage also developed a non-linear video-editing and compositing suite named Softimage|DS, which was available from Avid Technology under the name Avid DS, until its EOL on September 30, 2013.
Softimage was founded in 1986 by National Film Board of Canada filmmaker Daniel Langlois and with founding director, Char Davies. At the time, there were only three employees. Its first product was called the Softimage Creative Environment, later renamed to Softimage 3D. It was the first commercial package to feature Inverse kinematics for character animation. The software was eventually replaced by SoftimageXSI, originally codenamed "Sumatra".
The company became public in 1992 and was acquired by Microsoft in 1994. In 1998, after helping to port the products to Windows and financing the development of Softimage|XSI and Softimage|DS, Microsoft sold the Softimage unit to Avid Technology, Inc. who was looking to expand its visual effect capabilities.
Avid initially grouped many of its visual effects products, such as Elastic Reality and Avid Media Illusion, under the Softimage brand, but in 2001 discontinued most of these products. Until 2008, Avid's AlienBrain product was also branded with the name Softimage, even though it was developed by a separate company.
On October 23, 2008, Autodesk signed an agreement with Avid Technology to acquire the brand and the 3D animation assets of Softimage for approximately $35 million, thereby ending Softimage Co. as a distinct entity. The video-related assets of Softimage, including Softimage|DS (now Avid|DS) continue to be owned by Avid.
Softimage President Daniel Langlois and engineers Richard Mercille and Laurent Lauzon begin development of the company’s 3-D application software. The user interface begins to take shape and would remain largely unchanged for the next 16 years of the product's life.Virtual Reality artist Char Davies joins the company as Vice-President of Virtual Research.Introduction of Creative Environment 1.0 at SIGGRAPH. A first for the industry, the software would offer modeling, animation and rendering in a single integrated environment.Release of Creative Environment v0.8, closely followed by the 1.0 release.Creative Environment 1.65 adds texture mapping.Creative Environment V2.0new animation toolsintroduction of the new concept of object constraintsnew Dopesheet editoradds spline modelingCreative Environment 2.5 with Actor ModuleThe Actor Module introduces Inverse Kinematics, a concept coming from robotics, to the animation marketBonesInverse KinematicsFlexible Skin (Envelopes)Rigid-Articulated Body DynamicsThe Actor Module was awarded a Technological and Scientific Academy Award for its innovationFilms: Terminator 2- Judgment Day (Academy Award for Best Visual FX)Director of sales Richard Szalwinski leaves to found Discreet and re-distribute Animal Logic's image compositor EddieCreative Environment 2.52Motion Capture (Channels)SDK (DKit)Paint and Compositing package introduced with Softimage|EddieFilmsDeath Becomes Her (Academy Award for Best Visual FX)Softimage goes public on NASDAQ Acquisition of the compositing product Softimage|Eddie product from Discreet, co-owned and developed with Animal LogicAcquisition of Painterly Effects image processing library from ImageWare ResearchCreative Environment 2.6Metaclay ("Metaballs")Motion ControlClustersShape Animationmental ray renderingWave DeformsFlock Animation (macro particles)Standalone Particle SystemRotoscopy3D BooleansGhost display/Onion skinningmental ray introduced.Softimage and mental images announce rendering technology agreementCreative Toonz debuts. The 2-D animation package automates the more tedious tasks involved in 2-D cel animation, such as inking-&-painting, while still maintaining the look of hand-drawn images and charactersBeginning of Softimage Digital Studio on the Silicon Graphics IRIX operating systemFilmsJurassic Park (Academy Award for Best Visual FX)Microsoft acquires Softimage Creative Environment 2.65Complete new File and Database ManagementNew Topological scene graph updateStructure KeysExtended ConstraintsExpressionsGhost display/Onion skinningAnimation par ShapesToon renderingIDEAS: Interactive Developer's Entertainment Authoring Software with ProPlay and ProPlay Plus solutions, includes: Softimage Creative Environment, Eddie compositing, video-effects software, distributed ray tracer and 3-D particles kit.FilmsStar trek: Generations / Industrial Light & Magic (1994)The Flintstones/ Industrial Light & Magic (1994)The Mask / Industrial Light & Magic (1994)Softimage|3D 3.0NURBS Surfaces and ModelingTrimsInstancesRelational modelingQstretch deform (squash and stretch)Custom hotkey remapping (swift keys)SpreadsheetPolygon Reduction (1st generation)Games FeaturesAdvanced polygonal modeling tools2D/3D Paint + UV Texturing + Painterly Effects, Color ReductionGame Export / filtering / on target viewing (SEGA Saturn)SI Live Virtual Theater (NAB 95)Introduction of Softimage|3D Extremeincludes Osmose, Virtual Theater (real time capture and virtual set compositing) and mental ray.Softimage Toonz 3.5 and SOFTIMAGE|Eddie 3.2FilmsCasperBabe (Academy Award for Best Visual FX)Balto / Amblimation (1995)Casper / Industrial Light & Magic (1995)Judge Dredd / (1995)Jumanji / Industrial Light & Magic (1995)La cité des enfants perdus / BUF Compagnie (1995)Softimage|3D 3.5Windows NT platform supportUser DataImage LibrarySaaphire SDK Ambulate, StepmalerFirst prototype of Softimage|DS on Windows NT "Sumatra"(code name), the product that would become Softimage|XSI, and RenderFarm unveiled (a Sumatra module never released).Films and GamesVirtua Fighter(game), Dragonheart, Independence Day (Academy Award for Best Visual FX),101 Dalmatiens / Industrial light & Magic (1996),12 Monkeys / Peerless Camera (1996), Basket spatial / Industrial Light & Magic (1996), Star Trek - First Contact / Industrial Light & Magic (1996), Pinocchio / MediaLab (1996), Malgré Picasso / Peerless Camera (1996), Draco : la légende du dernier dragon/ Industrial Light & Magic (1996), Eraser / Mass Illusion (1996), Joe’s Apartment / Blue Sky (1996), Island of Docteur Moreau / Digital Domain (1996), Chasseurs de fantômes / Weta Ltd. (1996), Mission : Impossible / Industrial Light & Magic (1996), Mars Attack! / Industrial light & Magic (1996), T2-3D / Digital Domain (1996)Dominique Boisvert, Réjean Gagné, Daniel Langlois, and Richard Laperrière won a Scientific and Engineering Award for the development of the 'Actor' component of the Softimage computer animation system SOFTIMAGE|DS 1.0 SOFTIMAGE|3D 3.7Sony PlayStation Export / Import / Viewer + Attribute EditorsColors at Vertices (painting, OpenGL, Softimage + mr rendering, Saaphire)Direct3D Export / ImportRenderMap (baking light maps)Films and Games Riven, Titanic (Academy Award for Best Visual FX), Alien : Resurrection / Blue Sky, Spawn / Industrial Light & Magic (1997), Anastasia / Fox Animation Studio (1997), Batman & Robin / BUF Compagnie (1997), Contact / Sony Pictures Imageworks / Weta Ltd. (1997), Men In Black / Industrial Light & Magic (1997), Jurassic Park / Industrial Light & Magic (1997), Fifth Element / Digital Domain (1997), Resident Evil 1.5 (2 Beta) (1997)First mention of Twister, a rendering module of Sumatra that would never be released Avid Technology acquires Softimage, begins to re-brand many of its visual effects products under the name "Softimage"SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.1 SOFTIMAGE|3D 3.8 GDK (Game Development Kit / high-level AP)dotXSI file format, import/export pipeline (Direct 3D, VRML, 3D Studio)GameFilterMergePolygon ReductionNeural Quantizer (color reduction)Animation Sequencer (precursor to animation mixing)Audio Track for lip synchAnnouncement of an interactive rendering application called "Twister", the first module of the future Sumatra product. The company later canceled this separate product to focus on Sumatra."Animation R3defined" (TM) campaign : First presentation of "Sumatra" (code name) as the first "Non-Linear 3D animation" system The Animation Mixer, which allows manipulation of animation as clips on tracks, similar to video non-linear editing system like Avid Media Composer.Softimage|3D v3.8 Service Pack 2 Advanced Rendering - Caustics support, Global IlluminationNintendo NIFF toolkitSony PlayStation HMD toolkitBézier curves supportSurface Continuity Manager (SCM)Drop & Slide PointsGoWithThe Flow qui contraint les objets aux particulesFilms : Movie - The Mummy, The Matrix (Academy Award for Best Visual FX), Stuart Little / Centropolis FX, Fight Club / Pixel Liberation Front / BUFSoftimage|XSI 1.0 is released New generation architecture, user interface, workflow, etc.…ActiveScriptingInteractive Rendering (Render Region)Rendering PassesRender TreeGAP (Generic Attribute Painting)Surface meshes (Nurbs networks)Non-linear animation - Animation MixerIntegrated ParticlesAcquisition of The Motion Factory, IncSoftimage|3D v3.9 Softimage|XSI 1.5 Adds Polygonal modeling, Subdivision Surfaces, and texturing toolsAnimation Clip Effects/Offsets, Equalizer, Bridge TransitionsScripted Operators (scripted plugins)Soft-BodiesCloth, Fluids (from Phoenix Tools)SDK Object Model (COM)Softimage|XSI v1.5 begins shipping.SOFTIMAGE|XSI v2.0 unveiled at Siggraph 2001 and later shipsXSI v2.0 Introduces fully integrated compositor, based on Avid Media IllusionIntroduces a Hair and Fur module, based on Joe Alter's Shave Support for Linux (previously, supported unix was SGI IRIX)Electric Rain collaborate to bring Flash, EPS, AI and SVG exports to SOFTIMAGE|XSI customers.SOFTIMAGE|3D v4.0 unveiled at Siggraph 2001Softimage releases the "SOFTIMAGE|XSI Experience" for version 2.0, a free educational software and training kit. Alias had previously released a Personal Learning Edition of Maya Softimage|3D v4.0 releasedSoftimage|XSI v3.0 User Feature ReviewAn evolutionary update Introduces Softimage|Behavior, a procedural animation system, marketed as a new Crowd Simulation engine. It is a re-branded version of The Motion Factory's product called MotivateSoftimage|XSI v3.5 with Softimage|Behavior 1.1Brings back the Schematic View from Softimage|3D Softimage|XSI v4.0 User Feature ReviewNew Rigid Body Dynamics based on ODE Character SDK, Custom Display Host, XML-based UI definition, new XGS real time shader pipeline New Vector and Raster Paint tool in the compositing module Now ships with SyflexSoftimage|XSI v4.2 Softimage|XSI v5.0 User Feature Overview Official Change ListFirst Windows 64-bit versionNew user interface elements to appeal to Autodesk Maya usersIntegrated Cloth with Syflex 3Updated Rigid Body Dynamics with physXNew view: Shape Manager, for morph shape animationdotXSI 5.0Softimage|XSI v5.1 Official Change ListAutodesk 3DS Max compatible keymap and GATOR plug-in for 3DS MaxCollada import/exportIntroduction of Softimage|FaceRobot Softimage|XSI v6.0 User Feature Overview Official Change ListFocus on animation tools, animation layers, motion transfer tool ("MOTOR") New views: Material Manager, Material Panelw, Animation Layer ManagerElastic Reality morpher in the compositor Delta ReferencingSoftimage|XSI 6.5 Official Change ListMostly a release to adjust price and re-shuffle features between XSI Essential and XSI Advanced.2008 - ICE, and sale of company assets to Autodesk
Softimage|XSI 7.0 Official Change Listintroduces ICE ("Interactive Creative Environment") October 23, 2008, Autodesk announces intent to acquire all of Softimage 3D business assets from Avid Technology November 18, 2008, Autodesk Completes Acquisition of SoftimageCompany ceases to exist as an entityAutodesk Media and Entertainment continues to develop Softimage|XSI product, re-branded as "Softimage". FaceRobot rebranded Autodesk FaceRobot Softimage products were made in Quebec. Softimage is mentioned in the song "Fabriqué au Québec" written by the Québécois humorists Pat Groulx and Louis-José Houde.
