Alias/Wavefront says no buyout by Apple

[Mr. Anderson]

www.cgchannel.com held an interview with Doug Walker, President of Alias|Wavefront, regarding the recent price reductions, office closure and rumors of Apple acquiring the company. Its a good read for anyone who's interested, but here's what he had to say about the Apple buyout rumor.

CG Channel: There were some persistent rumors over the past few months and even more in the past few days about a possible acquisition of Alias|Wavefront or Maya by Apple.

Doug Walker: I've heard this rumor for over a year, so let me give you a straight answer.This is not true! Absolutely not true - please quote me on that.

What is true is that we have done a lot of work developing the OS X version of Maya and getting it out to the marketplace. If we are going to drive more coverage and more volume, we need our technology to exist across the platforms our customers are asking for. So now, our technology exists on Irix, Linux, NT and OS X, and I think this positions us very well for the future.

You can read the whole article here, but you have to be a member.

http://www.cgchannel.com/feature.php?article_id=43

 

[agreenster]

DUH! I heard this rumor as well and laughed at it! Why in the world would Apple buy Alias? Crazy. Apple is so dissimilar from Alias.

The one bone I have to pick is that Maya for OSX is version 3.5. Man, 4.0 is practically old already! (for the Windows and Unix crowd) That is the primary reason that many studios havent switched to Apple (I know thats why my school hasnt). We are still using Intellistations and O2's, but our Mac line is just sitting around waiting for 4.0. We are running on an OSX server, have a bunch of DP macs, but no 4.0. Apple now has the rackmounts and a quick processor to handle Maya plus rendering, but we are still stuck in the stone age with 3.5

Hey Alias, paying attention??

 

[teabgs]

My schoolis upgrading our computer animation lab this summer. We have a few O2's now and there was a long period of Mac or PC....Mac or PC....Obviously we werent going to get O2's again, because of price. Well One factor that led to the PC's winning (though not the only one) was that Macs were stuck with 3.5 and we have 4.0 running on the O2's and NT's!

I feel your pain....I think 4.5 or 5, which ever way Alias|Wavefront does it (I'm new to computer animation) will come out soon and be for all platforms. This way they can just skip over 4 for the Mac and keep everything the same.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by agreenster

Hey Alias, paying attention??

They address some of this in the article, especially talking about Maya 4.5. With the new XServe machines and heavy cooperation with Apple, Maya will make its way into the more mainstream Mac animation/digital video community. Its just going to take a little time.

I use Lightwave myself, but once A/W gets a better version out there, I might just go and get a copy. I'm starting to feel the pull even now.....

 

[agreenster]

Originally posted by teabgs
I think 4.5 or 5, which ever way Alias|Wavefront does it, will come out soon and be for all platforms. This way they can just skip over 4 for the Mac and keep everything the same.

Hey, I really hope so! That would be nice!

 

[agreenster]

Originally posted by dukestreet
I use Lightwave myself, but once A/W gets a better version out there, I might just go and get a copy. I'm starting to feel the pull even now.....

I'm a Cinema4D person, only because I bought it last year and was 1000 dollars for the animation/rendering package and BodyPaint package (student discount). But with Maya Complete now only being 2Grand, its a no-brainer as to who I would purchase. Maya all the way.

Oh, and thanks for the heads up--I should have read the article before going on my mini-rant.

Oh, and Dukestreet, you wanted to see my animated film a few weeks back, remember? Im almost finished with it......

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by agreenster

Oh, and Dukestreet, you wanted to see my animated film a few weeks back, remember? Im almost finished with it......

Yes! Post the link, I'm looking forward to it.

I'll have something up myself in a couple months, a more developed character animation. I'm curious to here how easy/hard it was in Cinema3D. I'm stuck doing scientific illustration right now for work, nothing really all that exciting. I can't wait to get back to the CA, I just have to find some more time.

 

[teabgs]

I finished my animation! I can put it up in a few weeks....I'm leaving town today for 2 weeks. I also don't have a copy on the computer...it's on DV right now. I won't be around here too much until June because of all the traveling I guess I can get it up by June 5th or so, You guys are just gonna have to deal without me being here for a little while

Don't cry. Stop that; you're not making it any easier...I'll be back, you'll see, it won't be so bad...

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by teabgs
I finished my animation! I can put it up in a few weeks....I'm leaving town today for 2 weeks. I also don't have a copy on the computer...it's on DV right now. I won't be around here too much until June because of all the traveling I guess I can get it up by June 5th or so, You guys are just gonna have to deal without me being here for a little while

Don't cry. Stop that; you're not making it any easier...I'll be back, you'll see, it won't be so bad...

Ha, congrats on getting the animation done. What format are you going to put it in?

Going anywhere fun? Can't be that good if you can't take a computer - just kidding....

 

[teabgs]

Originally posted by dukestreet


Ha, congrats on getting the animation done. What format are you going to put it in?

Going anywhere fun? Can't be that good if you can't take a computer - just kidding....

Goin to San Fran. It should be fun, never been there. I'll put it up as a quicktime when I have a chance. Man, I already miss my computer I'll have to use my girlfriends stupid PC. Oh well....I'll pick up a MacWorld at the airport. Gotta go catch a plane now. Later

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I was just wondering if anyone here has used both Maya and Lightwave and which one they prefer. In order for me to switch apps, it will require a huge amount of work getting up to speed on Maya, but its also used many more places than Lightwave. Such a conundrum!

 

[teabgs]

Originally posted by dukestreet
I was just wondering if anyone here has used both Maya and Lightwave and which one they prefer. In order for me to switch apps, it will require a huge amount of work getting up to speed on Maya, but its also used many more places than Lightwave. Such a conundrum!

one of my bosses does. want me to find out? I'm pretty sure she likes maya better though....shes catching up on it..she actually used power animator before it was called maya but is not learning maya to get away from lightwave.

 

[agreenster]

Maya is certainly more in depth and complicated. However, that also means it has more potential for creativity and expansion. Maya is as professional as you can get without getting into all of the proprietary Pixar/Dreamworks stuff.

Ive been working with Cinema4D and Maya for a couple years. 4D is easier to use, but Maya can do some much more amazing things.