Softimage Toolset adopted by Valve
Softimage XSI selected for superior creative toolset and highly productive workflow capabilities.
Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. today announced that leading entertainment software company Valve is migrating its current 3-D pipeline mid-production, to the Softimage XSI software, the industry-renowned 3-D nonlinear production environment, for the development of its current and next-generation series of games.
Known to gamers worldwide as the creators of the best selling and critically acclaimed games Half-Life, Team Fortress and Counter-Strike, Valve has chosen the Softimage XSI system for its superior creative toolset, highly productive workflow capabilities and for the unmatched level of support Softimage provides. To deliver the games that will define future success, Valve is placing the Softimage XSI system at the core of its 3-D production pipeline.
"The games market has eclipsed the box office in gross annual revenue and with an average of 3.5 billion player minutes per month, games such as Counter-Strike are demanding more consumer time than most mainstream television shows," said Gabe Newell, managing director and co-founder of Valve. "With this proliferation of digital content comes a more demanding audience, one that requires extremely high presentation values in entertainment. As we continue to move our products forward, the tools our artists have used thus far are quickly losing their relevance. We've evaluated all competitors and found XSI to be a superior offering that will allow us to take our productions to the next level."
The Softimage XSI system includes a wealth of core features designed specifically for gaming environments. It delivers the industry's only integrated real-time visual effects creation and editing environment available today - a key feature designed specifically for game development. The Real-Time Shader architecture in the XSI system allows artists to view and edit shader effects from game engines directly in the XSI Viewports, and export those effects to their game engine along with models and animation. This revolutionary functionality provides artists with complete flexibility and boosts productivity by allowing them to construct custom real-time multipass rendering effects, leveraging the full power of modern graphics hardware.
With version 3.0, the Softimage XSI system also offers a new Software Development Kit (SDK), enhanced polygonal modeling and character animation tools, as well as a superior data pipeline providing games artists and developers with sophisticated, open content creation and validation tools supporting every stage of the game development process - from creation through final export.
Softimage's managing director, Michael Stojda comments: "Throughout our history, Softimage has worked with the leaders in interactive entertainment to deliver new technologies and innovations. Valve is one of the most accomplished and sophisticated entertainment software companies today and we're very pleased they have chosen to make Softimage XSI the core of their 3-D pipeline. It is further validation of the superior workflow and production capabilities developed within XSI through close collaboration between companies such as Valve and our games team."
Softimage XSI was sold to Valve Software by Washington based SLK Technologies Inc.
Known to gamers worldwide as the creators of the best selling and critically acclaimed games Half-Life, Team Fortress and Counter-Strike, Valve has chosen the Softimage XSI system for its superior creative toolset, highly productive workflow capabilities and for the unmatched level of support Softimage provides. To deliver the games that will define future success, Valve is placing the Softimage XSI system at the core of its 3-D production pipeline.
"The games market has eclipsed the box office in gross annual revenue and with an average of 3.5 billion player minutes per month, games such as Counter-Strike are demanding more consumer time than most mainstream television shows," said Gabe Newell, managing director and co-founder of Valve. "With this proliferation of digital content comes a more demanding audience, one that requires extremely high presentation values in entertainment. As we continue to move our products forward, the tools our artists have used thus far are quickly losing their relevance. We've evaluated all competitors and found XSI to be a superior offering that will allow us to take our productions to the next level."
The Softimage XSI system includes a wealth of core features designed specifically for gaming environments. It delivers the industry's only integrated real-time visual effects creation and editing environment available today - a key feature designed specifically for game development. The Real-Time Shader architecture in the XSI system allows artists to view and edit shader effects from game engines directly in the XSI Viewports, and export those effects to their game engine along with models and animation. This revolutionary functionality provides artists with complete flexibility and boosts productivity by allowing them to construct custom real-time multipass rendering effects, leveraging the full power of modern graphics hardware.
With version 3.0, the Softimage XSI system also offers a new Software Development Kit (SDK), enhanced polygonal modeling and character animation tools, as well as a superior data pipeline providing games artists and developers with sophisticated, open content creation and validation tools supporting every stage of the game development process - from creation through final export.
Softimage's managing director, Michael Stojda comments: "Throughout our history, Softimage has worked with the leaders in interactive entertainment to deliver new technologies and innovations. Valve is one of the most accomplished and sophisticated entertainment software companies today and we're very pleased they have chosen to make Softimage XSI the core of their 3-D pipeline. It is further validation of the superior workflow and production capabilities developed within XSI through close collaboration between companies such as Valve and our games team."
Softimage XSI was sold to Valve Software by Washington based SLK Technologies Inc.