This Just In: Autodesk and Adobe Aquire Human Eyeballs, All Of Them
Autodesk today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Alias, a privately held developer of 3D graphics technology, for $182 million in cash. This acquisition will grow Autodesk’s expertise and offerings in the film and video, interactive games, media, Web, consumer products, industrial design, automotive, architecture and visualization markets. Autodesk anticipates that the transaction will close within the next four to six months.
03:18 PM October 04, 2005 Comments 6
andrew
Autodesk hasn't substantially improved 3D studio Max for years! Now Maya is subject to their sluggish development. Why does this announcement make me feel nauseous?
brad
I have to beg to differ. Their new particle systems, poly modeling tools, and character studio have been quite substantial.
brad
"Alias' product lines comprise sketching, animation, visual effects, design, modeling, rendering and reviewing solutions. Alias MotionBuilder® is Alias' 3D character animation product, Alias FBX® is widely used in the exchange and use of 3D content, and Maya® is the company's Academy Award-winning 3D application. These products will augment Autodesk's offering in the film and video and interactive games segments. Alias StudioTools™ - software for design tasks from 2D sketches to production models - will add industrial design and high-end visualization capabilities to Autodesk's manufacturing solutions. Autodesk will continue to develop the Alias product lines in conjunction with Autodesk's complementary products and technologies."
http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/press/press_release_details.jsp?itemId=3600004
Complementary technologies? Give me a break. They're very similar competing technologies, and Maya is likely to melt away. It will be interesting to see how the monoliths of Max and Maya merge, and how the "suite" of packages they are talking about develops.
andrew
Call me old fashioned, but I believe competition is good for the consumer and that the net-result of this "merger" will be negative; I hope I'm wrong! Time will tell if Autodesk "improves" product offerings/features or just monopolizes the market.
brad
I'm not defending the acquisition. Maya and Max's development has really been fueled by their similar competitive goals. But most of the people I've talked to in the industry, at first hearing of it, are just speechless because two monsters are now suddenly going to become a hydra and then eventually something that is a single 3d package and no one can predict what the hell that will be. I don't think they want to predict out of fear of their beloved software tools being left behind.
brad
I'm kind of surprised at other people's silence on this (although maybe people have missed the post or news). It's doesn't have the weight of the Adobe / Macromedia merger, but it's still damn disrupting. Any opinions from our game developers and visual effects people?
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