[Amapi] what a sin dismissi it...

[mignolyx]

Dear Friend,
i got a personal campain to try to move some big chair in the 3d business to try to save the future life of Amapi Pro.
I'm an italian user, a legitimate owner of Carrara 6.
And i got Amapi 7 from buying, from Eovia (dead) the Carrara 5 version.
Anyway, Daz, the current owner of Carrara, take out the Amapi plugin that allowed living interconnections between Amapi (modeler) and Carrara (renderer), without saving the modeled objects in Amapi.
E-Frontier is the actual Amapi owner but, as you can see from its web site, it had promised Version 8 in the half of 2007...
Maybe they want dismiss Amapi from the 3d market, they have in catalogue Shade Pro that can be a competitor for Amapi.
But if you are lucky and you can see the VTC courses for Amapi, you will find a incredible set of features that this beautiful Nurb-Poly modeler has.
No Rhino, maybe Solidthinking can be compared to it.
It's a sin that first Eovia, then E-Frontier never showed the real power of this software.
Please, reply to this Amapi thread, let them show that we are not so passive to their business questions, maybe a lot of us, like me, had spend Euros or Dollars and drops of tears working with these beautiful sofwares that for most of them are only reason of catching money.
It's a sin let Amapi and others softwares die whitout a claim.

[Thomas]

FYI, all the Amapi Pro 8 team have other projects in other software comapnies, then, no way for them to continue Amapi.
I can't answer for e frontier Japan, but I'm afraind they won't be ablr to do something with Amapi or based on Amapi for a very long time (see DAZ with Hexagon - nothing against them, but learning a source code isn't easy)

[jbshorty]

Originally Posted by Thomas

FYI, all the Amapi Pro 8 team have other projects in other software comapnies...

That's good to hear, Thomas...

[shoeach]

Originally Posted by Thomas

FYI, all the Amapi Pro 8 team have other projects in other software comapnies, then, no way for them to continue Amapi.
I can't answer for e frontier Japan, but I'm afraind they won't be ablr to do something with Amapi or based on Amapi for a very long time

I’m also glad to hear Amapi 8 members are active.

Thomas, I think that AmapiPro8.0 will be the eternal 3D masterpiece program in our soul as like the Tower of Babel which we can never see.


Syuichi

[Thomas]

Thank you for your kind words Syuichi! Let's hope that what we will do in the future will be as enjoyable as Amapi for you!

[mayito7777]

Is Amapi still for sale?

[jbshorty]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Thank you for your kind words Syuichi! Let's hope that what we will do in the future will be as enjoyable as Amapi for you!

i guess this is some indication you are all (or mostly all) working for a 3D software developer? Otherwise, i don't think we can get excited about networking, accounting, or antivirus software

[mayito7777]

He is working for somebody but he can't say.

[3webjam]

It is a shame that a jewel like Amapi is left out in the cold. Hopefully in the future someone will pick it up and get it going again.

Jacqueline

[Thomas]

Yes, I'm workng for a 3D software company, but I can't say whch one. Perhaps I will be able to be more explicit one day about it, but not yet, sorry.

[shoeach]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Yes, I'm workng for a 3D software company, but I can't say whch one. Perhaps I will be able to be more explicit one day about it, but not yet, sorry.

I'm relieved to hear you are working now.

We are the children of Amapi and we look forward to hearing surprising good news from you.
We believe Thomas.

Syuichi

[steama]

Little scattered pieces of Amapi DNA will be floating around for a little while in the 3d universe.

It is amazing how much Amapi concepts influenced modeling.

Thomas and the team working? There was never any doubt!

[shoeach]

Originally Posted by steama

Little scattered pieces of Amapi DNA will be floating around for a little while in the 3d universe.

steama, I’m appreciating a UI screenshot (posted by Grendel on 3D WIP section these days) of “Never realized” Amapi8 as if I’m appreciating Edgar Degas.
I feel keenly that we lost our valuable properties.

Syuichi

[Piem]

here's Mine

[shoeach]

Originally Posted by Piem

here's Mine

I envy you and Grendel who were able to kiss Amapi8.
I wasn’t able even to meet her.

Syuichi

[PatrickDemski]

Wishing for an Amapi 8.0 that isn't going to happen (at least short-term) will get you nowhere and wastes valuable time that can be spent creating something.

Originally Posted by mayito7777

Is Amapi still for sale?

Yes it is -- although e-frontier itself is now a thing of the past. e-frontier was acquired by Smith Micro Graphics. They are still selling Amapi Pro 7.52 from their Web site:

http://graphics.smithmicro.com/artic...1/816?sbss=816

Although I am deeply sorry to see the Amapi team scattered to the winds, it doesn't stop the existing code from functioning now and into the future for as long as you like -- and Amapi works very well even on older machines. I am working on a project that I posted in the WIP section earlier, a Mercedes aeroengine, and my main modeling machine is a WinXP 1.4 GHz Athlon with 1.5 Gb memory that I built in 2001. I have no problems whatsoever using Amapi, even with very complex objects.

And yes, DAZ did indeed destroy the seamless import capability between Carrara 6 and Amapi 7.52, but really, who needs it? Amapi is and always has been a standalone modeling package; you can not do serious rendering within it. So there always comes a point where you must leave Amapi and bring the geometry into something else. The Carrara seamless import was a great convenience if you use Carrara, but it is certainly not a necessity. Amapi 7.52 supports a wide range of file formats for export. I have selected OBJ format for exporting geometry from Amapi; any worthwhile 3D rendering package will import it. So I'm building a library of objects that are not tied to a particular application. Today my workflow is --

-- model in Amapi 7.52
-- UV map and export texture templates in UV Mapper Pro 3.5b
-- colorize texture templates, create bump maps, other 2D work in Photoshop CS2
-- assemble, shade and render in Carrara 6.03

Tomorrow, who knows? New developments happen all the time. Amapi is a tool, not a religion . Right now, it is the very best tool I've ever used for modeling geometry and I won't quit using it until I'm sure I can switch to something better. The 7.52 version is very full-featured and stable. It may not be 8.0, but it's damn good and miles ahead of a lot of other modeling apps. Even if 8.0 never sees the light of day, I can keep Amapi 7.52 running for a long time on older hardware -- and maybe even under Vista on a newer platform.

So no reason for tears -- buy Amapi 7.52 while it's still available. Then get Marc Berry's superb video tutorial from VTC -- 13 hours worth of training -- and start using Amapi like Thomas intended:

http://www.vtc.com/products/Amapi-Pro-7.5-tutorials.htm

Then you can enjoy 3D modeling with a really great tool.

And Thomas, I never doubted you and the rest of the Amapi team would land elsewhere quickly; far too much talent to be left idle for long . It is rather unbelievable that whoever owns the rights to Amapi 8.0 would not proceed with a release; it appears as though the code was ready to ship. Perhaps someday it will, and if it does I will be one of the first to buy the upgrade -- but until then, a Very Big Thank You to you and the team for creating Amapi 7.52. No one serious about 3D modeling should overlook it!

[Thomas]

Thank you Patrick, I will send your kind words to all the Amapi Dev'Team members.

As I said previously, we all of us have a new job (not all together, but not far each others ;))

[ab]

We can see at the FAQ:


When is the next version of Amapi shipping?
A: While we can’t say the exact date, Amapi 8 Pro will ship in the first quarter of 2007.

great news !!!

[mayito7777]

My same words to all the Amapi Dev team Thomas, you guys have been the best and who knows what the future holds for you all. I know that God will open new doors for each one of you.

[dooki]

Hey all, just saw this thread.

The only thing I'd like to add is that I think I am bummed about both amapi AND hex. Infact, I was just mentioning this to a friend on WED. Such is business I guess but it is sad that both of these promising apps were cut at the knees.
I've moved on to modo and it's no HEX as far as ease of use. When I learned that the DAZ dev-members uses modo as well my heart really sunk. Anyway, a REAL bummer for both apps.

-Dooki