Autodesk buys Mudbox - Polyloop

jbshorty · 6th August 2007, 17:12

I just read that Autodesk has bought Mudbox from Skymatter. Wow! they sold it off before reaching version 2. I'll bet they got paid a TON of money for it. I wonder who will be gobbled up next...

shorty

Sketchy · 6th August 2007, 17:21

There used to be a rumor that Autodesk was proposing to buy @Last's SketchUp years ago. Obviously, Google gobbled it up before they did. I wouldn't be surprised if Autodesk has thought of buying Amapi, too, to be able to compete with McNeel's Rhino. Personally, I regard these high-profile apps as some kind of real estate properties. Over the years they increase in value. I'd guess that there's a bidding war going on behind the scenes. Nope, efrontier won't be losing any money after hiring and firing the Amapi team, imo. They'll recoup their investment eventually.

jbshorty · 6th August 2007, 17:49

mmm... Autodesk already has Inventor and VIZ, so i think that covers them in the Rhino battle. Actually Rhino 4 is getting big attention in Autodesk's archviz market, and they're developing a 2D/3D parametric building plug-in. That will be an interesting territory struggle in the next 2-3 years... You're very right about software. It's just another commodity to be bought/sold like anything else. Hey, if the price of pork bellies drops low enough then maybe i can buy out Amapi from E-Frontier

shorty

Sketchy · 6th August 2007, 17:59

Inventor is a parametric SOLID modeler, which is different from a NURBS Surface modeler like Rhino. VIZ is a stripped-down version of 3ds max, ie, same UI, but without the animation features.

jbshorty · 6th August 2007, 18:19

in that case, i don't see where Amapi would be a good acquistion for Autodesk. There is a huge gap between Rhino's surfacing abilites and that of Amapi's...

Sketchy · 6th August 2007, 18:34

True. When it comes to NURBS, Rhino 4 still beats Amapi feature for feature. Anyways, whatever gains they will have acquiring all these apps (Maya and Max included), it's still a drop in the bucket compared to their flagship, AutoCAD.

Thomas · 6th August 2007, 19:15

IMHO, Skmatter was far to reach its sells targets and had no more money to continue and has been on sale. Not very expensive for Autodesk budget (perhaps I'm completely wrong

)

gugesbri · 6th August 2007, 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas

IMHO, Skmatter was far to reach its sells targets and had no more money to continue and has been on sale. Not very expensive for Autodesk budget (perhaps I'm completely wrong

)

Your not wrong Thomas
3d is a tough industry.
There is no "industry standard" and due to that fact, it is hard to sell to such a specialized audience.
We've all seen many 3d companies come and go, many ownership changes.

jbshorty · 6th August 2007, 20:23

Yup. considering that Mudbox was a one-trick pony, it was very expensive. MUCH more expensive than ZB if you average the cost over time, and also feature versus feature. And now every modeling package is developing their own sculpt/paint tools anyway. I didn't like Skymatter's policy of "selling" tech support on their already overpriced software. That idea is losing popularity these days (outside of the manufacturing sector), and i think that's a great thing. If MB sales were down, it was a good time for them to get out while Mudbox technology still has some value...

shorty

Sketchy · 6th August 2007, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbshorty

And now every modeling package is developing their own sculpt/paint tools anyway.

That figures. It's probably cheaper for Autodesk to buy Mudbox than develop such features from scratch.

sadot · 7th August 2007, 01:33

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...&siteID=123112

transient · 7th August 2007, 04:25

Maybe we should start taking bets on who they will acquire next? I think Vue would be a nice addition to their collection. Maybe Right Hemisphere's products would be on their radar as well.

Amapi would make sense too, but I don't see it happening. Amapi still hasn't been officially abandoned by e-frontier yet in any case.

Autodesk are becoming the microsoft of 3d and post-processing software. I hope this doesn't spell the doom of the smaller guys in the long-term.

Nate Owens · 7th August 2007, 05:46

Hexagon, Amapi, Mudbox...
3D is a crazy world. It seems to flip-flop and hop around like some spastic rabid cwazy wabbit ....

I'm beginning to like my pencil and paper more and more.
Or maybe I'll just go fishing.

juanmanuel · 7th August 2007, 07:46

I think they won't buy Rhino, or Amapi, or MOI for that matter. They have Studio Tools.
But with so much money on their budget, who knows?

tonytrout · 7th August 2007, 08:56

Bugger, I bet mudbox just got more expensive.

Pete Exxtreme · 7th August 2007, 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate Owens

Hexagon, Amapi, Mudbox...
3D is a crazy world. It seems to flip-flop and hop around like some spastic rabid cwazy wabbit ....

I'm beginning to like my pencil and paper more and more.
Or maybe I'll just go fishing.

...and don't forget that Autodesk is not only 3dsMAx but they've already bought Maya some times ago ....

Nate Owens · 7th August 2007, 14:40

Not forgotten.
Depressing.
Gobble, gobble, gobble...
There are a few left for those of us who have certain needs that don't include buying the whole farm. I'll continue using those and hope that they will be upgraded and improved.
I think Mud set itself up for this sort of thing from the beginning in a few smart moves... including a price point that proved to the big giant that they were indeed a tasty morsel for bait.
Nothing wrong with this business model.

Piem · 7th August 2007, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Exxtreme

...and don't forget that Autodesk ..bought Maya some times ago ....

yeah. It could be interresting to know if they killed maya or if both applications are still following the same footprints.
(example: Adobe bought Macromedia (so dreamweaver) -> adobe killed Golive).

Is there some commercial statistics ?

transient · 7th August 2007, 15:03

I think the great thing about buying maya from an Autodesk perspective was that it killed Max's greatest competition in the real-time market.

Consensus on cgtalk seems to be that Austodesk hasn't really done too much with maya since they bought it.

Also the upgrade price for Maya2008 is $900!

That's not much less than I've spent on all my graphics applications. No thanks...

gugesbri · 7th August 2007, 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate Owens

Hexagon, Amapi, Mudbox...
3D is a crazy world. It seems to flip-flop and hop around like some spastic rabid cwazy wabbit ....

I'm beginning to like my pencil and paper more and more.
Or maybe I'll just go fishing.

I agree with you Nate. As much as I love tech, pencil to paper is something that can not be traded, transfered or purchased without our consent.

I will continue to use 2d and 3d tools, but, true liberation comes from not having to rely on these companies for creativity and producing wonderful content.

6th August 2007, 17:12	#1 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,314 Images: 1	Autodesk buys Mudbox I just read that Autodesk has bought Mudbox from Skymatter. Wow! they sold it off before reaching version 2. I'll bet they got paid a TON of money for it. I wonder who will be gobbled up next... shorty

6th August 2007, 19:15	#7 (permalink)
Thomas Always learning new stuff Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Merignac, France Posts: 11,092 Images: 93	IMHO, Skmatter was far to reach its sells targets and had no more money to continue and has been on sale. Not very expensive for Autodesk budget (perhaps I'm completely wrong ) __________________ Polyloop owner & Administrator - no support by PM or email. Polyloop [EN/FR] - Meuuh [FR +16 ans] - Totyo [FR] - Pixologic [JOB] - Le ZBlog [JOB] - La3dpourlesnuls [FR]

7th August 2007, 01:33	#11 (permalink)
sadot yeah! thats my name Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Mexico City Posts: 716 Images: 9	http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...&siteID=123112 __________________ el mundo se crea un polígono a la vez

7th August 2007, 05:46	#13 (permalink)
Nate Owens Doodlin' Dude Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Carolina, USA Posts: 983 Images: 11	Hexagon, Amapi, Mudbox... 3D is a crazy world. It seems to flip-flop and hop around like some spastic rabid cwazy wabbit .... I'm beginning to like my pencil and paper more and more. Or maybe I'll just go fishing. __________________ Portfolio / Shirts, MousePads, Stuff / The Gallery / Videos

7th August 2007, 07:46	#14 (permalink)
juanmanuel Madly in love Join Date: May 2006 Location: Puebla, Mexico Posts: 241 Images: 2	I think they won't buy Rhino, or Amapi, or MOI for that matter. They have Studio Tools. But with so much money on their budget, who knows? __________________ passionately alive This is my blog This is my portfolio

6th August 2007, 17:21	#2 (permalink)
Sketchy Box modeling Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 317	There used to be a rumor that Autodesk was proposing to buy @Last's SketchUp years ago. Obviously, Google gobbled it up before they did. I wouldn't be surprised if Autodesk has thought of buying Amapi, too, to be able to compete with McNeel's Rhino. Personally, I regard these high-profile apps as some kind of real estate properties. Over the years they increase in value. I'd guess that there's a bidding war going on behind the scenes. Nope, efrontier won't be losing any money after hiring and firing the Amapi team, imo. They'll recoup their investment eventually.

6th August 2007, 17:49	#3 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,314 Images: 1	mmm... Autodesk already has Inventor and VIZ, so i think that covers them in the Rhino battle. Actually Rhino 4 is getting big attention in Autodesk's archviz market, and they're developing a 2D/3D parametric building plug-in. That will be an interesting territory struggle in the next 2-3 years... You're very right about software. It's just another commodity to be bought/sold like anything else. Hey, if the price of pork bellies drops low enough then maybe i can buy out Amapi from E-Frontier shorty

6th August 2007, 17:59	#4 (permalink)
Sketchy Box modeling Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 317	Inventor is a parametric SOLID modeler, which is different from a NURBS Surface modeler like Rhino. VIZ is a stripped-down version of 3ds max, ie, same UI, but without the animation features.

6th August 2007, 18:19	#5 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,314 Images: 1	in that case, i don't see where Amapi would be a good acquistion for Autodesk. There is a huge gap between Rhino's surfacing abilites and that of Amapi's...

6th August 2007, 18:34	#6 (permalink)
Sketchy Box modeling Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 317	True. When it comes to NURBS, Rhino 4 still beats Amapi feature for feature. Anyways, whatever gains they will have acquiring all these apps (Maya and Max included), it's still a drop in the bucket compared to their flagship, AutoCAD.

6th August 2007, 20:23	#9 (permalink)
jbshorty proud to be a nurb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: only in your mind Posts: 1,314 Images: 1	Yup. considering that Mudbox was a one-trick pony, it was very expensive. MUCH more expensive than ZB if you average the cost over time, and also feature versus feature. And now every modeling package is developing their own sculpt/paint tools anyway. I didn't like Skymatter's policy of "selling" tech support on their already overpriced software. That idea is losing popularity these days (outside of the manufacturing sector), and i think that's a great thing. If MB sales were down, it was a good time for them to get out while Mudbox technology still has some value... shorty

7th August 2007, 04:25	#12 (permalink)
transient Extrusion Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 164	Maybe we should start taking bets on who they will acquire next? I think Vue would be a nice addition to their collection. Maybe Right Hemisphere's products would be on their radar as well. Amapi would make sense too, but I don't see it happening. Amapi still hasn't been officially abandoned by e-frontier yet in any case. Autodesk are becoming the microsoft of 3d and post-processing software. I hope this doesn't spell the doom of the smaller guys in the long-term.

7th August 2007, 08:56	#15 (permalink)
tonytrout Pixar want to hire me! Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Aotearoa Land of the long white cloud. Posts: 581	Bugger, I bet mudbox just got more expensive.

7th August 2007, 14:40	#17 (permalink)
Nate Owens Doodlin' Dude Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Carolina, USA Posts: 983 Images: 11	Not forgotten. Depressing. Gobble, gobble, gobble... There are a few left for those of us who have certain needs that don't include buying the whole farm. I'll continue using those and hope that they will be upgraded and improved. I think Mud set itself up for this sort of thing from the beginning in a few smart moves... including a price point that proved to the big giant that they were indeed a tasty morsel for bait. Nothing wrong with this business model. __________________ Portfolio / Shirts, MousePads, Stuff / The Gallery / Videos

7th August 2007, 15:03	#19 (permalink)
transient Extrusion Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 164	I think the great thing about buying maya from an Autodesk perspective was that it killed Max's greatest competition in the real-time market. Consensus on cgtalk seems to be that Austodesk hasn't really done too much with maya since they bought it. Also the upgrade price for Maya2008 is $900! That's not much less than I've spent on all my graphics applications. No thanks...

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