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Alias In Acquisition Talks With Private Equity Firm

Posted by simoniker on from the sydney-goes-to-hollywood dept.

TeachingMachines writes "Alias, the makers of the venerable Maya 3D animation and effects software, have announced their possible sale to an unnamed 3rd party, described as a 'leading private equity investment firm'. Alias is currently owned by SGI, and the transaction is still considered to be tentative. I, for one, hope that SGI holds onto Alias, as in its current state it is arguably the best 3D modelling and animation suite available, and it is available for Linux. Cross your fingers..."

7 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Adobe? Apple? by infowants · · Score: 3, Informative

    Rumour has it Adobe and Apple are looking to scoop up Avid...

  2. Not just great software, but a great business too by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think Maya is one of the most revolutionary products in software history not just for its tech capabilities, but the way they sell it.

    To curb piracy of their full value product, they released a Personal Learn Edition that made all the features of the full product available, but put on a watermark that made the output useless for commercial use and encrypted the saved files so that the commerical version would not open them. Those who designed something and then sold it, however, could send their encrypted file in when they purchase their license to get it converted to a file their full version could open and output without the watermark. They also offered a $20 how-to DVD for those who wanted to learn the program with a minimal outlay of money.

    They also made what could be the most dramatic price cut in software history, knocking their entry-level product's price from $7,500 to $1,999 and taking their high-level product from $16,000 to $7000. Clearly, they made it up on volume.

    So, not only was this a great technical program, but it became priced so that even moderately-funded producers could afford the program, and therefore made it accessable to the people who needed it. I just hope these unnamed investors don't raise the prices back to where they were...

  3. So in short ... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Informative

    their possible sale to an unnamed 3rd party, described as a 'leading private equity investment firm'. Alias is currently owned by SGI, and the transaction is still considered to be tentative ... SGI announced that they don't know if they'll sell Maya to somebody.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Apple or Microsoft? by Steven+Reddie · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wouldn't surprise me if it's Apple or Microsoft. If it is there's a good chance that the Linux version will be dropped.

    It really pissed me off that Apple bought out Emagic and dropped the Windows version of Logic Audio that I've been using and have invested heavily in for years.

    Microsoft did a similar thing with SourceSafe when they purchased it from One Tree Software years ago and then dropped all but the Windows version. I believe they may have Unix clients available these days but I've swtiched to CVS anyway.

    Not that I'm criticising these guys for doing what makes the most business sense for them, but it does end up burning current users.

  5. Re:I hope not! by daviddennis · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not quite. If my memory serves, with Shake they kept the SGI and Linux versions and dumped the Windows version. They also halved the price of the MacOS X version, so you could get it and a "free" fully loaded G5 for less than the cost of a copy of the software alone for the other platforms.

    I hope they do buy it. They've done amazing things with Final Cut Pro, and if they halved the price of Maya, I just might buy it even just to dabble with it.

    D

  6. Umm, StudioTools people by paradesign · · Score: 3, Informative
    Alias is also the maker of the premier design CAD package, StudioTools. It is used be nearly every automotive design center as well as most product studios. In the world of industrial design, it is god-like.

    see here

    I think that with Apple's 64bit systems, they can give the likes of Sun and SGI a run for their money, hardware wise. StudioTools does run on windows x86, just not as well. Both Maya (then Power Animator) and StudioTools started life in IRIX, which is what made Maya such an easy port to OSX (i think it only took 2 months). Apple would love to enter the 3D workstation market and id love to see them, because StudioTools is the only program that i need to keep a wintel box around for.

    there were rumors at the end of summer that Alias was working on a StudioTools port to OSX, but i havent heard anything since.

    --
    I want 2D games back.
  7. Linux alternatives by stew77 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Good high-end alternatives that are also available on Linux are Softimage XSI and Houdini. Both offer free evaluation/learning versions like Maya PLE, with the exception that they're available for Linux x86 too.

    Another interesting commercial 3D suite available for Linux is Realsoft 3D, and it's a lot cheaper than Maya or the programs mentioned before.