Softimage 3D
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Screenshot of Softimage|3D 3.9.2
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| Developer(s) | Softimage, Co. |
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| Initial release | 1988 |
| Stable release |
4.0 / August 2001
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| Operating system | Windows NT, IRIX |
| Type | 3D computer graphics |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | softimage |
Softimage|3D is a discontinued high-end 3D graphics application developed by Softimage, Co., which was used predominantly in the film, broadcasting, gaming, and advertising industries for the production of 3D animation. It was superseded by Softimage XSI in 2000.
In 1986 National Film Board of Canada filmmaker Daniel Langlois, in partnership with software engineers Richard Mercille and Laurent Lauzon, began developing an integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering package with a graphical interface suited for visual artists. The software was initially demonstrated at Siggraph in 1988 and was released for Silicon Graphics workstations as the Softimage Creative Environment. Its character animation tools expanded substantially with the addition of inverse kinematics in the second release, which was used to animate the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
Softimage Creative Environment was adopted by major visual effects studios like Industrial Light and Magic and Digital Domain for use in their production pipelines, which also typically included software from Alias and Pixar as well as a variety of custom tools. In 1994, Microsoft acquired Softimage, Co. with the intention of bringing high-end 3D animation software to its burgeoning Windows NT platform, and subsequently rechristened it "Softimage|3D." In January 1995, Softimage|3D was announced as the official 3D development tool for the Sega Saturn.
The first Windows port of Softimage|3D, version 3.0, was released in early 1996. Softimage|3D Extreme 3.5, released later that year, included particle effects and the mental ray renderer, which offered area lights, ray tracing, and other advanced features. 3D paint functionality was added a year later in version 3.7.
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