Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from Ontario) has
been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in Dominica (a
Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican Republic).

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/

I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he pioneered is
apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in major films. He sold
the business to Microsoft some year ago so wasn't active in the film
business at the time of his death.

Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film animation or
is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
> confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from Ontario) has
> been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in Dominica (a
> Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican Republic).
>
> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/
>
> I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he pioneered is
> apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in major films. He sold
> the business to Microsoft some year ago so wasn't active in the film
> business at the time of his death.
>
> Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film animation or
> is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?
>

Softimage (rhymes with homage) was a big deal back in the 20th century.
Although it tended to be something people talked about more than something
people actually used. Our local representative was a crook who sold the
software on SGI computer platforms, primarily to churches somehow
convincing them, they’d make a bundle by making their own animation. But he
was somehow cracking the hardware and/or software. I remember investigators
coming around asking questions and him fleeing the country.

Wikipedia has a list of motion pictures it was used in. There’s nothing
from the 21st century. Also, since they made editing software, there’s no
way to know what they actually did in any of those movies.

Autodesk swallowed it up and as they typically do destroyed it Either
through incompetence or intentionally.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 03:11:59 -0700
anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> > Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
> > confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from Ontario)
> > has been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in Dominica (a
> > Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican Republic).
> >
> > https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/
> >
> > I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he pioneered
> > is apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in major films.
> > He sold the business to Microsoft some year ago so wasn't active in
> > the film business at the time of his death.
> >
> > Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film animation
> > or is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?
> >
>
> Softimage (rhymes with homage) was a big deal back in the 20th
> century. Although it tended to be something people talked about more
> than something people actually used. Our local representative was a
> crook who sold the software on SGI computer platforms, primarily to
> churches somehow convincing them, they’d make a bundle by making
> their own animation. But he was somehow cracking the hardware and/or
> software. I remember investigators coming around asking questions and
> him fleeing the country.
>
> Wikipedia has a list of motion pictures it was used in. There’s
> nothing from the 21st century. Also, since they made editing
> software, there’s no way to know what they actually did in any of
> those movies.
>
> Autodesk swallowed it up and as they typically do destroyed it Either
> through incompetence or intentionally.
>
So SoftImage was essentially yesterday's news: it had its day in
the sun but is no big deal today. I knew you'd know about it :-)

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 03:11:59 -0700
> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>> Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
>>> confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from Ontario)
>>> has been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in Dominica (a
>>> Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican Republic).
>>>
>>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/
>>>
>>> I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he pioneered
>>> is apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in major films.
>>> He sold the business to Microsoft some year ago so wasn't active in
>>> the film business at the time of his death.
>>>
>>> Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film animation
>>> or is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?
>>>
>>
>> Softimage (rhymes with homage) was a big deal back in the 20th
>> century. Although it tended to be something people talked about more
>> than something people actually used. Our local representative was a
>> crook who sold the software on SGI computer platforms, primarily to
>> churches somehow convincing them, they’d make a bundle by making
>> their own animation. But he was somehow cracking the hardware and/or
>> software. I remember investigators coming around asking questions and
>> him fleeing the country.
>>
>> Wikipedia has a list of motion pictures it was used in. There’s
>> nothing from the 21st century. Also, since they made editing
>> software, there’s no way to know what they actually did in any of
>> those movies.
>>
>> Autodesk swallowed it up and as they typically do destroyed it Either
>> through incompetence or intentionally.
>>
> So SoftImage was essentially yesterday's news: it had its day in
> the sun but is no big deal today. I knew you'd know about it :-)
>

I’m not sure how I should take that…

:-)

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 23:24:46 -0700
anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 03:11:59 -0700
> > anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> >>> Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
> >>> confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from
> >>> Ontario) has been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in
> >>> Dominica (a Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican
> >>> Republic).
> >>>
> >>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/
> >>>
> >>> I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he
> >>> pioneered is apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in
> >>> major films. He sold the business to Microsoft some year ago so
> >>> wasn't active in the film business at the time of his death.
> >>>
> >>> Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film
> >>> animation or is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?
> >>>
> >>
> >> Softimage (rhymes with homage) was a big deal back in the 20th
> >> century. Although it tended to be something people talked about
> >> more than something people actually used. Our local representative
> >> was a crook who sold the software on SGI computer platforms,
> >> primarily to churches somehow convincing them, they’d make a
> >> bundle by making their own animation. But he was somehow cracking
> >> the hardware and/or software. I remember investigators coming
> >> around asking questions and him fleeing the country.
> >>
> >> Wikipedia has a list of motion pictures it was used in. There’s
> >> nothing from the 21st century. Also, since they made editing
> >> software, there’s no way to know what they actually did in any of
> >> those movies.
> >>
> >> Autodesk swallowed it up and as they typically do destroyed it
> >> Either through incompetence or intentionally.
> >>
> > So SoftImage was essentially yesterday's news: it had its day in
> > the sun but is no big deal today. I knew you'd know about it :-)
> >
>
> I’m not sure how I should take that…
>
>
> :-)
>

I just meant that as a professional animator, you'd know about
SoftImage. I didn't mean to imply that you only knew about obsolete
tech, although I can see how someone might read it that way.... :-)

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 23:24:46 -0700
> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 03:11:59 -0700
>>> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>>>> Daniel Langlois, a software entrepreneur from Quebec, (not to be
>>>>> confused with legendary music producer Daniel Lanois, from
>>>>> Ontario) has been murdered along with his (romantic) partner in
>>>>> Dominica (a Caribbean Island often confused with the Dominican
>>>>> Republic).
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-daniel-langlois-dominique-marchand-death/
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd never heard of this guy but the SoftImage software he
>>>>> pioneered is apparently the heart of a lot of animation used in
>>>>> major films. He sold the business to Microsoft some year ago so
>>>>> wasn't active in the film business at the time of his death.
>>>>>
>>>>> Aside to anim: is SoftImage really that important in film
>>>>> animation or is the CBC just trying to inflate his importance?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Softimage (rhymes with homage) was a big deal back in the 20th
>>>> century. Although it tended to be something people talked about
>>>> more than something people actually used. Our local representative
>>>> was a crook who sold the software on SGI computer platforms,
>>>> primarily to churches somehow convincing them, they’d make a
>>>> bundle by making their own animation. But he was somehow cracking
>>>> the hardware and/or software. I remember investigators coming
>>>> around asking questions and him fleeing the country.
>>>>
>>>> Wikipedia has a list of motion pictures it was used in. There’s
>>>> nothing from the 21st century. Also, since they made editing
>>>> software, there’s no way to know what they actually did in any of
>>>> those movies.
>>>>
>>>> Autodesk swallowed it up and as they typically do destroyed it
>>>> Either through incompetence or intentionally.
>>>>
>>> So SoftImage was essentially yesterday's news: it had its day in
>>> the sun but is no big deal today. I knew you'd know about it :-)
>>>
>>
>> I’m not sure how I should take that…
>>
>>
>> :-)
>>
>
> I just meant that as a professional animator, you'd know about
> SoftImage. I didn't mean to imply that you only knew about obsolete
> tech, although I can see how someone might read it that way.... :-)
>
>

:D

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.