Softimage/XSI 4: Softimage expands the feature set of XSI, bolstering productivity.

Version 4 is likely the most substantial upgrade Softimage|XSI has seen, and the new release contains a wealth of new features and improvements that adds significantly to the depth of the software.

One new feature is the competitive price. The costs of XSI Advanced, Essentials, and Foundations have been cut by more than half. The three packages sport incrementally more features, with Foundation having enough power to tackle most basic design and game animation work. XSI Essentials adds subdivision surfaces and advanced character animation, as well as soft- and rigid-body dynamics. XSI Advanced has the full feature set, including a superb new cloth module by Syflex--probably the most realistic cloth simulator on the market today.

XSI installs fairly easily, but it is the first package I've seen in a while that still requires a dongle. Users will find the interface essentially the same as the previous version, but with some nice enhancements. Customization is made easier with advances in user-defined layouts. Layouts are XML-based, making resizing windows and customizing the interface easier. A new organization feature, Shelves, enables users to store models, textures, sounds, and other assorted media in a floating window. Ghosting is significantly improved; users can ghost even complex tasks, such as simulations.

An interesting interface feature, Custom Display Host allows users to run virtually any third-party application within XSI. It's particularly useful for game designers who want to test games within a viewport.

Softimage has incorporated a 2D paint engine in XSI. Housed in XSI's built-in compositor, the paint engine supports vector and raster paint--great for doing anything from wire removal to creating textures. Although the paint tools are not as robust as those in Adobe's Photoshop, brushes and parameters can be animated, allowing for lots of great effects.

Rendering in XSI is improved by Mental Ray Version 3.3, which offers faster motion blur. Another bonus, Softimage doubled the amount of Mental Ray render nodes that ship with the package. Interface improvements include a mode that allows for quick rendering of final gathers, improving work flow for those using global illumination.

One of the best new rendering features is the ability to create materials libraries. Materials can be organized in groups, making them easier to store and transport. More important, the XSI interface finally allows for ...