Re: What do you think...

Hi....

I certainly wouldn't worry too much about it affecting AE. Not because you can't do VFX work in AE...more because ppl who know that layer based workflow almost universally hate node based systems....so they won't be jumping on to Shake no matter how cheap it is.

Combustion on the other hand.....

my predicition is that people on the Mac will have a very hard time differentiating between the two and will probably just buy Shake because it is cheaper...And because it comes from Apple.

The only counter I can see is that if they dig into it and see that Apple has essentially EOL'd Shake with this release, then they might think twice before buying in....but the sexy Apple marketing machine is some sweet tasting Kool-Aid that is hard to pass up for Mac Users.

However, considering the rather anemic marketing efforts that Autodesk M&E puts behind combustion I have a feeling that it will continue to plod along in the market place with its dedicated fans, but probably not garner any serious migration, even if they were to drop the price to match Apple's gauntlet (which I hope they DON'T do).

As I've said before, there seems tpo be this ripple efect that when the tools get cheaper and is widely distributed, the assumption is that now because the tools are everywhere, every artist is somehow equal and this seems to drive the down the wages of the talent pool too. UGH....(but I digress)...

I've just downloaded the Fusion 5 Learning Edition and am starting to look thru the courseware.

For Motion GFX work...Boris Blue seems worth a look too. Pretty Sexy.

I STILL LOVE COMBUSTION!! :)

My .02

Alex