magneto Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Houdini -> Toronto, Canada Maya -> Toronto, Canada Max -> Montreal, Canada Softimage XSI -> Montreal, Canada Is it the water or something else? I don't know if Autodesk moved the development of some of these to other countries though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambuev Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Nothing else to do in Canada. Canada does not produce any world products, at least it has developers, mostly immigrants. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mantragora Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 On the other hand, is there any Game Engine made in Canada? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magneto Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 On the other hand, is there any Game Engine made in Canada? Sure lots Anvil from Ubisoft, Evolution Engine from Digital Extremes, Eclipse from Bioware, etc. I am sure there are many others but I don't think game engines are condensed in a particular country unless you consider EU as one, then you would have CryEngine and Frostbite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mantragora Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I'm talking about engines that are available for more than just company that invented it. Do you have free access to Evolution, Eclipse? No. It's like talking about tools that are developed in-house and are not available outside to anyone. Unity, UDK, CryEngine, those are freely available and none of it is made in Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magneto Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 I think you can license Eclipse but not sure. But all those mainstream game engines are developed all across the world, so it's hard to see pattern there There is also Panta Rhei from Capcom but I don't know where it's developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symek Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I'm talking about engines that are available for more than just company that invented it. Do you have free access to Evolution, Eclipse? No. It's like talking about tools that are developed in-house and are not available outside to anyone. Unity, UDK, CryEngine, those are freely available and none of it is made in Canada. You actually haven't referred to commercial available game engines in your question, so I wound consider magneto answer valid. I wouldn't also call UDK nor CryEngine freely available, as they cost lots of money. Also any engine, including those made in Canada, can be commercialize any time, so this distinction is meaningless. When it comes to Canada superiority in 3d software development I would dig into tax policy of Qubec and Ontario (specially those from 25 years ago) + see why Waterloo was so ahead in 3d studies 30 yest ago... Sometimes such mystery has a simple explanation of single freak professor who rised 40 pioneers before anyone else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybar Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I am sure there are many others but I don't think game engines are condensed in a particular country unless you consider EU as one, then you would have CryEngine and Frostbite Frostbite is Swedish, although they have a second office in... guess where? Canada! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mantragora Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 (edited) Based on list Magneto posted I thought it's clear that we are talking about commercial software. I wouldn't also call UDK nor CryEngine freely available, as they cost lots of money.. All three are free for anyone to download and make their own game. Just like Houdini Apprentice. If you wan't to sell game, UDK is 99 for license as long as you don't make more than $50,000. Unity Basic version(this without possibility to output on iOS, Android and advanced shadows) is free to use and sell games. I'm not sure how it looks for CryEngine. But all those mainstream game engines are developed all across the world, so it's hard to see pattern there There is a pattern. They are not made in Canada Edited December 7, 2013 by mantragora Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magneto Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 I would dig into tax policy of Qubec and Ontario (specially those from 25 years ago) + see why Waterloo was so ahead in 3d studies 30 yest ago... Sometimes such mystery has a simple explanation of single freak professor who rised 40 pioneers before anyone else. That's actually very plausible. Something like that could definitely spur that kind of development. Frostbite is Swedish, although they have a second office in... guess where? Canada! Oh yes I knew FB was from Sweden. Definitely very high quality engine and the editor was all written in C#, which is pretty smart IMO. So there is more to Sweden than hot blondes and IKEA There is a pattern. They are not made in Canada That's an anti-pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csp Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) I can not answer why Canada and not the rest of the world but I can answer why Canada and not US. Actually the following simple answer came from my professor Peter Comninos in Bournemouth University while I was student there. To develop a software that complex and big as is a complete 3D package you need to invest years of work and your money before you start making any money out of it. As similar Canada and US may be, their cultures have some key differences. It's hard to imagine that the private sector in US will invest in a new idea with so many risks and not immediate profit. Saying that, most of the first big steps in computer graphics came from US (from people like Sutherland, Blinn, Catmull etc.) but it was the public sector that gave space, time and money (as always) for experimentation, Universities and Army. There is an exception to that rule, Steve Jobs' investment to PIXAR but is not strictly related to the development of 3D software. Edited December 9, 2013 by cparliaros 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra62 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Houdini -> Toronto, Canada Maya -> Toronto, Canada Max -> Montreal, Canada Softimage XSI -> Montreal, Canada Is it the water or something else? I don't know if Autodesk moved the development of some of these to other countries though. you forgot Fabric Engine -> Montreal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symek Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I can not answer why Canada and not the rest of the world but I can answer why Canada and not US. (...) Might be partially true. Although pioneers from US were actually involved in 3d development, just not commercially available, since they were hired by studios to develop in-house. That has left space for others and the question rises why Canada, apparently as very few countries at that time, was so ahead in computer graphics, that it could produce good conditions for that development. Today it's obvious, it's all related to entertainment industry, but 30 years ago its practicality was questionable I guess. Perhaps this has something to do with National Film Board of Canada and strong tradition in animation? Who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mantragora Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Oh, and while we are at this, service packs != development. So the only top animation 3D package that you can say - is developed - is Houdini, Maya/3DSMax/Softimage doesn't count Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfdan Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) Oh, and while we are at this, service packs != development. So the only top animation 3D package that you can say - is developed - is Houdini, Maya/3DSMax/Softimage doesn't count But they're not Canadian any more Edited December 9, 2013 by halfdan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magneto Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 Looks like I wasn't the only one who wondered about this http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=647432 Jeremy's comment is pretty logical I think. Symek's assumption is also mentioned there. Also strong SESI presence in that thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Perhaps this has something to do with National Film Board of Canada and strong tradition in animation? Who knows... There's this nice website of CG history for those who haven't seen it: http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/lessons.html On Canada, it mentions: National Research Council of Canada scientist Nestor Burtnyk started Canada's first substantive computer graphics research project in the 1960s. Marceli Wein, who joined this same project in 1966, had been exposed to the potential of computer imaging while studying at McGill University. He teamed up with Burtnyk to pursue the promising field of applying evolving computer techniques to animation.... This led to a more substantial collaboration on a 10-minute feature called Hunger/La Faim about world hunger and about rich and poor countries. It took Foldes and his NRC partners a year and a half to make, and in 1974 it became the first computer-animated movie to be nominated for an Academy Award as best short. In terms of commercial software, it has this to say about what has become the major packages of today: http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/lesson8.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordibares Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Cold is the key factor here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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