Blender would not really be an alternative as it does not provide support. Also, without a serious C++ api, its just not all that attractive for plug-ins. Lightwave at least provides these.
If only Blackmagic had bought the Foundry, and done what they did with Resolve and Fusion… maybe it’s still possible. In my dreams…
I keep seeing people dreaming of OTOY or Pixologix buying the Foundry. I do not know the value of the Foundry right now but it certainly must be higher than most of those “small” companies combined… Plus the fact that Carlyle wants profit will even raise the value.
Some companies do not care about customers
just my 2 million cents
Lets be realistic here, were talking £200mil here as a starting bid. BMD prolly paid for Fusion £20mil at most. Only players here are Autodesk and Adobe from the graphics world.
There’s only one thing for certain if Autodesk buys The Foundry: MODO will cost as much as a decent used car.
As much as I don’t like Modo, I hope for the users sake that Autodesk doesn’t buy them, as it will be a bad thing for the industry in general for them to both further their software monopoly, and because Autodesk aren’t a, ‘particularly’ awesome company that respects their customers, particularly if what happened to XSI is any indication.
I hope users of their software can find alternatives to other programs, or in an unlikely circumstance, The Foundry get bought by someone respectable.