There is a fight going on between Softimage users,FabricEngineand Autodesk employees. It is not so much Softimage users fighting Autodesk employees, it is everyone within each group fighting everyone.
I can see one left standing, the one I don't foresee standing well currently isFabricEngine, and I don't foresee it gaining ground either, things could turn around, but I feel it failed at launch. It doesn't matter what few studios have adopted the technology, it will turn into a fad that like with many things and will fade away.
With the recent annoucement of Modo 801 those sitting on the fence not knowing what camp to join wait for Modo, as I believe it will either make it or break it. As in it will either remain as a dedicated modeller or it will expand with a bright future.
Otherwise there will be only one left standing, and the answer is right in front of everyone.
I think.. those who stick with SI will probably invest in Fabric Engine to help either develop SI's abilities with Splice, or to help unify workflow between different apps.
I am sure Modo 801 will be a valid contender to things, also Cinema 4D, and even Blender. I am sure Maya and 3Dsmax, just because it's the industry workhorse will always be strong for quite some time. I just hope there will still be other developers who will work together to make the generalist engine - one that even goes down making games and with node based programming like ICE for the general artist to compete. Blender is heading down that way, and I am sure the code heavy Fabric Engine, if they make it that much more user friendly, will also succeed.
Even Modo 801, but I have no idea what they would have in store.
it is sad to see a product like SI just leave the market and the competition, giving it's concepts, tools and ideology in workflow that certainly still revolutionizes things - even if it doesn't have GPU based particles and viewport.
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