Goodbye Caligari...

So while this is old news if you're in the 3D world, it's still sad for me: Caligari Truespace is no more.

Microsoft, who bought them to try to be like Google (with it's buy-out of Sketchup) or something, is now pulling the plug on the whole thing.

While I stopped using it a looong time ago, it was the software that really got me started on 3D in general. Teaching myself how to use a bootleg copy of Caligari on my old beloved Amiga 2000 played a rather large role in my future. The ability to edit complex (for the time) 3D models in perspective with gestural input really made me fall harder for what one could produce creatively with a computer, instead of learning more about the computer itself via programming or electronics.

When Caligari went to Windows with Truespace I followed, and owned my own copy that I did a fair amount of work with. Solid models in AutoCAD R14, export to Truespace, and render away.

Last version I used was Truespace 5, which while great in some ways I remember being somewhat buggy and crashing a lot. Once Revit came out I switched and never went back, for it as more stable and faster while producing pretty much the same quality. And then I got into Blender, and that was that.

But anyways, thanks Caligari, for showing me that computers could be used as creative tools and inspiring me to do something neat with them!