Support NeoGAF

[XiaNaphryz]

http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/the_foundry_and_luxology_merge

Today, Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry, and Brad Peebler, president of Luxology announced the merger of the two computer graphics companies, bringing together The Foundry’s award- winning 2D and 3D visual effects software and Luxology’s unique 3D modeling and rendering technology together under one group umbrella. The new company’s flagship products are Nuke and Modo.

It’s a merger made in … Starbucks, it turns out. Specifically, the Starbucks down the sidewalk from Industrial Light & Magic on the Letterman Digital campus in San Francisco.

“We were invited to a meeting by John Knoll [vfx supervisor at ILM], a year ago,” Collis says. “John’s view of the world was that he loved the creativity and the artistic freedom in Modo, and he was getting good results out of Katana and Nuke, so if we could combine the two, artistic freedom and pipeline tools, it would be a powerful pipeline. He said, ‘If would be awesome if you guys could do that.’ We went, “Yes, of course it would,” and shuffled out the room backwards. Then, we went to Starbucks and realized that we could be friends. But, it would be even better if we could be one company.”

One year later finds them again on the ILM campus meeting with reporters to discuss the merger. The two company leaders see the blend providing advantages in marketing now and engineering and product development to come.

“We developed our core technology so that it can be integrated in other applications,” Peebler says. “So there are all kinds of things we could do. Our engineers have been going back and forth for nine months. The question is what we should do first.”

What they will do first reflects the philosophy of both sides of the new company. “Part of the fun of making this announcement is that we can now talk openly to our customers,” says Simon Robinson, chief scientist for The Foundry. “There’s a long road to travel to make these connections right between the products. We need to go and ask our customers what they want.”

As for marketing, the merger means The Foundry can leverage Luxology’s inroads into the game development and design industries, and Luxology can take advantage of The Foundry’s ties to film and broadcast. “As of this week, we’re sharing sales and marketing,” Collis says. “Product wise, we’ll still have separate products. But, people wise, where it makes sense, we’re sharing already.”

The dual focus on market segments gives both sides new freedom, and both intend to grow.

“The Foundry’s laser focus on visual effects frees us to give more attention to the design space,” Peebler says. “We were in a place where we were ready to expand. Now the timing is right. We’ve already posted some job openings online.”

Adds Robinson, “We have dabbled in their [design and game] markets, but it’s hard to dabble. Now, we can concentrate on our core visual effects focus. We expect to be over 200 people by the end of the year. It’s fun to be hiring in the current climate.”

Meanwhile, everything stays the same, with both sides of the companies intending to continue their open relationships with other vendors. Products stay the same. The sales channels remain the same. The websites stay the same.

“We’ll continue playing well with others,” Peebler says. “We’ve always had that philosophy and I know The Foundry does, too.” Even with the company that has a product line most similar to that of the new merged company?

“It will be fun to continue working with Autodesk as a partner and keeping them on their toes, too,” he says. “Competition is good.”

A more in-depth article on the merger at fxguide. A quick overview snippet from the article pasted below, but there's a whole lot more info at the link.

http://www.fxguide.com/featured/foundry-and-luxology-merge-fxg-exclusive/

The Foundry (Nuke, Mari, Katana) today announced it has merged with Luxology (Modo). The two companies are a very interesting fit in terms of technology and markets. The combined portfolio will open doors to new ways of working, providing artists and designers with increased creative choice, yet they only share about 10% of common customers. Modo is very accessible 3D, while Nuke dominates the high end feature film 2D compositing market. Luxology is known for a nearly heroic devotion to artists, and The Foundry is one of the most successful companies in the world at complex workflow pipelines that can handle anything anyone can throw at them.

In this article we talk to key members of the The Foundry and Luxology teams about what’s next, plus a group of VFX and industry on their thoughts of the merger.

Summary of facts as of today:

No staff cuts – actually they are hiring
No price changes
No EULA Changes
Bill Collis runs the company overall, Brad Peebler is President of the Americas
Modo dealers still sell modo but not Foundry products (unless they already do)
Foundry sales team to sell both products
Trial licenses and education licenses and programs remain the same and separate for now
R&D will continue or expand – and the two teams will work together, all R&D offices including Venice will stay open and continue
customer support not changing
Brad will still delight users with the Modcast (Luxology podcast) and his famous personal demo videos
Founders of both companies will own shares in the new company, (it is not a sell off or sell out)

The Foundry:

The Foundry is very well known throughout the film and effects community. Started as a plugin company, it grew into a powerhouse primarily on the strength of its purchase and successful expansion of Nuke, which is now the ‘go to’ compositor for most feature film and much general compositing.

Founded in 1996, the company has established itself as a critical partner to major feature film studios and post production houses worldwide including The Mill, ILM, The Moving Picture Company, Walt Disney Animation, Weta Digital, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain. The company’s products have been used to create effects sequences on a wide range of features, television projects and commercials. High profile examples include the 2012 Oscar winners, Hugo (Best Visual Effects) and Rango (Best Animated Feature Film) as well as the EMMY award-winning Boardwalk Empire. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded a Sci-Tech Award to The Foundry’s development team for the FURNACE image processing suite in 2007 – and Nuke separately also won a AMPAS Sci-Tech Award.

The product range is fleshed out by HIERO – the newest tool for conforming, Mari, a complete texturing solution, originally developed in house at Weta and Katana, a look dev and lighting solution – originally developed in house at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Backed by The Carlyle Group with a substantial portion still owned by the staff, The Foundry is run by its original management team, headed by Bill Collis.

Screenshot of Nuke.

Luxology:

Based in Mountain View, Calif., Luxology LLC is an technology company developing next-generation 3D content creation software that enhances productivity via artist-friendly tools. Founded in 2001 by Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson and Brad Peebler. Modo customers include ILM, Embassy Visual Effects, Smoke and Mirrors, Electronic Arts, Disney, Domain Domain and the key gaming customer Valve.

Screenshot of Modo.