Softimage Co. (a subsidiary of Avid Technology Inc) & Maya Academy Of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) recently announced the launch of the Softimage | XSI learning program, the first extensive and dedicated learning program for SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® digital content creation software.

MAAC students can now get to learn the best of tools implemented in Softimage | XSI. As a starter the learning program will first begin at MAAC's Mumbai Head office and will be launched across their major centers across India in a phased manner.

In addition to the already established 3d content creation software like Autodesk's 3ds max and Alias Maya, MAAC now also includes XSI in their 3D animation offerings.

MAAC and Softimage would work closely with each other along with studios who use Softimage | XSI in their production pipeline and bring out the best trained professionals based on the industry requirements. Currently MAAC offers a 4 month course for learning Softimage XSI both for beginners and professionals.

In addition to a broad range of new features, SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.0 includes the GATOR attribute transfer system for re-purposing properties and animation between models; native 64-bit support for XSI and mental ray® 3.4 software to create and render extremely complex scenes, and a new Giga Polygon core that leverages multi-processor and multi-core platforms with a revolutionary memory management system.