We still get the occasional support request about importing SOFTIMAGE|3D scenes (.dsc) and models (.hrc) into Softimage 2011.

The SOFTIMAGE|3D importer was removed in the Softimage 2011 release. From the What’s New section of the documentation:

SI3D Loader Is Gone

The SOFTIMAGE|3D importer, also known as the SI3D Loader, has been removed from Softimage. The workaround is to import your SOFTIMAGE|3D scene or model into Softimage as dotXSI (*.xsi).

As suggested in the documentation, you could use export dotXSI 3.0 from SOFTIMAGE|3D and then import that into Softimage 2011.

Or you could use 32-bit Softimage 2010, which includes the Import > SI|3D Scene/Model command. If you’re on Subscription, your Softimage 2011 license will run Softimage 2010, and you can download Softimage 2010 from the Subscription Center.

If you have a lot of hrc/dsc files to import, you can write a script to automate the process.
Here’s a relatively crude example (JScript):

var fso = new ActiveXObject( "Scripting.FileSystemObject" );

var sSourceDir = "C:\\Softimage\\SOFT3D_4.0\\3D\\rsrc\\";
var sTargetDir = "C:\\Documents and Settings\\blairs\\Local Settings\\Temp\\HRC\\Scenes\\";

var srcFolder = fso.GetFolder( sSourceDir );

var files = new Enumerator( srcFolder.files );
// Loop through files  

var re = /\.hrc$/;
for(; !files.atEnd(); files.moveNext() )
{
	var sName = files.item().Name;
		
	if ( sName.match(re) )
	{
		NewScene(null, null);
		
		//LogMessage( "Importing " + sSourceDir + sName );
		ImportFromSI3D( sSourceDir + sName, null, null);
		
		// Strip off the ".hrc"
		var sTmp = sName.substr(0,sName.lastIndexOf( "." ));
		
		//LogMessage( "Saving " + sTargetDir + sTmp + ".scn" );
		SaveSceneAs( sTargetDir + sTmp + ".scn" );
		
	}
}