Softimage and Maya releases are now synchronized (same release data, same “version” number), but it wasn’t always that way. Here’s a timeline comparison of the XSI and Maya releases between 1998 and 2003.

And at Siggraph 1998, back near the start of this timeline, here’s what was happening:

• Alias announced price reductions of 25 percent to 40 percent, which was welcome news to many studios interested in adding Maya to their tool set.
• Softimage showed the 2.0 version of Digital Studio (now shipping). 1.0 had been released in Nov ’97.
• Softimage continued to tantalize customers with extended previews of Sumatra.