Caligari Gets Ready to Shut its Doors

Roman Ormandy, the CEO of Caligari, probably felt his humble startup had hit the big times when Microsoft acquired it in 2006. But he recently found out not even Microsoft’s shelter can guarantee him safety from the widespread economic crisis. This week, he issued a letter to his customers:

You may have heard that Microsoft Corporation, reacting to difficult business conditions, has been evaluating many of the products it produces and making the difficult decision to reduce investment in certain areas.

It is with regret that I have to tell you that trueSpace [Caligari’s flagship 3D modeling and animation package] is one of the products affected. As a consequence, you will see reduction or elimination of services offered for trueSpace ... While the dates are not absolutely fixed, some services and contacts may come to an end as early as Friday May 22^nd 2009, while others will continue as long as possible with no firm cutoff date available yet.

The somber tone of this week’s note is a stark contrast from his earlier message to the trueSpace user community after Microsoft’s acquisition. Then, he wrote, “I am deeply convinced that union of Caligari technologies and the scope of [Microsoft] Virtual Earth project and vision behind it creates the perfect home for us and new opportunities for each one of you ... “

Early versions of trueSpace sold for roughly $750-$800. The price dropped significantly in 2001, with the standalone version selling for $300. In 2008, Microsoft made trueSpace 7.6 a free download. The software and the accompanying training videos are still available for download, but perhaps not for long.

truSpace features polygon and NURBS editing tools, along with a set of animation and lighting tools to create a complete scene. Some CAD users use it as a rendering package to transform their 3D designs into presentation-quality graphics. truSpace allows data exchange with common CAD packages via 3DS, STL, OBJ, and DXF formats.

Ormandy, who defected to the U.S. from Czechoslovakia in 1982 (at the time, the country was under a Communist regime), recalled being inspired by what he saw at SIGGRAPH in 1985. The following year, he returned to SIGGRAPH, not as an attendee but as an exhibitor, with a prototype of what would eventually become trueSpace.

In his letter suggesting Caligari’s imminent demise, he wrote, “Our community—that is, all of you—were truly one of our best assets, and you have created incredible work, and we hope you will continue on to do even more amazing things. I personally want to thank all of the Caligari staff ... During 25 years of trueSpace history, the product made a difference in lives of many people and the world is a better place for it.