Last week, the motion design community was shaken by the news that the Autograph software was abruptly discontinued following the acquisition of its developer, Left Angle, by Maxon. The immediate shutdown of authentication servers left users, including those with perpetual licenses, without access to the tool and their projects. In the midst of the chaos, we sought answers and, now, we have received one. The response, however, was far from what we expected.
Our associate production company, Movy Audiovisual, which had migrated its workflow to Autograph, was directly impacted, with five client projects suddenly paralyzed. In an email sent to Maxon support, we detailed the critical situation, asking about the future of the software and the possibility of a solution for the users who were left adrift.
The reply arrived. And it is deafening.
Signed by the support manager, Maxon’s message does not contain a single word about Autograph, the shutdown servers, or the professionals who lost their work. Instead, we received a generic invitation to events and livestreams, followed by a list of its main products.
Here is the response, in full:
The Maxon team hopes to meet you in person at some upcoming events, such as OFFF Barcelona and Motion North. If you aren’t local to an in-person event, catch up with us at a livestream hosted by a Maxon trainer.
Maxon Support Cinema 4D | Redshift | Red Giant | Forger | ZBrush
Analysis: A response worse than silence
This is not a communication failure; it is a statement of intent. By completely ignoring a well-founded plea for help and responding with marketing copy, Maxon demonstrates that the fate of Autograph users is not one of its priorities. The implicit message is clear: Autograph is over, and the only solution offered is to enter the Maxon ecosystem.
The problem is that this “solution” is a dead end for many. Autograph had earned a loyal user base precisely because it was a robust, cross-platform alternative with excellent native Linux support—a rarity in the world of professional motion design. By listing its products, Maxon implicitly points to the Red Giant suite as the way forward for motion graphics. However, Red Giant does not have Linux support, making the suggestion useless for a significant portion of the community they have just inherited.
Maxon’s response is a crystal-clear example of corporate coldness. It confirms that the acquisition of Left Angle was likely an “acqui-hire” (acquisition of talent and technology), where the interest lies in the team and intellectual property, not in the existing product or its customers.
For the community that invested time and money in Autograph, this response is a final insult. It turns uncertainty into a probable harsh reality: there is no rescue plan. The projects are lost, the investment is gone, and the company responsible for the situation would rather invite you to a trade show than acknowledge the damage it has caused.
The case becomes an even darker cautionary tale, not only about the dangers of cloud-dependent software licensing but also about the culture of tech giants that see small software communities not as partners, but as assets to be liquidated.