In yet another major acquisition in the 3D space, Autodesk announced today that it has acquired the SoftImage unit from Avid.

This puts three of the most popular 3D animation packages – Maya, 3D Studio Max and now SoftImage XSI – into the hands of a single corporation which also owns Mudbox and RealViz.

The acquisition price of $35M represents a 90% markdown (with inflation) from the $285M paid by Avid to purchase SoftImage from MicroSoft a decade ago.