FWIW: John left in 1994 (same year I did) and technically Autodesk had acquired 3D Studio in 1990, though the Yost group was still developing it, so acquired is a generous term. The product was sold through Autodesk's dealer channels. The branding and marketing was all Autodesk.
John had little to nothing to do with 3D studio however, there was a mild competition within the company with two different 3D rendering (Autoshade and 3D Studio) products. I worked on both, moving from AutoFlix development to helping the Yost group test and market 3D Studio.
Autodesk used to take off the week of Christmas to New Years, called it the 'week of rest' - however most of us in tech new that was far from what John would do.
When we returned from that week of analog living, John always had some new and exciting code to share (because he never stopped). Hypertext, Autoshade and Autoflix, AutoCAD Mac were some of the gifts he would showcase after the break.
It was pretty magical. It was very common for John to be at the center of anything new and exciting happening there.
