#Real 3D v2
Wayne,
Sounds to me like you must have got one of the first copies. While some of
what you say is valid I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as you seem
to think.
I don't know what you mean by quirky. I keep hearing that Real 3D has a
lot of bugs but after using it for a couple of months I've yet to find
one. The manual DOES need a lot of work but there is still a lot of
information there. The Imagine manual is pretty bad too but a lot of
people still manage. I haven't bothered with most of the tutorials so I
don't know what kind of problems are there, but the ones I have done
seemed to work. The example config files I got with my version (2.34)
seemed to work OK and the install went off without a hitch. As I said I
haven't tried many of the tutorials so I haven't noticed memory problems
with them but I have built some pretty elaborate scenes and have had no
memory problems on my 11 meg machine. :^)
As for the price, what doesn't seem overpriced these days? Real 3D has a
lot of features you can't get on ANY other Amiga program and the render
quality is excellent. Yes, Lightwave is easier to use and also gives great
render quality but it costs 6 times as much, comes with an even more
annoying dongle, and STILL doesn't do everything that Real does.
Also the average mail order price for Real 3D v2.35 is about $400 US. (I
got mine for $450 Canadian)
Real 3D isn't for everyone. It does most things quite a bit differently
than other programs and it IS confusing if you're used to another 3D
package, but it's not the dog you're making it out to be. If you can get
your mind wrapped around the Real 3D way of doing things there's a lot of
good stuff in this program. :^)