CompuServe Messages

>My Matrox actually seems to display 24bit faster than 16 bit.< Probably because 16bit mode requires calculating a pallette where 24bit is the full pallette. >So I am wondering abou 3ds, lightwave, or wait and see what happens with Softimage wich is supposed to have an NT version in the works. How are you finding lightwave?< Softimage for NT will be the same price as the SGI versions, $8K for base/$25K full package. I don't think many people can justify that. I have used LW since 0.9 and switched to 3DSR4 about a year ago. Both LW and 3DS are great packages, and can be used in production environments where speed it essential. I prefer 3DS because of all the IPAS plugins, Materials Editor, Video Post, etc. Having the plugin IPAS means you can add about any function without waiting for a new release of the program. Why do you think LW 4.0 has plugins? Allen and Stuart can't do everything. 3DS may cost more than LW, and the Bones and Lens Flare features are 3rd party, but Bones Pro and LenZFX blow away their LW counterparts. Bones Pro 2.0 is coming and LenZFX2 has Inferno which does explosions, glows, lightning and many other effects. LW seems to be having problems running under Windows that I don't think I you could put up with at this point. 3DS is the most bug free program I have ever used. NewTek isn't to healthy at this point, though if anything survives it will be LW. LW is cheaper, but I think the $1000 price hurts them more than it helps. Plugin developers won't make enough money unless they sell their plugins for $300+ and people will complain that a plugin costs half as much as the program. 3DS has more market share than LW and their IPAS developers have to run lean ships to stay afloat. At $1K NewTek is giving away LW, they can't afford to do that for long and keep the company healthy. 3DS MAX is coming and is a next generation 3D program that has so many neat, useful features that will bring more Alias/Wavefront/Softimage to check it out than did LW when they announced the SGI version. Those guys look at LW as a toy compared to what they have.