CompuServe Messages

This message is directed to anyone who want's to know… So which is better? 3D Studio of LightWave? Answer: Depends on what you want to use it for. As a guy who uses Studio at home and LightWave at work, I can safely say that both offer exceptional tools and are equally innovative at bringing high end type features to the desktop. I've read through the various posts in this thread, and as far as LightWave is concerned, I wouldn't disagree with whats been said, but Autodesk deserves some recognition here. When I first started working at my present job, I was hired as a 3D Studio model maker. Because the rest of the production used LightWave, it became painfully obvious that I needed to learn it too, because all the models I did in Studio had to be ripped apart and renamed once in the Toaster, a very time consuming process, better done as the model is being built. The first thing I noticed about LightWave and Modeler was the lack of a local axis system. I also hated the splines, and still do. They don't have "handles" on them. Also, the lack of being able to move around an objects pivot point was a real nusince as well in LightWave, although because of our screaming it now has that. I also missed the Track Info Dialouge Box, the Materials Editor, the Lofter, did I leave anything out? The one thing I did notice however was the incredible output quality of LightWave. That alone held my intrest. I've watched the program grow from early beta to whats now the current release, and I've have to say I'm impressed. I've also caught a glimps of R3 of Studio, and to be honest I'm somewhat dissapointed. It looks like all the work went into the Materials Editor, and not enough attention was given to the rest of the program. Because I haven't actually used it yet, I obviously can't make a final judgment. Perhaps 3D Studio's biggest stumbling block in it's current release is it's poor output quality. While I've heard this has been addressed, what I saw at SIGGRAPH still didn't look as good as LightWave. I've tried real hard to create the same quality of work here at home that I can do at work and it's just not possible, and believe me I've tried. While it's true that Studio has IPAS support, I think it's unfortunate for users to have to pay extra for them to get the kind of cool effects that LightWave users take for granted, like Lens Flare, Displacement Mapping, Skeletal Deformation, etc. Some of the IPAS routines I've seen are very cool, and have their place outside the main interface, more of what I would call these *basic* features should be part of the $3000. price tag. Also, although I said I hate LightWave's splines, becuase you can build spline cages and "patch" them, you can create shapes and objects that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, with Studio's Lofter. Try creating a negative in the lofter; it won't let you. So what's the verdict? If all your doing is industrial grade animations, accident reconstruction, architectural walkthroughs and flybys, 3D Studio is a good bet. The new networking option for batch rendering sounds very cool if you already have a bunch of machines, and it's pretty quick at putting together anmations without much fuss, and it's fast a renderer. If you want more polish though, LightWave is the better choice. It has more "high end" features than Studio, and it is cheaper besides, a definate plus as far as I'm concerend. I couldn't wait 3 months ago for R3 of Studio, but I can say now that I'll be getting my own Toaster soon instead.