Help…Advice
>What is the deal with the Toaster stuff. I have seen ads for some of their
stuff. >From everything I have seen they cannot hold a candle to 3-D Studio.
>I also need to remain compatible with AutoCad and other 2-D systems.
Obviously, 3DS is as compatible with AutoCad as it is possible to be,
given the fact they come from the same company (although different
programming groups). A caveat: I speak second hand for both this and
the Toaster — while I did own an Amiga, I've never owned the
Toaster, just seen the video and ads, and read many discussions here
on the forum. The general consensus was that Lightwave (which is the
3D package that comes with the Toaster for doing animations — some
wags have referred to the "Toaster" as the world's largest dongle,
since you can't run Lightwave without it) was comparable in quality
to 3DStudio Release 2, but that the latest release (available now,
although I'm still anxiously awaiting it — should be here this week)
blows it away.
My own personal feeling is that you could probably get similar results
from Topas and Lightwave as you get the Studio, but that, overall,
3DS has the best brains working both for and with it, and that it
always manages to stay ahead of the pack. For me the support here on
the forum is still the factor that has kept me with it, though. I'm
not an artist, just a programmer, but I can make things with 3DS that
all my friends envy (and that local TV stations play and maybe even
pay for…) and everytime I've needed an answer to a question about
nearly anything dealing with video/animations, it was provided here
in a very short period (days and sometimes hours). I've never
regretted spending the money on 3DS.