#Why I won't upgrade
Greg, the hype that surrounded R4 publicity and the coast to coast roll- out
seminar brought the entire user-group, and the 3-D community to focus a
tremendous amount of attention on R4. As a result, we now have all of this
discomforting noise. My confidence in the Yost Group and 3-DS remains very high
and I will hunker back down into my dungeon till R5 makes it's appearance.
However, it should be clearly understood that disappointments surrounding a
number of features, and the supporting publicity that preceeded these features,
are the cause of this negative noise. I am receiving numerous calls every week
as fellow animators install their upgrade. SO… in order not to continue this
string as simply a negative track and highly non-productive, I will insert the
follwing tangent: I have been on 3-DS since pre-2.0. Upgraded through 4.0 and
have a rather serious investment in IPAS routines. The 3-DS environment is now
profoundly and intrinsically part of my creative process. Competition is going
to become much more fierce as computer speed grows and the user base of 3-D
animation explodes exponentially. Continued upgrades of 3-DS will have to be
very sensitive to what the core program is to include. Going 3rd Party, with as
powerful a direction as that can be, opens obvious vulnerable spots regarding
ultimate responsibility, overall platform cost, and difusion. Software that is
this sophisticated and elegant, with such an informed and demanding user-base,
has earned a name. But it also sets the target. We all know the felling that
surrounds upgrading our most preferred platforms. Notwithstanding minor bugs
and individual niche needs, upgrading should be accompanied with a huge grin
followed by nose stuck to manual, and that is all!!!! I sincerely hope that we
are all on the first tier, still using 3-DS R[X] for years and years to come…
then one day, in the middle of yet another session, somewhere in the middle of
a REAL-TIME preview, after a perfect PERSPECTIVE MATCH, performing an
impeccable PATCH edit, including and excellent ARCHIT MODEL import, etc. etc.
etc. I will see the light, and just lay my head down on my keyboard and cease
to exist. As the warmth drains out of my body, the weight and tension of my
head will subtely change and effect the last perfect keystrokes and %GO TO
RENDER ALL% Jeffrey