CompuServe Messages

Dear Bruce, Thanks for your comments. I'm glad to hear from you. I've followed your articles in TV Technology for some time. Here is something that you said on the forum recently; >>> $295 seems a fair price for Bones Pro based on what I've heard about it, don't be surprised if sales slow down or dry up after the price goes up to $495, and please don't whine about it here. <<< You'll never hear me whine about anything, especially in an open forum. It doesn't take a math genius to figure out that you will sell more copies at $295 than $495. It's my guess that Mercedes Benz would sell a lot more sedans at $30,000 than $50,000 too. However, the real ultimate question is 'is it worth the price?' (Oh yes, the second ultimate question is 'how much is your time worth?) I believe that Bones Pro is worth $495. It totally opens up character animation to 3D Studio. It makes Inverse Kinematics work with mesh objects without joints. It's easy to use and powerful. Which brings us to the second ultimate question… how much is your time worth? Let's take hypothetical situation. Suppose that Gateway asked you to animate the cow mesh that comes on the 3D Studio CD ROM. They want the cow to stand on two legs and dance. They want a thirty second spot. They are willing to pay $5,000. It would take me just about five hours with Bones Pro. How long would it take you without it? Could you even do it without Bones Pro? How much would Bones Pro be worth then? We think that Bones Pro is worth $495. To the character animator it is. To the casual hobbyist it might not be. I'm not whining to anyone to buy the package. If you think it's worth it, buy it. If you don't, don't. I can say for myself though, that if I were bidding a character animation job and I didn't have it – I wouldn't want to be bidding against someone who did. Maybe some Bones Pro users can add their two cents about the package. Alan I., Glenn M., Frank D., Gary Y., any thoughts? David – Digimation P.S. Have you actually used Bones Pro – or are you just guessing that it's not worth $495? I didn't see your name on our Bones Pro customer list.