CompuServe Thread

I bought PLAYMATION about a month ago after trying, unsuccessfully, to create character animation in IMAGINE. Here are some impressions: 1. Playmation is superb for character animation. It is infinitely easier to create "alive" objects and then direct their motion. All of my attempts to do this in Imagine were a disaster or gave only primitive results. Playmation makes it so easy to do this. I have fallen in love with it. Even inanimate objects can be made to look alive. This is the sort of software you would use to imitate the raytraced Listerine Commercials. 2. Maybe I am simply getting used to the methods of 3d modeling, but the learning curve in Playmation is nowhere near as steep as in Imagine. The menu system in Playmation prevents a lot of searching and confusion. It took me almost a year to get comfortable with animating objects in Imagine. In Playmation, I have been up and animating on my own within 3 weeks, after spending only a few minutes a day getting used to the program. 3. The manual is excellent, with lots of screen shots and clear directions. It is nicely indexed and divided. You do not need to be sitting at your computer to learn the program. It is very easy reading. The Playmation manual is short but extremely clear. I am not super smart at figuring out these programs and have, thus far, not been had any problems using the program. 4. Some griping has been made about the manual being for the IBM Windows version of the program. The program is so similiar on both platforms, that this was never a problem. An Amiga addendum is included. Does this bother us rabid Amiga fans? Sure, but the program is still superb. 5. The 24-bit renderer is included in the price of the Amiga program. IBM type folks have to pay $100 extra for it. 6. The interface for the 24-bit renderer is cli based. This is pretty lame, but anyone who has ever used programs such as lharc, etc. should not find this too tough. It is really very simple to use. 7. Rendering quality looks superb. There is not really any sort of scan-line mode, which means that rendering is not as speedy as in Imagine. This is actually my biggest gripe for the program is slow rendering speed. Actually, you can toggle some modifiers and go for a lower quality image, which is still better than Imagine's scanline, and get speeds that approach Imagine's scanline, though it still is a lot slower. 8. In other words, rendering speed is my only gripe with Playmation. 9. Playmation cannot replace Imagine for creating flying logos or machinary type objects or "star wars" style objects. 10. Both Playmation and Imagine really are totally different products for totally different purposes. I highly advise Playmation. It is my opinion that character animation has much more of a future for 3d rendering than more flying logos or star trek simulations.