#Lightwave VS 3D Studio
6 messages in this thread
>>I am a 3D Studio user and am considering to sell it to buy Lightwave 4.0 for
my ALPHA machine. Is this a wise choice? What are the differences between the
two, also advantages and disadvantages.<<
Will,
The short answer to your question is: if you like the FX you've seen on
Babylon 5, SeaQuest, Hercules, and other TV sci-fi stuff where LW is used, then
it's probably just what you need.
I think you're expecting alot for some one to list off the pros/cons of
both these packages. Without knowing more detailed specifics about what you
want to do its difficult to offer any useful feedback. 3DS and LW are very
comparable programs. They each have their own strengths. However, in my
experience, no 3D program is a panacea. Perhaps rather than putting all you
eggs in one basket, you should be thinking about what programS (plural) would
satisfy you needs. You're also limiting yourself somewhat by sticking to LW and
3DS as your only two choices.
Here are some questions I've put to other users in a similar dilemma:
What kind of work do you want to do? A more specific idea of the
direction you want to go would help with recommendations.
Are you a tinkerer, or a looking for something more production-deadline
oriented? Do you understand the difference between ray-tracing, and scanline
rendering? What elements of ray-tracing would be important in your work? Do you
want a program which you can add-onto with plug-in$$, or which has more of a
variety of features on-board? Do you prefer spline or polygon modeling? What
kind of content will have the greatest emphasis in your work, flying logos,
spaceships, FX for compositing with live action, game animation, bouncey 3D
character animation, highly realistic ray-traced scenes, stills for publishing,
etc? The more specific you can be, the better.
-Tim
Basically I like Special FX & Character animations but I also do some
freelancing by creating logos for companies. I would love a raytracing program
but I understand that the trade off is rendering time. Lightwave seems to
offer the same capabilities as 3DS but it seems to me that the add ons are
cheaper, I also like the fact that it comes with A lenz flare and Bones if im
not mistaken. If I were to sell My 3DS and Bones Pro I would buy Lightwave and
Animation Master. May I ask what you currently use?
I also see your name on the Microsoft Network Graphics BBS is that you?
Thanks for your input!
Will
Will,
>>>Basically I like Special FX & Character animations but I also do some
freelancing by creating logos for companies. I would love a raytracing program
but I understand that the trade off is rendering time. Lightwave seems to
offer the same capabilities as 3DS but it seems to me that the add ons are
cheaper, I also like the fact that it comes with A lenz flare and Bones if im
not mistaken. If I were to sell My 3DS and Bones Pro I would buy Lightwave and
Animation Master. <<<
Animation Master is the right direction for character animation and
spline modeling, but I believe it renders rather slow (maybe ok on an ALPHA
though). LW is still rather week in the area of character animation. I haven't
seen the bones in 4.0, but in 3.5 they aren't much different than BonesPro,
useful for things like swimming fish, bouncey coke cans, but not so good for
discreet finger joints.
LW and 3DS are about the same for logos, both do respectable scanline
rendering (3DS might be a little better on this count), however LW also has
built in ray-traced shadows, reflections and refraction, and is more broadcast
ready IMO. Add-ons will probably take a little while to get to the PC for LW,
and there probably isn't quite the same breadth of procedural animation FX for
LW. If you're comfortable with 3DS I don't see that you'd be gaining much by
switching to LW.
Animation Master has certain unique capabilities I find useful in my
work. But both 3DS and LW have 3rd party spline modelers that might be cheaper
and better integrated with their packages.
>>>May I ask what you currently use?<<<
Sure. Animation Master, and Imagine, but my needs and desires are
probably different than yours. My focus right now is discreet modeling control
and good skeletal deformation. And I'm an old hand at Imagine so its steep
learning curve is not a problem.
>>>I also see your name on the Microsoft Network Graphics BBS is that you?<<<
I'm not familiar with this.
>>>Thanks for your input!<<<
My pleasure.
-Tim
Thanks Again Tim.
Will
<<…I would love a raytracing program but I understand that the trade off is
rendering time….>>
No kidding ! I use Alias Sketch on a Mac and Ray Tracing an image takes 5-10
times longer than a similar Phong version.
>> David <<
Hi David,
just saw that you use Alias Sketch. Can you tell me something about it? How
good is it for modelling? I've heard it does NURBS, but no trimmed surfaces.
I'm mostly interested in the modelling tools.
-David