#3ds R5 ETA ?
20 messages in this thread
Hi Jonas,
what is the ETA for R5 ?
Thanks,
Michael
" ETA for R5 ?"
Jonas is at SIGGRAPH, where no doubt they'll be able to give a date. From what
I've heard, it's probably still half a year away from release.
For the finicky folks, the NT version I'm talking about is not going to be
called R5. I believe that the DOS version will continue and become R5 at some
point. The NT version will have a different version/name structure (like AAPro
and AAStudio).
Nik,
Can you post info being told at Siggraph today? We'd appreciate being in on
the premiere too. 🙂
JNJ
Search for the messages marked READ!!! as the subject! There are several
messages posted by Anne that are from Gary. Excellent reading.
Hi Nik,
I read Gary's report, and needless to say, I'm drooling like everyone else. My
first question is, how long is the waiting line going to be when you start
shipping. I hope you have a zillion ready to go copies of MAX. And, will
registered owners of R4 receive some sort of written notification when they can
order and expect delivery?
Thanks, Terry
". And, will registered owners of R4 receive some sort of written notification
when they can order and expect delivery?"
uh, well, the answer is OF COURSE, but then I would expect something to go
wrong, a la SIGGRAPH invitations. I anticipate that we will get this
straightened out, since in this case it will affect Autodesk revenue.
John:
I saw the demo today and my jaw was hanging open. Looks like all of my
wishlist items got in and then some.
-Bob Ritger
Bob,
Thanks for the reply. The PR that I read, plus the screen shots posted looked
very interesting. Sounds like they did it right- it being all object oriented,
etc. No doubt a potential SGI killer in the works here. Wish I could've been
there to experience them drop the bomb. <g> I'm seriously bummed.
JNJ
John:
I just finished another day of checking out the booths at SIGGRAPH and I must
say that of all the booths that I passed Autodesk's was easily the most
crowded.
For me the most impressive product on the floor (other than 3DS of course) was
the radiosity based renderer Lightscape. Last year (SGI version only) it
knocked me out and the reps said that they were contemplating an NT version.
Well, its only a few weeks away from beta and could be shipping this fall. The
best part of this product is the fact that it will work extremely well with 3DS
and they are even working on a plug-in for 3DS MAX!
-Bob Ritger
Radiosity based NT program? Cool. Is this just a renderer, or a
model/animation program as well? Radiosity is a more realistic lighting model
for rendering right? (other than raytracing) Interesting. It's cool that
everyone's going NT!
Have you seen Bryce PRO for NT? It sounds like it's supposed to be an animated
Bryce, which would be awesome. Check it out!
Thanks for the reviews.. how about MicroSoftimage NT? What's it like? What
about the Macromedia/ Extreme 3D booth? I'd appreciate any info on these, if
you see them.
Thanks- have fun!
JNJ
John:
Lightscape is an animation program but the main purpose for its existence is
the radiosity renderer. Camera moves are the only thing you can animate with
the product as a moving object would require the whole scene to be re-solved
for radiosity. This would take many hours and would be impractical. For
architectural walkthrough's there isn't a problem. Once a scene is solved for
radiosity then rendering is a few seconds per frame. Don't forget though
anything rendered with this program could be used as a background to objects
rendered in 3DS.
>> Radiosity is a more realistic lighting model for rendering right? <<
Absolutely! Makes raytracing look like Flat shaded. Lightscape does raytracing
also by the way.
>> It's cool that everyone's going NT! <<
Zakly! NT products were everywhere.
>> how about MicroSoftimage NT? What's it like? <<
I checked out the booth but I was overpowered by hype. They had a booth and a
demo/show which was a waste of time, a couple of actors against a blue screen.
I know the product can do great things but their show did nothing to let me
know how or why. As far as its NT version, dunno. I had to bail their booth, I
heard it is still a long way from being ready.
– Bob Ritger
Thanks Bob. Still interested in Macromedia and Bryce.. if you go. 🙂
Lightscape sounds really cool.. even better than raytracing? impressive. I've
heard it alot with arch walkthrus.. now I know why. 🙂
JNJ
John:
I flew home today (well, thursday anyway) so I can't give you the scoop on
Macromedia or Bryce.
I should also mention that I spent a few minutes with Ron Scott himself. I
think what I saw of Hi-ResQFX was very impressive. The scripting and user
customization of the interface was terrific. I could easily see trading in
Photoshop for this package.
– Bob Ritger
QFX is cool. I've got a demo of it (well, it's expired <g>) I didn't get
much time to play with it on NT.. but it looked interesting. I'm pretty happy
with PP5 though.
I guess it's something you just gotta sit down to learn. (or get Ron to show
it off <g>)
Glad you had a good trip.
JNJ
Bob:
PMJI, but I couldn't leave this one… I saw renderings some months ago of
Lightscape while searching for radiosity based renderers… the quality I saw
is outstanding I agree. On the other side pricing was incredibly high and it
was available only for SGI… so I lost interest at that time.
Now, I cannot find any contact or address again. So if you could feed me with
any contact information I'd be very happy. Do you happen to know prices and/or
release date for the NT version?
Many thanks for your report!
– Alexander.
Hey Alexander:
Lightscape for NT is about to go to beta testing and will probably be shipping
before Xmas. The cost for the NT version was considerably lower than the SGI
version which was priced in the $4000 – $5000. The people at the Lightscape
booth were saying that it would cost about $2500 or so. The fact is that they
just didn't know yet. This ought to give you a ballpark range for now. I can
get you better info and a phone number on Monday. By the way they also have a
web page and I can get you an address for that as well. Just send me a
reminder.
– Bob Ritger
Bob:
Thanks very much for your information! I've already found the way to their
WWW-site (sometimes it helpes to try simple things like
'www.lightscape.com'<g>…..) On their web-site there is no information about
an NT version yet, but it gives good overall information of the product and the
modular concept for it (at least the sgi version).
>> it would cost about $2500 or so.
…could be worth it, depending on what is in the core package (maybe it's time
to give them some pricing support <g>).
It's definitely something to consider for architectural simulations (do you
work in this area?). And it has the additional tools to do lighting analysis as
well.
Anyway, the move to NT is exciting news – we'll see.
Thanks again for the information!
– Alexander.
Nik,
thanks,
I know, this is not exactly your field of action, but I thought 3ds will be
exclusively on NT once "R5" is out – there has been a lot of trouble concerning
this in former times…..
Michael
"…I thought 3ds will be exclusively on NT once "R5" is out – there has been a
lot of trouble concerning this in former times….."
I don't know specifics. Both 3DS DOS and 3DS MAX have their own product
managers. I believe the DOS version will go away eventually, but there are too
many folks not using NT for us not to keep the DOS version going. I would
guess (yes, it is really just a guess!) that most of the new 3DS DOS features
will be augmented by Plug-Ins and that the YOST Group will be mainly dedicated
to advancing the NT version. No, it's not been announced and I could be wrong.
<grin>
> Both 3DS DOS and 3DS MAX have their own product managers. I believe the DOS
version will go away eventually, but there are too many folks not using NT for
us not to keep the DOS version going.<
This was a suprise to me! But hey, I guess some people actually LIKE dos..
<grin>
NT RULES! I'm ready to add that other processor.. only six more months!
JNJ
Running 3.5 w/ Intergraph TD-30