CompuServe Thread

Jack, If you get into again, (I've learned that Mac people are just as stubborn as Amiga and PC people <g>) just tell them that 3DS is a _total_ professional animation production system. There is nothing else that even comes close on Mac PC or Amiga. Granted there are some nice modelers and nice renders, but as a complete solution, and the fact that I am very biased to the render quality of 3DS, there just isn't anything else. I really like 3DS from an artistic standpoint, and yet there are a whole wide range of people using it for a variety of reasons. You won't convince them but at least you'll have a strong argument. The real challenge as far as I'm concerned is competing with Alias and Wavefront, anything less pales by comparison. And there are an increasing number of people on Alias buying 3DS. (Because 3DS is saving their tail in a very competive market.) Have fun! John

Jack, Almost two years ago I got John Knoll, an effects supervisor at ILM (and co-author of Photoshop) a copy of 3DS 2.0, via Gary. John ported a spaceship model from Electric Image to 3DS, brought over the texture maps, and did 2 renderings with both packages. The 3DS render was slightly better than Electric Image, and rendered faster. (Although to be fair, Electric Image is still an excellent rendering program, although, lacking a modeller, is overpriced compared to 3DS.) As for the high-end stuff, Softimage is fun and the IK is great, but the renderer isn't that hot, and the software is so buggy as to be maddening beyond belief. (I've crashed it perhaps 2 dozen times in the course of a year.) For a $30K+ program, this is simply inexcusable. — Jon