#Who Writes This Stuff?
10 messages in this thread
Did anyone catch a review in the November issue of CADalyst titled
"See the Light!" Basically, it's a glowing review of 3DStudio R3's
capabilities. I, for one, would like to add my approval and praise
for R3's capabilities and quality. And most of all, it's a product
I've been able to make money with. But, in the first 3 or 4
paragraphs, the author made reference to all of the industry standard
competitors, including Wavefront, Alias, and SoftImage, and went on
to compare R3's ability to run inside Windows to be something akin to
Silicon Graphic's multi-tasking. The article then went on to imply
being able to use a body glove to animate physically correct human
movement, and that the IPAS interface was capable of incorporating
the physical properties of gravity. Now, for my money, and for the
money I can get my customers to spend, 3DStudio is by far a best
performer, but isn't there a real threat here that we could all get
inflated egos like the Commodore folk, and actually think that pigs
can fly? And that we really did get Alias and SoftImage for $3000?
After all, it looks like the Toaster will be getting a kinetics
program capable of detecting collision and possibly be able to deform
geometry accordingly. And maybe sometime in the future, it MIGHT be
ported over to IPAS. What's my point? I guess I'm worried that
we're going to go the same route as Autocad's hopelessly stalled
interface. After all, nobody seemed to take rendering in Autocad
very seriously until Integraph came out with their new product.
Enough philosophizing. I think I'll go put on my body glove, and do
some character animations while multi-tasking in Windows. <g>
Roger – Your points are well taken but there are two points I would
like to make in response. First the folks designing and working on 3D
Studio are a bit different than the folks working on AutoCAD. If the
past is any indication, the Yost Group is very aware of what is
happening in the animation world, and have been working hard to stay
one step ahead of the competition which is fierce. I don't think
there is any question of sitting on the fence, because things are
moving so rapidly in this area. I recently saw an ad from Topas
offering to 3DS users their package for $750. Which is a savings of
some $3200. There is alot of pressure in other words to stay ahead of
the game. The really important thing to keep in mind is that 3D
Studio has the backing and clout of Autodesk which is a major
software entity. And realise too, that while Topas et al. are chasing
3D Studio, the Yost Group appears to be going after the Alias,
Wavefront crowd, as there are still gaps (but closing fast <g>). In
other words their not sitting around, and are which is putting alot
of pressure on the UNIX based systems, which is why their prices have
been coming down as well. Its a very exciting time with alot of
challenges. Another major advantage 3DS has is in its commitment to
open architecture with IPAS. This gives alot of outside talent the
opportunity to create and support 3DS. This was the formula Autodesk
used with much success with AutoCAD and it seems to be working well
for 3DS, and will continue to push the frontiers of possibility for
3DS. There may be a few gaps here and there, but I expect they'll be
covered once the need is realised and I think you'll see 3DS is going
to be the one to beat for some time to come. Commitment and
enthusiasm are the corner stone of 3DS developement, and not just by
the Yost Group. But your points are well taken this is no time for
complacency 🙂 -JE
Now _that's_ a stream of consciousness that I can relate to!
– G
Gary
>>Now _that's_ a stream of consciousness that I can relate to! <<
We'll see what we can do about staying on that beam <G>. -JE
I also agree with most of your comments. But one of the reasons why
Autocad's interface became so backwards, lethargic, and old-fashioned
was that it had to remain compatible with all those old, dusty,
third-party applications. Granted, the IPAS interface does open up
the ability for others to improve on the product, but then again, it
also opens us up to products that would seem to be as high quality as
the core program, but are simply not beta tested, documented, or just
generally not as good quality as if it had gone through the creative
process. And with the main program changing every 17 months or so,
you better make darn sure you can pay for your IPAS routines in 17
months or you may find yourself with something that just plain isn't
compatible. I again, in no way, want to take anything away from Yost
Group. Yost Group's creative talents have proven to be
state-of-the-art on the PC. My comments were really more about bad
journalism than 3DS.
Roger – Again points well taken, there is alot of hype and ironically
in the case of 3DS is not needed, its got the goods. Your point about
making your money back on your IPAS is very realistic. And it is
complicated even more by the fact that there are animators giving
work away to build a reputation. They are not covering their costs
and at the same time are killing it for others. I especially dislike
the production companies that are giving it away as a loss leader to
pull in clients. The clients then balk at the price of getting a
decent animation. But then reputation and product win out in the end,
as production companies like this don't take the time to really learn
the art, and end up with less than satisfactory results. There is a
give and take in any of this fast moving ever changing environment.
So you want to go with the people that provide you with the best
product and the best support. I've seen this animation environment
change radically in the last 5 years, even more in the last two. I
worked with Digital Arts as my primary package, I played with Topas
but never liked it. Digital Arts on the other hand was a totally
closed system. No third party support, and with the release of 3DS
R2 consequently died. DGS was 3 times the price of 3DS and the DGS
investment passed into oblivion. If I didn't love what I do, I would
have walked away. The points you make are significant and I hope will
be addressed, but from my perspective are relative. Things are much
improved and if there is an upgrade in 3DS there will be an upgrade
in the IPAS as well, with an upgrade price no doubt, but relatively
smaller than the price I paid to switch over in the first place. Keep
making your points and we all won't lose sight of the direction we
want to go. Regards -JE
Would you care to submit your comments as a "Letter to the Editor?" I
have been pushing for more 3DS coverage in CADalyst. Now that our
parent company, Advanstar Communications has purchased Highcolor
magazine and renamed it PC Graphics & Video, I suspect that we will
have the opportunity to provide increasing coverage via both
magazines. The comments from readers/users or 3DS is of great
importance to us.
PMJI, but I've been getting HiColor for a while now, and I noticed this
last issue did have more 3DS stuff (a mention of the new release, a two
page ad, and some third party ads) — I, too, would like to see a lot more
coverage.
I'm glad to know that it will be PC Graphics and Video — let's hope that
along with a name change there is a change for more substantive
articles. I've always considered it to be a trade magazine — free for the
asking and worth about what I pay for it. While fun to leaf through,
the articles are mostly cotton candy (the article on tablets was about
the only thing of merit in the last issue).
Mike:
I don't know how much involvement I will have in PC Graphics & Video, but it
is going to be managed by the same group that has responsibility for
CADalyst, so there will most likely be some cross pollenation.
David
Hello David,
Can you give me some information how to subscribe to CADalyst magazine?
I'm living in Belgium- Europe
You can contact me by CIS:72251,1766 or by fax: 32-9-660473
Please thanks,
Emmanuel