Attached Link: http://www.newtek.com/buynow/

Message edited on: 04/23/2005 22:49

Wow, that's such a turnaround from just 3 years ago..., but you couldn't PAY me $500 to work with LightWave's interface. Uggo! There's just no excuse for a bad GUI these days....

Attached Link: http://www.newtek.com/news/releases/09-28-04a.html

Lightwave's renderer is unquestionably the main reason I became interested in 3D, but I tried for months to get into to the interface.... When an app has a stranglehold on a pro market, they rarely feel the need to evolve. Today the "low-end" 3D apps are challenging the quality of even LW but with user-friendliness that Newtek never thought necessary. How many of those Emmys have been won lately? holly

Really good price!! BUT... Lightwave like other historic apps, have a lot of strong functions, is stable and professional, but i agree, the interface is too old and too slow to work with and the plugins are too much expensive. Lightwave don't have the shader tree of carrara (a piece of art in my opinion). My money will go for new technology such Z-brush, Modo, Maxwell render, etc, or dedicated apps like Poser. -TOXE

How many of those Emmys have been won lately? >holly The last 6 Emmys. That would be traslated to the last 6 years. If they win this year it will be the last 7 years. The 2005 Emmys haven't occured yet. >My money will go for new technology such Z-brush, Modo, >Maxwell render, etc, or dedicated apps like Poser. >-TOXE Yep, you can't go wrong investing in high end cutting edge technology. You know that NewTek is coming out with a 64 bit version of Lightwave. I have heard that it is a complete rewrite. A much needed rewrite. Modo is founded by the programmers of Lightwave who left NewTek and started their own company several years ago to build what they thought Lightwave lacked or in the direction it needed to go.

Well I have both LW 8 and C4 Pro. Can't really say anything bad about LW...it is one of the best apps around IMO. It can do practically anything you want it to. Even thou C4 Pro can do alot and is easier to use, it really is no LW with regard to features. BTW, I'll bet it wins it's 7th Emmy this year! C4 and LW are really geared towards different audiences. I do most of my work in C4 Pro because I need the occasional 3D stuff. It's project wizard is invaluble for a person like me and my needs, and, it's renderer is great. I think my one pet peeve has been the lack of native displacement mapping (yes I have the Power Pack, but it should be easier...look at C4Ds or LWs integration). This is not a slam on Eric Winemiller...the guy & his plug-ins are awesome (he's to C4 what Worley is to LW) but he can't rewrite the interface. What would be nice is if Eovia integrated his plug-ins into the upcoming versions to make them more straightforward (kinda like what LW has done over the years). And of course pay Eric well for it. Again, great to see the strong following & support of C4 Pro...I started with Ray Dream 3D myself, but you gotta give LW the necessary respect. And interface is just preference...kinda like underwear :)

"And interface is just preference...kinda like underwear :)" So, Lightwave is like a good set of Briefs? Form fitting - Good tight control over every aspect. Carrara 4 Pro more like a nice loose pair of Boxers? All the vital parts covered, less control than briefs (once in a while something unexpectedly falls out during use). That price is very tempting, but I think I need to spend the next few years learning and using the apps I already own. mdc

MDC, That's quite a good description of the analogy...and probably accurate too Nice one!

Omigawd, that is so funny.

So...what we need is a Carrara Supporter? Having recently had to cobble up some P5 nodes I must admit to rather liking the visual layout of Poser's new shader tree. Carrara's more powerful one turns into a long list far too easily -- gets hard at some point to figure out what nesting level an element is in.

Now what would a pair of thongs be I wonder? :) Both programs are great I think. I prefer Carrara though, LW's interface doesn't fit well with me. Granted parts of Carrara's interface bother me too:) Brian

"Now what would a pair of thongs be I wonder?" That would be Amapi of course. Sexy French cut, looks very good on others, but tends to ride up to high and cause uncomfortable flashbacks to high school wedgies on most average users. mdc Chris your original reply is informative an well balanced, Good stuff.

LOL!!!!