Siggraph week only: LW offer

[Hirazi Blue]

Sounds like a fair deal.
Lightwave 2015 plus the 3rd Powers Tools for $995 but ONLY during Siggraph week: Lightwave offer...

[luis7654]

To be honest I'm considering moving to lightwave, everyday I discover new cool things about it.

Plus they are always having sales and offers all the time.

I hear some people said that is not good for character animation, but here is a course that proves that wrong:



One thing that I dislike about it, is their navigation system(I really like navigating with the S key), but I guess one can get used to it with time.

I know softimage is better but unfortunately is "dead"

What would be a reason not to consider lightwave? (I don't even use ICE so that doesn't matter for me)

Has somebody migrated to lightwave? If so, what are your experiences?

[kiwimation]

Im looking at Lightwave as well but its a struggle. I starting with Lightwave then moved to XSI 5 I think it was. Lightwave does some things well but its a nightmare in so many areas, Modeling is rubbish, its very slow with heavy objects. Just deleting a edge loop can take 5 seconds. Most of the time you have to stay out of subds to get good performance. Dont even bother with CC subds. Lightwave really struggles with large scenes and objects. I once loaded a heavy object I created in XSI into Lightwave. Lightwave used almost all of my 8 gig of ram just to load the object compared to XSI which only used 2gig. Rendering is nice but SSS is slow. There unified sampling really slows it down as you cant control samples per object or shader, so If you have to up the sampling to get a nice SSS or blury reflections then everything in your scene is rendered at that level so it is hard to optimize your scenes.

In saying that I am still thinking about using it as I already know it so there is no learning curve compared to moving to c4D etc, and its cheap. Best feature of the software is its user base, very helpful forums.

I advise try before you buy, things like the split app workflow can be a real killer.

[3DMagic]

My self I'm looking to new alternatives to Softimage.

I tried Lightwave 4 years back and while you can do some very nice things with it, if a compare it to Softimage from my point of view it looks like a toy.

I had a look at 3D Studio Max and while it has powerful features, it looks very clunky, badly organized. I had a quick look at other software's like Modo, Blender, Cinema 4D and they didn't give me the right feel.

At the moment I'm looking at Houdini and it is my favorite of all the ones I've looked at.

I didn't look into Maya, as I didn't have a chance and would like to stay away from Autodesk.

While having a look at these software's you realize how well thought was Softimage and is really painful see so much work ditched away. :/ with out considering all the efforts to learn Softimage and now move into learning another software.

Well what can you do...

[Pancho]

It all depends.

If you are a hobbyist: Lightwave? Why not! I did "amazing" things back then with it.

If you are a pro: Why? Go Modo, Houdini, FE if you want to avoid Autodesk. But I doubt that you'll be happy with Lightwave.

But please don't fall for presentational videos which want to make you believe that it's easy to do whatever they show you. These are usually streamlined, avoid all problems and work in a black box, but don't tell you much about your further problems and needs in the same area. It's advertising!!! They want your money and don't bother whether you'll be able to earn it back!

[Hirazi Blue]

Your distinction between hobbyist and pro would seem to be slightly skewed. I for one am a hobbyist with no real talent, but I still would want to have the best software I can afford to help me stumble along. There is, in the end, no "hobbyist standard", we all want to achieve greatness at our own pace and at the expense of our own wallet. This sounds a bit harsh, but I don't want you to think I attempt to rebuke you in any way whatsoever BTW.


Personally I would suggest giving Cinema 4D a second try, depending on the kind of work you primarily do, obviously. It is slightly overpriced IMHO, but it truly packs a punch where you wouldn't expect one.
;)

[Rez007]

I think Lightwave seems to be a very capable product. This was done in Lightwave (with maybe a touch other software used too) about a year ago.



This is some awesome work if you ask me. I am guilty of this myself sometimes, but I think some people tend to get caught in the "hype" of what is supposed to be good, and then disregard other alternatives that may be exactly what they are looking for.

[angus_davidson]

Best is still to try a simple project from scratch that covers all the major areas in each dcc. The one that feels right for you will definitely come out. Particularly if it means your not required for work to use something specific

[luis7654]

I once loaded a heavy object I created in XSI into Lightwave. Lightwave used almost all of my 8 gig of ram just to load the object compared to XSI which only used 2gig.

How long ago was this? I have been testing some high poly objects without issues. I think that 8Gb is way to low for 3d now days.

If you are a pro: Why? Go Modo, Houdini, FE if you want to avoid Autodesk. But I doubt that you'll be happy with Lightwave.

I'm not defending lightwave or anything, but I don't think is fair that you call it a hobbyist tool.

In my opinion is at least better than buggy modo, plus is still being used in production in many studios. Not sure you can say the same thing about modo... besides for modeling.

C4D looks nice but is way to expensive for me, and I don't think they care about character animation at all. (also their latest updates are very disappointing)

I'm hoping for a new huge release on lightwave, and then(maybe) I can switch without doubt... but perhaps they also release a disappointing release lol

I'm also considering houdini and even 3ds max, but not sure if it's an overkill for a one man team.

Damn autodesk!!

[kiwimation]

It was about two years ago, I now have 32gig. But my point was how much ram Lightwave uses compared to XSI and keep in mind with the split app workflow, you will use even more ram when you have a model loaded in modeler and also in layout.

I once loaded a heavy object I created in XSI into Lightwave. Lightwave used almost all of my 8 gig of ram just to load the object compared to XSI which only used 2gig.

How long ago was this? I have been testing some high poly objects without issues. I think that 8Gb is way to low for 3d now days.

If you are a pro: Why? Go Modo, Houdini, FE if you want to avoid Autodesk. But I doubt that you'll be happy with Lightwave.

I'm not defending lightwave or anything, but I don't think is fair that you call it a hobbyist tool.

In my opinion is at least better than buggy modo, plus is still being used in production in many studios. Not sure you can say the same thing about modo... besides for modeling.

C4D looks nice but is way to expensive for me, and I don't think they care about character animation at all. (also their latest updates are very disappointing)

I'm hoping for a new huge release on lightwave, and then(maybe) I can switch without doubt... but perhaps they also release a disappointing release lol

I'm also considering houdini and even 3ds max, but not sure if it's an overkill for a one man team.

Damn autodesk!!

[luceric]

Your distinction between hobbyist and pro would seem to be slightly skewed.

I don't know what pancho meant, but if you're "a pro" you usually have to work with other people, to work with data in some formats (ex: cad for viz), and you're planning a career path, whereas if you're a hobbyist you're pretty much free to work with whatever suits you.

[Tekano]

not necessarily, there are plenty of 'pro' generalists or single person pro Artists out there that are free to work with whatever or whomever suits them. my definition of pro/hobbyist is whether its your main income (or not)

Lets not discount the hobbyists that turn pro by sheer outstanding talent / ability.

Film or Gaming Industry studio pro's are what Luceric is perhaps referring to.

[luceric]

I think it's obvious that the point was that if you're a hobbyist, you'll get whatever software piques your interest but if you're going pro or preparing to, you might have some external requirements to be able do work for clients. For example, you might need good dwg support, fluids or motion graphics tools, or just a good career investment.

[Hirazi Blue]

Ah, late to the party...
The debate on the differences between pros and hobbyists as to their requirements is a long and winding one and never leaves a happy trail. For one real talent at something is the only way to achieve anything meaningful or even a career. Secondly, there is a difference between the freelance "gun for hire" pro and the employee of some studio as in the choices the pro can make as to software usage. And lastly: wake me up, when you plan such a discussion (my remark wasn't meant explicitly to spark it)...

[Pancho]

I did use Lightwave for all these projects and I'm happy with the result,

http://www.thomasmangold.com/?portfolio=playstation-mushroom-clown

http://www.thomasmangold.com/?portfolio=playstation-octopus

http://www.thomasmangold.com/?portfolio=wirtschaftswoche-bear-and-bull

but comparing the time I needed and the workflow with other packages like SI and H, then I need to say that in some areas you feel handicapped. Things changed and got better in LW, but LW development over almost a decade has been a joke. I can't even remember the name of the silly attempt to write a new core and present a new package (was it hardcore or core). We all paid for it, they never delivered. That's the reason why there is Modo now. The developers left at one point.

The main difference between a pro and a hobbyist is the amount of time available. A pro needs to deliver on time and is usually under great stress to come up with something great in no time. The hobbyist got plenty of time since he doesn't have a deadline. He likes to spend his time doing stuff in 3D, it's not his job. And in the end this is a major difference.

Also what Luceric said about working connected with other artists is always an issue. Working in LW in a professional pipeline is kind of difficult and weird. Alembic helps, but makes things not really convenient.

P.S.: Hobbyists usually don't dig so deep into a software package. So chances that they miss something or run into problems aren't as high as with the pros. And that's the reason why they are often pretty happy with their software.

P.P.S.: Concerning the brilliant head rig/animation: Who knows how long it dig take to come up with this and how compatible the rig is? Can it be scaled and altered easily to work on another geometry? Can all attributes be transferred easily from one mesh to the other? That's what counts if you need to make decisions on which software you buy.

[Hirazi Blue]

P.S.: Hobbyists usually don't dig so deep into a software package.

But why do I end up answering so many questions by pros, often even correctly?