Well i agree to a certain extent.
My personal views will be. I chose to start off with Lightwave because of its modeller. Its really top notch. But currently there is steep competition with Zbrush, Modo, Wings3D, Silo. To name a few.
But what i like really is that not only Lightwave is a good modeller. Its kind of like Maya, there is dynamics and stuff built in. No need to look elswhere, unless you are using Lightwave for serious usage.
Ok most people,, industry wise use Lightwave for product display sort of things. Its a cheap package with a nice renderer. More like commercial products render, perfumes, what nots. You should look at some of the artist works. Although there is stuff like Jimmy Neutron and so on to show you what Lightwave can do when pushed.
I seriously think that the technique is whats important. Not really the software. And yes, people move from Lightwave to Maya, not really the other way round. Hehe same with me, too. But Lightwave is what i use at home and for freelance stuff. Maya,,, just getting into it for studio based stuff.
So go ahead and use Lightwave, you will find that its value beyond the buck you are paying for.
As far as plugin, there is a lot out there, use Flay.com to search for some.
Good Luck,
Kumar
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