[bullet_evader]

many times i read people are going to stop working with lightwave and go to other modeling programs ( like maya or max )!!

is it true lightwave is not doing it very well???
it would be sad if such a good program is dying.

i also hear many times, that people hates the interface of lightwave!! i personally like it more than maya and max's interfaces. don't crappy paintings on the buttons etc... ( if you know what i mean )

i dont hope lightwave will be gone in some years/months!!!

edit: changed some miss-spelled words!!!

[philip]

actually LightWave is still considered one of the best apps for polymodeling...

we'll see how (or if) that changes when modo is released.

I do work with both LW and maya and really enjoy polymodelling in LW a whole lot more.

[Joker]

Euhm, sorry for kidnapping this tread, but what is modo?

See ya,
Joker

[kumar]

Hehe,,, i agree that LW is slowing down when you compare... but i agree that it has the best polymodelling tools. Now i am forced to pick up Max,,,, but Maya is what is attracting me somewhat. Hmm,,, at the moment my interface is turned off,,, no buttons or viewport titles,,, all are shorcuts and menu dropdowns... I think after a while when your workflow is smooth... you can customise and set things so that the interface is not culltered or full of buttons...

But i still find it hard to give up on LW since thats where i started... But LW has to pick up the pace if it wants to stay in the race.

[Fallenswordsman]

Originally posted by Joker Euhm, sorry for kidnapping this tread, but what is modo? See ya, Joker

You can read more about Modo here:
http://www.luxology.net/

[AverageJoe]

I just thought this was funny.

gallery-> http://www.luxology.net/gallery/index.aspx?page=4
image-> http://www.luxology.net/gallery/image.aspx?id=1334
Read the description:
This is a digital set created for Sci Fi Channel's "Frank Herbert's Dune". The center platform is a live element. The rest was created in Lightwave 5.6.

heh

//edit: well now what is THIS? I thought this art was suposed to pimp Modo, was it not?

http://www.luxology.net/gallery/image.aspx?id=325
Description: Lightwave 7.5 and Photoshop was used making this image.

Another one, look familiar?
http://www.luxology.net/gallery/image.aspx?id=185

Someone want to explain this stuff to me please?

[Cchristensen]

Luxology is made up of the original creators of Lightwave along with some former Newtek staff and most of the previous programming staff. Originally Luxology was another Lightwave portal but when they announced they would be developing future versions of Lightwave and Newtek would be distributor things got very messy. Now Newtek is developing Lightwave with a new team of programmers and the old group is working on their own line of software, the first release to be Modo. I assume they keep all the LW gallery content because they wrote the software.

[koots]

I Am a huge fan of LW. I having worked with Maya, Softimage, and 3d studio max. I have liked LW the most. After getting to play with those in College. I desided I would buy LW. I feel that LW is far from dead, and is just starting to take off... Just personal preferance i guess... I am really hoping LW will add a feature to interact real life footage and camera tracking for their next major release.

Just a question what do u feel LW is falling behind in??

[Endorphin]

Originally posted by koots Just a question what do u feel LW is falling behind in??

ehhh...price maybe?
http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/v4/

[koots]

so it is a good thing to spend $7,000??? I am sure I would not be buying LW if it were that much... would you?? LW is just a hobby to me, I think the fact that LW is so much cheaper than the others is a great thing!!!
-Jonn

[Cchristensen]

Foundation is $495 and Essentials is $1995. The bang for buck torch just got passed to XSI. For $495 you get a strong program minus RBD and fur but add fluid dynamics.

Lightwave is in danger of falling behind in all areas if they stay with their current core and development schedule vs. the competition. XSI and C4d are on a blistering development pass. A recent poll on another board showed 77% were uncertain of LW's future with 65% leaving or already left. If those numbers are accurate throughout the user base, LW's future is very much in doubt.

[duderender]

Originally posted by Endorphin ehhh...price maybe? http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/v4/

What about being the last to:
1) Have a compatible plugin renderer (i.e. Mental ray, Vray, Finalrender, Renderman)
2) Competent high end opengl
3) Native platform code (i.e. Windows and Mac)
4) Hard and Soft Body Dynamics
5) True editable splines
6) Native Renderer Updates
.
.
.


Now that the legal battles with Luxology are over, I hope we see Newtek concentrate money and resources on development.

Right now XSI and Maya are in heavy development and Lightwave as a lot to catch up on to outdo them.

[duderender]

Originally posted by Cchristensen A recent poll on another board showed 77% were uncertain of LW's future with 65% leaving or already left. If those numbers are accurate throughout the user base, LW's future is very much in doubt.

Where was that poll?? Also, Newtek is quite assanine about publicity regarding its development strategies. Frankly I was quite ticked off at the arrogance of the Newtek staff when version 8 was still being developed and Newtek basically said "gimme your money, we promise version 8 is the best". No details as to what 8 would be until the very end when mass mutiny seemed to a theme in discussions.

Now that 8 is here..... where are the groundbreaking features that were promised?

Hard F/X, and Soft F/X .. granted cool... but what about stability and hard core opengl shading improvements. Why is modeler's OpenGL so much worse than Layouts implementation..... that is where I would expect feature development to be put..... adding existing plugins I already had for modeler isn't an upgrade.... focusing on 1 group (i.e. character animators) is only a biased upgrade....

LW8 was a character animator's upgrade.... they should have sold it as such...... mechanical and architectural users missed out.... AGAIN.

[Cchristensen]

The poll was on CGTalk until it was locked for no reason.

As for their dynamics, they need a lot of work before they are acceptable. Just try making a simple domino scene that works right and you;ll be ready to jump out a window.

[hoopti]

My little shop owns the high end Softimage, Maya 6 Unlimited, and Lightwave 8. When we show the clients what they can get with the various options, most prefer lightwave. Why, because the lightwave models look the best because we're the most familiar and comfortable with the tools.

We bought the other two because we had guys join us who "prefered" operating in those environments and then took off after 3 months. The rest of us left (or should I say the both of us left) have come up through lightwave.

An artist is only as good as the comfort level he has with his tools. And when they come out with lightwave 9, we'll be in line right away to order, because those new tools will make us even better artists.

Hoop