First off, I apologize if this has been covered in a previous thread”¦I'm sort of grom here”¦and I don't see a site search engine around.
I am really new to 3d cg and I am considering purchasing LightWave or 3dsMax. I am aware LightWave is about ½ the cost and possibly comes stock with a more powerful renderer than Max. My concern is since Max is primarily more of the industry standard, will using LightWave limit my file sharing options? Basically, does LightWave have the file export and import capabilities comparable to Max?
max offer the greatest flexibility, especially if you want to buy or get models from other people.
It comes with Mental Ray, which is one of the best renderers out there, although a beast to learn. The plugins are superb for Max and cover anything you could want, from clouds to faster GI (final render, vray, brazil, and soon Maxwell).
I like it, but I don't think it's the best modeler for arch viz (I don't think any of the hollywood/video game 3D packages are). I prefer FormZ for modeling buildings, but it's rendering sucks, at least until the new version comes out.
Money is a big issue. I am already committed to Max and know it, so I keep spending for upgrades (although I havn'et gotten 7 yet - 5 and Final Render work great).
If I had it to do over I'd look at Cinema 4D XL closely. It's growing in popularity and has a modular purchasing program.
Soon Final REnder and Vray will have standalone renderers, but I am not sure what this means exactly. I'd even consider Rhino and Brazil if you don't plan on animating (no idea if Rhino has animation capabilities).
I'd also look at SoftImage XSI for $500. Really, that's hard to imagine. It comes with Mental Ray and has a pretty solid reputation. You can't beat it at $500. Even Maya at $2k with Final Render is not outrageous compared to Max.
Max is great, but it's hard to suggest it simply due to Discreet's inflexibility and stubborness (which will cost them soon, and may force them to give options for purchases - like I don't need character studio or Mental Ray). But they are big and slow, so they may not see things until it's too late.
Viz is also an option if you don't plan on animating much. Final Render also works with that.
I have the FREE Vray loaded on my machine and it seems slower than brazil but much faster than mental Ray which is because of its complexity is properly named.
where did vray get the reputation of being slow? i can't convince anyone at school that its not either...it's actually one of the quickest, and handles animation very well...
Been tinkering with Rhino…easy interface and seems to respond well to 2d .dwg files…anyone taken an intial 2d.dwg to a finished 3d Rhino model?
My initial inquiry on LightWave is due to a referral by a consultant of ours. He has done some really amazing work (much better than what I typically see posted in the gallerys of CG forums/CGarchitect) and claims to do nearly all of his work w/ LightWave (though he converts 2d.dwg files to image files for reference). I wish LightWave had an evaluation version to compare…
what is slow
You kids today don't know what slow is.
I waited five day for a rendering once.
I could have air brushed it faster.
Vray is great for quality and speed. But with any raytracer, it is slow.
I got 4 gig of RAM ,a dual 3.2 it does not matter it still takes 2 to 5
hours for an image. Which is not as bad as waiting 5 days now thats slow.
LightWave $ vs. 3dsMax $$
First off, I apologize if this has been covered in a previous thread”¦I'm sort of grom here”¦and I don't see a site search engine around.
I am really new to 3d cg and I am considering purchasing LightWave or 3dsMax. I am aware LightWave is about ½ the cost and possibly comes stock with a more powerful renderer than Max. My concern is since Max is primarily more of the industry standard, will using LightWave limit my file sharing options? Basically, does LightWave have the file export and import capabilities comparable to Max?
go for lwave
search is at the bottom of the discussions page
Got both love both
I wish 3ds max was cheaper
Thanks Kai...I am utterly blind (so used to little tinny weenie search links)
max offer the greatest flexibility, especially if you want to buy or get models from other people.
It comes with Mental Ray, which is one of the best renderers out there, although a beast to learn. The plugins are superb for Max and cover anything you could want, from clouds to faster GI (final render, vray, brazil, and soon Maxwell).
I like it, but I don't think it's the best modeler for arch viz (I don't think any of the hollywood/video game 3D packages are). I prefer FormZ for modeling buildings, but it's rendering sucks, at least until the new version comes out.
Money is a big issue. I am already committed to Max and know it, so I keep spending for upgrades (although I havn'et gotten 7 yet - 5 and Final Render work great).
If I had it to do over I'd look at Cinema 4D XL closely. It's growing in popularity and has a modular purchasing program.
Soon Final REnder and Vray will have standalone renderers, but I am not sure what this means exactly. I'd even consider Rhino and Brazil if you don't plan on animating (no idea if Rhino has animation capabilities).
I'd also look at SoftImage XSI for $500. Really, that's hard to imagine. It comes with Mental Ray and has a pretty solid reputation. You can't beat it at $500. Even Maya at $2k with Final Render is not outrageous compared to Max.
Max is great, but it's hard to suggest it simply due to Discreet's inflexibility and stubborness (which will cost them soon, and may force them to give options for purchases - like I don't need character studio or Mental Ray). But they are big and slow, so they may not see things until it's too late.
Viz is also an option if you don't plan on animating much. Final Render also works with that.
one of the best things about MAX is
it's integration-ability with ACAD which makes workflow smooth.
MAX+Vray produce the best architectural renders i've ever seen.
plugins for operations and for entourage are mostly for MAX, i'd say given the chance MAX is the best investment
Isn't Vray painfully slow?
Pack a lunch and dinner!
no, any of the plugin renderers, Final Render, VRay, Brazil, are much faster than Mental Ray or the standard scanline.
not at all, try it out
pack a vacation with mental ray and brazil
I have the FREE Vray loaded on my machine and it seems slower than brazil but much faster than mental Ray which is because of its complexity is properly named.
where did vray get the reputation of being slow? i can't convince anyone at school that its not either...it's actually one of the quickest, and handles animation very well...
poor vray...
When I first used it I was amazed by the speed and ease, but once I boosed the quality................ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ time
Been tinkering with Rhino…easy interface and seems to respond well to 2d .dwg files…anyone taken an intial 2d.dwg to a finished 3d Rhino model?
My initial inquiry on LightWave is due to a referral by a consultant of ours. He has done some really amazing work (much better than what I typically see posted in the gallerys of CG forums/CGarchitect) and claims to do nearly all of his work w/ LightWave (though he converts 2d.dwg files to image files for reference). I wish LightWave had an evaluation version to compare…
what is slow
You kids today don't know what slow is.
I waited five day for a rendering once.
I could have air brushed it faster.
Vray is great for quality and speed. But with any raytracer, it is slow.
I got 4 gig of RAM ,a dual 3.2 it does not matter it still takes 2 to 5
hours for an image. Which is not as bad as waiting 5 days now thats slow.
Us younguns have got it easy huh stark3d?
Well I'm not that old.
And I can still Hang with the young guns.
Your programs are only as good as your talent.
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