LightWave's Difficulty

[cowblack920]

Ok so LightWave can be used for beginners? Any good books you guys suggest? Or any other good videos? Or just the videos on the LightWave website? Also, are the only ones the $900 and $1000 LightWave versions? Which one is better of those 2? Thanks!

[cysphere]

Hi,

you have at every profesional software to survive a learning curve.
In lightwave it is at the beginning a bit harder, after tis step, its so
much better as its cometetors. First of all you must understand, the
split of modeller and layout (and this has big advanteges).

You will see that after a while. For buying: You should wait until Newtek
will bundle some nice products. Often they have cool bundles, so wait a
little bit - they will do it again

http://www.wtools3d.com/ - is often bundled, its really cool.
has many CAD-Functions and more. Good buy.

The different is at the 2 products is at the moment, with printed handbooks and without.
I dont know the quality of this, at the past the handbooks were great. At Vers. 7.
I got a german version, which was great.

Tutorials, etc. are at newteks homepage, at youtube etc.. mass on the web.
Books: The best (all aspects of lightwave-)book, I think so far, is the book for  learning the tool:
Inside LightWave v9: http://www.amazon.de/Inside-LightWave-Dvdrom-Dan-Ablan/dp/0321426843/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1260933010&sr=1-2 [With Dvdrom] von Dan Ablan von New Riders... evtl. you could get a free update to the "hardcore"- product.. so asking and waiting a short time could save you much money.

Hope it helps, and all only my own opinion.

sry for my bad english language skills.

[Jim]

Your english is very good

[cysphere]

thank you jim, but I know I have not the best english language skills . It seams that many could read and understand it.

thx.. Have a nice xmas time!

[gekido]

John (GameCore's original programmer) would love you guys - he swears up and down about Lightwave and it's superiority over other modeling packages ;P

[acocq]

John (GameCore's original programmer) would love you guys - he swears up and down about Lightwave and it's superiority over other modeling packages ;P

John must be a very smart cookie...  ...

[Steely Dane]

I absolutley hate it when it turns into a fan based argument over actual practicality and useability, which unfortunately these kind of debates turn into, but so many of the non-Lightwave users right it off without the benefit of even trying it because it isn't "industry standard", which is complete bollocks anyway, as Lightwave gets used in movie and game production all of the time, it just doesn't get hyped...a fault that lies squarely on the shoulders of Newtek. A lot of people say the same things about GC as well, with the exception that GC is still a young App.
Another argument I see frequently is that LW doesn't have all the features of high end software like Maya or XSI, but before that should  even be an issue, you have to ask yourself, "Do I need it anyway?", "How often will I use it?".
If the answer is anything other than ALWAY'S or QUITE OFTEN, then chances are you won't miss it.
As a long time user of LW, I see no reason to switch to something new.
For my uses, I don't even see a need to upgrade to the new Core version (but I might anyway, just because it has some interesting performance upgrades, and I can still use my familiar GUI setup, that works for me).

[Jim]

I didn't think this topic was heading that direction, if it was I would say mainly from the Lightwave side, not to point any fingers

I think that almost any of these applications would do the job if they are what the specific user is comfortable with.

I am working on becoming more proficient with XSI because I own a copy of it, and I own a copy of it, because it was the most affordable with the appropriate license. Now that Autodesk owns it, there is no foundation license, and also no upgrade path for me, so if I wanted new software, I would likely stray from XSI, unless I became very familiar and fond of it. The foundation version was a good fit for me at the time, but it doesn't seem like there is an equivalent option on the market now, from any software vendor. It's a big gap from the small software packages and free ones like milkshape, blender, and truespace, to a "commercial" software nowadays.

[Steely Dane]

I wasn't really implying that it was, just that that's what they eventually turn into in most cases.
Glad you're not "pointing fingers"...I eat fingers   .
I do think one should research and invest in a proven software if you are truly serious about your art, regardless of the app you chose.
Free 3d software is adequate for most of the indie users who are not interested in becoming proficient at modeling.
If you have grandiose ambitions of becoming a serious pro, it makes sense to (I say again) "INVEST" in software with a proven track record that suits your style and needs, with a regular upgrade path that isn't in danger of disappearing at any moment.
To use a musician analogy, there is a reason pro level shredders use $1-2000 instruments and rigs that can go into the 5 digit range. It's not because they are endorsed or because they can afford it.
It's because a $250 guitar and a $500 half stack sound like shite, wether it's played by your developmentally challenged cousin Earl in the woodshed, or Eddie Freakin' Van Halen.
If you get my meaning...

[mgarnett]

Hi All,

I own two 3D apps, Cinema 4D 11.5 (Core) and 3DS Max 2010 (not warezed and not accademic, a real life registered version).   

Of the two, Cinema 4D is by far the easiest to use with most intuitive interface and I would also recommend that the original poster have a look at the Maxon website to see if Cinema 4D meets your needs.  I think feature wise, C4D and Lightwave would be very close with some differences unique to each app.

I find Max to be very bloated and not as responsive (in the GUI department) as C4D but it has more features than C4D (Core) or Lightwave (IMHO as I have never used LW), but I would still rather use C4D.

I think price is about the same, C4D (Core) is about $1,000 and you get BodyPaint 3D with that as well.

There are a ton of good tutorials around for C4D and I think it is generally regarded as one of the easiest professional level 3D packages to use.  There are some tutorials floating around on level design with C4D and Unity3D which would easily apply to GameCore as well.

Cheers

Mark

[cysphere]

Hi,

yes C4D is a great product, I have the Studio Version. (fullversion and registered too! Same as lightwave..).
I like it very much.
But the modeller in lightwave is for me more handy, and lightwave has for the price
many features out of the box. C4D with all the modules is much more expensiv.
So lightwave is for the price the best choice.
And I say it again, its a fantastic software too, and its not from autodesk.

C4D with I/Ogre plugin is able import and export in .ms3d.

[BigDaz]

In XSI I have ultimapper which can be used to generate normal, depth and ambient occlusion maps. It'll also transfer textures from one model to another with various options for size, quality etc which is very handy. It's fairly simple to transfer weight maps and animation from one model to another too. Can Lightwave do this sort of thing easily? XSI is designed to build game assets so it has all this sort of thing as standard, I get the impression Lightwave's forte is TV and film work. How suitable is it for game devs?