Lightwave kicks over Maya, any comments

Thanks Greggl. You have PM as well.

I'm not targeting a Career in VFX or Games, but I would be using one or the other for visual effects in my own projects and probably some work projects.

I have NO idea how to rig characters or make particles work. And while I would love to sit on the level of the artists that did Final Fantasy: Advent Children, I dont' think I'll be there at all.

Anyway, PM for you! And thanks.
 
I think that a *little* love for Lightwave is in order...some recent Lightwave-reliant projects include:

The Last Samurai, Threat Matrix, Children of Dune, Firefly, Taken, Smallville, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek 10: Nemesis, Matrix Reloaded, Collateral Damage, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Agent Cody Banks, Daredevil, Spy Kids II, We Were Soldiers, Panic Room, Hart's War, Driven, A.I., Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Final Fantasy, Blackhawk Down, The Time Machine and Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition DVD. Recent game titles include Doom III, Unreal Tournament, Serious Sam for XBox, Age of Mythology, Civilization III, Dead to Rights, Baldur's Gate II, EverQuest and Escape From Monkey Island. And there's also Star Trek: Voyager/ DS9 and some NextGen, Titanic, seaQuest DSV, Mantis, Battlestar Galactica and Starship Troopers: Roughnecks. Plus the 'flexible' American Express ads, and *lots* of commercials.

It's worth evaluating, is all I'm saying; I think it's a little pricier than C4D (?) but at about $800 it's way less expensive than Maya, and in my experience close-on in terms of functionality (disclaimer: not a character animator, here).

Lightwave has what appears to be a comprehensive set of character tools, and what I can vouch for as a very effective and versatile particle system. Systems, really, considering the tools available.
 
Last edited:
I will check out Lightwave as well, but as a secondary app for particles and other Visual effects.
 
For those using LightWave 9, overall how do you like it for photorealistic rendering? Do you need a seperate renderer to get best quality?
 
Gotta say that I am in love with Cinema 4D. I can't wait to rip into this program and gain this new skill!
 
zeke said:
For those using LightWave 9, overall how do you like it for photorealistic rendering? Do you need a seperate renderer to get best quality?
Click to expand...

Lightwave's renderer is equal or superior to most anything else available, IME...with the possible exception of Lightscape. I've seen renders out of Lightscape that are just unbelieveable (which is to say, totally believable).
 
Sad Max said:
Lightwave's renderer is equal or superior to most anything else available, IME...with the possible exception of Lightscape. I've seen renders out of Lightscape that are just unbelieveable (which is to say, totally believable).
Click to expand...

I checked out C4D, easy to learn, but I wasn't impressed with their photo realistic options,
based on their online examples. Maybe someone can post some links.
 
Last edited:
C4D is great! I'd like to see how well it performs in conjunction with Zbrush for photo-realistic faces and such.

I'm thinking that it's not a bad idea to have a few programs in the workflow to take advantage of strengths. Then again, I'm new to this so I'm just speculating!
 
On a similar note, I have decided to try and learn some 3d in 07, most likely Maya, any suggestions on books that are strictly for the beginner? , may also take classes as well.


Thanks

gt
 
I'm learning Cinema 4D and Softimage right now, might mix some Lightwave in. Try those two or three programs as well!
 
I was able to learn Lightwave, working with it at home to start with, well enough to move into a Lightwave shop and go from there.

I got a copy of Maya, but found that I needed classroom time to get on the learning curve.

YMMV.
 
greg

greg

hi

as an alternative to classes can anyone recommend a series of training dvd/cd's or online course (flash) material ?

Best

GT
 
There are a lot of phone-book-sized-with-tutorial-CD-manuals out there; you can find a bunch for most of the popular packages, at Barnes & Noble/Fry's/etc...or have a look-see on amazon.com.
 
I invite you all to check out Blender. Its an open source modeling program that i'm sure you've all heard tossed around. Best part of all: Free.
 
In addition to thee index of easy verses hard ,I spoke with a 2dStudioMax rep after a Santa Monica conference .
It was hinted that auto desk may dump Maya and just support 3dstudioMax.
 
Well, given then number of high-end big-budget projects being done with 3DS, versus the number being done using Maya, I can see why.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top