Cinema 4D Vs Discreet Plasma

[manlio]

Hi Hassene, as nobody replied to you I try to do but I'm not sure to give you useful answers. In cinema 8.x there is a plugin called FlashEx2 that render in a vectorial format and export to swf. When I tried to use this plug in I had a lot of stability problems (I want to underline that Cinema is the most stable program I have ever tried) and I cannot use it proficiently in this way. Maybe I'm wrong or I have made something not in the right way I hope to hear other comments form the forum.
I don't know directly Plasma but I have used 3dsMax in the past years. If I don't rember wrong, Plasma was created primarly for web development and so I think that It can manage swf format efficiently (these are only suppositions).
However If you want you can use software like Swift 3d to import Cinema 4d model (3ds format).

At last another great software for generating swf is Amorphium that is also very cheap 139$
Bye

[sebek27]

well if you want good flash export, Plasma is designed for this, but there is also a great plugin called, Swift 3D version 2 for Lightwave, but obviously you need to buy lightwave; at this time you can get an $1800 digital effects package for free and free upgrade to LW8 when you purchase lightwave... so you would either have to learn Discreet Plasma or Lightwave
so depends on which software is easier to learn, probably plasma, and the $ i think plasma is half of LW price but, with lightwave you get that great visual effects program and free upgrade to version 8... Cinema doesn't have a good Flash export at this time, but hopefully in the future it will be better or Swift plugin will be available for C4D

also you can get a Swift 3D version 3 standalone where you can import models from Cinema 4D or other 3d apps then export as SWF

[LucentDreams]

hate to sound negative about C4d, but if your main purpose for the app is flash, the swift3D or plasma are the only two ways to go really. If plasma is too limiting you can get max and a plugin called vecta 3D, which is the same flash render engine used in plasma. Definitely the most features and quality out there imo.

[fxgogo]

Just remember that most of these flash exporters do not export optimised vectors. You will have to mess with them afterwards no matter what. This is especially important if things get complex in the flash file.

[Hassene]

Dear All,

Thank you so so much for your help!

the Lightwave option sounds interesting, but I recently bought Swift 3D (the standalone software) and tried it, when I insert like 5 or 7 objects on the scene, Swift gets really slow in a way that I can’t continue with the project. So I had to return it back to erain. I also noticed that Swift does not have those advanced tools that Lightwave and others have.

I’m not sure what quality the Swift3DLW2 plugin gives (I already have bad experience with Swift standalone software!).

I learned that there is a plug-in for LW that exports to Shockwave which is good, but I’m not sure about its quality either. I think the edges of objects in a Shockwave file look always fuzzy and “pixelised”… is there any way how to produce anti-aliased edges in shochwave?

Does LW allow you to add a voice over in a presentation/animation? (like Flash for example)

Again thanks alot, and hope to hope to hear from you again!
Sincerely,
Hassene:wavey:

[hardev]

hi Hassene.
i have been using plasma for past 5 or 6 months and have just recently switched to c4d. i agree with most people here that the flash plugin for c4d is really lame. other than that its a really awesome product.
my friend has 3ds max and has the swift 3d max 2 plugin and accoridng to him its quite stable and he hasnt encountered any problems yet. i dont know about the lw plugin but i presume its the same. if u are going to work mostly wih flash then plasma is the way to go. it has better flash rendering and compared to the standalone swift 3d, better modelling capabilities. however, i really dont like the interface (it resembles 3d max 3 :p ) and doesnt have nurbs and arrays. however, c4d is a much more complete 3d package compared to plasma it has better modelling and rendering(not swf format of course) compared to plasma.

[JIII]

I would advise posting in the MAX and LW forums as well. As much as I would like to see another C4D user there is no reason to buy something that will not work for you.

Unless Paul or darf has something floating around their hard drives, and just are not telling us I would doubt this will change soon. Course this could be announced at siggraph you never know.

geez I hate being in the dark about whats gonna happen with cinema. Then again if I did know I could not tell anyway.

[AdamT]

No personal knowledge, but I've heard that Strata actually has excellent Flash support.

[LucentDreams]

its the same engine in Swift 2 I believe, but built right into strata. kinda nice if you want more capabilities then swift alone

[sebek27]

the LW Swift 2 plugin looks very good, here is the link where you can buy it and look at what it can do:
http://www.swift3d.com/

here is a review of the swift plugin for LW:
http://www.creativemac.com/2003/02_feb/reviews/swift3d.htm

[kevin3d]

A different approach you may consider is to use FlashMX's ability to play video using sorenson squeeze codec. This woud give you the highest quality, and depending on how you implement your presentation, might not be too big. Perhaps a combination of techniques.

In the case of squeeze, any 3d app that outputs avi or quicktime would work.

[kevin3d]

As I think more about this, I have to say I've seen very few examples of well-done 3D-in-flash, unless you're talking about simple geometric shapes. More complex 3D forms are better handled either as compressed video or Shockwave/Viewpoint/VRML.

Are there any examples of Cinema4D's shockwave output?


FYI, I think I can pick up a copy of plamsa ($700ish) + cinema4D ($600ish+) for less than the costs of Lightwave ($1500) + swift2LW ($300ish). Of course these are retail prices which vary wildly based on promotions. Also a a Cinem4D->Plasma combo (via .3ds format?) would involve learning apps.

[Hassene]

Dear Kevin,

Thanks so much for your ideas.
what you think about makes complete sense, LW + Swift plugin are way too expensive than C4D + Plasma, but does C4D produce files that Plamsa supports (or can open easily with no lost in quality)?

Sincerely,
Hassene:wavey:

[kevin3d]

Originally posted by Hassene
but does C4D produce files that Plamsa supports (or can open easily with no lost in quality)?

Sincerely,
Hassene:wavey:

Hassene,

I really don't know & want to check when I get a chance.(I have a fully function demo of Plasma I got from 3D World). What would be optimal is for direct output from Cinema4D. having said that, I believe macromedia & Discreet where in bed with the Shockwave 3D thing from the beginning so Plasma is a bit ahead of the curve regarding output of this type (this is my impression, I have not direct experience).

What I would say is this:

If you want a non-linear, interactive 3D experience over the web, use shockwave or the viewpoint media plug-in. In this event, Plasma is probably the best bet.

If you looking to embed a linear 3D experience (i.e. animation), with nice rendering quality such as reflection, texture mapping, etc., into a interactive 2D flash experience, get a package like Cinema4D & purchase Sorenson Squeeze 3.5 for $119. (I assumme you already have flashMX). The compression is very good.

The flash/sorenson combo has the added benefit of allowing you to have video content in a flash presentation without worrying whether the user has Quicktime/DiVX/Real Player, etc. installed. The WILL need flash player 6, which they will probably have anyway.

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