I hope Newtek isn't next to sell

#41

Amen!
One of the least publicized things that Newtek has done a part of their 9x release is their expansion of the support of other 3D formats…(Collada, FBX and OBJ I/O)

A tighter integration with most of the ADOBE DCC tools would help them a lot (Illustrator, Photoshop,In-Desing, After Effects).

The Graphics Design market IS HUGE, it is dominated by Adobe, but this market needs a reasonable priced/ easy to use 3d app.

Adobe is bigger than Autodesk so they are not going nowhere.
Not only that they are serious about making 3d a significant part of their pipeline…

This a niche market that has a HUGE user base. This is the direction we should be taking.

#42

Maybe you people should check this out rather then speculate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5zYnjdQ8J0&feature=related

#43

edited…
sugar rush after lunch…
please ignore
Glitch I feel like a horses ass. My apologies.

-R

#44

LOL :slight_smile:

Way before Rendition a really cool feature popped up in LW (during 8.x if I’m not misstaken).

PSD exporter… takes all buffers and generates a PSD with all buffers loaded as layers…

THAT is sweet like sugar! :slight_smile:

#45

I’ve been using LW since 5.6 on Mac. I love it. Easy to learn, loads of bang-per-buck, great output.

But I didn’t always love it. When Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson et al were busy adding features that were broken and that no-one could be bothered to de-bug, it was a nightmare. From LW 6 to 8, it was pretty much a crock 'o shit. But since then it’s been getting better and better.

I have modo 302 and it’s still buggy, with weird behaviour and oddnesses that annoy. I suspect modo will be the new LightWave - endless new features but a lengthening trail of bugs behind it.

I had C4D but gave up on it. Modelling is rubbish and it’s WAY too expensive for what it offers - couldn’t afford the upgrades so flogged it on ebay in the end.

So, here we are. I’ve stuck with LW through thick and thin and it just keeps improving. The team behind is dedicated, talented and rigorous. I do believe Jay and co. will make this the most feature-rich and stable version of LW there has ever been. So whatever happens in the big, bad world out there, I for one hope LW continues to be my 3D app of choice.

#46

the advantages in the marketplace always fall to the small, nimble innovator, especially the software battleground, and especially a niche market like 3d. think american rebels vs. british empire, or vietcong vs. american empire.

with a strong and very! active development team producing an unending stream of bug fixes and features, while concurrently re-writing the core, newtek and lightwave are well placed to out maneuver the behemoths and bring real value to their customers. imho natch:D

#47

it is always like that.:slight_smile:

The big behemoth scares all for some time, then it implodes upon itself : its just too big to be innovative.

Usually smart ideas come from small companies, so this is the right time for Newtek to just start innovating.

#48

Unfortunalty they need to start from scratch again like they did with 6.0. 9.X has not turned out like they said it would. There is no modeling in Layout, the character animation system is still years behind what Softimage or Maya had 10 years ago! Viewport speed is still very slow and they think merging 3rd. party software is innovation.

I have owned LW since 5.6 and still do up to 9.5. Also XSI essentials since 4.0 and up to 5.1.

#49

David you are right, and I am the first in line to compain about the animation tools in LW, but I feel strongly that I like the direction they are taking the program.

But I do have one big wish. More openenss of the application.

I think the direction the industry is moving is more towards openss.

I would move away from the plug-ins and more towards tools that allow the easy creation of application components by the user base.

Tools that do not require a degree in computer science to develop and are accesible to 3rd party scripting programs like Python

#50

I think the new tool can do well! We all know Lw weak point is in animation, but they’re starting to update the tools (joint bones, pole vector and more ).
BTW i’d like a more radical and innovative evolution of the app, with modeler and layout integration, modelling toolset consolidation, and lots of features,and yes , more opennes.

maybe we’ll start to see something going in this direction in release 10 ?

#51

I know this isnt really a features thread but imagine the integration of some kind of proper fluid particles system? ( I know it has been said before ) but true Hypervoxels support in FPRIME!if they can crack this the fun would really begin!

I also remember ages ago back in LW 4,5 or 6 cant quite remember, a really cool little plugin that had a box tricks to allow you to customise lens glows and lens flares of all shapes and sizes, things for water glistening, halos for Space ship engine flares. Cant remember its name but it was ace. This kind of support in FPRIME as well would be amazing. ( Just remembered I think it was called Genesis or something )

Let alone true G2 to FPRIME support for rendering out layers! being able to split the renders into segments on export, like just diffuse, just relfection, just SSS etc

Perhaps Worley and Newtek join together and long last! Hey they bought up Jon Tindal and FiberFX.

The list goes on.

#52

heheh…or NT could follow ADs lead and start buying up other companys/apps.
Blender for fluids, Messiah for CA, Worley for Fprime…
3D Coat for paint and Sculpting…oh and PLG, or better yet, UVlayout for unwrapping.

#53

Exactly the reason why I’m not upgrading my copy of Messiah.
I think it will be bundled in the next version of LW, so why bother?

#54

Keep in mind that there is no confirmation about this…NOWHERE.

#55

I wonder if he meant that litteraly?

LW10 may hold new upgrades to the CA-toolset that may rival those found in Messiah…

#56

Mmm… but lightwave need a new user interface, no doubt. Cant believe its such a pain just loading a plugin and search for it in the GUI… Also they should get few of the great plugin out there and include it in the package, well implemented in the interface. Most plugins just die after few years cause the creator change job or let the website down.

Most serious animators will use high end software anyway but for motion design lightwave still valuable. Just reorganize the damn interface with the current tools and lightwave will get a new life already. Make an official plugins pack hosted on the server (uploaded by the creators, a bit like the free apps for Ipod or G1) with an installer wich place each plugz at the right place and voila! Flay.com is quite a mess, really! 50% of the links are dead. Ease of use is the key to success.

EDIT: And with a damn render passes organizer!!! come on, that one easy… should take a week to code!

#57

Worley has always been pretty independent, but it would be a great boon to LW if he were to allow his outfit to be purchased by NewTek and he to come on-board as architect or a principal engineer. He definitely understands LW’s strengths and weaknesses, but also really knows how to innovate. He’s certainly has a vested interest in LW’s success.

I suspect he likes being independent, though, so I’m not expecting this to happen. And since FPrime is currently his primary product and only works in LightWave, hard to imagine he would sell it to NewTek unless he plans to get out of the LW plugin business entirely.

#58

I would love to see LW integrate Python and expose its API to Python scripting in the same way that Maya did. It would open up a world of opportunities not possible now. LScript could be left in just for legacy/runtime purposes.

Another wild idea would be to adopt Adobe Flex. Like Python, it is cross-platform, and Flex has the advantage of being built around Flash technology, so creating GUI with it is very easy. A LW Flex plug-in would basically just be a .swf file (or .swc if compiled). While there are good 3rd party GUI-related packages for Python, like wxPython/wxWidgets, they aren’t as closely coupled to the language as is the case with Flex/ActionScript.

#59

Openness is a good thing; it’ll help ensure Lightwavea place in more studio pipelines. The big problem here is that the industry isn’t moving toward openess, it’s already there. Even Blender is years ahead of where Lightwave currently is in that department.

Unfortunately, at this point I think the software itself (Layout) has stagnated to the point where Newtek might only be able to innovate again by throwing the whole app away and rebuilding from scratch. The kind of openness LW really needs is the kind where any user can acess the apps’ core functions, something I don’t think most plugins come anywhere near being able to do right now.

#60

Exactly… what we have seen with LW9.x series are features that made sense to push onto the current architecture (slightly changed) while a new one is being developed. It is a parallel changeover and intuitivity can only start when the UI has a new design.

The problem NewTek is facing, is the fact that many LW-users don’t want things to change too much (I’m not in that category myself). NT have to think about what made LW easy to use as well as making it possible go much deeper if need be. Not as easy as it sounds.

Time will tell though… I personally feel quite hopefull about the future.