Hobbyist

[ehochstein]

Hi everybody. Was hoping I could get a little Mac advice from other Lightwave users.

I was in the post-production biz until about 5-years ago when I left for another career opportunity. Started with LW in about 1998. I miss the medium and want to get back as a hobby. I still have a license of LW 6 or 7 around here somewhere and am considering upgrading to 9.x.

Main questions:

1) Is the upgrade worth it for a hobbyist? I'd like to be able to output to 1080P on Blu-Ray eventually (via Final Cut/StudioPro/Toast) to project motion graphics on my wall. Honestly, I can't think of anything modeling/animation-wise that I didn't have in 6 that I would need now.

2) How well will it run on a MacBook Pro (obvious rendering and storage issues aside)? Non-Mac based is not an option, and I don't want to drop the ching for a Mac Pro to just test the waters again.

Thanks in advance.

If this topic is inappropriate to this forum, I apologize in advance. Just point me in the right direction if you could before booting me out the door! :)

[Dexter2999]

Try the demo of the software. Compare the render speeds and maybe play with the new lights as well as the free Denis Pontier lights that are available. You may find you like working with nodes which have been added as well.

Anyway the demo is good for 30 days, no reason not to try it and see if you think it is worth laying out the cash for.

Good Luck.

[Cutman]

ehochstein

Although I'm not a hobbyist I have recently returned to Lightwave (and 3D) from many years away. I agree with Dexter, get the demo and see if it is for you. Check out the training videos on the Newtek site too as they'll show you more of the new functionality.

I left LW around 5.5 and must say 9.6 is a vast improvement in all areas from modelling tools, rendering, lights and the nodal workflows. LW has seriously moved on in functionality if not in the interface design!

I tried the demo on my 1st gen MBP 2.16 core duo and it was fine for animating and modelling. I can't say I'd want to use a laptop for vast amounts of radiosity renders but it should be fine for most purposes.

I'm very pleased with LW 9.6 and combined with the HardCORE membership it has been great value for money.

[ehochstein]

Demo. Missed that on my visit to the site. Good call.

How is stability and feature parity these days? I seem to remember it being a bit - shall we say - "quirky" in the OS 9/10.1-ish days.

[JeffrySG]

I think it will be worth upgrading to access the UB (universal binary) version of lighwave. But all of the new features will be great too. The UB version is much faster than the older CFM version - in rendering and performance.

[Cutman]

Demo. Missed that on my visit to the site. Good call.

How is stability and feature parity these days? I seem to remember it being a bit - shall we say - "quirky" in the OS 9/10.1-ish days.

I'm a recent convert to the Mac (since they went Intel) so I can't comment in the flaky-ness.

I've had a couple of Modeller quits after using the Rounder tool which seems to be code for a "Push to Crash" button other than that it's stable. I gather the rounder tool is just as flaky on the PC too.

I am really enjoying reacquainting myself with Lightwave after all these years and all those niggley things have been steadily improved. I find the interface a bit archaic the way you have to trawl through menus rather than have an interactive tool but to give Newtek their credit there is a vast amount more functionality there that they aren't necessarily given full credit for. IK Booster is really nice and effective.

If you sign up you'll get HardCORE membership and see how much CORE has to offer along with LWHC which has improved colour management.

LW 9.6 actually is what Newtek say it is, the best version of Lightwave ever.