If Lightwave is dead, where will you go next for your 3D software? Where will I go?

[Paul_Boland]

Hi Folks.

Just a fun topic and a bit of discussion here, not intending to start a new monster topic on where is Lightwave Next (if it ever appears!!).

Let's say this is it for Lightwave 3D, it's over. Where would you go next for your 3D software needs? I've been looking at what's out there... For me, it has to be a standalone license for my 3D software, there is no way I would go, or could afford to go, subscription based. So that leaves me with Modo, Cinema 4D, Blender, and Houdini. Are there others?

I've been down this path before when Caligari's TrueSpace came to an end and I moved over to Lightwave. It was a slow process but I got here and I love Lightwave! But if Lightwave is gone, then where do I go next? Thought this would be a fun topic to discuss what possibilities we all could be facing in the future if LW3DG don't speak up and let us know what's happening...???

[hrgiger]

This thread won't last long...

I already picked up Modo back at 901. I mainly bought it as a modeler replacement since Modeler doesn't get updated but have moved a lot of my work to it over LightWave. I'm mainly an asset creator so Modo's focus on asset creation and rendering is ideal for me. I'm learning Houdini a bit on the side but its slow going as I don't have a lot of time to invest in it. But Modo is just one app for asset creation, I also use Zbrush, Substance Painter and Designer, Unreal Engine...and just picked up Marvelous Designer today for Black Friday.

My advice, don't think of one app as replacing another. If one doesn't do everything you need it to do, pick up another app, it doesn't mean you have to replace anything.

[TheLexx]

Carrara comes to mind as an addition on the list. Also, the one company which went even more silent than Newtek was PMG with Messiah, but as far as I know it is actually still for sale, so you could technically go, say, Hexagon for modelling with Messiah Studio as the dynamic duo.....but it would take a very brave man to test the Buy button with Messiah. It would depend on what you envisage doing with it, so 4D would appeal to someone like me much more than Houdini (and be sure to check the Houdini "transferring machine" rules very carefully). But I'll venture that Blender is the "real answer" to your question.

But remember, it ain't over for LW yet......(I'm ducking now).

[Ernest]

Well, if you're the queen of England, or you're in her tax bracket, you can go for Autodesk or C4D.

For mere mortals, the options are rather limited. LW can't do what Houdini can, but Houdini can't really be used practically for what most of us do with LW. So that pretty much leaves just Modo and Blender. And sadly Modo has a lot of the same core problems as LW, regarding large poly counts, large numbers of rigged characters, etc. That's why I keep coming and hoping that LW will survive and that the new core will really deliver as advertised, even though it often feels like LWG doesn't want us here.

[gar26lw]

modo and maya. i don’t think anyone codes at lwg and that’s what’s holding things up. someone in managment finally figured it out and stepped in to start coding. so all good now.

[Nicolas Jordan]

Even if Lightwave development stopped I would likely continue using it for a long while until it had issues running on modern hardware and Windows. I already own Modo and know it fairly well but since LWCAD is available for Cinema 4D and would probably take a good hard look at that to see if it met my current needs for it's price. Cinema 4D appears to be out of my price range though. Pros and Cons to everything. I just hope the future of Lightwave is bright but we haven't really been reassured in any meaningful way that's the case.

[GandB]

Blender. They actually communicate with their user-base regularly. The gripes I hear about the UI are not that hard to get over, if you actually give it a shot (and they are working on updating it as well). It is growing by leaps and bounds, and already does most (if not all) of what I need as a game artist (most engines support Blender natively now). As many have said before; NewTek has only themselves to blame for the continuing exodus and ill-will felt towards them. I also don't believe there's some "legal" "thing" that is prohibiting them from talking; if there was...they put themselves in that situation as well. But; Blender/Photoshop (for now)/Quixel Suite. The sculpting tools native to Blender are sufficient for now; may move to another app at some point.

I too remember the Caligari/TS debacle, Paul.....and not fondly. I still remember the unenviable position TomG was put in.

[aperezg]

Maybe this can help to decide

https://i.materialise.com/blog/top-2...r-3d-printing/

https://all3dp.com/1/best-free-3d-mo...sign-software/

https://www.g2crowd.com/categories/3d-modeling

I decide to use...LightWave
Until the end of LW life, and beyond, if the last LW software won't work in a future mac OS systems.
Well I keep the hardware until the hardware dead.. its mean between five to ten years more.

[Farhad_azer]

I also will stick with LW. I trully enjoy while using it.

[Kryslin]

Hmm... An interesting question. I'd probably pick up Blender again, and work with it... And use NC Renderman as the renderer. Still have a license for Rhino 3D, so I'm good for CAD/CAM/3DP. But really, until something major breaks between LW and the OS... Lightwave it is, until the bitter, bitter end.

[shrox]

I'd stay with Lightwave. For the stuff I am doing now it's great. I do mostly sci-fi space still images, so that alone simplifies things. If I got hired to direct a $200 million budget animated feature, the animators can use whatever they want...

[Paul_Boland]

Thanks for all the feedback. I, like others above, totally love Lightwave and would want to stick with it until issues started to arise. I am really hoping that a new Lightwave Next really is on the way...

But if it's not, where do I go...?

As I said, I can't afford to go subscription based so that rules out Autodesk stuff. I've never used Blender so I would give it a try and see what it's like. I love the power in Houdini but everyone says it's totally foreign in how it works. So that leaves Modo and Cinema 4D. Cinema 4D is very expensive and would be a huge investment in itself. Modo is highly priced too but I do think that is where I would be leaning if I had to walk that path again.

I just hope I don't have to walk that path again. Come on, LW3DG, give us some news!!

[Surrealist.]

Since 2008 I have already decided to expand my software choices.

But if I was a LightWave artist now, looking to move sideways I think I would start with Modo Indie and Houdini Indie.

Both are in real strong development phases right now.

Personally I just think the C4D offerings are a bit overpriced and the concept of licencing levels I think is a bad idea. Side Effects I think finally dropped that. I think Maxon needs to rethink things at little. My opinion.

But after giving those two (Modo and Houdini) a go at the Indie level for a year or so I would then decide which one I need more for the pro version. If at all. Earlier depending on your needs.

As for the other aspects of the process it is s given that artists already use some kind of app to aid in modeling if you are doing serious character work for example and incorporate a sculpt workflow. So there is no need to include those choices.

And of course the same is true for painting.

But that said. For a number of years I have been on the Mudbox beta. And it has been dead. But it just lit up a couple of months ago. Much to our surprise.

So I will just mention that at 10 bucks a month or even cheaper yearly it may be a viable option for those that don't need Zbrush. It is a wait and see. Just don't write it off yet.

If you have a small studio Blender can not be a better recommendation. It has saved my arse many times. No matter what format I have to deliver assets in I have unlimited seats to create them in. And a pool of artists to use it.

Luckily, dispite the rants of a very small percentage of users, artists take to Blender very quickly. And my artists fluently jump between Maya and Blender on a daily basis. I have personally trained many. So I have seen this first hand.

If you are looking to hire new talent you will find that schools are starting to teach it. And even where they are not, kids are finding it.

And while it might be a running joke that the average Blender user is a preteen, guess what? They all grow up.

There are artists in their 20s now who have been using it for a decade.

And currently in the unis you have more artists discovering it within the last few years.

So it is a strong alternative to Autodesk. And this is getting stronger with each release.

It would work as a good companion to Modo and Houdini as well.

Lastly there is Maya LT.

It is a vital tool at my studio. Mainly for us in hand retopo. We tested it against Modo and for us it won out.

Also for some things a few of my artists prefer it for modeling. So I have a few seats to spread around for that option and of course our go-to tool for hand retopo.

For auto retopo we mainly use Zremesher.

Some people swear by 3D coat for both hand and auto retopo.

Black Friday!

I don't think In will go with 3D Coat this year. But I am going to snatch a few substance licences.

[erikals]

Blender. There's really no reason not to.

Unless you are anti-Blender Ui... some are. Not a Fan of the Ui myself, however, with a hack or two it kinda works.

I could write a Pro-Blender list, but it would be too long.

[gar26lw]

yeah there is a deal out in 3d coat. worth a look.