3rd party Companies that LW could ally itself: Tell us your ideas.

[erikals]

I would like to see TAFA revived in some way, and if that could be incorporated side by side with Annosoft which is already compatible with LW, it would be unbelievable. And Mark is a very approachable guy - hint .

did ask Mac if he wanted to sell to NewTek couple of years ago, the answer was no, since he wanted to stay in charge.
closer integration would be nice though. in time i might make an AHK function that made this possible (like Go-Z light)
should be easy, just got tons of other projects right now, + Mark needs to fix his webpage. http://www.macreitercreations.com

[hrgiger]

Anyone willing to buy LW from NT and give it proper support and marketing and direction.

[TheLexx]

did ask Mark if he wanted to sell to NewTek couple of years ago, the answer was no, since he wanted to stay in charge.
closer integration would be nice though. in time i might make an AHK function that made this possible (like Go-Z light)
should be easy, just got tons of other projects right now, + Mark needs to fix his webpage. http://www.macreitercreations.com

Hi erikals, just to clarify that Mac of TAFA and Mark of Annosoft are two separate guys, with Mac probably better known to LW community, so I think you meant Mac, but good info many thanks. If Mac wants to remain in control, then maybe there is still hope for a TAFA 2 (!)

[jasonwestmas]

Ditto 3D Kiwi's scenario, except swap Softimage for Messiah Studio (as an add-on).

Put messiah's tools inside of layout. If it's even possible that would be a nice addition. They do have a lot of similar workflows, I often said in the past that messiah is what I wished layout was. Good luck!

[jasonwestmas]

Anyone willing to buy LW from NT and give it proper support and marketing and direction.

I've often wished Lightwave would just excel at something and stop trying to be everything. He doesn't listen when I express those thoughts.

[pixel master]

For me the biggest gap right now in terms of the LW toolset is in its character animation capabilities. In other areas it is doing great to good (but procedural animation toolsets in layout would rock). I am trying to get the developer of Akeytsu to talk directly to the LW community (he is a friend).

So guys until then , any other 3rd party animation programs (a la Softimage) that could complement LW?

-R

Blender is about to rewrite their animation system. The project is called: Animation 2020. I'm sure the Blender foundation would be receptive to working with Newtek.

[erikals]

I think you meant Mac

sorry, yes, Mac

If Mac wants to remain in control, then maybe there is still hope for a TAFA 2 (!)

hope so, that he continues the TAFA journey somehow.

[hrgiger]

I've often wished Lightwave would just excel at something and stop trying to be everything. He doesn't listen when I express those thoughts.

Yes I think that is a problem. It needs a niche to be known for. Houdini vfx, Max games, Maya animation, Modo modeling, C4D mograph, LightWave _? I would say it used to be known for its renderer but obviously the industry has moved on, things like GI, interactive rendering (Fprime, VPR) are pretty much standard these days and a lot of people are going to GPU rendering, Octane, Redshift, Vray….. And others need a low cost solution with easy licensing terms as they don't make a lot of money with the software but Blender has pretty much taken that spot. LW is holding onto users who have used it for years and enjoy it but it needs to specialize in something if they want new users.

[robertoortiz]

Yes I think that is a problem. It needs a niche to be known for. Houdini vfx, Max games, Maya animation, Modo modeling, C4D mograph, LightWave _? I would say it used to be known for its renderer but obviously the industry has moved on, things like GI, interactive rendering (Fprime, VPR) are pretty much standard these days and a lot of people are going to GPU rendering, Octane, Redshift, Vray….. And others need a low cost solution with easy licensing terms as they don't make a lot of money with the software but Blender has pretty much taken that spot. LW is holding onto users who have used it for years and enjoy it but it needs to specialize in something if they want new users.

Great post...

What Lightwave needs to do is approach a new user base.
And besides there is a feeling that the industry is in the mist of a seismic change. Companies like Adobe and Autodesk are the definitive kings of the hill right now, but a lot of the peasants are not happy with them...at all. Those subscriptions are a pain for medium to small shops and they are hungry for alternatives.


What i would recommend the LW is to look into the pro design market.They are a fickle beast and drop software at the drop of a hat. Just ask Quark Express people how is their market dominance holding. Another market I would STROOONGLy suggest to look into the the pro VR market. A lot of the development tools in that market are in the infant stages, but they show a TON of promise. So much so tha Disney is pending a ton of money in that market.

Tweaking Lightwave to tackle those markets isa VERY DOABLE task.

[jasonwestmas]

Yes I think that is a problem. It needs a niche to be known for. Houdini vfx, Max games, Maya animation, Modo modeling, C4D mograph, LightWave _? I would say it used to be known for its renderer but obviously the industry has moved on, things like GI, interactive rendering (Fprime, VPR) are pretty much standard these days and a lot of people are going to GPU rendering, Octane, Redshift, Vray….. And others need a low cost solution with easy licensing terms as they don't make a lot of money with the software but Blender has pretty much taken that spot. LW is holding onto users who have used it for years and enjoy it but it needs to specialize in something if they want new users.

Yeah, I was going to say there was a time when Lightwave was standing out as a Modeling and Rendering Package, I used it for that quite often for concept design and illustration purposes, but that ship has sailed because the other packages are more streamlined now and can therefore compete for smaller projects.

I often tell people it's not about possibilities anymore it's more about efficiency with time saving tools. So with that said I definitely agree that Lightwave dev should focus on specific needs that are in other markets that aren't being met and really, I mean really focus in on making those people happy. I mean isn't it obvious that no one company can make everyone happy? So why not take advantange.

So I think my point is , successful applications are not so much about making an outstanding rendering, modeling or animation workflow or even how well Lightwave connects to other applications in general, but it's more about making the tool-sets work for specific types of projects. I think many would agree with that in this day and age.

[robertoortiz]

So I think my point is , successful applications are not so much about making an outstanding rendering, modeling or animation workflow or even how well Lightwave connects to other applications in general, but it's more about making the tool-sets work for specific types of projects. I think many would agree with that in this day and age.

Agreed.

One market that Newtek can tap right now is the motiongraphics market. People who use all those Tricasters need solutions to do all those graphics. I would strongly recoment doing a survey to current Tricaster users about their needs in this realm.

The same applies to the graphic design market. It is not that hard to satisfy that market,but they need to streamline the interface for that market.

-R