Lightwave or Softimage - Polyloop

dudiedood · 24th November 2006, 11:52

HI all
I have narrowed my next software purchase down to these 2, but cannot decide which to go for. Lightwave is cheaper but doesn't it need pricey modules to do anything ? Softimage 6 is now out with a big improvement on the animation side but does the foundation include everything I need ? I will be replacing Carrara with this. can anybody help me decide ?

medeamajic · 24th November 2006, 16:10

Blender will be your best bet based on the info you posted.

How could any of us decide what is best for you? I do not even know what you plan on doing. I say just use some duct tape for now.

PurplePanther66 · 24th November 2006, 16:51

Lightwave Vers 9 has some stasbility issues and does require plugins for various functions. Softimage foundation I am only familiar with when comparing to Lightwave when trying to assist my nephew in deciding which package was best for him. As I recall Softimage also required plugins byond the foundation program. He settled on Lightwave as being more capable on the initial purchase. He was looking at 3d graphics creation for advetising and game character creation. Blender is free and it can do a lot, but the learning curve for Blender is steep in my opinion, with a user interface that is not as helpful as it could be. Just my two cents for what it's worth.

medeamajic · 24th November 2006, 21:55

purplepanther66,

I was joking about Blender. I have no idea if doodidood wants to model animate or do stills. Will the animations be figure animations or landscapes? What is his budget? What is his skill level and what is he trying to do. I know some folks want instant results when we all know it takes time to learn Carrara, Maya or 3DS MAX. Is the learning curve an issue?

Nichod · 25th November 2006, 20:49

Your best bet is to try out both the lightwave trial: LightWave® - Go Ahead, Make A Scene

And the softimage trial:
SOFTIMAGE::Downloads

Some things to know. Character animation is stronger in softimage. But lightwave offers more intergrated solutions for some things. (ie. a simple hair system, network rendering (providing your are getting foundation and not ess or adv)

Also, softimage doesn't have the cleanest upgrade setup. With Softimage you either upgrade every release within a set time period or you pay full price when you want to upgrade. Lightwave its pretty much upgrade when you want and its a set price.

Lightwave has a lot more up to date information as far as learning materials go. XSI tutorials are mostly outdated, but they are still valid just don't take into consideration the new features.

medeamajic · 26th November 2006, 00:35

dudiedood,

Why are you leaving Carrara?

Cyborg Commando · 29th November 2006, 20:38

Just to let you know, I think the best solusion is to buy them both
since as far as I can see Lightwave is better and easier in the modeling aspec
but XSI is way better for animation and renders.

If you buy XSI you can buy Lightwave in a cheaper license (Companion upgrade), it does not work
the other way around and you can't use Carrara for this upgrade.

Plus if I was you I would wait a little bit for Lightwave 9.x and\or XSI 6.x, it will take some
time for the updates to come but you should wait.

Pete Exxtreme · 29th November 2006, 21:09

Lightwave 9.2 in currently in (public) beta version

Nichod · 30th November 2006, 01:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyborg Commando

Just to let you know, I think the best solusion is to buy them both
since as far as I can see Lightwave is better and easier in the modeling aspec
but XSI is way better for animation and renders.

If you buy XSI you can buy Lightwave in a cheaper license (Companion upgrade), it does not work
the other way around and you can't use Carrara for this upgrade.

Plus if I was you I would wait a little bit for Lightwave 9.x and\or XSI 6.x, it will take some
time for the updates to come but you should wait.

I wouldn't say Lightwave is better in modeling. I'd say they are on par, but have different workflows for modeling. Lightwave's modeling workflow is BETTER. And I don't agree with buying XSI for rendering. Unless you get the advance version you have very little network rendering capabilities. Which is essential if you are going to do animation. While LW comes with a nearly unlimited node limit.

And you are wrong on the companion/competitive upgrade option. Carrara is useable for the upgrade. As is photoshop, etc. And Lightwave 9 is out already and you will get the full development cycle upgrades.

24th November 2006, 11:52	#1 (permalink)
dudiedood Vertex Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Harrogate, UK Posts: 1	Lightwave or Softimage HI all I have narrowed my next software purchase down to these 2, but cannot decide which to go for. Lightwave is cheaper but doesn't it need pricey modules to do anything ? Softimage 6 is now out with a big improvement on the animation side but does the foundation include everything I need ? I will be replacing Carrara with this. can anybody help me decide ?

25th November 2006, 20:49	#5 (permalink)
Nichod Moderator Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 612 Images: 1	Your best bet is to try out both the lightwave trial: LightWave® - Go Ahead, Make A Scene And the softimage trial: SOFTIMAGE::Downloads Some things to know. Character animation is stronger in softimage. But lightwave offers more intergrated solutions for some things. (ie. a simple hair system, network rendering (providing your are getting foundation and not ess or adv) Also, softimage doesn't have the cleanest upgrade setup. With Softimage you either upgrade every release within a set time period or you pay full price when you want to upgrade. Lightwave its pretty much upgrade when you want and its a set price. Lightwave has a lot more up to date information as far as learning materials go. XSI tutorials are mostly outdated, but they are still valid just don't take into consideration the new features. __________________ Email Me. Visit my blog! Get hundreds of shader presets! Get Art of Shaders! And a preview for Art of Skin is now available. AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz/1MB L2 Cache) 1280 MB DDR 333mHz RAM 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM) 60 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800) I use.

29th November 2006, 21:09	#8 (permalink)
Pete Exxtreme Lick it up Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Thonon/France Posts: 4,614 Images: 21	Lightwave 9.2 in currently in (public) beta version __________________ Toute faute de frappe ou erreur de syntaxe sont dues a un clavier rebelle à toute forme d'autorité. LightWave 9 \| Hexagon 2 My gallery

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24th November 2006, 16:10	#2 (permalink)
medeamajic Now, I learn animation Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,026	Blender will be your best bet based on the info you posted. How could any of us decide what is best for you? I do not even know what you plan on doing. I say just use some duct tape for now.

24th November 2006, 16:51	#3 (permalink)
PurplePanther66 3D Experimenter Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1	Lightwave Vers 9 has some stasbility issues and does require plugins for various functions. Softimage foundation I am only familiar with when comparing to Lightwave when trying to assist my nephew in deciding which package was best for him. As I recall Softimage also required plugins byond the foundation program. He settled on Lightwave as being more capable on the initial purchase. He was looking at 3d graphics creation for advetising and game character creation. Blender is free and it can do a lot, but the learning curve for Blender is steep in my opinion, with a user interface that is not as helpful as it could be. Just my two cents for what it's worth.

24th November 2006, 21:55	#4 (permalink)
medeamajic Now, I learn animation Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,026	purplepanther66, I was joking about Blender. I have no idea if doodidood wants to model animate or do stills. Will the animations be figure animations or landscapes? What is his budget? What is his skill level and what is he trying to do. I know some folks want instant results when we all know it takes time to learn Carrara, Maya or 3DS MAX. Is the learning curve an issue?

26th November 2006, 00:35	#6 (permalink)
medeamajic Now, I learn animation Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,026	dudiedood, Why are you leaving Carrara?

29th November 2006, 20:38	#7 (permalink)
Cyborg Commando Spline Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 52	Just to let you know, I think the best solusion is to buy them both since as far as I can see Lightwave is better and easier in the modeling aspec but XSI is way better for animation and renders. If you buy XSI you can buy Lightwave in a cheaper license (Companion upgrade), it does not work the other way around and you can't use Carrara for this upgrade. Plus if I was you I would wait a little bit for Lightwave 9.x and\or XSI 6.x, it will take some time for the updates to come but you should wait.