Issues with your account? Bug us in the Discord!

Lightwave vs 3D Studio max

BoOdAhSmOkErBoOdAhSmOkEr Trainee
in CGI and Programming
Hi folks, now I dont know heaps about modelling and stuff, but perhaps I'd like to get into it. Now from what I've heard LW and 3DSM are two of the best programmes us mundanes can use for modelling, so my simple question is, which one is better (latest version each, and disregarding the astronomic prices)?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of those two, which one is better for animations/images, easier to handle, got more features etc? Twould be neat to hear something from professionals and semi-professionals on that.

Comments

  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    3DSMax has a good modeller, but in my opinion Lightwave has a far far better rendering engine, which far outweighs the benefits of 3DSMax's modeller.

    ------------------
    [b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    And any read superiority 3dsmax had was lost in lightwave 6, if not 7. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    eh...

    Really depends on what the intended use is for. IMHO Lightwave does indeed have a much better renderer.

    Modeling wise, eh... It depends on what's your first program you start with. I "FEEL" that Lightwave has a much easier and quicker learning curve, but I may be biased because of my Amiga background, which obviously got me started on the Video Toaster first.

    Animation wise, ... Again it depends on what's your first program you start with.
    I like Lightwave (especially the 6.5x and 7 versions) because of the approach to the animation scene being very much like traditional film directing and layout.
    Keyframing is very intuitive to me, but again I might be biased...

    [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]

    I will say this... Aside from Lightwave, I'd much rather invest any learning curve time into Maya, than I would 3DS Max...

    [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]

    [This message has been edited by JackN (edited 08-24-2001).]
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I started on TrueSpace 2, and that has a very similar method of operation to Lightwave, especially for scene layout and setting up motion. I therefore picked up Lightwave very quickly.

    ------------------
    [b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • PJHPJH The Lovely Thing
    I myself started actually with 3DSMax 2.5 (well I REALLY started with Corel Dream 3D, but that doesn't count [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]), but after a few months I moved to Lightwave 5.0, because I couldn't get much out of the Max. It's interface really wasn't for me and I felt it extremely difficult to learn and use. Once I got my hands on LW and opened it I immidiately felt that it's made for me. It's interface and tools were so clear and logical.

    But this is just my opinion of course.

    - PJH
  • A2597A2597 Fanboy
    Just for the record, I'm finding Blenders modeler to be great! I'm starting to play around with a bunch of models. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]

    only major problem is:
    #1: I'm to lazy to cut all them unnessasary poly out

    #2: YOU CAN"T MAKE HOLES VERY EASILY!!! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/frown.gif[/img]

    ------------------
    [b]whitestar90: [/b]"it would give the computer a heartattack just looking at it" -
    [b]Sanfam: [/b]"And Drazi didn't like it one bit.-
    [b]Mr.Bungle: [/b][i]"So that's where the forum went..."[/i]-
    ---
    [b][i]ahhh, the good old days of HTML.[/i][/b]
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Doesn't Blender do boolean operations? That would suck, they're so useful!

    ------------------
    [b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    It really depends on what you want to do..

    I use 3DS MAX (and i somewhat prefer it over LW. Tried it once, wasn't even able to make a simple StarTrek ship, got angry, and left it alone on my hd, leave alone saving a rendered pic..), and it's, IMHO, much more intuitive. I mostly use it for making game models and such, and it's really great...

    If you want to invest in your future, i'd say (like many other people) get Maya, that's what the big effects houses (and the one that makes the LR visuals) use now
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Yay for Weta!

    ------------------
    [b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • shadow boxershadow boxer The Finger Painter & Master Ranter
    max is a dog in my opinion.. I studied in it for about nine months...

    crapola interface.... felt really CADDY.. seeing thats where it comes from I'm not suprised...

    I want bloody Lightwave... but as you can imagine finding a Mac copy ?

    rare as rocking horse turds as legit copies let alone 'borrowed' ones.. even the EDU version sucks your wallet harder than a black hole...
Sign In or Register to comment.