[Wildfire]

Like the title says.  What do I need to make renders and can I download it from somewhere or do I have to buy it?

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Burn Baby Burn!

[wEvil]

you can use several free applications such as blender, POVray etc.

If you want to spend under £500 then
Animation Master
Truespace and possible cinema 4D become available..

If you're a student softimage XSI 2.0 is avilable at £300 and will last you for as long as you're a student. (commercial license is close to £7000)

MAX costs £2600 but a student license is about £1200, having said that its not a competitive price with soft. being so avilable.

to get $US multiply these figures by 1.4

Lightwave costs about £1400 but i dont know if they do a student version or not.

Its also worth noting the XSI license comes with TWO mentalray licenses (thats another 12 grand by itself) and the compositor AND the fur.
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Remember, when someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and *****  slap them upside the head.

[This message has been edited by wEvil (edited 11-15-2001).]

[KillMeNow]

lightwave student version £425 but once you got it the dont charge teh full price price to upgrade to commerical version its about another £300 where teh full commerical version first will cost you £1449 aprox so quite a good deal

however you can "buy" these things cheaper elsewhere Maya 4 unlimited cost nearly $16000 can be bought for $1.50 so can the others - email me or icq me and i'll tell you where to look
but i seriously recommend that if you use them commerically buy the thing from manufacturer otherwise you could find yourself in deep trouble fast

[an0n]

I wonder how many people (non-business peeps) actually BUY LW, MAX etc?

[wEvil]

Theres of second hand licenses trading that goes on.

Im considering getting an XSI license because its such an amazing deal.

Theres more to just having the program itself, having a license provides you with support on the software if it screws up, you get access to of forums that you might not be able to get to and also of mailing lists and the professional community at large.



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Remember, when someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and ***** slap them upside the head.

[KillMeNow]

i'm going to buy the educational version of lightwave - for the support the manual although i have a pdf one - and for the fact i can upgrade to commerical later cheaply as thats what i want to do as a career i am already using it at college simple stuff at the moment but i'm slowly trying to learn to use the more advanced features

[CougEr]

If you are just starting I do not suggest spending the money, how ever much or little, to buy 3D animation software.

It is rather easy to get enthus about 3D animation until one becomes fmiliar with the learning curve.

I suggest download  a working copy of Lightwave 7 from the web, there are several places that have it available, and try it out. If you feel that you can cope with it and your computer is fast enough, has enough ram, hard drive space and most important a vido display card that supports open GL, then buy the student version for about 300 dollars.
Remember the main investiment for 3D animation is not the software. but the hardware. My videocard alone costed me far more than the commercial licence for lightwave.

I also racomand starting with lightwave 5.6 or even earlier.D
The earlier versions are not as ram hungry as version 7.
You should be able to work with it with only 128 Megs.

I have seen too many people buying Lightwave
and then when bored ended up selling shares for the stock market.    

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Better than creating life... give life to a creation.[/list]
CougEr
OSIRIS STATION
CougEr's 3D anim archives

[Stryke 9]

RayDream 5 is abandonware, the equivalent nowadays I believe was roughly $600, is well worth the money, and the free version is only available when somebody figures out how I can model without sending DXF files through %*#&@&# TRUESPACE!!! Coverter, etc. Basically only slightly outdated pro gear- from what I hear it one-ups LW. If you're gonna buy it, get the old RayDream 5.5 online for $150, it has all sorts of plugins which basically make it everything you'll ever need for anything. Then send me a copy.

[deep_eyes]

 

Originally posted by an0n:
I wonder how many people (non-business peeps) actually BUY LW, MAX etc?

hell i know a good place to get it all if u gots the bandwith... begins with a W. ends with a Z, and has ARE in between.

for the poor mans way of rendering, make a all black scene and or whatnot in FS2 using its own engine as well as ur VIDEOCARD, and use Photoshop or PSP6.0+ and use various plugs ins like lunar cell, and xenofex and whatnot. its what i use and it looks decent.



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New Project Leader of the New Dawn Resolution Project in conjuction with the Metal Siren Network and staff member of The Eden Project.

The Metal Siren Network: Freespace 2: New Dawn Resolution - The Eden Project

[Dr.Zer0]

 

Originally posted by Wildfire:
Wildfire
Member
Posts: 62
From : Don't know. I was adopted.
Registered: May 2001

Gasp   you are still around!

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Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes):
My powerful brain in unraveling the myseries of the universe.
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Head Campaign Manager in Knossos Campaign
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"You have been overloaded with knowlage my young friend" -  untouchable
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"When you mess with a doctor, you mess with dark powers" - The Brak show
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Ion bars do not imprison me!

[This message has been edited by Dr.Zer0 (edited 11-15-2001).]

[KillMeNow]

the card isn't that important to be honest a geforce 3 will do nicely - hell its only used tof the opengl preview - its the processor you should be worrying about

[Nico]

my old mach64 did well too  

[Wildfire]

 

Originally posted by Dr.Zer0:
 Gasp     you are still around!

Yep.  I moved here a while back.  

What happened with your campaign?  I sent an email asking for some more instructions about the missions you wanted done but never got a reply.


Oh and where can I download Lightwave?


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Burn Baby Burn!

[wEvil]

I still dont get this lightwave thing.

I saw the presentation at DMW and it still looks horrible  

having said that, i can't say i cared a huge amount for discreets' presentation either.


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Remember, when someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and ***** slap them upside the head.

[Wildfire]

I got a Voodoo 5 64MB card.  That alright?

PS:  Anyone know where I can get lightwave if it can be downlaoded for free.

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Burn Baby Burn!