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Hello,
I work as an architect and use Lightwave 9.5 as a modeler for Maxwell but sometimes use the quick and dirty render engine as well - especially I am doing a movie. I seem to be quite alone at this and also fear that LW might not be the best alternative for Maxwell (I hear that even LW fans don't use the modeler). I get the impression that New Tech are not developing LW that much anymore either. I am looking at alternatives such as Rhino and Cinema 4D (that are used much more with Maxwell) it seems. Rhino seems to be the best modeler you get and Cinema 4D seems to be up and coming (also works well with ArchiCAD). Should I drop LW or not?
Thanks for any replies!

well if you are used to LW modeler, I can really advise Modo.. you will feel home in min. and it is very powerful.. and the plugin is excellent.. also lwo is also a format saved by modo.. so if you want to take your models into LWS, no problem.. + a lot of free plugins ar available for Modo.. voilà..

no bashing LW, as I am still using it sometimes.. but Modo modeling Vs. LW modeler... modo wins ... sure enough..

hope this helps..

h.

Thanks for the input. How about Modo vs C4D (or 3DS Max)?

I have no idea about C4D or 3DsMax.. although I know the learning curve for Max is higher than Modo..

hi jakob, one standard option for arch-viz lightwavers is to use the LWCAD plug-in suite for LW modeler, see here:

http://www.wtools3d.com/

personally, i'm modelling very complex projects with formz, which has an excellent LWO output and also a direct connection plugin to maxwell. LW modeler with LWCAD is very fast and imo much more intuitive to use than modo, but that's always a matter of how your brain is working

i've explored modo and cinema 4d (and have licenses for both), but i'm sticking to LW because of it's workflow and because i have many excellent render options: native rendering, fprime (instant preview + final render), kray (the best solution for GI animation), maxwell.

cheers

markus

mgroeteke wrote:hi jakob, one standard option for arch-viz lightwavers is to use the LWCAD plug-in suite for LW modeler, see here:

http://www.wtools3d.com/

personally, i'm modelling very complex projects with formz, which has an excellent LWO output and also a direct connection plugin to maxwell. LW modeler with LWCAD is very fast and imo much more intuitive to use than modo, but that's always a matter of how your brain is working

i've explored modo and cinema 4d (and have licenses for both), but i'm sticking to LW because of it's workflow and because i have many excellent render options: native rendering, fprime (instant preview + final render), kray (the best solution for GI animation), maxwell.

cheers

markus

Hmm, really interesting. I see that a new version of LWCAD was released in december 2009. I though LW was going out from the market but I might be wrong on this...

Jakob Ryngen wrote:Hmm, really interesting. I see that a new version of LWCAD was released in december 2009. I though LW was going out from the market but I might be wrong on this...

no definitely they do not intend to leave the market - LW is in a transition time now, until CORE will be released as their next generation software. it will take probably some more months until a production ready version will be released, but they are also providing updates for the current version 9.6 as long as this process will take. currently, 9.6.1 is in open beta.

mgroeteke wrote:hi jakob, one standard option for arch-viz lightwavers is to use the LWCAD plug-in suite for LW modeler, see here:

http://www.wtools3d.com/

personally, i'm modelling very complex projects with formz, which has an excellent LWO output and also a direct connection plugin to maxwell. LW modeler with LWCAD is very fast and imo much more intuitive to use than modo, but that's always a matter of how your brain is working

i've explored modo and cinema 4d (and have licenses for both), but i'm sticking to LW because of it's workflow and because i have many excellent render options: native rendering, fprime (instant preview + final render), kray (the best solution for GI animation), maxwell.

cheers

markus

Markus, what app are you typically rendering out of? Do you every do very large scenes with a lot of imported geometry...if so what app is your preferred one for bringing all that into and rendering out of to Maxwell? Joe H.

Josephus Holt wrote:

mgroeteke wrote:hi jakob, one standard option for arch-viz lightwavers is to use the LWCAD plug-in suite for LW modeler, see here:

http://www.wtools3d.com/

personally, i'm modelling very complex projects with formz, which has an excellent LWO output and also a direct connection plugin to maxwell. LW modeler with LWCAD is very fast and imo much more intuitive to use than modo, but that's always a matter of how your brain is working

i've explored modo and cinema 4d (and have licenses for both), but i'm sticking to LW because of it's workflow and because i have many excellent render options: native rendering, fprime (instant preview + final render), kray (the best solution for GI animation), maxwell.

cheers

markus

Markus, what app are you typically rendering out of? Do you every do very large scenes with a lot of imported geometry...if so what app is your preferred one for bringing all that into and rendering out of to Maxwell? Joe H.

mostly LW layout, but i also export some scene parts directly from FZ, adding then in studio.

cheers

markus