[rescue] Is this a POS?

[joshua d boyd]

On Tue, Aug 21, 2001 at 08:26:25PM -0400, Kurt Huhn wrote:
> That, in my opinion, is a Good Thing.  I used POVRay for a very long time
> until I bought >gasp< Ray Dream Studio.  Contrary to it'sname - it was
> scanline renderer.  The ray trace plugin left much to be desired.

I would like to interject here and comment that POVRay isn't really the
best example for raytracer superiority.  Mental Ray is a clear competitor
to PRMan, but it still doesn't demonstrate and clear superiority.  From
what I can tell, the software that would demonstraight a clear superiority
is currently locked up in research institutes and companies like Blue Sky.
 
> The first time I used 3D Studio MAX (friends machine - wasn't rich enough to
> own it at the time) I was very disapointed in the rendering capabilities.
> However - I loved the GUI.  The modeler sucked, though.

Which version of Max?  I've disliked modelling on everything except 1.2
(and maybe 1.1, used 1.1 so little that I don't clearly remeber it).  I
haven't tried 4.0 yet.  I think that it might be better though.

But, I have one major problem with it.  It doesn't have a good method for
doing subdivision surfaces.  Sure, you can model with polys and use the
sub divide functions, but it isn't the same.  Subdivision surfaces are so
great.  I just wish that they were solid (it is theoretically possible for
NURBS to be solid, but I'm not sure how that works) for rendering reasons.

BTW, back a few years ago, NURBS were all the rage.  So, Lightwave came
out with a feature called MetaNURBs, which was what they did instead of
NURBS.  Many writers complained about the fact that MetaNURBS weren't
real NURBS when clearly NURBS were superior.  Well, a slightly lesser
known fact was the MetaNURBS are just subdivision surfaces.  When
subdivision surfaces took off, all Newtek had to do was rename the feature
and upgrade the math (due to some recent advances from Pixar), and
suddenly they really were on the cutting edge.
 
> If I could find a mix of Rhino for modeling capability, MAX for
> animation/kinetics/extensability, and POV or BMRT for rendering -
> maaaaan........ :)

OK, I don't care for Rhino.  I'm told it is a great NURBS program, but as
I mention above, I don't really care for NURBS.  

Max has some truly great plugins.  Specifically Character Studio, which
was written by some truly great pioneers.  But, the only reason Max even
has potential is that it was the first PC program to offer flexible plug
ins.  When I use Max, it just doesn't feel like it was made for
professional use.  Despite all it's flaws, Lightwave feels more flexible,
and if you really want smooth feeling, try Softimage (3D 3.9 is now priced
at about the same price as Max, so if you have the hardware, go for it) or
Maya.

It is interesting to note that when it comes to doing really high end work
(with the exception of Final Fantasy, interestingly enough), proprietary
software is used almost every where.  More interesting is that this
proprietary software is usually procedurally driven to extents that make
Maya, Houdini, and Character Studio look like 3D Studio 4.0 (the old
clunky DOS versions).  This is what allows them to churn out large amounts
of animation in a timely manner.

Lastly, don't even try to pretend that POVRay is professional quality.  It
has way to many flaws and short comings.  I suspect that it is time to
start over.  That is something I might do someday.  Writing a basic
raytracer is easy.  "Advanced" effects like radiosity are also pretty
easy.  The hard part would be shaders, depth of view, and motion blur.  I
kinda of have an idea of something plugin driven that would make it pretty
easy to add new object types to encourage experimentation with things like
hair as voxels, etc.  

And that actually is one of the projects that I'm likely to do sometime,
unlike many other ones I mention.
 
> Oh - it should all run like a champ on an R5K Indy :)

Yeah, that would be a good sign.  I mean, Blender should run decently, why
can't other programs.

And no, I don't think the world of Blender, I just find it rather
interesting and handy (not to mention it fits my budget).

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd