Subject: re: 3dstudio max
From: dennis wong <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 20:19:26 -0800

on march 16th bryant j reif wrote:

>>I also just saw a review of 3DS MAX.  I have been using LW for over 3 years,
but after reading about 3DS MAX, I will be purchasing it in the very near
future (as soon as it is released).  With 3DS MAX going for $1200 student price
and LW going for $900 with no student price, the choice is becoming very clear.
 Newtek are you listening?  You are about to lose a customer who has used your
product for over 3 years!  I know that LW is a very good product, but without a
student discount I can't afford to buy it.  I can justify spending extra for
3DS MAX considering all the extra things it can do.  I can't justify spending
$900 on LW when a mere $300 more can give much more power and flexability with
3DS MAX.  Now if NewTek had a student version of LW for about $300 I would buy
it in a second and forget all about 3DS MAX.  But in the current situation 3DS
MAX and LW have very similar prices, and 3DS MAX appears to be the superior
package.  I really like LW, but I'm not afraid to jump to another 3D package.<<

Howdy Bryant,

I would have to agree with you that getting 3dsm for $1200 is a very good deal.
But you can't exactly compare that with the cost of LW (which is almost half
that at the moment, on the street). Although I'm only a new user of LW, and I
have seen what 3dsm can do, I feel that LW is not that far from it in terms of
basic features.

You also have to remember that what made 3ds great, and will make 3dsm great,
are all the plugins that make or break any 3d program. The plugins for 3dsm are
going to be pretty darn expensive, unless you can also get them discounted (of
course, I  can't since my student days are over).

For instance, although 3dsm has built-in IK and character animation features, it
is the BiPed plugin that will really make the program shine. All I can say is
that this plugin is awesome, but with the expected price tag of $995, I start to
wonder what other plugins I "need" to do all those "extra things" 3dms is
capable of. Like perhaps a collision detection plugin, a feature that 3dsm lacks
(at least in the beta version I was shown), but will probably also cost a pretty
penny.

Dollar for dollar, discounted or otherwise, LW is a pretty good deal, compared
to 3dsm.

Dennis Wong
J.L. Denser, Inc.
727-1438@MCIMail
[email-masked]