Subject: LW 3DSM plug-un, why?
From: [email-masked]
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 19:00:18 -0700

On Sun, 21 Apr Elliot Bain <[email-masked]> posits:

> [A LightWave plug-in for 3DS Max is n]ot as bonehead as you might initially
think.
>
> Apart from the features/useability flames, the one thing
> that most people agree on, is that LW rendered output is
> better than that of 3DS and it's Max counterpart.

But then why not just write a specific render module for 3DSM? We could do
this. We could also produce tires and compete with Goodyear. Buy why? We are
not in the business of writing plug-ins for OTHER companies 3D programs.
Other people can (will? have?) do this for 3DSM users (and probably should).
((<--oops, please disregard that flamable comment!))

> Another area of consensus, is that rarely do users of
> either program switch to the other.

I have talked with many people who have switched to LightWave from 3DS.
Recently, someone posted here that the gaming house they work for was
abandoning 3DS in favor of LW and said that several (some? many?) other
houses were following suit. Also, there are many people who use both and like
certain features of each best. This would almost always be the case in any
comparison of 3D products. And, for all I know, there are users of AutoDesk
products who've abandoned LightWave.

> Newtek has no reasonable expectation of converting more than
> a small number of these users to LW users anyway. So, if you
> can't sell them a whole loaf, sell them half a loaf. This
> would be a hard-headed business decision, not a religious one.

This would be a hard-headed business decision for anyone--NewTek would be no
different, except for the fact that we sell a competing product. Others could
(will? have?) write renderers for 3DSM just as others have written renderers
for LW.

(The following marketing hype is not meant to be taken seriously, nor to
cause flame, or even stick-match wars:)

If AutoDesk wants to keep from going out of business, they should jump on the
bandwagon and start writing LightWave plug-ins.

(End superfluous marketing hype.)

David Hibsher
Just speaking for myself