knutm@ifi.uio.no (Knut Moerken) (10/04/90)
I recently posted a query about information, comparisons, ..., of graphics software for modelling, animation, scientific visualization (like the products from WaveFront, Alias, ElectroGig and others). I didn't get many replies but here they are. Thanks to everybody. Knut Morken University of Oslo Norway Email: knutm@ifi.uio.no From: ron@vicorp.COM (Ron Peterson) Subject: Re: Software for animation etc. Newsgroups: comp.graphics Organization: V. I. Corporation, Amherst, Massachusetts In article <1990Sep17.124820.519@ifi.uio.no> you write: > >We are just about to buy a 3D workstation (Personal Iris or DecStation 5000). >We also intend to buy a (commercial) package(s) for modelling/texture editing/animation and scientific visualization. Is there a well informed (and rich!) >person out there who can give an evaluation/comparison of the available packages >like the ones from WaveFront, TDI, Alias, ElectroGig, etc.? > It's my understanding that all the Iris's these days come with a modeling package written by Wavefront. You might want to ask someone from Silicon Graphics what its capabilities are (I know it has a 3D editor, I don't know if includes a renderer.) If you can get what you need included in the price of just the workstation, you could save yourself $20-$30K. ron@vicorp.COM From: alexj@unrvax.unr.edu (Jack Alexander) Subject: Re: Software for animation etc. Organization: University of Nevada Reno From: inesc!pfl@relay.EU.net (Pedro Faria Lopes) I have been using Wavefront for about a month and a half now. Although I have heard that it is the hardest to learn to use, I didn't have any trouble. I think that being a programmer was a real plus. I was able to produce broadcast-quality advertisement within two weeks of my training class (which is mandatory with Wavefront -- $2,000!). We are also evaluating Alias and Softimage right now. Beware that prices you receive are generally for ``bare bones" systems that don't include: a paint program fonts data translators (to translate model data from other sources such as a CAD program) support (generally several thousand dollars / year) ...and so on. All of the packages can produce pretty much the same quality of output, but I have heard from many sources that the Wavefront modeller is the most difficult to use of all. Wavefront has a new package called the ``Data Visualizer" which is aimed at scientific data visualization. Looks pretty slick. -- Jack Alexander From: inesc!pfl@relay.EU.net (Pedro Faria Lopes) To: knutm@ifi.uio.no Subject: Re: Software for animation etc. Hi, I'm repling to your question to comp.graphics on the above subject. We have access to the Explore TDI animation software. We have it runing on a 4D25 machine. It's quite good, but a litle expensive. It cost you almost the same price as the hardware, if I recall. It won't run on DEC hardware but it will be delivered in the near future on the knew IBM workstations. Hope this helps. Pedro Faria Lopes
pfl@inesc.UUCP (Pedro Faria Lopes) (10/05/90)
In article <1990Oct4.121315.344@ifi.uio.no>, knutm@ifi.uio.no (Knut Moerken) writes: > I recently posted a query about information, comparisons, ..., of graphics > software for modelling, animation, scientific visualization (like the products the following is one of the replies to knut's query: > From: alexj@unrvax.unr.edu (Jack Alexander) > I have been using Wavefront for about a month and a half now. > Although I have heard that it is the hardest to learn to use, > I didn't have any trouble. I think that being a programmer was > a real plus. I was able to produce broadcast-quality advertisement > within two weeks of my training class (which is mandatory with > Wavefront -- $2,000!). We are also evaluating Alias and Softimage > right now. Are you sure about the price, aren't you missing a 0? I'm interested in your evaluation of Alias and Softimage. Could you post it or email? Thanks. pedro -- Pedro Faria Lopes email: pfl@inesc.inesc.pt INESC mcsun!inesc!pfl@uunet.UU.NET Rua Alves Redol, 9 Phone: +351 1 545150 1000 Lisboa, PORTUGAL Fax: +351 1 525843