I think I'm gonna break down and buy either Lightwave or C4D. Is one or the other cleaner to work with when it comes to Poser? Do either of them allow you to import Poser figures complete with rigging or do you have to rerig yourself after import? My main interest is animation although modeling is important to me, too. I'm not concerned about a few hundred bucks for plugs one way or the other. I have Animation Master which is as good as it gets when it comes to rigging and animating, but it doesn't do polys. I've eliminated Maya, Max and XSI from consideration for different reasons. As a 'one-man-show-hobbyist' I'm not concerned about 'pipeline' issues. I realize this is highly subjective territory, but I'd still value your thoughts. Thanks for any guidance.

Message edited on: 02/05/2005 17:39

Hey Tunesy. I cant speak about Lightwave but I can about C4D. As for me it works brilliantly in both rendering and modeling a modeler is still a personal tool that has to like you back. As for poser there is a free plugin that imports poser characters but it only does stills. However Curiouslabs just announced a pluggin that imports complete poser animations into C4D: "BodyStudio 2.5 for Cinema 4d Now Available! Software Allows Poser 5 Content to be Incorporated with CINEMA 4D Reiss Studio, in cooperation with Curious Labs has developed and released BodyStudio 2.5 for Windows. BodyStudio seamlessly integrates Poser 3D character animation technology into MAXON CINEMA 4D. This innovative plug-in software allows Poser users to easily render and playback Poser animations directly inside of CINEMA 4D. Artists that work with 3D software will notice the many improvements that have been made from the original version of the popular Pro Pack plug-in for CINEMA 4D. For a limited time, BodyStudio is available at the introductory price of $179.00" Hope this helps some. Marco.

Thanks, Marco. That's helpful. I'm hoping to be able to use the animation toolset within either C4D or Lightwave for animating. Do you know if any of the C4D plugs out there will move the rig along with the obj? I think I'd rather have a root canal than rig a high poly figure.

lol..thanks..I needed that laugh. Check this one out: http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/C4cr2load.htm Tho I assume the CL plug also keeps the bones...then again..I'm not an animator so you should read it yourself and see if its what you need. Marco.

and www.kuroyumes-developementzone.com for the InterPoser plugin that does do animation from Poser and works like a charm. Cinema has a less steep learning curve. Besides: for use with Poser you don't need all modules.

I'm using Lightwave 7.5 and am very happy with the Poser integration, and with the stability and quality of Lightwave itself. Although I have all of the relevant Greenbriar plugins (as per MindVisions supplied address) I still often use the ProPack for LW plugin because of it's absolute simplicity. It pulls the complete PZ3 into Lightwave, ready to roll. It does not, however support the P5 specific features such as dynamic hair and cloth. Greenbriar plug ins allow you to bring in the cr2 and rigs it for you, and then you need to assign weight maps for the bones, and then use LW's own dynamics options for cloth, hair, etc. For me Lightwave has been the most stable, solid, and complete application I have ever owned. I've also heard good things about Cinema, for the record.

My point exactly krimpr..as I hear good things about Lightwave...a modeler is a personal tool. So while both seem to be able to do what you want I suggest you get a trail of both Lightwave and Cinema 4D and see which one works best for you. Noone has use for a $800 plus piece of software that sits on a shelf collecting dust...you need to fall in love with it to be able to return after brutal failure knowing it missed you too ;) Marco.

I have Animation Master and Lightwave. I have been on the Cinema forum recently and most of the replys I got from the forum were negative about the modular approach. A lot of the users said this is the last upgrade they are getting and the price of the modular system makes it really expensive. Very displeased with Maxxon. I was very supprised that the users in that forum were that dissatisfied.

Matter of preferance really and nothing to do with the application itself. A lot of people didnt need all the features of C4D so that and to reach a broader public Maxon decided (like Eon now with Vue) to make one base application and a module for all the extras. Which in the end makes it a lot more affordable for small companies and hobyists given the chance to just buy what they need.

Thanks for the info, guys. The modular thing about C4D doesn't bother me. I have C4D version 6 something-or-other, the one Maxon was selling for 99 bucks last year. Dunno if it's the same one available in the mags now. I like the C4D UI and methods. It's pretty intuitive for me. I need to download the demo for Lightwave, though. Haven't given it a test drive yet.

The demo of Lightwave is useless. I tried years ago using it along with a book called The Lightwave Primer. I think I got to chapter 2 where it told me to save the scene. No luck. You can't save scenes in demo mode. So I kept using the one at school and finnaly bought myself a copy. Great program and lots and lots of inexpensive support material available. Through the years I have acquired TrueSpace, Carrara, Animation Master, and Shade. Carrara being the bottom line worst. If you want good integration between Poser and a 3d app you can't beat Shade in price or performance. With Poser 6 coming out you can be sure it's only going to get one heck of a lot better.