Just received lightwave 2 weeks ago... haven't slept yet. I wanted to make a test,render one image in both programs. Setup done in poser then imported to lightwave using propack.. no postrender.. Poser image render time 20 seconds... setup time 5 lights 30 minutes... lightwave.. rendwer time 12 minutes... setup time 1 light 2 minutes.. (athlon 133 512 meg..) so opininos please.. wich one came out better? I like both.. to be fair... i'm sure lightwave can do a lot better (i've only been playing with it for two weeks.. but I've had poser for more than 6 months.

lightwave version of file

one more lightwave... inside light and skin test. with radiosity and ray trace shadows

WOW, lookin good! Keep tinkering! Gotta love Radiosity and Ray Traced Shadows :>

To my untrained eye, the figure looks better in Poser. In Lightwave, she vanishes into the shadows. I'm sure that's just a matter of setting up the lighting. Everything else looks much much better in the Lightwave version. For people, Poser isn't crappy as some would let on I think - if you get the lighting & colors right. So far, I have to say the most impressive renders I've seen were done in Cinema4D, a cut above Max, LW, Truespace etc., especially if you're talking about "photo-realism."

When setting up a scene to render in Lightwave, first turn off Global Illumination (set the light color to black at 0%). GI gives your scene overall flat color and messes with your shadows. Then play with your lights, you'll get wonderful results. If you can, get a copy of "Digital Lighting and Rendering" by Jeremy Birn

http://www.3drender.com/light/index.html http://www.3dark.com/archives/lighting/lighting_principles.html http://www.3dark.com/archives/lighting/lighting_tips2.html Here are a few links for pointers on lighting as well. These are very informative and have helped me alot. TMG

Hi, I have to agree with lmckenzie, I reckon the figure looks far better in the poser shot, as for the rest of the image, the shadows look better, etc. on the LW version, but overall I think the poser shot is a better image. later jb

I do agree the poser render did come out very good. except for the shadows. Thanks for the links.. i will cehck them out... wow! there is so much to learn.. one thing i did learn is that by applying the pricnaples of radiosity with in poser... by using multiple light with carying intesities.. simulating how light bounces... you can do a very good job.. just with poser.. I bought light wave.. thinking my renders would improve dramaitlcy over night.. of coarce that's not true.. before you can make lightwaxve or be it any program work well.. you have to understand a bit about physics and how light bounces... so my advice is... don't spend hundreds of dollars like i did thiunking you're renders will improve over night.. they won't.. you can achieve excellent results with poser... learn how works... I think my next purchase will probabbly be a book...not a priece of software. Nick

I've heard a lot of people say that pro pack render is better than the poser default, so that may have been a better purchase. But if you want lights, check out Blackhearted's "Pro Luma" lightset in the store, it's cheap and very good. later jb

I agree alamanos. I've played with the free Poser to POVRay exporter. POVRay is a well respected render and can do some great images but the scene doesn't seem to look any better than Poser's render. I'm sure it's a matter of knowing how to take advantage of the tools. I assume you already have PorPack and used the export to Lightwave plugin. Looks like a different camera angle. The point of her hip in Poser is further from the corner of the window. I'd like a wizard which would let you: 1. Specify a lighting scheme - eg. office flourescent or individual lights (light 1 is a 100 watt GE Softwhite) 2. Define materials - Wall texture is semi-gloss paint, floor is bare wood. 3. For outdoor scenes specify location, season and weather ala Terragen. Then generate the lighting for you. I know the data is available and high-end architectural lighting packages use it. Having such a wizard would remove much of the need to a digital lighting guru and give you a good basis for further tweaking.

I agree... that would be a great plugin.. that would make life so much easier..