3DSMAX to ILDA Video Tutorials

[Dr Laser]

Aaaand my hard drive died

andy_con you mean Swift 3d Max or swift standalone editor?

[Dr Laser]

Hi all,

Just as a point of comparison, take a look at this video:
http://www.pangolin.com/LD2000/lc-max_videos.htm

The great thing about the "expensive" converters is that you can work with lasers in the very 3D environment in which you are creating the scene to begin with. Conversion is instant.

Back when we were developing LC-MAX, we tested Swift. Also tested it for a few years since that time. Although these guys wave their hands around and claim that their renderer is fast, it is actually the slowest Non-Photorealistic Renderer that I ever tried (LC-Max is the fastest).

Don't forget that there is a far less expensive way to go, even less expensive than what Doc suggests. Our LC4D plug-in for Cinema 4D is absolutely free for BASIC and PRO users. And Cinema 4D is perhaps 1/6 the price of 3D Studio MAX and most people find it easier to use.

Best regards,

William Benner

BTW Bill if you decide to make standalone version of Max converter I would be the first in line to buy it.

[andy_con]

just swift 3d v4.50

[Pangolin]

BTW Bill if you decide to make standalone version of Max converter I would be the first in line to buy it.

Hi Doc,

Here is the problem as I see it. And actually, we asked a similar question to our dealers and, without even telling them our thoughts on the matter, they said the same thing.

Lets say that Pangolin sold software that would work on, some other nameless hardware product. And lets say that people had problems of one kind or another. Well, would they naturally assume that the problems are due to the software or the hardware? And do we wind up with more phone calls and emails that way or not?

So, likewise, lets say that we sell a version of any of our products that works without any hardware what-so-ever. For example, we could do this with LC-MAX, LC-FLASH, LC-4D, TraceIT, VST, etc. Really we have a lot of different software that could possibly work entirely without hardware if we wanted it to. The question is, lets say that you use our LC-MAX to generate images, and they wind up looking like crap when projected with other peoples' hardware. Is your assumption going to be that it is the crappy hardware that is at fault, or is your assumption going to be that it must be those damned Pangolin folks that don't know what they are doing?

When we asked our dealers this question, they universally said that the name Pangolin stands for quality, and we must maintain that quality by keeping our software running with our hardware.

As an illustration, even a simple ILDA test pattern didn't look very good when being projected by other peoples' hardware at a recent Photon Lexicon meeting, so what faith do I have at all, that their hardware will be able to reproduce more complex imagery from LC-MAX?

Bottom line -- we have a question here. Is Pangolin, our clients, or the industry as a whole, any better off if we sell only software? I think not... It might seem like a conceited viewpoint, but it's not.

When I attend Photon Lexicon and Laserfreak meetings, what people tell me over and over again is that Pangolin imagery and laser shows just look better. People who have never experienced this before might not know what I am talking about. I guess you would just have to see it with your own eyes and, of course, I would recommend that everyone who has the opportunity, attend these various meetings that are happening. These various PL meetings are definitely worth your time!!

Best regards,

William Benner

[Dr Laser]

Dr Laser

can swift 3d be used to draw shows/animations?

thanks

Unfortunately It can not be. Swift doesn't have direct vector to raster. It only has to vector or to Raster.

PS. Crush was fixed by using a year old disc image backup. Thanx god I had it stored on DVD. Only took 5 minutes. No more WD Hard drives for me.

[Dr Laser]

I just found out that Illustrate 5.x for max does hellof better job then swift 3d. Especially it's built in batch export and no antialiasing ability which is what we are looking for. I'll do some more tests and see if Illustrate is better option. I feel it is.

[werner1619]

keep up the good work Doc !!!