VW 12.5 Breaks C4D Export Plugin

[quigley]

Shaun, the primary market for Cinema4D is not architecture and not VectorWorks based architecture. I use Cinema 4D and yes it is a fantastic tool but I totally disagree that it is easy to use (compared to RenderWorks intergration) or that most companies can justify the extra cost. I train VectorWorks and you have to realise that 99% of trainees, even very experienced ones, don;t use 50% of what VectorWorks can do. Most of the time this is down to sheer workload and financial constraints within businesses. Most architects of any size would rather employ a specialised visualising team or outsource high end visuals and animations - they just don't have the time to do this kind of work.

This is where RenderWorks comes in. Because you can set it all up fairly easily within VectorWorks the only overhead then becomes the rendering time. Quality was once a major issue but it is not AS MUCH of an issue as it once was. Of course Cinema will give better ultimate results but only if you know what you are doing. As for Maxwell, well yes it is superb if you can wait for 6 days for the render to finish :-)

Finally I get your point about software not breaking but the reality is that it does. From 12 to 12.5 was a major upgrade on the Macintosh side. Most UBs I know of have made the jump in a version (eg 12 to 13) because the file formats will change.

I beta test a lot of different CAD software (mainly on the MCAD side) and all the Macintosh UBs have broken the upwards compatibility path. I would consider (for the Mac user) 12.5 to be a major upgrade....and a free one at that.

[alanmac]

Shaun

I know that when a plug in that is part of your workflow breaks it can be very disruptive to your work and earning a living. I'm sure as a CD4 user you'll visit such sites as CGtalk.com and you will see that Cinema 4D, a great program, has as most software, at some stage suffered with broken plug ins. The many changes recently have been exceptional.

The need to make any software that uses the Apple OS has had to transfer to ensure it is available as a Universal Binary application.

The fact that it comes as a full .5 upgrade, free, at no cost to existing VW12 users, as is the way with NNA should not be overlooked. Something you don't get from Maxon in Cinema 4D by the way.

Experience has lead me to ensure a backward path is available should a upgrade etc. fail or become troublesome.

With that in mind please think about what is on the horizon. Vista from a Windows point of view, Leopard from Apples OSX, the change of computer operating to a true 64 bit operating system with the gradual loss of 32 bit hardware and software supporting this.

It's not going to happen overnight but it will eventually. It will go the way of video recorder, still about but not for very much longer.

Its all a bit of a money merry go round really. You can stay on board knowing you have the "latest and greatest" (even if you never ever use any of the increased features), jump off if you've had enough and can exist with what you have and don't need more, or even at a later stage decide to jump back on again.

You are not barred from doing any of the above, free to make the choice.

Alan

Edited December 18, 2006 by alanmac