Swift V3-Is it worth it?

[cembert]

1) Does Swift 3D Vs run in OSX or Jaguar, I hate using classic.
2) Is the problem with the app finally fixed? In other words,
when I download app from their site, is it the latest version or do I have
to download addittional patches?
2) Does ER handle the downloads or do they farm them out....very
important if anything is wrong.
3) Is it worth buying? I have a copy of Version 1, which I loved....Is 3 alot better?

Thank you in advance
egghead

[mastermute]

1) Does Swift 3D Vs run in OSX or Jaguar, I hate using classic.

I'm not a Mac-User, but as for the time beeing, it seems like Classic is the way used. (But I wouldn't be surprised if an OSX version is on its way, due to demand)

2) Is the problem with the app finally fixed? In other words,
when I download app from their site, is it the latest version or do I have to download addittional patches?

Well, there are subsequent patches/downloads available whenever problems are fixed or updates amade. So, to your question the answer would be: Yes and no. When you buy it, you download the latest build, and don't have to apply any patches, but as times goes by and the product 'evolves' new builds will be available for download.

2) Does ER handle the downloads or do they farm them out....very
important if anything is wrong.

As an example I will refer to a problem that occured just this monday; A new build was available at Erain's Customer Only web site shortly after their office had opened monday morning... (The only delay in the process in my view was the time difference (since I'm in Europe, and Erain HQ is in another timezone))

3) Is it worth buying? I have a copy of Version 1, which I loved....Is 3 alot better?


If it's worth buying? In my view, YES! I'm a new user since V3, and I love it. Since you liked V1, I'm sure you'll love the new features (check out an example here to be convinced ) If it's alot better? I beleive it is judging from responses from users that has been along over the releases.

HTH
mastermute

[1a2b3c4d]

1) Does Swift 3D Vs run in OSX or Jaguar, I hate using classic.

I have no idea. Someone else can tackle this one.

2) Is the problem with the app finally fixed? In other words,
when I download app from their site, is it the latest version or do I have to download addittional patches?

I bought the boxed version and was able to get the latest, fixed version online immediately. They handled this problem very well! See this thread,
http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=378812

2) Does ER handle the downloads or do they farm them out....very
important if anything is wrong.

Doesn't seem to matter as they had the fixed version available almost instantly!

3) Is it worth buying? I have a copy of Version 1, which I loved....Is 3 alot better?

Don't know about version 1. Based on my admittedly brief review of V3 so far, if you are using version V2 and want the new features you should upgrade otherwise you may not want to. At a glance, the interface and how the program works did not appear changed much from V2 to me.

I'm sure there are a ton of cool new features but I'm a bit disappointed that they added new stuff without improving the interface. I vote for easier to use before new stuff but that's just me.
http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=378811

[gerbick]

mastermute answered the mac question... Swift3D 3.0 does not run natively OSX. yet.

1a2b3c4d, you want easier to use? what's difficult? compared to maya or 3ds max, swift3d is easy enough to use by even my non-3D saavy friends...

and is it worth it? one word. yes.

[Vatcher]

anything from erain is worth the money, well except their font FX program

[1a2b3c4d]

Originally posted by *******
1a2b3c4d, you want easier to use? what's difficult?

For the type of work I do, not being able to set rotation numerically (to use erain's terminology) is a near-fatal flaw in this product.

I can set position, scale and size numerically so if I need something set precisely I can do so easily. And, if I need to come back to a project later to change something I can simply click an object, read its present values and then change them. Finally, if I need to add another object relative to the first I can adjust its position, scale and size precisely to match the original object.

For rotation, I can only click and drag and "eyeball" the results.

I recently did a project for a customer that had various types of objects floating "into" the screen and they had to all be rotating in exactly the same way and it was a nightmare! If I could set rotation numerically it would have been trivial.

Someone here offered a work-around that helps but it is still extremely cumbersome. For example, if you want to rotate an object horizontally by exactly 27 degrees you would,

1) set the horizontal restraint to 10 degrees
2) carefully click and drag the trackball exactly 2 increments
3) set the horizontal to 5 degrees
4) carefully click and drag the trackball exactly 1 increment
5) set the horizontal to 0 degrees
6) carefully click and drag the trackball exactly 2 increments

Step #6 is incredibly hard to do accurately. I expand the trackball window as large as it will go to accomplish this.

Finally, if I want to record what I did to keep track of the object's rotation I must manually record this somewhere. Otherwise when I come back to the project I will have no point of reference for how much rotation has been applied.

Don't get me wrong, the product is great and makes possible so many cool animations. I just think this is an obvious area of improvement that would help a lot more than reflections and some of the other new features. But that's just my opinion; your mileage may vary!

[cubedflash]

cembert,

1.) Mac OSX?
Electric Rain is currently in the process of exploring the development of a carbonized version of Swift 3D V3. We will hopefully be heading down this road very soon barring any major unforeseen hurdles. Although, the current numbers of OS X users are low, we realize that OS X users are growing daily and we want to continue our support for the Mac community. Please help us identify what percentage of our current Mac customer base is using OS X by going to
www.erain.com/default.asp?section=mac

All upcoming news regarding our OS X development plans will be publicized via our site, Rainstorm e-newsletter and Mac user base. Thanks for your patience and we hope to have a solution very soon.

2 and 3.) Downloads?
We handle everything in house. The minute a bug is fixed a new build is available to our users. The latest version of Swift 3D v3 available for download and boxed CD's has all recognized bugs fixed. I am sure other bugs will come up, as they do with all software, we will fix them and make new builds available ASAP.

4.) Worth buying?
Yes, but I am biased. The latest version includes many substantial feature improvements. There is no comparison between v1 and v3. v2 was a large jump ahead, and v3 adds another jump. I would recommend viewing some of the new examples on this board and on our site.

1a2b3c4d,

Suggestions are always welcome. We encourage our users to make suggestions to us. This is how we prioritize our features to takle in the next version. I will mark this suggestion for v4.

I am very pleased with number of worthwhile feature additions in v3. This version addressed the large demand for the creation of more realistic 3D objects through texturing, shadows, transparency, reflections, etc. We always want to make new versions worth every penny.

-CubedFlash

Team Erain