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Thread: Plasma vs. MAX

  1. #1
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    Talking

    Anyone know what the differences are between Plasma and 3DS Max with Swift 3D & Shockwave exporter?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Banned-ed-er-ing WMLeeBo's Avatar
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    Read about it at http://www.discreet.com.
    They have a whole article on it in the Plasma section.

  3. #3
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    Originally posted by WMLeeBo
    Read about it at http://www.discreet.com.
    They have a whole article on it in the Plasma section.
    Yep, I saw that, but I just wondered if you knew anything about it practically (ie. have you used it?!)

  4. #4
    Banned-ed-er-ing WMLeeBo's Avatar
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    No I haven't and probably never will. I just don't have a million dollars to fork over right now for Plasma.

  5. #5
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    Shame, maybe you'll win the lottery?

  6. #6
    Banned-ed-er-ing WMLeeBo's Avatar
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    Well, I'm 15 so I can't gamble.

  7. #7
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    So young and yet so troubled.......

  8. #8
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    Plasma

    People,

    I read about plasma, and am hoping an evaluation copy will be made available...

    I gues the ONE improvment would be rendering vectors that are not so FULL OF TRASH, thus making it acceptable where weight is considered...

    If you know where one can find it, let me know, please... need to lighten those 3D vectors...

    @6 7)

  9. #9
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    Plasma

    People,

    I read about plasma, and am hoping an evaluation copy will be made available...

    I guess the ONE improvment would be rendering vectors that are not so FULL OF TRASH, thus making it acceptable where weight is considered...

    If you know where one can find it, let me know, please... need to lighten those 3D vectors...

    @6 7)

  10. #10
    Banned-ed-er-ing WMLeeBo's Avatar
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    Lol you posted twice. I doubt Discreet will release a fulpowered trial version. Maybe something like you can just render 10 times or something.

  11. #11
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    IF there will be a Plasma trial, what isn't sure at all(is there a max-trial?), then they would probably not include a save option and also not the swf/shockwave renderer except for onscreen pictures.

    Jeroen

  12. #12
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    Plasma descended from Vecta?

    Looking at some of the screenshots, I noticed some strong similarities to Vecta3D. It looks like it places flash render options for a selected object in the Create panel and the options looked just like Vecta's (line weight, etc.). Also, Discreet has been bundling Vecta3D with Max for over a year now and if you go to the Vecta3D site, it looks like it hasn't been touched in well over a year. Kind of makes me wonder if they just bought them out and went from there.
    If so, I hope they've made a lot of improvements to the output of Vecta3D which was horrible. I'll be curious to see.

  13. #13
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    Re: Plasma descended from Vecta?

    Personally,

    I believe Ilustratte! is better than vecta3D, but I am hopping this plasma gizmo will be an upgrade - rendering still sucks, I mean, it is not yet web-friendly in any case, to my knowledge.

    Well, I am waiting for the opt to try it at a friend´s house - he´s a DTS



    Originally posted by MikeMcGill
    Looking at some of the screenshots, I noticed some strong similarities to Vecta3D. It looks like it places flash render options for a selected object in the Create panel and the options looked just like Vecta's (line weight, etc.). Also, Discreet has been bundling Vecta3D with Max for over a year now and if you go to the Vecta3D site, it looks like it hasn't been touched in well over a year. Kind of makes me wonder if they just bought them out and went from there.
    If so, I hope they've made a lot of improvements to the output of Vecta3D which was horrible. I'll be curious to see.

  14. #14
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    the renderer is provided by Ideaworks3D, the makers of Vecta. I will say it seems to be optimized quite a bit, even from the 1.2 they bundled with MAX 4.

  15. #15
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    I just find it funny that they look at all other competing products except for Swift3D... Maybe because swift is still a worthy opponent?

  16. #16
    Banned-ed-er-ing WMLeeBo's Avatar
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    Swift is awesome. And they don't want people to find out that is will have about the same power and its a million dollars less money.

  17. #17
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    Plasma vs Swift standalone???

    They are just totaly diffrent products. Swifts render engine is super clean and crisp but the standalone environment is just no where near as strong or as diverse as Plasma.

    Plasma is like the power of Max modeling with similar quality output as swift is now. Render times are similar and the droped edges dont seam to be an issue anymore from the new vecta engine. It also supports multiple light sources for casting shadows that is wicked in cartoon mode.

    We have to see what Swift does with the next version but if you want to do More than just swf output then Plasma is the answer.

  18. #18
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    I am still wondering what would be nicer, Swift in combination with another 3D program(like Max) or Plasma.

    If you're just going for the swf output, and not the shockwave, then the big question could be narrowed down to who has the best renderer..

    Jeroen

  19. #19
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    Right now both the new vecta render engine in Plasma and Swift V2 are about the same in optimization and speed. The other advantage with the new vecta plugin is multiple light sources for shadows. ALL final output must be hand optimized to create the smallest file size possible. If you want to do character development then Plasma or Max with one of the plug ins is the route you will want to explore. Regards, Bill

  20. #20
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    So you're saying that there isn't much of a difference between Swift Plug-in for 3D Max and Plasma?
    Right now the Swift Plug-in has quite a few options.
    I'm curious as to what other options could of been added.

    It's a pain when you have a dense model and you export it to flash using the Swift Plug-in. The fill of the solids is made up of so many pieces. I was under the impression that this new renderer in Plasma would cut down on that.

    And Pope....what about transparency. I know you've played around with Plasma. Will it render objects' transparency?
    I've noticed on the Plasma site that the navigation blocks on there are transparent, but that could of been done after the fact.



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