Lightwave 11

Tonight Newtek officially announced Lightwave 11 at their VFX Minds Event.

While the event was very nice and I enjoyed listening to some of the guys whose work I have admired for years, the night was really about the new version of Lightwave.

Lightwave 11 has a bunch of new feature built in that I've been wanting for years. Instancing, Bullet Hard Body Dynamics, Fracture tool in Modeler and much more. Check out the features list here.

While there is a vocal bunch on the Newtek forums complaining about this release and having to pay for stuff that was supposed to be in Core before it was dropped, I think that this release is pretty solid. At least as solid as any release from Newtek can be. Do the vocal one's have a point about having to pay for stuff that was promised to them in a prior release? Yes, they do. However, if you got in on the "ground level" of the Core incident, then you paid your upgrade fee almost 3 years ago for the v10.x release. I'm more than willing to pay out again for an upgrade. It could be worse, we could be paying every year for an upgrade/maintenance fee like some other companies. Of course we might end up paying for yearly upgrades now that Newtek seems to have steered the Lightwave ship back on course.

In the end, I will be upgrading to the new Lightwave 11, and look forward to using it. I can't wait to dig into some of the Bullet Physics stuff and make things explode. I just need to wait for my clients to pay me. Back to the grind.


FTC Disclosure - I was not paid by Newtek or any representative of Newtek for this post; I received no special consideration from Newtek; no material connection exists between Newtek and myself. I do however use Lightwave software in my day to day business operations, bought on the open market with my own money.

Canon Cinema EOS C300

Wow. From the moment I saw this camera, I wanted it based on looks alone. Now, after finding out more about it, I still want it, but alas it's price point places it outside of my hands.

Canon seems to be going after the Sony F3 market with this camera. At a list price of $20,000 I think they've missed it. If they had made this camera available at a price point of say $8,000 - $10,000 then they would have had a solid winner. At this time I could take that $20,000 and get an F3 with 3 PL mount lenses as well as an NEX-FS100 for B-Cam material.

So, until I win the lottery or someone decides to just drop $25,000 in my lap, I get to dream about the C300. At least I have an FS100 to keep me company on these long cold winter shoots.

Here's a pic of the C300 for you to drool over as well.

Canon EOS c300...

OMG!!!!!!! I'll have more later, but I want this camera!!!!

Halloween 2011 and more...

Well, Halloween 2011 is over. Kids had a blast. I'll be eating the candy they don't want for the next 4 months (becoming 6 after the Christmas candy).

In other news, I've decided to start working on a new animated series. I'm currently debating over whether I want to make it a series of short films (Trilogy or Quadrilogy) or if I want to make it a web series. Either way it's going to be a lot of work. I've already started on the script and have been doing research work on a style I want to go with. I've also been looking at indie animated films and web series, as well as reading any Behind The Scenes blogs that the creators of such films/series have posted to see what they've experienced.

As I get further along, I'll update this blog with info and post a link here to the blog that I'll be starting for the BTS on my own project.