I was pleased to make a presentation at the Denver SWUGN Tech Summit on 09/15/09. My presenter's guide is attached as "readme.pdf" if you're interested in what I intended to say during the presentation. There's always a disconnect between what is rehearsed and what actually happens.
The image above was part of the live demonstration of PV360. It took less than 5 minutes to generate and that included a lot of talking while I did it.
The point of this post - after the meeting I chatted with 4 people who I hold in high regard. (I think their comments deserve a bit of discussion.)
- PV360 treats me like a dummy - I need more control. (I disagree. PV360 is excellent for people who don't want to fuss with non-CAD stuff)
- PV360 has a better UI for applying appearances and environments than SW. (I completely agree!)
- PW is better because you can set up a scene and reuse it. (but how long did it take?)
- PW is better because you can position the model in the scene exactly how you want it. (Yes, PV360 lacks some of that.)
- PW is better because it is integrated, has decals, uses 3D controller, consistent hierarchy of apperances, etc. (I still like PV360 but agree in principal.)
- I wonder how PV360 will get integrated and replace PW? Will we have animation? Will I loose all of my prior art? (I sincerely hope that SW has a smooth migration plan worked out. I think PW is dreadful; PV360 is terrific. I rely on motion studies to produce animation videos. I have to use PW and resent it every time I do.)
How do you feel about PV360? I think it is exactly the kind of tool I need; I'm a 3D modeler, not a graphic image theorist. I need to produce stunning images quickly. My greatest knock against PV360 is that it is not better integrated into the SW UI. (Hey, J.W.! There's a lot about the PV360 UI to love!)
Hi Gerald,
Great post.
In terms of answering some questions about the future, I'll hold off since we are getting very close to publicly disclosing some more details about what to expect in 2011. The information should coincide nearly with the imminent 2010 SP0.
What I can assure people is that we have done a lot of continued resarch with users over the last year+ about what the single rendering solution should be. What they like AND dislike about various things today, etc. Most importantly we are not doing this with a blind eye to a specific camp of people creating renderings, we are considering both the higher end rendering folks who want more control as well as the big audience we are now capturing with the simplicity and ease that is 360 today.