New member but long-time Amiga user

Write a short presentation about yourself and your background with Amiga, 3D and computers in general
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Ral-Clan
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:58 am

New member but long-time Amiga user

Post by Ral-Clan »

Hi,

I've been an Amiga user since I bought my A500 at the World of Commodore exposition in Toronto in 1987. Previous to that I had used PET computers at my school since 1979, then owned a VIC-20 (1982), then a Commodore 64 (1984-1987). I currently am a big VIC-20 enthusiast, and have a SuperPET I have fun with. I actually used my Amiga (upgraded to a 68040 A2000 with RTG, 16-bit sound card) until 2008 when I started having trouble keeping the hardware running. I then switched over to using WinUAE.

I use my Amiga mainly for graphics and music (MIDI). My favourite applications are Bars&Pipes, PageStream, DeluxePaint, Brilliance, ImageFX, Aladdin4d and Lightwave. I'm sure there are more I love but just can't remember at the moment.

I always admired 3D rendering on the Amiga, but either didn't have access to the software when I was younger, or had the software but no manual and found it too complex to figure out. Then around the year 2000 Nova Design put Aladdin4D on sale - in box with manual. Since I loved their ImageFX so much I bought Aladdin4D. Having the manual (a real paper manual) finally allowed me to understand how 3D rendering/modelling worked. With this understanding I then tried Lightwave3D and found it even more intuitive to use. Also having online resources like PDF manuals of old Amiga software and Youtube video tutorials really helped. I especially enjoy the Lightwave3D VHS tutorials by Desktop Images, which have been digitized and put online - those were really helpful.

I've posted this elsewhere on this forum, but my first big project in 3D (and some 2D) on the Amiga was for a music video I did about 6 years ago, which takes place on a moon base. I started modelling the in Aladdin4D, then switched over to Lightwave3D 5.0 (importing the models I had started). I also used DPaint and ImageFX to do some of the textures and 2D graphical elements. I could have rendered it fully in Lightwave on the Amiga, but did import the scene files into the PC version of Lightwave 5.6 just because I had a lot of scenes to render and the rendering time was several orders of magnitude faster. However the rendering engine between the two versions is the same, as far as I understand, so it would have looked identical.

You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUOgL38W2-I&t=4s

The reason I continue to use Lightwave 5.0 even though I have access to later versions of Lightwave and of course Blender are:

1. It allows me to continue to use my real/virtual Amiga, which is fun.
2. Having 5.0 on the Amiga side and 5.6 on the Windows side means objects/scenes can be moved between both versions pretty flawlessly.
3. 5.0 is still amazingly complex and capable of doing very nice images, without overwhelming me with more and more features. It's the perfect balance between capability, complexity, and learning curve. Being more of an artist rather than a programmer, this a good package for me.
4. 5.0 is a very small installation package and runs very quickly on a modern computer (both Amiga and PC versions).
5. I haven't really explored more than the tip of the iceberg with Lightwave 5.0. There's so much more potential I have to tap into with it and learn to use, so why use a more complex version when I still haven't gotten the full use out of the version I am using?
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muadib
Site Admin
Posts: 168
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:26 pm

Re: New member but long-time Amiga user

Post by muadib »

Welcome to the forum, Ral-Clan!

I agree with what you observe about Lightwave, even the "old" Amiga 5.0 version is mature enough for making films and telling stories with graphics that can stand by themselves and compare in relation to more modern programs and versions, really.

I guess you have noticed about the Raytracing webcast, no? If not, feel free to follow it on Twitch and Youtube and let me know what you think with comments, opinions and thoughts!

Again, welcome to the society! :D
- muadib
Ral-Clan
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:58 am

Re: New member but long-time Amiga user

Post by Ral-Clan »

I agree Muadib.
Also the old version can still render up to 8K resolution images (maybe higher), which is enough for use on the most modern playback devices.
I will be watching your Youtube tutorials. They look interesting. I already learned about the version 5.0f which I never knew existed.
Will be good to have other people to talk to about Amiga rendering software.
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