17 September 2016

Software I am looking forward to

I am not really someone who just buys and tries lots of software. What I have already is complicated enough to keep me busy but updates and occasionally new software catches my attention and gets me excited. 

Affinity is producing some really nice stuff so far, I have both Designer and Photo and I am really looking forward to a couple of new things from them. Photo is getting a big update, soon, not sure when exactly and it will fill some of the remaining gaps with Adobe Photoshop… making it much easier to stop using Photoshop in future. They will also be releasing a page layout program to compete with Indesign and I am very curious to see what they do as it’s one of those core softwares I can’t do without and will need ago replace when my current Adobe stuff eventually stops working because I refuse to pay them a ransom every month. Also in the works is a program to organize files, like Adobe Bridge does now and that would be amazing. 


I am not a big gamer, but I have been waiting years for Obduction, the Myst-like new game form the makers of Myst. It’s technically already out, just not for the Mac so I have to wait. It looks fantastic and the early reviews have been stellar. 


3D Coat is something I am deciding to add to my Cinema 4D workflow as it that is one application I am not updating anytime soon. Too much money for too few new features and it still misses basic functions even free software has nowadays. Maxon is so terrible now with their updating that 3rd party plugins basically take me me far beyond what even their next version upgrade will be. X-Particles is getting much better fire and smoke simulations we are told, something no version of C4D can do at all and the current 3D Coat surpasses even the coming updates in Body paint for texturing. So I will be stuck C4D version 16 a long time. I have been seriously looking into Blender to see how easily I can replace C4D if need be in the future. 


Since I made the switch to Final Cut X it has already made some big improvements but it really needs to settle some existing workflow problems and with a rumoured update in the works I hope it and Motion get some of the attention they deserve from Apple. If Motion had a way to read a depth map I could basically abandon After Effects for all of my 3D animation post and most everything else.


Hopefully I am not setting myself up for disappointment but so far all the stuff I am excited about looks like it will be great. I wait hopeful and eternally for the Mac version of the LCARS project to be released. It exists for Windows and the Mac version is announced for the next update but as it’s a free thing done by fans, it’s anyone’s guess when I will be geeking out over the LCARS OS  on my two screens. 

4 comments:

T' said...

Ok, as a kickstarter backer for Obduction let me just say this; the game is BUGGY on the Mac. Yes, I've had a copy for about three weeks because I funded this about two years ago. It looks great, but there are some real killer problems with it for us, not least of which is notes and props in the game, ones that likely have clues and such, which I simply CANNOT read. I'm running a new 5k Mac with a 4ghz chip and now 24 gigs of ram and the higher end graphics card. There is NO reason the game should be this buggy, but it is. I hope that by the time they have it out for sale for the Mac, it's been updated heavily. Otherwise, it is very much like Myst in its puzzle-based weird atmosphere alien worldliness.

As for Affinity, I hope they keep making good products. When I meet art customers in the store, I recommend they take a look at least at Designer. De-throning Adobe is a worthwhile task.

Behemoth media said...

Yes, the Mac version is not even close to ready, even the guy who made the original Myst is waiting for a playable copy. Apparently he is only on Mac himself.

I di hope Affinity or anyone really has a chance to give Adobe some competition, they need it and we need good products to work on not money grabs or tax write-offs. I am pretty sure the Indesign replacement will be really nice, just have to get enough people using it to get printers on board. If Blurb allows their files, I'll be the first to print my personal books and get the gallery I work for to try and switch.

T' said...

No, the Mac version IS out, it's just buggy. Well, out for those who supported the campaign. Apparently the Windows version isn't much better as the boards were just as full of that version messing up as well. They've released some updates but I think they rushed things a little.

Behemoth media said...

Only the beta copies for the kickstarter people, like you! The actual MAC release ill be on Steam and the mac store I am told but if the Windows version has the same issues... even after a couple years of bug fixes already, I have my doubts I'll be playing it before the year ends! I don't want to play with a crippled version so I will have to wait!