@Aidan: I second every sentence you wrote. Different people might see it differently but just one point out of many is that RS3D is an application in the field of creative graphical production. So people not yet into RS3D will most likely judge the program from what they see on its website. Cause they would most possibly think that if the app were good, the homepage would show that by presenting awesome artwork and by being heavily frequented. If the homepage of a creative application doesn´t show off with what the application is capable of, people have no quick insight into what it IS capable of and will quite possibly in many cases just assume that it lacks the desired capabilities. Especially for young would-be artists it will most certainly be pretty important that the application they´re possibly going to spend some hundred bucks on is presented nicely and has a thriving community that is easily accessible. Remember, we`re talking about "generation facebook" here. And taking Modo as an excellent example - its homepage is inspiring, even awe-inspiring sometimes. Heck, if I was completely new to 3D art and wanting to buy a respective application today, I would most certainly prefer Modo over RS3D because of its presentation, its presumed community and the "verve" behind it that it suggests.
@Jouni: You´re right, advertising is not totaly easy. Yet, in times of the worldwide web it is easy enough to pull of some nice advertising with relatively little effort. Think of a blog. Once per week a few sentences from the developer(s) and the website gives the impression of the product being worked on actively. Just one of many possible examples. After all it´s just a question of input versus output - if you put some hundred bucks into your advertising and get just 5 people to buy your full-priced product, you´ve made a win. And what you said about game-design - that´s something I find pretty interesting cause this very scene is where I would try to recruit new customers. There are many modders and hobby-gamedesigners out there that don´t yet have the money to buy a fullpriced 3D application or are not yet willing to. Then there is a RS3D version 4.2 out there in the web to be found and downloaded for free legally (at least I assume it´s legal cause it says "in cooperation with DID" and is hosted on the Digital Productions website). So why not provide it officially through the RS3D website and get some aspiring 3D artists hooked up or at least spread the word? Most youngsters wouldn´t buy a program for 150+ bucks anyway but some WOULD later buy the program they learned to do 3D with, so in my opinion it would be a win-win situation. Why let those potential customers wander off to try out Blender, GMAX, Truespace, or other free programs? @Mark: I´ve not got the experience to adequately judge this but I would think that it is better to have a program that is really good at some single field of application than a program that is somehow ok for many things but doesn´t really excell at any point. I´ve never done animations with RS3D so I can´t really talk about it´s capabilities there. What I love about RS3D is it´s very intuitive way of modelling a lot of things. I´ve tried out some demos of other programs just to be overwhelmed by inaccessible interfaces whereas in RS3D most basic things are kept clear and straightforward. But still there are at least two dozen features that I would really love to see added or implemented in a better way. So if I were to outline a strategy to make RS3D better (and I ain´t ;-) I would first concentrate on making its modelling capabilities even better, improving its interface even further and providing the tools to make it an excellent (meaning - better then nearly all of the other apps out there) program for modders, characteranimators and modellers of all sorts. Only when this were achieved I would concentrate on complex animation features, particles and other stuff. But that is of course just my very personal opinion. Regarding Gary: I don´t know what has been going on with him or his criticism - I had just read some comments of his on the forum and found him sometimes really having a point. And I pretty much doubt that one person alone could be the downfall of a whole userlist. I would rather assume that if a list or a forum was fragile enough to be virtually destroyed by one persons criticism, however nasty it might be, the respective list or forum would most likely lack the "immune system" to fend of such things. I´ve witnessed many internet-trolls in my life and not one has ever been able to truly disrupt the community it was in. Greets Martin -- Neu: GMX FreeDSL Komplettanschluss mit DSL 6.000 Flatrate + Telefonanschluss für nur 17,95 Euro/mtl.!* http://dslspecial.gmx.de/freedsl-surfflat/?ac=OM.AD.PD003K11308T4569a
