On the Hunt for 3D Software

We are on a hunt. Not a safari hunt but a hunt for old and new 3D animation software. Some things we already have like the latest version of Aladdin 4D, we have lots of those. We also have Sculpt Animated 4D, The Amiga Video Toaster version of LightWave 3D and a few others. What we don't have is early versions of Aladdin 4D for our historical library. We need those and are willing to pay for them.

If you have other packages you would like to get rid of please contact us via the Aladdin 4D forums.We will let you know if we need what your selling. You might be surprised how much you can get for your old 3D software thats collecting dust.

Whats in the Lamp?

It came as a great surprise to us that all the years Adspec Programming and then Nova Design owned Aladdin 4D they never opened the lamp to see what is inside. We are in the process of doing just that and you will be very surprised what we find. Anyone that can guess what it is before we tell the world can get a copy of Aladdin 4D for free.

Pounce of the Leopard

Apple has made great inroads with the Mac since they allowed the old Mac to die and be reborn via a unix FreeBSD/Next kernel. Apple almost died a horrible death like Commodore. Unlike Commdore they understood this before it was too late and gave control of the company back to one of the original founders. Who knows what today's Amiga would look like if it too was given back to its creators.

Mac OX X Leopard bears little resemblance to OS 9.0 and this is a very good thing. Even todays Mac hardware has shed its Motorola and PowerPC heritage and runs on Intel hardware. The great thing about this is that Windows is regulated to guest operating system status. Sure Windows can be step up and run full speed but its not encourage or required. Mac OS 9.0 can no longer be run via an Apple solution so the divorce from old Mac to new is complete. Of course Apple has seen record growth and is a Wall Street darling now. The post Windows era is upon us and customers are now open to options beyond Windows. Mac OS X is now used more in Japan then Windows. The shift away from Windows will continue and that is why we don't focus on the Windows version of Aladdin 4D. The OS X version though is a very important piece of Aladdin 4D's future and growth.

Amiga Shockwave

When Commodore died in 1994 it sent a shockwave through the Amiga professional software market. Developers went out of business or ported their applications to other platforms at the speed of light. It was a very sad day to be an Amiga owner with a large investment in creative software and hardware. Our founder was in such a situation. He vowed though if given the chance he would help the market if the shoe was ever on the other foot.

He got his chance a few years later when the Video Toaster consulting company he founded morphed into digital video effects software development. The promise has been kept at DiscreetFX till this day. While it is true that we develop for Windows and other operating systems we have never let the dream die. The Amiga is always brought up in a positive light. Amiga and AROS bounties are supported. The Amiga is still proudly mentioned on the website. An effort was even made in 2006 with investors to purchase the rights to the Amiga itself. The goal has always been to create another shockwave but this time in the other direction. With Aladdin 4D we have a chance at that shockwave. If Aladdin 4D can be upgraded and made native on Amiga OS 4.0, MorphOS & AROS it can be a glowing example of fast professional native 3D software that users of those operating systems can be proud of. OS 4.0/MorphOS/AROS have no native commercial 3D software available for them today.

They do have products like PageStream 5.0 Pro & HollyWood 3 and every application counts. These products must be supported if a professional creative market is to be reborn on Amiga systems. We will work hard to keep the dream alive and hope other developers will join in. Even 3D animation software developers. Competition is good and makes a vibrant and alive 3rd party software market. At the end of the day it does not really matter who the IP holder of Amiga is or what they do. What matters more is what 3rd party developers do. The Amiga market has matured to a level that one company no longer matters. The community is what matters most of all. We will work hard to do our part, will you?

The Hunt for Greg Gorby

While we embark on our quest of evaluating and updating Aladdin 4D for the modern world we thought it would be best to contact someone that might like to have a say. It could be true that Greg Gorby is no longer alive or if he is he may not have any interest in Aladdin 4D and that would be fine. But since it was his baby at one point in his life and was the basis for his company Adspec Programming. We wanted to give him a voice on where he would like to see Aladdin 4D in 2008. What were his dreams for the package, how does he feel about the way 3D animation software has progressed? Without Greg we probably would not be writing this blog.

If anyone one talks with Greg on a regular bases or knows how to contact him please let us know. If he is interested we would like to know his feelings on Aladdin 4D. He is from Ohio and probably still lives there so we don't mind stopping by and buying lunch or dinner for him and his family.

Kiss of Death

One of the first things we did when we took over Aladdin 4D was to develop a multi-platform strategy for the relaunch. We had always believed that limiting the user base to only Amiga customers was holding it back. But while it may have been a sin to make Aladdin 4D available only on Amiga OS it is an equal sin for products like Caligari TrueSpace to only be on Windows. 3D animation software is such a niche and has such a artistic but sometimes fickle customer base, to assure success it must be on more platforms. By limiting your package to only Amiga or even Windows is a sure Kiss of Death. Of course you could take the multi-platform approach that Cinema 4D or LightWave takes and make your product available on Windows & Mac. Or you can go a little further like Maya does and have a Linux version as well. But why stop there? We have an idea of a future world where customer choice is king and computer platforms are not as limited as they are today. By making your product available for platforms that are just reemerging like Amiga OS 4.0 or MorphOS you may just discover a new technique or tool set you might have otherwise missed.

By also making your products available on something new like AROS you may just be surprised what loyal new customers and feedback you get. By giving these obscure but exciting platforms a chance you might just give your application a chance to be successful and not die. It's good to help others and support their hard working efforts. We hope that by being this brave and supporting these additional platforms we can be a catalyst for change. It shows a great appreciation for the customer when you allow them to use your package in such a flexible way. Maybe they have a new idea for a model or animation and started creating it at home on their Amiga. On their break at work they can continue to work on it or finish on Windows. Maybe their friend has a Mac and they want to work on it at their house or show whats being created.

The computer platform will be blurred and Aladdin 4D and it's set of software tools become the focus of new animations the customer is creating. In that type of creative unlimiting environment maybe the next great animated feature can be born. Aladdin 4D avoided the Kiss of Death of course but it was a close call. At one point paramedics were called in.

Deeeeeep in Thought

Our founder is currently deep in thought and evaluating other low-end 3D animation software packages to see the best place Aladdin 4D fits in. There is a definite gap and digital divide for customers new to 3D software. A careful balance has to be struck between interesting features but not overwhelming complexity. Many computer users avoid 3D animation software all together because they feel it is too hard to use. Aladdin 4D changed that for Amiga customers and we plan to do it again for additional operating systems. We plan on making it even easier to use.