When comparing 3D-Coat vs Lightwave 3D, the Slant community recommends Lightwave 3D for most people. In the question“What is the best 3D modeling software?” Lightwave 3D is ranked 6th while 3D-Coat is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose Lightwave 3D is:
In addition to Lscript, Lightwave supports Python.
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Pros
Pro A known app for retopology
3D coat is also known in the game industry to be a great app to preform retopology.
Pro Link to Photoshop, or any app that can open PSD files
You can save and open your texture work in apps like Photoshop, work on them and send them directly back to 3D coat. It will remember your layers and update.
Pro Professionals recommend 3D Coat for Handpainted textures
You can texture in many styles with this app, but when it comes to Handpainting, as seen in World of Warcraft and Torchlight, 3D Coat is the one that many professionals will advice you to as their top choice.
Pro PBR materials
3D Coat supports the creation of your own PBR materials that are ready to be used in the PBR workflow.
Pro Voxel sculpting
Voxel sculpting is entirely free from the bounds of polygons and topology.
Pro A fast and fun way to UV
3D coat has made UVing my work go super fast and it's actually quite fun because you're finished in a breeze.
Pro Support for Python scripting
In addition to Lscript, Lightwave supports Python.
Pro Been around for years, and is still capable of good animations, and great renders.
The 3DS MAX version 5 days. So Lightwave will always hold a special place for me. It was ahead of the game back in the day, with its renderer. And was widely used for films, among other things. Though it hasn't advanced much in the modeling section, and UI over the years. You can still make some really nice things in it, and get some highly realistic results.
Pro Powerful animation tools
Pro Great value for the price
Pro A perfect tool for freelancers
Pro Powerful nodes shaders
Pro Plays well with other software
Pro Beginner friendly with a very smooth learning curve
Pro Very stable
Pro Great community support
Pro Production proven
Used heavily in famous Hollywood movies, TV shows, commercials and video games.
Pro Designed for individual artists
Cons
Con Not a voxel program
This is a paid texture program. Why is it in this list?
Con Voxel sculpting hits your system
Voxel is quite heavy on your computer, if you intent to use this as your main model and sculpt app do enough research to see if your computer can handle it and if you have the right graphic card for it. If you really have doubts , just go ask in the forums.
Con 7 layer restriction in the affordable version
The cheapest version available only lets you paint on 7 layers, which is very unfortunate.
Con Two applications: one for modelling and another for layout
Con Not beginner-friendly
Lightwave has mediocre tutorials and a complex multi-application workflow.