Just got an app store update for forger, renaming it to forger classic! now there is a new subscription (but still very affordable) version available that is under the name forger. there is still feature parity other than a few cinema 4d importers exporters. plus the classic version still allows for texture painting (apart from vertex painting) something that has not been included (yet) in the maxon (subscription) version. i hadn’t used forger for a year or so but now going back i see how much i prefer nomad, this program is a tiny miracle! still would love to see forger grow too (ideally in some other direction)
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I cannot imagine what it can offer beyond what Nomad does for its low price and free updates!
Nomad is constantly improving and is a breeze to use. Why pay a subscription for a lesser product? I’ll follow their advertising as it gets closer to release, but subscribe ? I highly doubt it.
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I just had a look. It’s cheeky. The file size is only about 10MB difference, the subscription one allows for direct integration into cinema4D. There’s obviously not too much going on under the hood for this new one. They have however, finally updated the name to a capitol F. About time at least if anything.
It’s now Forger with a capital F!
Note that filesize doesn’t mean anything, almost everything is assets.
If I remove HDRs and Matcaps in Nomad, the app would be a few MB.
I’m still confused whether Forger Classic is free or still one time 15$.
When I visit the AppStore, it’s still in the Paid App category.
There’s a free version of the new Forger though, although the app seems more or less identical at the moment.
But the below tweet says otherwise “Forger Classic is free for new users.”
https://twitter.com/forgerapp/status/1453388377777078273
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Am I missing something with this new Forger announcement?
After the Maxon acquisition I was expecting something special. All I see is the same old Forger renamed, a duplicate with a subscription service, and a Maxon Twitter comment saying they don’t intend to update the original Forger. Where are these “seriously cool new things and we’ll be sharing them with you very soon”?
Looks like they are taking a page out of Autodesk’s book and buying up small companies, removing the valuable code and then shoving in a subscription service. Ok it’s a one year subscription but how long will that last.
I gave up on Forger a year ago for Nomad. No big loss.
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It’s a shame though, even if I don’t use it at all anymore, except for the auto Uv and the procreate beta, I liked its interface, I would hope for clear improvement in the future and the competition is a positive engine normally.
It is a shame. I started with Forger. I tried to use it when it first came out and ended up mothballing it for quite a while. Then they updated the interface and it was a really good sculpting app at the time.
Then Nomad came out and kept improving itself while keeping its community informed of future updates. Forger’s progress stalled and didn’t keep up with Nomad.
So when Maxon announced the acquisition of Forger you would think that it’s new updated would be an impressive PR announcement. It was basically a fart in the wind. With Maxon’s experience and money they presented basically nothing.
Nomad a one man band versus Maxon a fairly big company just shows that it’s talent, drive and heart and not big money that creates a good product.
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Agreed with the disappointment so far, Maxon could have done better when they announced it. But, equally, for 3D artists picking up an iPad for the first time and migrating over - or for the wealth of their consumers already using C4D, Forger probably seems quite intuitive and amazing. Until they discover Nomad of course. A large marketing PR will also just generate general interest in the product well before they intend to do much with it - in its state it’s good as it is for what it needs to do. Just sculpt. The pandemic also has given Stephane an advantage I’d say, the WFH culture thats risen from it has put big hamstrings on companies relying on general day-to-day collaboration, Apple and Facebook especially have had issues from this so I can imagine Maxon as well. Creatively they’re not generating the work on the pace large businesses like, so the output is slower. Stephane gets to crack on entirely unimpeded during this time whilst they’re on Zoom calls for an hour first. It’s been good for Nomad’s development. I also think iOS and Android software has a lot to do with why these apps aren’t generally advancing at the pace we’d like to think they could, its all ARM-based versus x86, instructions sets are different, I think iOS needs to open a bit more as well in order for it to allow greater depth and functionality. It wouldn’t take long for Maxon to copy Stephane’s work, because I believe Stephane has tuned the very best he can out of the software, and any other apps now would just be playing catch up and implementing the same process because there won’t be many other different ways to do it. Forger could reach Nomad level, then where does it go after. I put faith in my cards on Stephane ultimately, I respect Javier Edo a lot but like other Maxon employees he’s now stuck on web meetings and under a management hierarchy before progression. Stephane will just continue and Nomad will lead the way. It’s our localised support that matters as well. There’s none of this camaraderie on Maxon’s side. Apart from maybe just a small handful of cultist C4D fanatics.
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Very rarely you´ll see something beautiful grow out of software company acquisition. I´ve just seen it so many times. Autodesk pretty much ran Mudbox into the ground and then forgot about it. Foundry bough a Mischief neat little adaptive signed fields drawing app. Ripped the tech from than and tried to do a sculpting app with it. After many years of unfruitful development they cancelled it. Will have to see how successful Adobe´s Medium purchase will be when they are developing adobe modeller from it. Only time will tell. I really hope there´s a future for Forger and Maxon can develop it further but i don´t hold my breath for it. Usually big company´s can only offer more bureaucracy for the developer and really hinder the development. But i´m happily wrong about it. Let´s hope the best!
@sinis True. Remember Sculptris as the most related example. It was a very nice little app way ahead of it‘s time regarding easiness and usability. Functionally it was fist sculpting app with dynamic tesselation, as far as I know. It made 3D sculpting a relaxing pleasure. It got me into sculpting those days.
And now after acquisition of Pixologic?
But forger is an complete new mobile field for Maxon. We‘ll see.
Maxon bought quite a bunch of software from all kind of directions. Red Giant I.e. = Plug ins for Compositing app. We’ll see if they can handle the new soft.
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If anyone has taken advantage of the one year free offer, what is the difference?
Forger is still very much in Javier’s hands, the big difference other than corporate red-tape and bureaucracy to development is he now also has extra resources at his disposal, but he will still very much be in control on the oversight of its development. I do think Maxon have much bigger plans involved over time, especially since iPads can now handle 12GB of RAM for apps - which is striking new territory for the machine. It throws open the doors of possibility - the only three industries able to utilise that properly on the iPads are games, video editing and 3D software. I think were in for one hell of a creative ride coming into the next few years - one that might start costing us a bit more though in general compared to now,
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I bought forger first a while back used it for a week and thankfully I found nomad. I got way better results with nomad. All this subscription stuff is garbage. I just want to buy the tools I use not rent them.
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Subscriptions make sense for large, commercial desktop packages that costs thousands to use a creative licence for. But not the pissant dribble stream of bland software we see on iOS where wallpaper or ghost hunting apps need subs. It’s a horrid business model to bring over on smaller scale for the consumer for the most part. It does give developers stability though, and for the right developer I don’t mind, but they’re few and far between. Sift through a lot of crap before you find gold on the App Store.
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I have photoshop 6 and have been drawing on it for years with no updates. Now I use procreate on my iPad for everything. I use ps for color corrections when and if I print out my art. I’m abou to buy zbrush here soon. The only reason the sub is good is to try it out before dropping a thousand dollars on it. These companies have been around for a while professionals need their programs and they are trying to hide it behind a continuous pay wall. They’re not services they are tools. I’ve had photoshop for 10 years now the old one and if I payed monthly it’s an obscene amount of money just to draw. The service model is growing and it doesn’t really provide you with anything in return. I’m an artist and will always draw and sculpt. I refuse to pay monthly just to do it.
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I do think the bigger players with sub packages (3DS Max, Zbrush, Maya etc.) offer a service and not just the tools to be creative, and I would pay per month if my career rested on it, since continual job income would pay for subs. That’s for creative professionalism in industry, which is where I point my compass toward. Creatively and just for hobbyist use, not a chance. It’s why I use Nomad & Affinity instead of Zbrush and Photoshop. Photoshop is £10 a month to use on sub on its own, its not a lot at all . Career and income go hand in hand to me, that then opens up the opportunities to start using heavy industrial tools which, as any top product, have to pay for it. I really don’t mind paying for premium industry software, even if that’s per month. For me, it’s not much different than how I purchased my Macs, iPad’s or iPhones, I pay each month on contract. I get access to good top of the range hardware. It’s a business model that works for big players, it’s when that model is translated down to the crappier end of the market, that’s when I have problems. Were all different though.
I wish I could make money with my art. I do a few tattoos here and there but painting tubs pays the bills. I can totally afford the prices . I like to work within confines as I think it helps the creative process. Allowing you to think outside the box for a solution. That’s why I got nomad because it’s kinda like a lite version of zbrush. That way I’m not struggling to learn all the extra stuff that holds no value for shaping a lump of clay. Forger IMO was worse than nomad I don’t understand how they think they justify a monthly price as I bought it for $15. It wasn’t worth the 15 to me. There’s a lot of professionals that don’t have the abilities that me a hobbyist has. There’s all kinds of levels to art and a high dollar program will not make you better. I’ve only done a few digital sculptures so it’s not a big deal. Corporate greed really bugs me though. It’s not enough to make something and sell it they feel entitled to money forever from you. It just bugs me. The only subs I have are for tv and ps+ because multiplayer is tied behind it. It’s already around $100 a month just for those. To each their own though some don’t have the money to throw around and I can understand that. I’m just not paying monthly for something that I will be doing all the time for the foreseeable future.
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Totally agree, higher dollar packages doesn’t enhance the creative output, a skilled artist is a skilled artist irregardless of the medium. Higher industrial packages coupled with the appropriate hardware (another territory I dislike wandering down) will bring out a more impressive portfolio for big industry heads to gawk at, for me, that’s where I target my incoming future finances. Luckily, Nomad and Affinity/PS combined there’s a lot of mustard in the creative output for freelance. Not quite paying the bills my end on its own admittedly, but it’s a push toward greater industry goals. Corporation greed unfortunately is an inevitable monster, it does however, keep our supermarket shelves stocked, keeps online businesses and social media running, keeps energy and fuel coming into countries pipelines, gives Governments the GDP to tackle (or create) problems, and allows me still to buy my silly 30G of tobacco each week and buy technology on the market to complete my work. C’est la vie my friend.
Forger sculpt or classic impossible to use for newbies like me,you don’t have an option to increase numbers of your undo actions ,if you make a mistake it’s impossible to control z or undo as long as you want ,but nomad has it all ! In nomad the undo history is not only accessible you can undo as long as you want just like z brush.This is the reason why nomad will continue to stay on top of the game for me!
Apparently now when I go to download Forger Classic, the App Store says “It’s no longer available in you county”… also the page for regular Forger now has disabled the ability to leave reviews.
Hopefully my paid copy on my iPad will remain functional.
Not that that matters much now that I’ve discovered Nomad Sculpt.
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