IAAA Computer Graphics Software Survey Results
Compiled by Jim Plaxco
The following survey of International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA) members was conducted via e-mail during September and October 2002. The survey was announced by way of the IAAA Space Art Discussion Forum and was individually e-mailed to those members for whom e-mail addresses were available. A total of 27 IAAA members completed and returned the survey.
This survey requested participants to identify:
- their operating system platform
- their operating system version
- what 2D Paint and Vector software products they used
- what 2D Modeling or Specialty software products they used
- what full featured 3D software products they used
- what 3D Modeling software products they used
- what other graphical software products they used
The first table of results, Table 1: Summary of Users by Platform, is provided so that the computer platform preference can be identified. Clearly, Apple no longer has the dominance in the graphics field that it once possessed.
| Table 1: Summary of Users by Platform |
|---|
Platform Number Percent of
of Users Total Responses
---------------------------- -------- ---------------
Windows 14 51.85
Apple 10 37.04
Linux 1 3.70
Windows XP and Linux SUSE 7 1 3.70
Windows 2K and Apple OS X 1 3.70
---
Total Responses 27
|
In the next table, Table 2: Summary of Users by OS Version, we can see what specific operating systems are being used. While Windows is the single most popular platform, Apple's OS X is the single most popular operating system. This is probably due to the fact that Apple controls not only the OS but the hardware as well. In Table 2, please note that when a "-" is used in the OS Version column, it means that version information was not provided in the survey response. Also, a value of "MULT" for OS Version indicates that the respondent is a multi-OS user, with the OS' being identified in the Platform column.
| Table 2: Summary of Users by OS Version |
|---|
Operating OS Number Percent of
System Version of Total
Platform Used Users Responses
--------------------------- -------- ------ -----------
Apple X 5 18.52
Apple 9 3 11.11
Apple G4 2 7.41
Linux - 1 3.70
Windows XP 4 14.81
Windows 98 3 11.11
Windows NT4 2 7.41
Windows - 2 7.41
Windows 2000 1 3.70
Windows 95 1 3.70
Windows XP, Linux SUSE 7 MULT 1 3.70
Windows 2K, Apple OS X MULT 1 3.70
Windows 98, Windows 2000 Pro MULT 1 3.70
---
Total Responses 27
|
Table 3: Listing of All Software Packages is provided as a means of identifying the most popular software packages regardless of category, version, or platform. In the survey, participants identified a total of 61 unique software packages in use.
The Total Individual Software Packages total at the bottom of the table has a value of 141. What this means is that collectively, the 27 survey participants have a total of 141 software licenses. This means that, on average, each user reported using 5 different software packages.
The column Percent of Users identifies the percent of the 27 users who reported using that software. The column Percent of Total Individual Software Packages identifies the percent of the 141 software licenses the listed software is responsible for.
As is evident from the survey results, Adobe's Photoshop is the core graphics application with Corel's Bryce being the leading 3D application. While there appear to be a few broadly popular software packages in use, 41 of the 61 software titles are used by just one survey respondent.
| Table 3: Listing of All Software Packages |
|---|
Software Percent of
Number Percent Total
Package of of Software
Users Users Packages
---------------------------- ------ ------- ----------
Photoshop 24 88.89 17.02
Bryce 11 40.74 7.80
Painter 8 29.63 5.67
Paint Shop Pro 7 25.93 4.96
Illustrator 6 22.22 4.26
Poser 6 22.22 4.26
Strata StudioPro 4 14.81 2.84
Terragen 4 14.81 2.84
Amapi 3 11.11 2.13
CorelDraw 3 11.11 2.13
Freehand 3 11.11 2.13
Lightwave 3 11.11 2.13
Truespace 3 11.11 2.13
Universe 3 11.11 2.13
Cinema 4D XL 2 7.41 1.42
FormZ 2 7.41 1.42
Leveller 2 7.41 1.42
Macromedia Flash 2 7.41 1.42
Maya 2 7.41 1.42
Strata 2 7.41 1.42
After Effects 1 3.70 0.71
Carrara 1 3.70 0.71
Dreamweaver 1 3.70 0.71
Elefont 1 3.70 0.71
Fireworks 1 3.70 0.71
Fractal Design Detailer 1 3.70 0.71
Fractal Design Expression 1 3.70 0.71
GoLive 1 3.70 0.71
GIMP 1 3.70 0.71
Homesite 1 3.70 0.71
Imageready 1 3.70 0.71
ImageStyler 1 3.70 0.71
Kai Power Tools 1 3.70 0.71
L-System 1 3.70 0.71
Macromedia Director 1 3.70 0.71
Mark Unicorn Digital Performer 1 3.70 0.71
Mojoworld 1 3.70 0.71
Moray 1 3.70 0.71
Pagemaker 1 3.70 0.71
Paintman 1 3.70 0.71
Photo-Paint 1 3.70 0.71
Photoimpact 1 3.70 0.71
Plant Studio Freeware 1 3.70 0.71
Pov-Ray 1 3.70 0.71
Premiere 1 3.70 0.71
QuarkExpress 1 3.70 0.71
Ray Dream Studio 1 3.70 0.71
RayDream Studio 1 3.70 0.71
Rhino 1 3.70 0.71
Spiralizer by Armanisoft 1 3.70 0.71
Starbits 1 3.70 0.71
Streamline 1 3.70 0.71
Tiera-Zon Fractal Generator 1 3.70 0.71
TrueSpace 1 3.70 0.71
TurboCADD 1 3.70 0.71
Ultrafractal 1 3.70 0.71
Universe Modeler 1 3.70 0.71
VistaPro 1 3.70 0.71
Vue d' Espirit 1 3.70 0.71
3dem 1 3.70 0.71
3ds Max 1 3.70 0.71
----
Total Individual Packages 141
|
Table 4: Summary of Software by Class of Software identifies the number of software packages in used based on a categorization of the type or class of software being used. As can be seen in the survey results, 2D painting and vector-type illustration software is the most commonly used, followed by the full featured 3D software packages.
| Table 4: Summary of Software by Class of Software |
|---|
Software Class Total Software
Package Count
---------------------------- --------------
2D Paint and Vector 60
3D Packages - Full Featured 44
3D Modeling 20
Other 13
2D Modeling or Specialty 4
----
Total Individuals Software Packages 141
|
The purpose of Table 5: Summary of Software by Class of Software is to take into consideration the software class when gauging the popularity of an individual software package. The classes are 2D Paint and Vector, 2D Modelling or Specialty, 3D Packages - Full Featured, 3D Modeling, and Other.
The Total Users value at the bottom of the table has a value of 141. This is the same as in the Total Individual Software Packages column from Table 3: Listing of All Software Packages.
The column Pct of Users identifies the percent of the 27 users who reported using that software, irregardless of software class. The column Pct of Class identifies the percent of the total software licenses for the associated class the listed software is responsible for.
| Table 5: Summary of Software by Class of Software |
|---|
Software Software Package Total Pct Pct of
Class Name Users Users Class
-------------- ----------------------- ----- ----- -----
2D Paint/Vector
Photoshop 24 88.9 40.0
Painter 8 29.6 13.3
Paint Shop Pro 7 25.9 11.7
Illustrator 6 22.2 10.0
CorelDraw 3 11.1 5.0
Freehand 3 11.1 5.0
Fractal Design Detailer 1 3.7 1.7
Fractal Design Expression 1 3.7 1.7
GIMP 1 3.7 1.7
Imageready 1 3.7 1.7
ImageStyler 1 3.7 1.7
Kai Power Tools 1 3.7 1.7
Paintman 1 3.7 1.7
Photo-Paint 1 3.7 1.7
Photoimpact 1 3.7 1.7
Total 2D Paint/Vector 60
2D Modeling/Specialty
Starbits 1 3.7 25.0
Tiera-Zon Fractal Generator 1 3.7 25.0
TurboCADD 1 3.7 25.0
Ultrafractal 1 3.7 25.0
Total 2D Modeling/Specialty 4
3D Packages-Complete
Bryce 11 40.7 25.0
Strata StudioPro 4 14.8 9.1
Terragen 4 14.8 9.1
Lightwave 3 11.1 6.8
Truespace 3 11.1 6.8
Universe 3 11.1 6.8
Cinema 4D XL 2 7.4 4.5
Maya 2 7.4 4.5
Poser 2 7.4 4.5
Strata 2 7.4 4.5
Leveller 1 3.7 2.3
Mojoworld 1 3.7 2.3
Pov-Ray 1 3.7 2.3
RayDream Studio 1 3.7 2.3
TrueSpace 1 3.7 2.3
VistaPro 1 3.7 2.3
Vue d' Espirit 1 3.7 2.3
3ds Max 1 3.7 2.3
Total 3D Packages 44
3D Modeling
Poser 4 14.8 20.0
Amapi 3 11.1 15.0
FormZ 2 7.4 10.0
Carrara 1 3.7 5.0
Elefont 1 3.7 5.0
L-System 1 3.7 5.0
Leveller 1 3.7 5.0
Moray 1 3.7 5.0
Plant Studio Freeware 1 3.7 5.0
Ray Dream Studio 1 3.7 5.0
Rhino 1 3.7 5.0
Spiralizer by Armanisoft 1 3.7 5.0
Universe Modeler 1 3.7 5.0
3dem 1 3.7 5.0
Total 3D Modeling 20
Other
Macromedia Flash 2 7.4 15.4
After Effects 1 3.7 7.7
Dreamweaver 1 3.7 7.7
Fireworks 1 3.7 7.7
GoLive 1 3.7 7.7
Homesite 1 3.7 7.7
Macromedia Director 1 3.7 7.7
Mark Unicorn Digital Perf 1 3.7 7.7
Pagemaker 1 3.7 7.7
Premiere 1 3.7 7.7
QuarkExpress 1 3.7 7.7
Streamline 1 3.7 7.7
Total Other 13
Total Individual Software Packages 141
|
As can be seen from the survey results, while there is broad agreement on Adobe Photoshop being a core application, there is little in common beyond that. Based on the continuing evolution of software and the introduction of new products, it is likely that the range of software products will expand such that future surveys will show even greater diversity.
I didn't know what other worlds looked like until I saw Bonestell's paintings of the solar system.
Carl Sagan on the art of Chesley Bonestell