I’ve been trying to do my small part in the Linux community by helping out as much as possible. In doing so I created an extensive list of software and guide for studios, freelancers and art schools. The list is intended to be for working professionals so I try to avoid listing to many hobby software and instead focus more on the highend. Please forward your comments and suggestions by contacting me here at Highend3D or Linux Forum. See thread “Linux Software” here http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53452http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53452 and scroll down to my post “Software for 3D/2D Artists, Designers, etc”.
Cheers 
The thread mentioned in the original post has been recently updated. Anyone that can assist with testing software in my list of software not yet tested on Wine (free Wine or Codeweavers CrossOver Office) please send me a PM if you were successfull. I’m particularly interested in Alias software such as Motionbuilder Pro. I’ll try to test some of the trial software myself though may be a while since I’m heading away for 3 weeks vacation/training.
On a side note I recently spoke with a colleague that is trying to find time to provide packaged binary RPM for users of Jahshaka (HD video editor/effects compositor) on a regular basis. Since his pipeline is Novell centric (ie: SuSE Linux Professional/Novell Linux Desktop/SuSE Linux Enterprise Server) the packages compiled will be for Novell customers though should be installable on other RPM based distributions as long as all dependencies are met.
Some of you may be interested in a few things I’ve found while testing software. For example, those looking for an alternative to Adobe’s Premiere Pro should try Mainconcept’s MainActor for Linux which supports features such as HDTV, Cinema and export to Web. It’s very user friendly and not as difficult to learn as Cinelerra. The nice change I found is that color tutorials are included with the software and the developer offers a free download of the SDK for studios to port or create their own plug-ins, etc.
I have also found when evaluating software that Maya users running Linux would be best to consider using Mozilla’s Firefox as the default browser instead of Konqueror, Epiphany or Opera. The current release v1.0 works well with Maya (ie: opening shortcut help links) and can be found compiled as a binary RPM by some developers such as Novell which also include their own useful links.
Regarding video playback I’ve found that when testing various players that MPlayer and it’s plug-in (mplayerplug-in) for Mozilla/Netscape browsers works significantly better than Xine w/frontends Kaffeine/Totem. As long as the codecs are installed first and MPlayer installed second then the video works properly. Where MPlayer integrated seamlessly with Firefox I had more difficulty with using Xine. Those using a Novell distribution will find adding http://packman.links2linux.org/http://packman.links2linux.org/ as a YaST Source in your YaST Control Center will greatly ease installation of both codecs and media files such as I mentioned. Information on adding YaST Sources such as the Packman site to your package tree can be found here http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=73978http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=73978
Cheers and thanks to those that have helped along the way.