I'm a fan of offline editors, as I've mentioned before, and that's why I was happy to see a recent announcement for a new "software only" version of United Visual Artists' d3 system called d3 Designer.
One of the key features of d3 is the robust suite of previsualization tools that allows designers and clients alike to see a three-dimensional model of a set and its video content. However, a major drawback has been the requirement of a proprietary hardware/software combination. This has, in the past, required designers or producers to already have access to a d3 server or laptop, which can incur costly rentals. In my personal experience, it has been a battle to justify the additional rental simply for the luxury of accurate previz.
With this software-only release, UVA is now allowing the users to design, previz, and program a show on their own computers, and then transfer the show computers once completed. It appears that the software is only Windows-compatible at the moment, and there is no indication that there will be a port to any other operating systems. No word on pricing yet, but a line from the technical data sheet mentions an annual license, which grants you wiki access and technical support.
Check out the new d3 website here.