LightWave 3D is a high end
computer graphics program developed by
NewTek. The latest release of LightWave runs
on
Windows and
Mac OS X.
Overview
LightWave is a software package used for rendering
3D images, both animated and static. It
includes a rendering engine that supports such advanced features as
realistic reflection and refraction,
radiosity, and
caustics. The 3D modeling component
supports both
polygon modeling and
subdivision surfaces. The
animation component has features such as
reverse and
forward kinematics for
character animation, particle systems
and dynamics. Programmers can expand LightWave's capabilities using
an included
SDK which offers LScript scripting
(a proprietary scripting language) and common
C language interfaces.
History
In 1988, Allen Hastings created a rendering and animation program
called Videoscape, and his friend Stuart Ferguson created a
complementary 3D modeling program called Modeler, both sold by
Aegis Software.
NewTek planned to incorporate
Videoscape and Modeler into its video editing suite,
Video Toaster. Originally intended to be
called "NewTek 3D Animation System for the Amiga", Hastings later
came up with the name "LightWave 3D", inspired by two contemporary
high-end 3D packages: Intelligent Light and Wavefront. In 1990, the
Video Toaster suite was released, incorporating LightWave 3D, and
running on the
Commodore Amiga
computer.
LightWave 3D has been available as a standalone application since
1994, and version 9.3 runs on both Mac OS X and Windows platforms.
Starting with the release of version 9.3, the Mac OS X version has
been updated to be a
Universal
Binary.
LightWave was used to create special effects for the
Babylon 5,
Star
Trek Voyager and
seaQuest
DSV science fiction television series; the program was
also utilized in the production of
Titanic as well as the recent
Battlestar
Galactica TV-series,
Sin
City,
Star Trek VI - XI,
300 and
Star Wars movies. The acclaimed short film,
405 was also produced by two
artists from their homes using Lightwave.
In the famous Finnish
Star Trek
parody Star Wreck - In the Pirkinning, most
of the visual effects were done in LightWave. In
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the
entire film was made in Lightwave 6 and
messiah:Studio.
NewTek and LightWave have been awarded
Emmy
Awards since 1993 and won their 10th and 11th awards in 2004.
In 2003 NewTek was awarded an
Emmy for
technology.
In 2007, the first feature film to be 3d animated completely by one
person without the typical legion of animators made its debut,
Flatland the Film by Ladd Ehlinger
Jr. It was animated entirely in Lightwave 3D 7.5 and 8.0.
Now in its ninth version, its market ranges from hobbyists to
high-end deployment in
video games,
television and
cinema. The company recently shipped its 64-bit version
of LightWave 3D (part of the fifth free update of LightWave 3D 8),
and was featured in a keynote speech by Bill Gates at
WinHEC 2005.
On Feb 4 2009, NewTek announced
"LightWave CORE"
its next-generation 3D application via a streamed live presentation
to 3D artists around the world. Its featured a highly customizable
and modernized user interface, Python scripting integration
offering realtime code and view previews, an updated file format
based on the industry standard
Collada
format, and innovative revisions to contemporary modeling
technologies. It will also be the first Lightwave product to be
available on the Linux operating system. A private beta release is
currently ongoing.
Modeler and Layout
LightWave is composed of two separate programs: Modeler and Layout.
Each program is specifically designed to provide a dedicated
workspace for specific tasks. When the two programs are running
simultaneously, a third process called the Hub can be used to
automatically synchronize data.
Layout contains the animation system and the renderer which
provides the user with several options including
ray tracing options,
multithreading, global illumination, and
output parameters. Modeler, as the name implies, includes all of
the modeling features used to create the 3d models that are used in
the animation and rendering component. This differs from most 3D
computer graphics packages which normally integrate the renderer
and the modeler. A long-standing debate in the LightWave user
community has consisted of whether or not to integrate Modeler and
Layout into a single program. In response to this,
NewTek has begun an integration process by including
several basic modeling tools with Layout.
There is also a command line-based network rendering engine named
Screamernet which can be used to distribute rendering tasks across
a large number of networked computers. This is used to reduce the
overall time that it takes to render a single project by having the
computers each rendering a part of the whole project in parallel.
Screamernet includes all the features of the rendering engine that
is integrated in Layout but without an interactive user
interface.
Dynamics
Lightwave is equipped with all the required dynamics such as
hard body,
soft body and cloth. Hard body dynamics
equips the user to simulate effects like rockslides, building
demolitions and sand effects, using realistic forces like gravity
and collisions. Soft body equips the user with a tool that can
simulate jelly or jiggling fat on overweight characters. This can
also be applied to characters for a dynamic hair effect. Cloth can
be applied to clothing for characters. This can also be used for
hair to simulate more realistic hair movement.
Hypervoxels
Hypervoxels are a means to render different particle animation
effects. Different modes of operation have the ability to generate
appearances that mimic:
- Blobby metaballs for things like water
or mercury, including reflection or refraction surface
settings
- Sprites which are
able to reproduce effects like fire or flocking birds
- Volume shading for simulating clouds or fog type effects
Material shaders
Lightwave comes with a nodal texture editor that comes with a
collection of special-purpose material shaders. Some of the types
of surface for which these shaders have been optimized include:
- general-purpose subsurface
scattering materials for materials like wax or plastics
- realistic skin, including subsurface scattering and multiple
skin layers
- metallic, reflective, materials using energy conservation
algorithms
- transparent, refractive materials including accurate total internal reflection
algorithms
LScript
LScript is Lightwave's scripting language. It also provides a
comprehensive set of prebuilt functions you can use when scripting
how Lightwave behaves.
Lightwave SDK
The SDK (Software Development Kit) provides a set of C classes for
writing native plugins for Lightwave.
Film and Television programmes using Lightwave
A more comprehensive list can be found at the Lightwave website.
Some notable highlights are:
Licensing
Prior to being made available as a stand-alone product in 1994,
LightWave required the presence of a Video Toaster in an Amiga to
run. Currently, LightWave licenses are bound to a hardware
dongle (e.g.
Safenet USB or
legacy parallel port models). Without a dongle LightWave will
operate in "Discovery Mode" which severely restricts functionality.
One copy of LightWave supports distributed rendering on up to 999
nodes.
See also
References
- "Lightwave projects list", Newtek.com. Retrieved on
2008-07-18.
External links
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