LightWave is one of those veteran products from the production/3D space with a track record for overall pipeline endurance and quality. It comes stocked with on-board modeling, animation and dynamics tools, as well as volumetric rendering effects (Hypervoxels in LightWave-speak) and free unlimited render nodes. NewTek boosts each new release of LightWave with key upgrades, such as the addition of Motion Mixer, and continues the trend with its recent version 9 and soon, v9.2 (expected to ship at NAB 07). Note: v9.2 will offer a broad scope of advancements across the entire package as outlined here, but first up, let’s take a look at LightWave 3D v9.

The LightWave user interface (UI) has remained consistent in recent years. It’s broken down into a Subdivison flavor Modeler for building objects and Layout for surfacing and animation. The default UI for both is comprised of view ports (top, perspective, side, back) under contextual tabbed menu buttons that engage whatever task panels are called up to the left of the UI layout. There are now modeling tools in the Layout (no doubt foreshadowing a future unified package). A “Hub” connection makes for quick and seamless access to Modeler and the Layout tools of LightWave. Naturally, the UI is customizable.

On standard-size projects LightWave 9 is a capable OpenGL performer. I found the Modeler UI clean and straightforward to work in and spent most of my modeling time in the Create, Modify and Multiply functions. Layout is equally clean.

The new Node Editor is the defining star and most compelling new feature of v9, with improvements particularly noticeable across the surface materials, volume light effects and displacements functions. The Node Editor workflow here enables results that would have been difficult to impossible before v9.

For those of you who don’t already know this, Nodes are a paradigm made popular in other 3D and 2D packages for a networked decision tree-style workflow that can produce sophisticated results visually instead of thru scripts or programming. The bottom line here is that 3D effects, looks and animations are achieved in a simple graphical way through nodes that would require far more laborious workarounds otherwise. Experimentation can be as easy and fun as hooking nodes together for clever results that may be animated, saved and customized. I ran a number of Shaders and 3D texture effects for an interactive eye feast. An important thing to note here is that the Node Editor is an open SDK for third parties to make their own node products including new shader nodes for rendering.

Adaptive Pixel Subdivision (APS) is another large advance to control model detail by expressions, number input, envelopes, gradients, displacements or combos of these to create ultra-complex effects like fur, landscapes, human hair and so on. In Pixels per Polygon mode APS can add or reduce detail to objects of a scene dependent on how close the camera comes to them. Very handy to increase overall speed and reduce render times.

There are dozens of other advances in Lightwave 9, including an improved render engine, a potent Relativity 2 tool for easy expressions, N-Gons (support for polygons of more than four sides) improved character animation, a Surface Baking Camera to bake all shading and lighting qualities onto a scene (for faster rendering), Z-Brush support, vastly boosted dynamics (Hypervoxels) and many more.

I included on my continuing wish list for LightWave the added ability to handle larger scenes in OpenGL without bogging down and a more seamless approach to character animation. Many of these issues will be addressed in Lightwave v9.2 with planned upgrades through a core restructure of the system. NewTek is also looking at how it handles Inverse Kinematics through character animation, expressions, deformations and more. Added capability for the Node Editor, Advanced Cameras and performance boosts for OpenGL are also in the works. Put another way, Lightwave v9.2 is no minor update and promises to address key areas for an even more robust 3D experience.

On the subject of education, there’s no faster way to come up to production speed on a package like LightWave than with training. And outside of a personal instructor I would recommend two DVD courses for LightWave 9-Dan Ablan’s (www.3dgarage.com) “LightWave v9 Signature Course” is a good in-depth introduction to more advanced overview for 3D animators of all stripes. Kurv Studios (kurvstudios.com) offers more specific DVD offerings for animators with specific needs from character animation, rigging and adaptive subdivision to lighting. Taken together, both are an excellent first stop on the way to mastering v9.

The reality is, all 3D animation programs are a unique mix of technical quirks and artistic power. When it comes to the business end of a deadline rush, any production tool has to be more than simply a list of features. 3D tools need to perform well under the stress of real production and field pipeline conditions. With LightWave, it’s been a proven contender here where it offers an essentially complete package for the price some 3D companies pay for a plug-in or version upgrade. Lightwave is an established value performer for high-end film, broadcast and post and production studios. That story remains the same with its latest versions.