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NewTek LightWave 3D 11.5 MacOSX
NewTek LightWave 3D 11.5 MacOSX
NewTek LightWave 3D is a powerful and versatile software for 3D modeling, animation and rendering. It has been used by artists and professionals in various industries, such as film, television, games, architecture, product design and more. LightWave 3D offers a complete solution for creating stunning 3D content, from modeling and sculpting to rigging and animating, from lighting and texturing to rendering and compositing.
NewTek LightWave 3D 11.5 MacOSX
In early 2012, NewTek released LightWave 11, which introduced many new features and enhancements to the software. Some of the highlights include built-in instancing, Bullet hard body dynamics, Flocking, GoZ support for ZBrush, and Unity game engine integration. In late 2012, NewTek released LightWave 11.5, which further refined and improved the software with more features and tools. In this article, we will review some of the new features and improvements in LightWave 11.5 for MacOSX users.
Bullet Soft Body Dynamics
One of the most exciting additions to LightWave 11.5 is the support for soft body dynamics in Bullet. Bullet is a physics engine that allows you to create realistic simulations of rigid and soft bodies, such as cloth, rubber, jelly or other deforming materials. You can use Bullet to create effects such as flags waving in the wind, balloons bouncing off walls, or characters wearing dynamic clothing.
LightWave 11.5 also supports bone deformations in Bullet meshes, which means you can have animated characters interact with dynamic objects. For example, you can have a character grab a cloth or push a pillow with their hands or feet. You can also use Genoma, a new modular instant rigging system in Modeler, to quickly rig your characters with bones and weight maps for Bullet simulations.
Genoma
Genoma is another new feature in LightWave 11.5 that makes rigging easier and faster than ever before. Genoma is a modular instant rigging system that allows you to create custom rigs for your characters or objects in Modeler. You can choose from a large number of modular rig presets, such as bipeds, quadrupeds, insects, robots or vehicles, or create your own using simple building blocks.
Once you have created your rig in Modeler, you can send it to Layout with one click and have it automatically applied to your mesh. You can then use the powerful tools in Layout to animate your character or object with IK or FK controls. Genoma also supports Bullet dynamics, so you can have your rigged mesh react to forces or collisions.
FiberFX
FiberFX is a toolset for creating realistic hair and fur effects in LightWave. It allows you to style and groom your hair or fur using guides, combing tools, clumping tools and more. You can also use FiberFX to create other effects such as grass, feathers or eyelashes.
In LightWave 11.5, FiberFX has been updated with several improvements and new features. One of the most notable changes is that you can now have multiple styles per object, which are stored with the object instead of the scene file. This means you can easily switch between different hair or fur styles for your character or object without losing your settings.
Another new feature in FiberFX is the support for ZBrush Fiber Meshes. Fiber Meshes are a way of creating hair or fur in ZBrush using curves and modifiers. You can now import your Fiber Meshes into LightWave and use FiberFX to render them with realistic lighting and shading.
Other Improvements
LightWave 11.5 also includes many other improvements and enhancements to various aspects of the software. Some of them are:
VPR Update: The Viewport Preview Renderer (VPR) now supports depth-of-field, motion blur and anaglyph stereo effects.
Rolling Shutter: You can now simulate the rolling shutter effect that occurs in some digital cameras when capturing fast motion.
Edge Rendering Node: You can now control edge opacity, taper and color using nodes.
Flocking Update: Flocking is a tool for creating realistic crowd simulations in LightWave. It now supports predator/prey behavior, new director types and node control.
Adobe After Effects Support: You can now export your cameras, lights, nulls and animation to Adobe After Effects for compositing.
Instancing Update: Instancing is a tool for creating large numbers of copies of an object with minimal memory usage. It now supports per-object control, speed and memory improvements.
Modeler Tools Update: Modeler has been updated with new tools such as ABF UV Unwrap, Edit Edges, Place Mesh, Slice, Thicken, Heat Shrink, Tweak, Transform, Axis and alignment tools and more.
Workflow Enhancements: LightWave 11.5 also features many workflow enhancements such as dongle-free licensing, local action center, tone mapping, enhanced environment light, improved scene editor, enhanced pipeline support and more.
As you can see, LightWave 11.5 is a major update to the software that adds many new features and improvements to make your 3D creation process easier and faster. Whether you are a beginner or a professional, LightWave 11.5 has something for you. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download a free 30-day trial version from the NewTek website.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it informative and helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.