LightWave 3D 5.5 Full Feature List

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PowerMac Features in italics

Layout

• OpenGL or QuickDraw 3D support for real-time shaded views. Includes support for up to 8 interactive lights, acknowledges surface attributes such as Diffusion, Specularity, Luminosity, Double-sided, Outline Only, and Smoothing
• Front Face View of objects for faster redraw and cleaner interface
• AutoKey Create mode for ultra-fast keyframe set up
• Realistic OpenGL Preview animations
• Tiling and alpha channel options for texture maps
• Dolly, truck and pan capability for movement along an object's axis
• Infinite surface layering
• User-definable texture map anti-aliasing
• Many user interface enhancements:
  • Color background images for enhanced compositing
  • Color swatches in RGB fields
  • Render sample cube
  • Copy / Paste surface attributes, from render samples
  • Dozens of surface attributes, including luminosity, glossiness, diffusion, transparency, reflectivity, and bumpiness
• Animate and morph textures
• Over a dozen textures including marble, wood, ripples, fractal patterns and various image mapping options

Animation

• MetaMation: Organic animation plug-in automatically smooths with Metaform2 objects before a frame renders
• Bone enhancements, including joint compensation and muscle flexing
• Bone strength falloff options for object skeletons
• Inverse Kinematics allows you to create complex character animation quickly and features improvements like active goals and goal strengths
• Multiple target object morphing from one envelope
• Interactive camera zoom levels
• Interactive light cone angles
• Load Flyer clips directly into Intel and DEC Alpha versions
• Inverse Kinematics allows you to create complex character animation quickly
• IK makes animating like puppeteering
• Animate nearly all scene attributes through an easy key frame interface or with envelope controls
• Animate lights, lens flares, textures, objects, even camera attributes: zoom or depth of field
• Hierarchical motion and targeting
• Displacement mapping and 3D morphing
• Advanced motion controls, including spline controls, velocity, shifting and scaling
• Multi-color wireframe layout
• Save AVI and FLIC files, QuickTime on PowerMac
• Enhanced lens flare controls allow streak rotations and other manipulation
• XAOS tools Pennello Lite give imagery an organic look

Modeler

• OpenGL or QuickDraw3D supports real-time shaded views, acknowledging many surface attributes
• MetaNURBS modeling tool combines easy and flexible polygonal modeling with the power and organic feel of NURBS modeling
• 3DMF Support on PowerMac
• MetaBalls modeling plug-in
• New MetaForm2 plug-in
• New spline modeling tools
• Surface editing directly in modeler
• Graphics tablet support standard
• Randomization for bevel and array tools
• Two way data sharing between layout and modeler
• Dramatically increased graphic redraw speed
• Easy-to-use lasso style zoom
• Hundreds of modeling tools, including extrude, lathe, bevel, mirror, clone, quantize, jitter, subdivide and many more
• Postscript and TrueType font compatibility
• Draw freehand shapes or trace over images
• Work among ten different layers
• Preview objects as solid or see-through wire frames or new OpenGL preview
• Boolean tools to cut, slice and combine objects
• Create organic objects with spline curves, spline patching and Metaform2
• Multiple view options
• Macros to automate complex functions
• Multiple levels of undo and redo
• Automatic standards - design in metric, English or SI measurement units
• Mathematical functions can be typed directly into numeric requesters

Plug-ins

Robust plug-in architecture lets NewTek and other developers easily add new features and functions such as gravity, image filter / processors or modeling tools

Image Loaders / Savers for the following formats: Alias, BMP, Cineon, IFF, JPEG, PCX, Pict, Pixar, QRT, Rendition, SGI, Sun, TIFF, Targa32, Toaster, Wavefront, XWindows and YUV

Translator3D Loaders / Savers for these formats: 3D Studio (3DS), AutoCad (DXF) and Alias / Wavefront (OBJ)

Rendering

• Enhanced anti-aliasing option improves quality by increasing the samples for each pixel and using more intelligent filtering, with a minimal increase in rendering time
• New cel animation features for cel edges and cel rendering makes 3D look hand-drawn
• Plug-in classes, including pixel filter and special buffers for new rendering and shader effects
• Lens flare modes, including central ring color and size modifications and star filter enhancements
• Project bitmap images through spot lights
• Render 32-bit images in custom resolutions
• Saves 24-bit images and separate 8-bit alpha channel image
• Use realistic camera options such as focal length, depth of field and motion blur
• Generate true-to-life ray traced shadows, reflections and refraction
• Control light attributes, including light type, color, intensity, fallof, lens flare, shadow options and more
• Create special effects such as an animated fog, image keying and particle blur
• Unaffected by fog option for objects
• Unseen by rays option for objects
• Custom resolutions up to 8,000 by 8,000 pixels
• Network rendering on up to 999 CPUs
• IFF2Clip module allows building of Video Toaster Flyer video clips

System Requirements for LightWave 3D 5.0 and 5.5

The following requirements must be met or exceeded to run LightWave 3D on the platforms listed below. The minimum amount of RAM is listed to get satisfactory performance from LightWave 3D. More RAM is required for noticeable performance improvements and to maintain complex scenes in memory; 64 MB of RAM or more may be optimum for professional use. The LightWave program and hard drive space listed is for storage only and does not include any objects, scenes, images or rendered animation frames.

Note: All systems require 10 MB hard drive space and CD-ROM for installation.

Windows NT or 95 Systems

• 486 w/FPU, Pentium or better (Windows NT v3.5 or Windows 95)
• DEC Alpha (Windows NT v3.5 or later)
• MIPS R4400 or better (Windows NT v3.5 or later)
• Minimum RAM - 32 MB Windows NT, 16 MB Windows 95

SGI Systems

• IRIX 5.2 or later
• Minimum RAM - 32 MB

PowerMac Systems

• PowerPC CPU
• System 7.5 or later
• Minimum RAM - 32 MB, 64 MB recommended

Sun Microsystems

• Solaris 2.5.1 or higher
• Minimum RAM - 32 MB, 64 MB recommended

LightWave 3D includes a CD-ROM full of license free objects, images, textures and scenes.

Consult your dealer to configure a system suited to your needs.

More information? Call 1-800-TOASTER.

All specifications subject to change without notice.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

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