NewTek LightWave 3D v11.6.3

Program Name: LightWave 3D v11.6.3
Program Type: 3D animation
Developer: NewTek, Inc.
; x( u. n. [# s, }) I, h9 PHomepage: www.lightwave3d.com
Release Date: 02.05.2014
Interface Language: English
Platform: Windows Vista/7/8/8.1
File Size: 228.04Mb / 242.37Mb / 120.76Mb
: O4 P' {. ]( G/ {; I
LightWave 3D - a powerful new version of its Emmy Award-winning, professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software. LightWave 3D fits into any studio pipeline seamlessly, offering support for Autodesk Geometry Cache and FBX, including pixel-perfect camera matching with Autodesk Maya cameras. It also supports the Unity game engine and Pixologic GoZ ZBrush workflow, making it ideal for all production environments, including smaller specialized studios and individual artists.

; Z% L( @, N, `" e4 z9 e- eLightWave 3D is designed to support the creative process, providing the artist with the ability to interact in real time with 3D content, to work seamlessly with the full range of software applications in production pipelines, and to render on unlimited render nodes. LightWave 3D incorporates groundbreaking technology, such as the Virtual Preview Renderer (VPR) for onscreen real-time rendering and Anaglyph Stereoscopic Preview for real-time interocular, 'red-blue' anaglyphic separations. Some of the many new features in LightWave 3D include:

; Q0 H+ R1 n  \; c• Instancing
- Duplicate a vast number of objects in a scene without experiencing memory overhead
& N, L, _$ H% C. y! u) k/ v, T- Scale, position, rotate and surface randomly cloned objects for realistic detail
; I) l$ @( P; ~# c% [! V, V5 R
• Flocking
- Animate realistic motion of grouped objects such as such as birds, fish, insects, animals, aircraft, spaceships and more using a new motion modifier
& O, P" ^9 I5 c3 R1 U- Calculate crowd avoidance of neighboring objects, target alignment and cohesive attractions with the motion modifier

- s& d. P+ o+ {2 @• Fracture
- Pre-fracture objects that are ready for destruction with a new Modeler tool that is designed to complement Bullet Dynamics in Layout
- Animate explosions without using dynamics and control the density of fractures by applying weight maps to objects
' C: g0 e7 B' L: }
• Bullet Dynamics
" v1 \# V4 }; R- Deliver physics-based animation with the Bullet Dynamics engine in Layout and the new Fracture tool in Modeler
- Collapse buildings, create explosions or quickly place objects in a natural-looking random pattern

• Virtual Studio and Interchange Tools
$ `% ?7 r4 V' O# X8 z" v/ X6 K- Support for new controller types, including the Sony Playstation Move, allow users to easily control and record the item results with a LightWave channel
- Import and export model and texture data to Pixologic Zbrush software with GoZ technology

( h+ q9 O& M) t& }% ^Additional LightWave 3D features include powerful new render buffer capabilities, robust Python scripting functionality, FiberFX enhancements, user interface improvements and more.
0 n) [4 |1 ?7 U! a2 ?, o# q0 I
( |" d" e# j) CThe new Genoma character rigging system with modular presets streamlines character animation in LightWave 11.5.
5 d( g7 o/ g% e6 ^6 f! i& ELightWave 11.5 includes new features and functionality that enhance creativity and streamline productivity for everyone—from individual artists and designers to large animation or visual effects studios. Some of the many new features in LightWave 11.5 include the Genoma character rigging system with modular presets, predator and prey Flocking capabilities, per-object Instancing control, and soft-body Bullet Dynamics with support for FiberFX. Also included are Interchange Tools supporting Adobe After Effects cameras and Pixologic’s Zbrush, stereoscopic and depth-of-field motion blur in the Viewport Preview Renderer (VPR), major workflow enhancements, and more.

LightWave 11.5 has enhanced predator and prey Flocking capabilities.
"Leveraging the rich collection of new tools in LightWave 11.5 allows us to continue to deliver movies on time and on budget,” said Scott Wheeler, visual effects supervisor at Rogue State and LightWave beta team member. “No other software gives us the scalability to do small team projects while still being capable of handling major studio effects movies quite like LightWave. It’s a must have in our CG arsenal."
Some of the new features and enhancements in LightWave 11.5 include:
6 D2 E- N2 g; ~; l• Soft Body Bullet Dynamics: Includes soft body dynamics for effects such as cloth, rubber, jelly or other deforming properties. Bullet meshes are now also reactive to bone deformations and wind forces can be added for rippling effects.
, q  s* N% m& g# n+ z- y• After Effects and ZBrush Interchange Tools: Offers a new LWtoAE button that allows you to select elements in a scene and see them in Adobe After Effects, including animation, lights and camera settings. The After Effects Camera can also be exported to LightWave to take advantage of the Camera Tracker in After Effects and to provide pixel-perfect matching between the two programs. GoZ technology for Pixologic’s ZBrush allows you to send models to-and-from LightWave with automatic node flows for textures and normal maps. ZBrush styling tools can also be imported into LightWave and attached to objects for interactive creativity.
• New Interactive Modeling Tools: Provides new functionality and architectural advancements in Modeler for faster interactivity, performance, and tool development. LightWave 11.5 introduces many new tools like UV Unwrap, Edit Edges, Place Mesh, Slice, Thicken, and Heat Shrink which emphasize the system’s power and lay the groundwork for future third-party modeling tool development.

* y  E: G- f( X2 e& T, l: B) w* y8 NThe Place Mesh feature in Modeler.
• Fiber FX: Respects soft bodies, offers improved Z-buffer support, and adds bundling around guide chains to create advanced fiber braiding and twisting effects. FiberFX now also supports curve poly types, the sketching of curves in Modeler, and rendering directly in FiberFX without using the Strand Maker conversion.
• Genoma Character Rigging System: Introduces a new modular instant-rigging system that can be used to quickly rig a simple biped or quadruped for animation in Modeler without the need for specialized rigging tools. It offers modular rig presets that consist of skeletal parts such as spines, wings, arms, legs, hands, and feet. Complete rigs for biped and quadrupeds can easily be customized using Genoma.
  B& Q8 y9 R/ DLightWave 11.5 also expands its suite of Virtual Studio Tools for virtual production and adds support in the Viewport Preview Renderer (VPR) for depth-of-field (DOF) motion blur, node-edge rendering, and stereoscopic 3D. It also provides new functionality for Flocking and Instancing and offers many new workflow enhancements throughout the software.
% s$ O& _$ j( K( ]# m
2 o4 P7 f7 S5 ^& M6 e5 fNew Features LightWave 11.6
- 3D Printing Support - Import/Export of industry standard 3D printing file formats STL, PLY, and VRML. Also features new geometry cleanup tools.
- Spline Control - The powerful new Spline Control allows the animation of snakes, trains, tails or anything that requires a natural fluid movement.
+ ]6 f8 C0 U/ W' d  _0 f- Raycast Node - Make your objects aware of their surroundings with the new Raycast node.
- DPX Support - Support for DPX digital intermediate file format which enables direct loading as background plates for visual effects and film pipelines.
- CgFX Shaders - CgFX shaders enahance Layout OpenGL quality for realtime playback of assets and characters and strenghthen the workflow for Virtual Production Asset Creation.
' W0 b; U; p6 N( b$ f- Compound Node - The node editor sees the introduction of compound nodes, making it simpler to package up complex flows into as easier to use nodes.
- NVIDIA 3D Vision 2/Pro - Stereoscopic renders can now be displayed in Active Shutter mode on 3D monitors (with appropriate hardware)
9 G3 f  \0 N: q5 L, V, U- Alembic Object/Cache Loader - Import objects and their caches saved in Alembic format.
+ D5 {2 R$ ~; k1 T- g$ t! }+ E- Python Improvements - Python scripting in LightWave 11.6 has been enhanced requiring less scripting needed to achieve the same results in previous versions.
! W8 L9 q) C5 U% k6 O' _$ r- New Color Picker - A fully featured color picker dedicated for 3D artists, quite simply the best color picker in any 3D application, period.
2 m$ c, J7 {6 D7 @; V2 d+ |8 q- Stereo Camera Offsets - The Stereoscopic effect can now be animated from either the Center Eye, Left Eye or Right Eye.
$ W+ \2 [% j; Y3 K" O6 J6 d- Surface Baker Camera - The Surface Baking Camera recieves a boost in speed by taking advantage of multiple processor cores.
- VPR Interaction Speed - 11.6 sees a huge boost in the interaction speed when working in Layout with VPR active.
! a! \9 s5 f4 a- Motion Vectors for Instances - Instances now contribute to the Motion Vector buffers.
! ?2 [* s" f3 g
! n( }0 _& l7 [& pSystem Requirements
Hardware
8 k! T" U& A% S  S/ w3 b" _- Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon II Processor (or better)
- 64-bit System RAM: 4GB minimum
- 32-bit System RAM: 2GB minimum
- Available USB Port (for users with existing hardware dongles)
Operating System
- 64-bit: Windows Vista through Windows 8.1 64-bit Edition
- 32-bit: Windows Vista through Windows 8.1
# P6 n' z; G% T) ~% HDisplay
" |8 h& N+ O% c* ~( E- Minimum Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400 series or ATI X1600
- Minimum Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
" t7 M! h. X7 U4 O# }: x- O9 RInstallation Requirements
- Storage: All systems require 750MB available hard drive space (excluding content); complete Content library is approximately 3GB.
- Optical Drive: DVD-ROM for Program and Content installation (for boxed versions of LightWave).
0 ~+ @2 L2 u& }
* Y0 x* b' z& x$ w% \( L% P8 A2012 - LightWave 11
/ c" b. g! Z+ m0 OReleased 20-Feb-2012

Layout 11.0.3 Windows
! E9 b  r. S8 aLightWave 11 adds a lot to LightWave, making it one of the most complete new ordinal versions ever. Here are some highlights:
1 t# e* P4 S! O( Y$ O9 Y7 A
% m" Z# d2 W8 d. |2 m5 W9 hInstancing - Although instancing has been available to LightWave for a long time through commercial and free plugins, this is the first time that LightWave has the ability to generate billions of polys at render time itself. Instances can be seen in OpenGL and VPR.
Flocking - Using the simple rules that govern flocking in nature, LightWave now creates huge flocks of "animals" (in conjunction with instancing).
' a; s* K3 `/ y: Z8 }5 f$ ?3 R& kUnified Sampling - Previously in LightWave you have needed to tweak anything that uses sampling in all the places that do so. This also slowed down the render dramatically and now it has all been unified you get the concomitant speed-up in rendering as well as simpler use.
7 p- D" P+ G) n% cBullet Dynamics - World-class realtime hard-body dynamics are now in LightWave and are very easy to use - you only need tell LightWave that an object is dynamic for it to be.
Fracture - An integral part of the dynamics system now is the ability to break stuff apart and you can now do so in Modeler and Layout.
4 D( ^4 Q6 @0 n2 t1 o* tVirtual Studio Tools - Control Layout through 3D Connexion devices or even PlayStation Move controllers.
9 i  u) A8 R6 K; G/ e/ OInterchange Tools - Add seamless workflow between LightWave and ZBrush through GoZ or Unity.
Shadow Catcher Node - A simple way to add an object to catch the shadows and reflections of your LightWave objects in a composite with real world elements.
! w3 n8 d* C3 o( E+ `, zPython - The powerful scripting language has been added alongside LScript, but can directly access the SDK.
# D& M8 n1 O7 h* B& s
1 z/ L& L7 k/ C7 d& o: g( HLightWave History
! Q& s- `- j9 A, yLaunch video
  o& j4 B9 r# N! I. T- [3 u" E  f2012 - LightWave 11 SP1 (11.0.1)
Released 16-Apr-12
A bug fix release with over 130 issues corrected or improved. The Unity workflow also got a significant boost with a new Applink package.
4 Z# M7 F+ I! d% {2 M
2012 - LightWave 11 SP2 (11.0.2)
. u, V. A8 p+ U0 x, f% k2 A% YReleased 09-Jul-12
A second bugfix release. It adds no new features, but merely corrects problems in previous releases. 78 fixes have been tracked.
) z( q  \, j. Z$ A1 k) P  y9 X2 {
2012 - LightWave 11 SP3 (11.0.3)
Released 01-Aug-12
A third service pack release. The sole feature in here is a new licensing system that allows for a software license rather than using the hardware dongle that LightWave has been tied to since it was first split from the Video Toaster.

# h9 }* v% H& d6 i- l: l! B2 X' n  EModeler 11.0.3 OS X
2013 - LightWave 11.5
Released 31-Jan-2013
A massive free update that includes the following and more:
Flocking - Nodal flocking - Predator/Prey behavior - Attract/Avoid meshes
Bullet Dynamics - Deforming bodies and Forces
Interchange After Effects interchange
8 [0 {, e6 z  e! L0 f6 EFiberFX - New UI - Bundles and Braids
Genoma - Full rigging system
5 c' P3 |; b, b6 i6 r) aModeler - Line Pen - Heat Shrink - Axis Translate/Rotate/Scale - Transform - Chamfer - Place Mesh - Slice - Thicken - Straighten - Edit Edges - ABF Unwrap UVs - Select by Normal - Pick Surface - New Paste Behaviour
4 u& `# U+ X( P2 O2 _9 n. m2 ]Workflow Enhancements - Node Editor Probe - Curved node Connectors - Dome Light with Image - MDD Multi-Loader - DoF, Motion Blur and Refraction in VPR - Advanced Camera support in VPR - Rolling Shutter - Motion Path Frame display - Nodal Metalink - Fit Selected and Fit All
( D. ?" t+ |, P, e) R) _Python - New Plugin architectures - Single Shot format

2013 - LightWave 11.6
Pre-Released 23-July-2013
7 X5 r6 i9 U7 W3 u& x9 q4 `At SIGGRAPH in Anaheim, CA this year the LightWave Group pre-released LightWave 11.6 along with a plugin called NevronMotion for retargeting motion capture files and ChronoSculpt, a separate program for adjusting MDD, Geometry Cache or Alembic files. More details will follow on here once all three are fully released.
: k: h+ n3 j# }  \  N! e8 g  iReleased 31-Oct-2013 LightWave 11.6, ChronoSculpt and NevronMotion are released.
. ]( C- r- ]8 y2 L
/ g7 K  R* u; Q) P' v6 ^  
8 p* \$ g0 Y2 u& {* B+ l: p/ eLayout 11.6 showing Spline Control, Modeler 11.6 showing Mesh Repair
Features new to 11.6 include:
% m6 i) b2 F; i3D Display - Displays VPR or OpenGL in stereoscopic 3D on a suitably-equipped TV or monitor
3D Printing - New tools and loaders/savers to help with 3D printing. LightWave can now load and save STL, PLY and VRML format models, and there is a tool that checks the mesh is good to print (no single point or two points polys, etc.)
. a, p7 A# j9 Z% ~4 AAlembic - Support for the open scene format
Assignments - A set of scripts to help with hierarchical operations in Layout (parenting, targeting, etc.)
CgFX shaders - Game engine shaders for display in OpenGL
Color Picker - Because Ken Nign now works for the LightWave Group he has brought his excellent Jovian color picker plugin into LightWave as its main picker
* L( J6 m) R) uCompound Nodes - Node container to simplify networks
DPX (Digital Picture Exchange) Image Loader/Saver - Image loader/saver for a digital intermediate format used a lot in production
3 K3 F8 D0 N3 l$ u, A8 E! }Genoma Spline Control - New subrig parts to add Spline Control features to rigging
Input Node - New permanent node (like the Surface node) that contains many things that might be needed. A necessary addition needed for Compound nodes to work
+ }  Z4 m% c0 |2 O' P2 i  ULight Falloff clamping - Now lights can have their falloff clamped to prevent overly bright areas inside the falloff zone
0 M+ k6 q4 s" TLUT Expansion - support for more color lookup tables (LUT)
Matching Perspective to Camera or Light - you can now size up a viewpoint in the Perspective viewpoint and copy it to the camera, or add a new camera. The same applies to matching the Light View with an existing or new light
; _0 N; Y$ C$ a" Q- YPython Reduced Instruction Set module (PRIS) - PRIS is designed to make coding scripts for LightWave more like LScript, rather than C
Raycast Node - A node to allow you to sit something on a horizontal surface automatically, rather than needing to do it manually. Particularly useful if the surface is irregular and animation needs to take place on it
: |1 N% K% i) c& c0 z2 Q3 mSpline Control - A new system using nulls, bones or other items to create a spline that can be animated itself, but also serve as a path to animate other things along
0 [( J4 t! L1 N
9 I/ m' q( w! O6 b2014 - LightWave 11.6.3
. ]2 b2 s( K% p2 U- n  JReleased 01-May-2014
  R5 g- U3 ?: @' n! _' }Bug fix release (licensing problems resolved)
+ ?  }9 |5 g$ j; j$ {$ E/ F
. g5 s$ |# L5 v# ?& A
: x) q( ^: [9 `7 B5 X
5 x$ \- E) l  M: Y4 M

Download: