The latest version of the 3D animation programme LightWave offers more than 200 new functions.
Version 6.5 includes an integrated particle system that recognises arbitrary emitters, nine different types of wind, real and unreal gravitations and collisions – even between particles. During definition, collision objects can be moved or emitter parameters changed and the user recognises the effects on the particle flow in real time.
LightWave 6.5 comes with a SoftBody system for animating clothes, fabrics and other soft materials as standard. The combination of the SoftBody and particle system in particular allows a wide range of effects to be achieved: Wind can blow away existing raindrops as particles, which in turn collide with an animated character’s clothing…
A new feature is the material baking system: complex materials and lighting situations created using radiosity or caustics are “frozen” as a UV map on surfaces and can then be seen in the OpenGL preview of the editor window – objects “pre-rendered” in this way considerably speed up the subsequent calculation of camera movements through a scene, for example.
The manufacturer claims to have achieved a massive increase in speed for all functions relating to skeletons and bones – even for objects with 15,000 polygons and 40 active bones, real-time visualisations should be achievable in the preview.
