Volume 04 Number 01 - January 31, 2007
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LightWave v9 Development News |
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Dear LightWavers, Welcome to 2007 and our first LightWave newsletter of the year. Given everything that has already happened in 2007, I can tell this year is going to fly. We're now on our ninth LightWave v9.2 release to Open Beta and the team is really giving it a run. The new advancements are amazing. The development group is in first stages of a major overhaul of the rendering engine specifically in the areas of global illumination and radiosity including Final Gather. These areas hadn't been touched in years and we're really proud to show it off. You'll see the evidence as you further explore the newsletter. We had a great time at Macworld and participated in some very informative and exciting planning meetings with some of the big players in town. We are very near a release of our Universal build to Open Beta, we just have one issue to resolve. BTW, I just want to remind all of you that participating in the Open Beta programs for Universal and LightWave v9.2 is as simple as downloading the latest version from your profile in the NewTek registration system. All it takes is being a registered LightWave v9 owner. I can't stress to you how valuable this program is, truly every member of the Open Beta team is a member of the extended LightWave development group. Last week we had a great time in London hanging out with LightWave users and getting a sense of the LightWave scene there. I must say it's really exciting to see first hand the work you all are doing. It's my intention to make more of these trips throughout the coming year, I've always known this, but events like the one in London just remind me again that one of LightWave's greatest features is the community that comes with it. Happy New Year! Jay Roth |
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LightWave v9.2 Preview |
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Depth of Field A real camera depends on a device called an aperture to help control depth of field. LightWave has controls to replicate a physical aperture. Some of the controls are animatable. Even using a small amount of depth of field can significantly improve a render. LightWave v9.2 can also replicate lens effects, such as exposure blooms and lighting artifacts, also known as Bokeh effects. Bokeh is derived from the Japanese word “bo-ke” which means blur, but this does not refer to any type of motion blur. Bokeh is the out-of-focus area outside of the depth of field. LightWave v9.2 also has the ability to preview DOF in OpenGL in real-time, which is a big time saver.
Photoreal Motion Blur When a moving object is captured on film, a blur occurs. Many things factor into the blur, including the speed of the object in relation to the camera and the rate at which the film captures the light. Much like a film camera, you must factor in some of the variables. Animatable controls are available in LightWave to control the amount of blur that is captured, such as shutter speed and blur length. Photoreal motion blur is a leaps-and-bounds improvement over previous implementations of motion blur. One way we have improved motion blur is the timing of how the blur is captured. For example, say you have a ball sitting still from Frame 0 to Frame 5, then at frame 15 the ball has moved to a different location and stops again. Movement occurs between Frames 5 and 15. So what this means for blur in the animation is between frames 0 and 4, there is no blur, because there is no movement at all. At Frame 5, while the ball still has not moved as far as the animation of the ball, there is anticipation of movement for frame 6, so there will be a blur of the ball. Frames 6 to 14 will have blur because the ball is still moving. At frame 15, the ball has stopped, so at the moment of render no movement is occurring and no blur is captured.
Global Illumination and Final Gather Final Gather is one of the state-of-the art technologies used in LightWave 9.2. Final Gather works by gathering luminosity information from the surfaces in a pre-process algorithm to calculate the direct and indirect illumination used for the final render. Why is Global Illumination important? Global Illumination, sometimes referred to as GI, is used to easily create photorealistic renders. When light bounces off a surface, any rays that are not absorbed are projected onto the next surface it hits, and continues to do so until it reaches your eye or is captured on film. For example, if you have a red ball sitting on a white surface, and depending on the lighting, the red from the surface of the ball will spill onto the white surface. Add a green box and the green will spill onto the white surface, and if they are close enough the spill on the white surface from the green box and red ball will mix into a shade of yellow. GI simulates the way real light works by bouncing virtual rays off a surface and using special algorithms to determine surface illumination, which is information like color and brightness. GI settings can be changed by the user including the number of ray bounces, how close together ray calculations are, and the intensity of the radiosity. Renders without Global Illumination do not calculate the spill from surfaces and will only render rays that directly hit a surface from a light source. Final Gather has also been integrated with the Interpolated mode for radiosity, which means first a Final Gathering pass is performed and is then combined, or interpolated, with the render pass. The Backdrop and Monte Carlo modes do not use Final Gather but have been further optimized for increased speed and quality.
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Universal Version of LightWave for Mac OS X |
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NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced that the Universal version of LightWave 3D® will be available in March 2007. LightWave 3D for the new generation of Intel®-based Macs takes full advantage of the advancements in the operating system and development environment from Apple, providing noticeable speed and performance improvements for Mac users. The Universal version enables LightWave® to run on both the PowerPC G4 and G5 CPUs and the new Intel-based Macs. Optimized performance will be provided for Mac users natively on both series of CPUs. |
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40% Off SpeedEDIT for LightWave 3D Owners |
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NewTek is providing the ultimate editor for animatics with SpeedEDIT. Work faster and cut production expenses with real-time TGA sequence playback, linked storyboard / timeline interfaces and resolution independence. These are just a few of SpeedEDIT features that are impressing animators. Whether you are creating for the web, for broadcast, or for Hi Def, SpeedEDIT can expand your available in-house services while helping you meet your customer’s needs. This offer expires March 31, 2007, so add another cool NewTek tool to your kit at a price that may not be available again. Discover how SpeedEDIT can save you time and money by visiting the SpeedEDIT site. |
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| NewTek 2007 Tour |  |
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If you haven’t seen NewTek lately.. you ain’t seen nothin'. We got the goods and we’re takin 'em on the road to prove it. SpeedEDIT: World's Fastest Video Editor - Resolution independent. 3D Arsenal: 3D Graphics for Video Editors - Motion graphics... real easy. TriCaster PRO: Live Production System - Broadcast truck in a backpack! Get on board the NewTek tour in the city nearest you. You'll be blown away! |
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| NewTek at NAB 2007 |  |
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Stop by the NewTek Booth, in the South Hall, Booth SL8614, and find out how you can work more efficiently with NewTek's newest offerings in video production, motion graphics and animation. See how you can work faster with our demos of:
Keep an eye on www.NewTek.com for more details as the develop. |
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Virtual British Library Created in LightWave 3D |
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The British Library has begun to make books in its collection available via LightWave 3D animation and Shockwave through the web. Dubbed Turning Pages 2.0™, this collection includes a personal notebook of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, a musical diary by Mozart and a notebook of sketches and poems by William Blake |
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KURV Studios' Friendsggraph 2007 |
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KURV studios will be hosting a four day training event again this year in Las Vegas. This year Timothy Albee, Nicholas Boughen, Tim Dunn, Dave Jerrard, Jennifer Hachigian and Larry Shultz bring you LightWave v9 character design, UV texturing, lighting, character rigging and animation, dynamics and rendering sessions. |
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Desktop Images New Training DVD |
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Desktop Images announces LightWave v9 Defined, a training DVD Video that explores new features in LightWave. In six project based lessons, “LightWave 9 Defined” covers Advanced Camera Tools, Realitivity 2, Node Editor, New Dynamics tools and more. For more information visit www.DesktopImages.com. |
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Thank you for your continued interest in LightWave 3D. Please visit our website at www.lightwave3d.com for all the latest developments and news of interest to LightWave enthusiasts! For more information, please feel free to use the contact infomation provided in this message. Please do not "reply" to this email directly. NewTek, Inc. - 5131 Beckwith Blvd. - San Antonio, TX 78249 NewTek Europe - Europarc - 17, Avenue Leonard de Vinci - 33600 Pessac - France copyright 2005 |
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