NewTek LightWave[7]

No, we're not trying to pull a fast one on you here by dusting off another review, slapping a fresh coat of paint on it, and calling it ALL NEW! After reading Stephen Schleicher's review of LightWave[7] a couple of weeks ago, the crew over here at Creative Mac decided that Mac users might want a Mac-only look at NewTek's venerable 3D program to complement the earlier review. In light of the fact that Mac users may not be at all familiar with LightWave, and that LightWave[7] is the first "official" LightWave release to run natively on Mac OS X, we're going to try to figure out what's in it for the Mac folk. I think I need to say "Mac" a few more times.

I've been a happy LightWave user for over three years now, but it's been over on the Windows side. In fact, the number of choices in 3D animation software, LightWave included, is one of the reasons I left the Mac lo those many years ago. Yes, I know, I know. LightWave has been available to Mac users for quite a while now. But judging from the large number of negative, frustrated, and angry posts from Mac LightWavers on Newtek's own community message boards, the typical Mac LightWave experience to date could be described as buggy at best, and downright unusable at worst. Well, the advent of Mac OS X seems to be leveling the 3D playing field a bit. While Mac users might not have all the choices of 3D hardware and software their Windows-based colleagues currently enjoy (yet), OS X provides a solid foundation for developers to bring their most demanding 3D applications to.

So, this being my first hands-on experience with any Mac version of LightWave, I'm interested in answering two main questions. One, has NewTek managed to overcome the stability and performance problems which, by all accounts, have sullied the good NewTek name for Mac users? NewTek, to their credit, had a Carbonized preview version of LightWave 6.5 available to Mac users while OS X was still in Public Beta, so we'll see if their early adoption paid off. Secondly, the announcement of LightWave[7] at Siggraph came as something of a surprise to many, since NewTek had added so much between version 6 and 6.5 (and at no charge to boot), and they seemed to be pushing 6.5 pretty hard before the announcement of version 7. So what, if anything, was added to 7 to justify slapping down between $500 and $600 bones for the upgrade? The answers to these questions and many more await, so let's get right to it.

What It Does

In a nutshell, LightWave is a very full-featured 3D modeling and animation package. On the PC side, it's been mentioned in the same breath as Discreet's 3D Studio Max and even Alias/Wavefront's Maya. On the Mac, it's probably most comparable to Electric Image Universe, and since Maya's over here now too, let's throw that in as well. LightWave has managed to carve a decent niche for itself in broadcast graphics in it's 10+ year history (which began on the Amiga, incidentally), and you've probably seen LightWave in action on shows like Enterprise and Roughnecks. Now that we've had the Cliffs Notes version, let's get more into the guts of the program.

Interface

The first thing you'll notice when you fire up LightWave is that it isn't a single, integrated program. It's actually three programs (fig. 1). NewTek has split LightWave's modeling and animation into Modeler and Layout, respectively, with a mini-app called the hub serving as the traffic cop between the two. Splitting the functions of the program up like this has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you like to work. If you like to model something, surface it, add it to a scene, and animate it before moving on to the next object, the multiple-program approach may be more hassle than you're used to. But if you like to divide your tasks into modeling, surfacing, and animation, you'll probably find the separate programs very much to your liking. The Hub was instituted in version 6 to bridge the gap between the Layout and Modeler programs by keeping an eye on the model and surface resources used by both programs, but it's level of control over the two and, ultimately, it's overall usefulness is very much open to debate. Loathed by some, loved by others, largely ignored by the rest, the Hub remains somewhat of a stopgap measure, and has unfortunately not been enhanced in version 7.

Figure 1: The three faces of LightWave. The foreground window is Layout, Modeler is in the background, and the tiny window floating around the top right is the Hub.

The next thing you'll notice is that LightWave's UI is, to put it mildly, less than Mac-like (fig. 2). While some might be annoyed with LightWave's Amiga-esque interface, I'm not going to fault NewTek one bit for not "Macifying" their product. LightWave's interface has evolved over a decade and has spanned several platforms, so kudos to NewTek for sticking with what works for their users and not slapping some confusing and unlabeled icons on the toolbar just for the sake of what they might perceive to be more Mac-friendly. And coming over from the Windows version, it was a treat to not have to re-train myself to use the identical program on another platform. Anyway LightWave's interface is probably indicative of things to come as the Mac community transitions more fully to the Unix-based OS X, so the best thing to say here is that you'll get used to it.

Figure 2: Do these interface elements look like part of a Mac application to you? Does it even matter any more?

Overall, LightWave's interface takes a while to get the hang of, but once you do you'll appreciate the fact that the tools are organized very thoughtfully into tabs (fig. 3), and that each tool is labeled only by its text name rather than icons (and subtly color coded as well to help you keep track of what's what). Plus, you have an enormous amount of control over how your interface is laid out, as LightWave provides numerous customization options (more on that later).

Figure 3: Sure, the tabs and text look boring. But you can get a lot done this way.

Features

You could literally write thousands of pages on all the stuff crammed into LightWave[7], and indeed, some already have. The included manual is about five inches thick, and some of the third-party LightWave books I've seen are even thicker. Since this is a review and not one of the aforementioned manuals, I'll try to be as concise as possible, but there's a whole lot to cover here. So in an attempt to go about this in a calm and orderly fashion, let's go through LightWave[7] categorically to see what it offers, but if you want a complete list of LightWave[7]'s features, check out NewTek's web site.

Modeler

As you might expect from the name, Modeler is the part of LightWave where you put your models together. Modeler is, at its heart, a polygonal modeling tool, though it does have pretty robust organic modeling capabilities through its subpatch modeling feature, which is LightWave's version of NURBS modeling. Figure 4 shows the deceptive simplicity of subpatch modeling. Here I've modeled a airplane-type-thing with subpatches, but look closely. While the model appears smooth and organic in the preview panel (top), you can see when I turn subpatch off all that's going on is a smoothing out of the shape inside a relatively simple polygon mesh (bottom). The nice thing is that the subpatch feature is non-destructive; you can turn it on and off without mucking with the original polygons. With subpatch modeling, incredibly complex shapes are possible by starting with a simple box and just extruding or beveling the individual polygons from there.

Figure 4: Subpatch modeling: before (bottom) and after (top).

So, what else can Modeler do? Here's a quick rundown of some Modeler highlights:

— Of course, you have the full range of polygonal modeling tools here (fig. 5), such as a wide selection of primitives, deformation tools, booleans, integrated surfacing, direct control of polygons and vertices, UV mapping, yadda yadda yadda.

Figure 5: Holy mackerel, there's a bunch of the tools available in Modeler. They don't actually appear like this; I just put them together to make it simpler to see everything. See, isn't it simple?

— Morph targets can be stored in the object file. Let's say you have a model of a head, and you want a stock range of expressions you want the face to be able to make. Just add a bunch of morph targets, mess with those (which leaves the base model untouched), and you have a library of facial movements you can animate over in Layout without having to import a bunch of different models to perform the various morphs.

— Skelegons, which is a cute name for Modeler's method of creating bones that get stored with the object geometry (instead of separately from the model, a huge pain which was the unfortunate case with earlier versions of LightWave).

— Unlimited object layers. Layering is an outstanding concept here, because it works like a Photoshop document by allowing you to put different geometry into different layers and be able to add and modify shapes on one layer without messing with any other layer.

"That's nice," you may be saying, "but what about the NEW stuff?" The short answer is, "there ain't much here." A couple of new tools, like the rail modeler and rounded edge box tool, are scattered here and there, but nothing spectacular. Though the few new features are kind of nice, it seems as though Modeler hasn't benefited much from the version 7 upgrade over the previous 6.5 version; the lion's share of changes and additions seem to have come in the productivity and workflow area. While productivity enhancements aren't the big name stars of any upgrade, here they are quite welcome because some of them have been sorely needed for a long time. Some examples:

• You can finally save individual layers as object files, and many layers as a single object.
• A full object can be loaded into a single layer in a new object.
• Vertex points on subpatch models can be selected directly.
• Revert Current Object. 'Nuff said.
• The new (and sometimes useful) Rove tool combines rotation and moving into a single command.
• You can now flatten multiple layers into a single layer.

Again, workflow fixes aren't exactly A-list talent here, but they do represent an improvement. The big bright shining stars of LightWave[7] are what NewTek has done to the...

Layout

Layout is the second of three programs that make up LightWave, and it's where you take your models, surface them (if you haven't already in Modeler), animate them, add lights, environments, effects, and then render. Like Modeler, it's packed with stuff, and I know I'll scratch about as much of the surface as I did when talking about Modeler, but I'll give it a shot anyway.

Any ol' 3D program can give you a chrome sphere on a tile floor, but what separates the wheat from the chaff in the 3D world are what I like to call the "gooey" features (not to be confused with GUI features, which is a phrase I did not come up with). LightWave[7] has plenty of gooey to go around, and the place where all this goo gets applied is the Layout application. Before I specifically call out a few new Layout toys, here are a couple of the kinds of things LightWave is able to do, after which you'll actually know what I mean by "goo."

Character animation. LightWave is chock full of good stuff for character animators, such as morph mixing, bones, forward and inverse kinematics, just to name a few (clip 1).

Clip 1: LightWave's Bones feature turned a detached, freaky, static single-object arm into a detached, freaky, realistically animated single-object arm.

Rendering Effects. With some of the advanced rendering options, you can get some incredibly photorealistic results. LightWave can calculate radiosity (fig. 6) and caustics (fig. 7), add glows to surfaces, create motion blur, and add depth of field effects to simulate a real camera.

Figure 6: A sample of LightWave's caustics feature.

Figure 7: LightWave can do radiosity too!

Particle Effects. LightWave offers a variety of particle effects, such as HyperVoxels (VOlumetric piXELS), which allows you to simulate billowing smoke, fire, cosmic effects, etc. (fig. 8) Additionally, you can use the ParticleFX tool to do particle simulation like a flock of birds or flowing liquid, all with full collision detection (clip 2).

Figure 8: Hypervoxels were used to render this nebula field.

Clip 2: See Jack pour the particles. See Jack's particles fill up the cup. See Jack slosh the particles around. Jack, you're spilling!

Motion Designer. Clothing, billowing sails, flags, and other soft body dynamics can be created through LightWave's Motion Designer (clip 3).

Clip 3: LightWave's soft body dynamics engine detects collisions between models and applies realistic physics to soft objects like the cloth here.

Also, there are three major new features in LightWave[7] I'd like to mention, without which I frankly don't think it would be worth the upgrade. Stephen Schleicher also mentioned these three features in his review, so if you need any further validation as to their importance, there you go. The three features are the new Motion Mixer, the inclusion of Sasquatch Light for fiber simulation, and a new version of SkyTracer. The Motion Mixer (fig. 9) is probably the most impressive, if not daunting, new feature. Basically, it introduces some elements of non-linear editing into the animation process. By divorcing motions from Layout's main timeline, motions become objects you can morph or blend together. So, for example, you could save a character's walk cycle as an independent motion, apply the motion to any other object or set of objects, and mix that motion with other saved motions. It takes a while to get into, but the results can be staggering.

Figure 9: The Motion Mixer in action.

As for the other important new features, Sasquatch Light is a great addition to LightWave[7]. It's so much better to show you what it does than to tell you, so check out Figure 10. And while SkyTracer (fig. 11) isn't a new feature, it has been greatly improved in version 7 with the addition of SkyBaker, which allows skies that don't change over time to be rendered in real-time under OpenGL. Anyone who has suffered through an interminable SkyTracer render knows that the Baker feature added to SkyTracer is a most welcome addition. You can now also animate clouds and the sun over time, though it's not quick when it comes time to render.

Figure 10: I'm a doctor, dammit! With Sasquatch Light, you can make Tribbles, polar bear fur, landscape elements, and even a chick with a beard.

Figure 11: Purty skies with Skytracer!

Also, there are a couple of nice workflow enhancements, such as:

• The Spreadsheet Editor, which allows you to see an entire scene numerically and make changes and edits very quickly.
• The ability to load a single layer from an object into Layout.
• A complete rewrite of the Graph Editor to be faster and more flexible.

One last thing to mention is the tight integration LightWave has with QuickTime on the Mac. Any image format available to QuickTime, either native to QuickTime or through a plug-in, is available to LightWave either as an image format for surfaces or an output format. Very nice, and not available on the Windows side.

Customization

One of the nice features that frankly, high end 3D application users have come to expect (but general Mac users may not be used to at all), is the ability to customize their user interface. LightWave is no slouch in this area, allowing you to tear apart any and every menu you want and reorder the Layout and Modeler interfaces to your particular liking. Don't want a menu panel? Fine, turn it off. Only use three tools? Get rid of everything except for the three you use. Don't like the way Modeler groups modeling functions? Create your own category tabs and reassign all the tools. Additionally, LightWave comes pre-configured with certain keyboard shortcuts assigned, but you can reassign any keystroke you want to suit your particular needs. Figure 12 shows how you can reassign your interface in the Layout program.

Figure 12: Have it your way. LightWave gives you the Burger King of interfaces, allowing you to put any tool wherever you want.

LightWave even includes its own scripting language, LScript, which allows the codehappy users out there to automate tasks and even write custom plug-ins to further tweak the program.

Community

One of the frustrating things I experienced while I was an Electric Image user was the lack of external resources for the product. Mind you, this was 1998, so I can't speak to how things are now for that particular program. But it's nice to know that when you get stuck (and with a program as complex as LightWave, it's not a matter of if you'll get stuck, but when) there is a safety net to fall back on. Fortunately, LightWave has a large community of active users to help you out in a pinch. In addition to the newsgroup (comp.graphics.apps.lightwave), there are many user-maintained LightWave tips and tricks sites, including some dedicated only to the Mac version of LightWave. Search for LightWave on Amazon.com, and up pops a slew of LightWave specific books. Live and video-based training for LightWave is also plentiful, and NewTek themselves also maintain a large community board at NewTek.com, so it's nice to know that they are an active corporate "parent." The bottom line here is that LightWave has built up a large community of users over time, so it's not hard to find help when you need it.

Limitations

Frankly, I was very much expecting LightWave[7] to fully live up to its bad Mac rep and be buggy, unstable and generally unusable on the Mac. And, unfortunately, those bad expectations were met when I ran LightWave under OS 9. My advice: don't. The OpenGL is spotty at best, full of strange anomalies and gotchas. The performance is completely unacceptable, especially when trying to deal with models that have a modest-to-high point/polygon count. There are outrageous RAM requirements. And it crashes nonstop. So avoid LightWave on OS 9 like the plague. HOWEVER...

LightWave running on OS X is a sheer, unadulterated joy. When I used previous versions of LightWave on Windows 2000, the program was remarkably stable and fast. You could get real work done without having to worry about the program could handle what you were asking of it without crashing. OS X provides that same experience. I crashed a few times, but the crashes were infrequent and random, like they were on the PC. OpenGL is marvelous under OS X, and even the modest 16 MB Radeon card in my G4 PowerBook produced smooth and accurate previews. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you're committed to running LightWave on OS X and forget about OS 9, the NewTek slate should be wiped clean of their past Mac transgressions. But, if you're completely against running OS X (and you know who you are), that presents a somewhat major limitation, since LightWave pretty much stinks on OS 9.

There are a couple of other non-Mac-specific issues here as well. One of them is that I would be reluctant to upgrade to version 7 from 6.5 if I were still a PC user. Ultimately, SkyTracer, Motion Mixer, and Sasquatch Light clinch it, but it's not a slam-dunk upgrade. As noted earlier, there are some nice features built into version 7, but $500 is a lot to spend on an upgrade for what you get, especially since 6.5 still packs quite a wallop. However, I consider version 7 on the Mac to be a required upgrade because of the stability and enhanced performance on Mac OS X. I know, I know. The consumer shouldn't have to pay more for added stability, but Microsoft blazed that particular trail and now it seems like everyone is following in their footsteps. That's all I'll say about that before I go any further with what would promise to be an off-topic rant.

Anyway, the other big limitation continues to be the Hub. I say "continues" because since the Hub's introduction in version 6, it hasn't really been fixed through 6b, 6.5, 7, or 7b. It just can't be trusted to do what it claims it's supposed to do. What it's supposed to do is monitor and control data passing between Layout and Modeler, and it does a very unreliable job of that. After losing a good deal of the model changes I made in Layout because the Hub "forgot" to update Modeler on what I did, I found myself reverting back to my pre-Hub workflow of compulsively using the Save All Objects command every time I made a single change to a model. I'd really like to see the Hub eliminated altogether, in favor of Modeler and Layout having the capacity to save each other's stuff, either by asking or not asking as the user desires. Some users have a great relationship with the Hub; I'm not one of them.

Conclusion

I realize that 3D artists are a varied lot, and I'm sure my particular look at LightWave didn't even begin to scratch the surface of what LightWave[7] can do for some of you and your particular needs in the 3D universe. However, I found LightWave[7] on the Mac to be a wonderful 3D program which can meet the needs of a wide variety of 3D users, from game producers to character animators to special effects artists. It's only wonderful, however, if you use Mac OS X. But hey, don't just take my word for it. NewTek will graciously send you a demo of LightWave[7] for free, and you can try it for yourself before you buy.

Bottom line: if you're an OS X kind of person and are looking for a full-featured and reasonably priced 3D package, LightWave[7] is definitely one to check out, so we're giving it a Strong Buy rating. Kudos to NewTek for finally delivering a version of LightWave for the Mac that doesn't pale in comparison to the PC version.

LightWave[7] at a Glance

Maker: NewTek
Price: $2495 for full version, $495 for upgrade from LightWave 6.x, $595 for upgrade from LightWave 4.x or 5.x. Demo version available free from NewTek.
Platforms: Macintosh OS 9/OS X, Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000
URL: http://www.newtek.com/
Overall Impression: Full-featured and reasonably priced 3D program is finally the equal of its Windows version, at least on OS X.
Key Benefits: Runs like a dream on OS X. Incredible number of features for the price.
Disappointments: The Hub, even after three versions, is still unreliable. Mac OS 9 performance and stability unacceptable.
Recommendation: Strong Buy

Filed under: Review on December 12th, 2001

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