The LightWave 3D Group, a division of NewTek, has announced LightWave 11.5, a new edition of its Emmy Award-winning 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. A complete 3D pipeline, LightWave 11.5 includes many new features to streamline productivity, including a new Genoma character animation and rigging system for Modeler, predator and prey flocking, Instancing, soft-body Bullet Dynamics, interchange support for Adobe After Effects and Pixologic’s GoZ Fiber Mesh, major workflow enhancements, and more.
LightWave 11.5’s new features and enhancements include:
Genoma
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.
Modeling Tools
New functionality and architectural advancements in Modeler allow 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 that emphasize the system’s power and lay the groundwork for future third-party modeling tool development.
Soft-Body Bullet Dynamics
Bullet now includes soft-body dynamics for effects such as cloth, rubber, jelly or other deforming properties. Bullet meshes are also now reactive to bone deformations and wind forces can also be added for rippling effects.
Flocking
A specialized particle system that allows items to move in very organic ways, Flocking offers new prey and predator behaviors that allow flocks to chase other flocks or have flocking agents seek out and chase the closest prey. Neutral flocks do not chase or chase but still affect other agents for collision avoidance. Other new features include Plane, Pursuit and Arrive directors and the addition of node controls.
Interchange Tools
A new GoAE button allows you to select elements in a scene and see them in Adobe After Effects — including animation, lights and camera setting. Changes can be made using Camera Tracker in After Effects before returning to Lightwave. 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 to LightWave and attached to objects.
Instancing
Now includes Per-Object control of scale, stretch, offset, rotate and nodal controls, along with new Copy and Paste functions and Path Mode optimizations for greater flexibility and workflow.
ViewPort Preview Renderer (VPR)
VPR transforms how artists work in LightWave with fast interactive onscreen rendering. LightWave 11.5 now supports depth-of-field and motion blur effects and stereoscopic rendering in VPR.
LightWave 11.5 is expected to ship in Q4 2012.