LightWave Digital has released LightWave 2023: the first update to the 3D animation software in over three years, having acquired it from previous owner Vizrt earlier this year.
The update adds a Procedural Geometry Nodes system for 3D modeling, an Instance Painting system for populating 3D scenes, and a new 3D text tool in LightWave’s Layout application.
Gaseous fluid simulation add-on TurbulenceFD, workflow plugin collection OD Tools, and animation cache sculpting application ChronoSculpt are now bundled with the software.
The first release from a team put together ‘to save LightWave’
LightWave 2023 is the first update to the veteran 3D animation software since 2020, development having been suspended by previous owner Vizrt, which acquired long-time developer NewTek the previous year.
Its new owner, LightWave Digital, is a start-up whose management team comprises people who were closely involved with the software in its NewTek days, including former NewTek staff, plus key add-on developers and LightWave users.
When the buyout was announced this April, Andrew Bishop, former head of VFX firm Darkside Studios, and now Creative Director for LightWave Digital, commented that he had been asked by “a senior member of the Newtek team … to put together a team to save LightWave”.
New node-based procedural modeling and scattering toolset
Although the new development team has only had full access to the software for a little over six months, there are some significant changes in LightWave 2023.
The largest new toolset is the Procedural Geometry Nodes system.
Like Blender’s similarly named Geometry Nodes, it’s a node-based procedural 3D modelling and scattering system, and currently comprises over 25 nodes.
As well as manipulating polygonal geometry and splines, it can create Constructive Solid Geometry through Boolean operations, and can convert procedural geometry to and from volumetrics in OpenVDB format.
Its output is “fully animatable over time, and integrates with LightWave’s instancing toolset”.
New Instance Brush paints instanced objects into a scene
LightWave 2023 also extends that instancing toolset, with a new Instancer Brush making it possible to paint instances over surfaces in a 3D scene using a brush-based workflow.
Users can control the distribution of the instances generated via a basic set of parameters to control size, spacing and orientation.
The new tool is intended as a more controllable alternative to distributing instances procedurally when populating 3D scenes with assets like rocks or vegetation.
The update adds a Procedural Geometry Nodes system for 3D modeling, an Instance Painting system for populating 3D scenes, and a new 3D text tool in LightWave’s Layout application.
Gaseous fluid simulation add-on TurbulenceFD, workflow plugin collection OD Tools, and animation cache sculpting application ChronoSculpt are now bundled with the software.
The first release from a team put together ‘to save LightWave’
LightWave 2023 is the first update to the veteran 3D animation software since 2020, development having been suspended by previous owner Vizrt, which acquired long-time developer NewTek the previous year.
Its new owner, LightWave Digital, is a start-up whose management team comprises people who were closely involved with the software in its NewTek days, including former NewTek staff, plus key add-on developers and LightWave users.
When the buyout was announced this April, Andrew Bishop, former head of VFX firm Darkside Studios, and now Creative Director for LightWave Digital, commented that he had been asked by “a senior member of the Newtek team … to put together a team to save LightWave”.
New node-based procedural modeling and scattering toolset
Although the new development team has only had full access to the software for a little over six months, there are some significant changes in LightWave 2023.
The largest new toolset is the Procedural Geometry Nodes system.
Like Blender’s similarly named Geometry Nodes, it’s a node-based procedural 3D modelling and scattering system, and currently comprises over 25 nodes.
As well as manipulating polygonal geometry and splines, it can create Constructive Solid Geometry through Boolean operations, and can convert procedural geometry to and from volumetrics in OpenVDB format.
Its output is “fully animatable over time, and integrates with LightWave’s instancing toolset”.
New Instance Brush paints instanced objects into a scene
LightWave 2023 also extends that instancing toolset, with a new Instancer Brush making it possible to paint instances over surfaces in a 3D scene using a brush-based workflow.
Users can control the distribution of the instances generated via a basic set of parameters to control size, spacing and orientation.
The new tool is intended as a more controllable alternative to distributing instances procedurally when populating 3D scenes with assets like rocks or vegetation.
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