NewTek Inc. has launched version 8.2 for LightWave 3D. The update includes major changes to the renderer core to implement new technologies for anti-aliasing, as well as new options for image reconstruction filters that can be applied to the final image to offer further control and enhancement of render output. The new LightWave team has also implemented a completely redesigned UV engine in the geometry core, which affects both Modeler and Layout, to make creating and editing UV maps easier and more powerful.
"We're extremely pleased to bring this suite of enhancements to our LightWave user community," said Dr. Andrew Cross, PhD, svp of engineering for NewTek. Our team is committed to developing leading edge technologies, and will be building on these to bring our users more power and more value with every new release of this award-winning, industry-standard production tool."
New features:* Completely Redesigned UV Mapping Engine:New UV Map Interpolation modes for Subpatch objectsNew UV tear-off function to eliminate the need to unweld points for most UV edit functionsMulti-selection of UV Maps for editing interpolation mode, etc.User-selectable wireframe colors for UV Maps
* Render Core Improvements:New Pixel Lattice Deformation anti-aliasing technologiesImplementation of state-of-the-art Reconstruction FiltersBox, Gaussian, Mitchell, LanczosNew "Mosaic" render mode for VIPER Preview system
* IK Booster System Improvements:IK Booster Ghost Mode user selectable "onion skin" featureNew and improved functions for loading, saving, copying motion data among hierarchiesNew DopeTrack functions to support IK Booster
* SDK Improvements22 new functions and enhancements that boost the power of third parties to develop new LightWave tools and access LightWave's powerful core.
"I love the way the new UV tools, particularly the 'Free Move' tear-off mode, improve my workflow for game production," said Pancho Eekels, lead designer for Digital Extremes. "The new features in 8.2 are major enhancements to the product that benefit LightWave users by speeding up the way they work in modeling, texturing and animating, and giving them better results faster at render time. NewTek is clearly committed to giving customers value beyond their expectations."
LightWave 3D [8] is available now for Mac and Windows platforms for $1,595 full-version and $495 upgrade. While supplies last, purchasers of LightWave 3D full seats or upgrades in North America and participating regions will receive REALVIZ's ImageModeler 4, a $1,380 value, at no additional charge, on CD with electronic documentation.
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek (www.newtek.com) is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools, including VT[4], and LightWave 3D, winner of the 2003 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
