▲ Except for the tree, this scene has only two meshes – the grass and the ground – taking up just 108KB. That’s the power of instancing

PRICE: $1,495; Upgrade: $695

PLATFORM: Windows / Mac

MAIN FEATURES:


• Complete modelling, animation and rendering package
• Industry standard sub-patch modelling toolset
• Non-linear animation tools
• Bullet physics engine with fracturing
• Virtual studio tools

DEVELOPER: Newtek

It’s been well over a decade since I first used LightWave on the Amiga. I have fond memories of those times. I remember drooling over articles about VFX shots created with it for shows like Babylon 5, where the 3D shots still look good to this day. LightWave has progressed massively in some directions since then, but in other areas it hasn’t quite kept up to date.

The last real update came with 9.6 and that was some three years ago now. Version 10 had a few tweaks and new tools, but did little to inspire. LightWave fans have always been vocal about what they like or dislike in their software, perhaps more than other groups. I think that’s because you either ‘get’ LightWave or you don’t. Unlike most other 3D applications (excluding anything Kai Krause had a hand in) LightWave has a particular way of working.

For a start, you won’t find any icons in the user interface: all the menus and tools are labelled with text. Some people hate this and find it wastes screen space but, considering that most tools have their keyboard shortcuts shown too, it doesn’t take long to memorise them and hide the buttons. There are actually three interfaces you need to get to grips with, one for each of LightWave’s programs: Modeler, Layout, and the Hub (which runs in the background).

In pretty much every other application you will model your object, then set up your scene with lights and materials, followed by animation. This can get tiresome as you hide one area to get to the next. LightWave solves this problem neatly by separating the modelling and texturing from everything else. Build a model in Modeler and apply some surfaces, then click a button to swap to Layout, where the scene is set up and completed. I find this style of working very easy to use, and if you’ve ever worked in a team or studio using Xrefs then it makes much more sense than trawling through a heavy scene, hiding and showing things.

The Modeler program is a fully featured SubD modeller with a huge assortment of tools on offer, for everything you might need. I like the way layers are used in LightWave: for example, Booleans or stencilling take the content of one layer to add or subtract the contents of a second layer. This is a sensible way to work and means complex hierarchies can be avoided. Simple parenting for animation can be done in Layout.

Layout is a solid, powerful application, with a full suite of tools for animation and rendering. The character rigging and animation tools are pretty good but not quite as intuitive or full-featured as other options available. Where the fun really begins is with the Object Properties panel. Hit [P] with an object selected and you’re presented with a large assortment of tools to refine your project. It’s hard to summarise here but you have everything from setting the basic properties, such as SubD levels, through to a host of deformation tools and the new instancing feature, which is a major addition to LightWave 11.

I’m a regular Cinema 4D user and have always turned to it for motion graphics work, but the instancing tools in LightWave now make that choice a little harder. I prefer the renderer in LightWave, which is very fast and predictable (it also allows camera and lens matching to real-world gear) and more intuitive. It supports Background Radiosity, Monte Carlo, and Final Gather, with some really nice motion blur and depth of field effects. Lighting with standard or photometric lights is a breeze, as is throwing in an HDRI, or a combination of all of the above.

NEW TOOLS AND FEATURES

▲ This rock wall was made from one cube. LightWave allows each instance to be different from the next

With instances and new flocking tools that offer great motion graphics or VFX results, creating a swarm of models that can avoid each other to your specifications is once again just a few clicks away. The new instancer lets you quickly take an object and create arrays of instances, with controllable size, position, rotation, and texture attributes, all definable via simple field input or with the Node Editor, another of LightWave’s strong points. Nodes allow a degree of freedom and understanding that surpasses layers or channels. You can set up complex materials with a few clicks and experimentation is visual and immediate, especially if you turn on VPR for high-quality viewport rendering.

LightWave has a great implementation of the Bullet dynamics engine, which also makes it easy to add physical properties to your animations. If there’s a model in your scene that you wish to break into pieces, you can switch to Modeler and predefine where the fractures will occur, send it back to Layout and click Play. That’s a simple overview but you can delve deeper and create as much complexity as you need, and it’s more intuitive than nDynamics or MassFX.

The huge array of features, tools, and options is a blessing to the power user but can also be a negative. At times it can feel like there are too many windows to open to get to different tools. If you have a large monitor then you can allocate space for some but it still feels like a mess, and some features seem to have been bolted on rather than applied more sympathetically. With this in mind, Newtek has made it so that if you navigate your scene with an options window open, that window will become transparent. This seemed like a gimmick, but in daily use it’s a lovely touch.

▲ For streamlined working, set pop-up windows to turn transparent while navigating viewports

These little things are forgivable, though, and the overall experience is a good one. I use a 3D mouse with a tablet, rather than a mouse, and LightWave offers support for both – in fact, the Studio Tools feature enables you to use the 3D mouse (or a host of other devices, even PlayStation Move controllers) to animate objects or cameras in your scene. This is recordable too, so you can have real-time, tactile input and see the results on screen.

VERDICT

PROS

• Solid and reliable
• Full toolset
• Fast, high-quality renderer

CONS

• Text buttons not to everybody’s liking
• Some tools feel a little dated

LightWave has long been a strong contender, but it previously remained an underdog. Version 11 should not be discounted and makes for a refreshingly good upgrade

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Redman is the technical editor of 3D World magazine. He has been a 3D artist and trainer for over a decade, and his clients range from The Who to national governments

Free 3D World tutorial: Rig your own Transformer-style train using LightWave

In issue 155 of 3D World we talk to director of student short Worlds Apart Michael Zachary Huber about how the effects of pollution on Earth prompted the creation of this heartfelt story. Watch the animation trailer here

Global warming, climate change and freak weather conditions are all signs of the impact humans have on Earth. New student short Worlds Apart follows this subject, telling the story of how man-made pollution contributes to the end of the human race. The desolate Earth is visited by aliens, who find a lonely teddy bear in an abandoned farmhouse in California. Using futuristic technology, they’re able to extract memories from the soft toy and learn how humans had once enjoyed happy existences, full of hopes, dreams and goodness.

The nine-minute short is the second film created by student group Project X of Cogswell College in California, and assistant professor Michael Zachary Huber. The idea for the short first came about as Huber contemplated his future. “A few years back, my wife was several months pregnant with our son and I was consumed with concern over the world in which we were going to be raising him,” he explains. “The environment and pollution are big issues with me. And being a sci-fi fan, the story just flowed out one evening.”

The characters followed shortly after the plot, with Huber designing them from the world around him. “I wanted the teddy bear to be that stuffed toy we all had as a kid,” he says. “As far as the aliens go, I wanted to go with amphibian types. On Earth they’re one of the species most susceptible to pollution as they breathe through their skin. And they’re also cute in their own way, which helps from an anthropomorphic perspective.”

With the plot decided, Huber took his idea to the Cogswell College students and production got underway. First they had to decide upon the short’s overall visual style. “There were many inspirations for the film’s look,” Huber explains. “In particular, I found some great pastoral paintings of central California that were done over 80 years ago, perfect for the look of some of our more idealised scenes.”

You can read more about the technical process behind Worlds Apart in issue 155 of 3D World magazine.

Watch the Worlds Apart trailer:

Like this film? Check out the selection of other awesome animations on our shorts page

Find out how this atmospheric, painterly animated short was created using Maya, Photoshop and After Effects. Watch the film here too

For the Remainder depicts the last moments of a house cat who bids farewell to its home before leaving to perish. The short was a graduation project created by Omer Ben David while studying at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel. Ben David first began working on the plot in November last year.

“I was dwelling on a concept of a cat that leaves his house and searches for his final resting place for some time before then,” he says. “I pondered on that notion since hearing the rumour that old cats sometime leave their home to die somewhere else unseen by their beloved ones or enemies. I felt that this essence of a story is very poetic and thus should be treated as a song rather than a narrative.”

First impressions

After developing the main plot, the director carefully considered the importance of the film’s characters and what role each would play.

“From the beginning, the story was about a cat and a house,” Ben David explains. “The cat’s owner was also a main character but I wasn’t sure if he would be performing or his presence just suggested. The spider came somewhat in the middle of the storyboarding stage, when I was searching for a death motif to allow the cat to deal with.”

“I was greatly inspired by sketches and calligraphy, and some colour blocking when searching for the look of the characters. I figured the house, as a character, should be mostly colour blocked while the cat should be wired so they were in contrast.”

Creating perfect brush strokes

The film’s unique style was inspired by a number of sources. “I was very moved by a series of paintings by Lukasz Pazera called Postcards from the Zone and his brilliant Dog of Zone, which I figured would be awesome animated,” Ben David says.

While researching, the director also watched Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Stalker. “I thought it to be the exact poem-like atmosphere I was searching for both visually and musically. I love the ambiance and slow rhythm,” he says. “I was also greatly inspired by color block paintings such as Gerhard Mozsi’s, and the dreamy feel and pace in animated films such as Tekkonkinkreet or Ghost in the Shell which I adore.”

One of the film’s main influences was a series of paintings by Lukasz Pazera called Postcards from the Zone. You can see similarities in tone and style between them and For the Remainder

Ben David’s extensive research and inspirations helped him to develop the unique painterly style of the film. In order to achieve this in 3D, he turned to the powerful tools of Maya. 

“This software was vital to production,” he explains. “It was an inherent rendering method that got the look for my characters and objects, combined with the overlapping textures on the sets. Photoshop was of course crucial for painting the textures, but Maya allowed me to rig and control almost everything I needed.”

The film’s style, however, also presented some technical challenges. “The whole sketchiness and painterly look was the biggest technical issue,” says Ben David. “I did a lot of research about NPR (non photo realistic) rendering before developing the technique for creating it, and it was pretty much an experiment throughout the entire process. I didn’t have a clear point of reference on a technical level on how to achieve this look, and so I did a lot of testing until I reached a certain point where I knew that the composited render would satisfy me.”

Despite extensive research and testing, Ben David managed to complete the film within a fairly short time period. “It took me around nine months to finish the short,” he says. “I did some touch-ups, on and off, for a few months afterwards as I was not completely happy with some renders and I’ve worked some more on mastering the soundtrack with Onili. I’m very pleased with the final result. Both on the aesthetics and the feel of it.”

Like this film?

Check out the selection of other awesome animations on our shorts page

Make sure you visit next week for more Friday Animation Fun!

Real-time 3D animation tool, iClone, has everything you need to set up your directorial 
debut. But is it too limited, asks Paul Champion?

PRICE
: $200.
 Upgrade from $120. 

Other editions: Standard, $80


PLATFORM
: Windows


MAIN FEATURES:

• Real-time animation

• In-screen motion editing and puppeteering

• Advanced timeline editing with transition curve

• Animate in real-time with motion-capture device



DEVELOPER: Reallusion

Converting your finished story idea into a pre-viz or polished animation often presents some daunting challenges, and selecting the right software applications to use can be a key factor in the time (and cost) spent completing it.

iClone5 Pro offers a happy medium between high-end applications that have seemingly endless options to tweak, and frustratingly feeble, user-unfriendly low-end software. The latest version of iClone has new animation tools, is still a breeze to use and remains competitively priced.


Now you can create your own version of Pixar’s The Incredibles, in a park and on a merry-go-round!

If you’re unfamiliar with iClone, it’s primarily a template-based hassle-free solution for real-time animation with plenty of bells and whistles. In terms of workflow, you’re limited to working with the rudimentary content supplied with the application, unless you’re prepared to buy additional assets via Reallusion’s Content Marketplace (which always seems to have some sort of deal on offer).

Getting your own assets into iClone5 Pro is quick and easy, but it requires Reallusion’s 3DXchange4, which converts files from applications such as ZBrush, Photoshop, Blender, Poser, Daz Studio, Vue and Maya, and costs $80 for the Standard version. You’ll need 3DXchange4 Pro ($120) to use assets in FBX, 3DS, OBJ and SKP formats. 


Pre-viz users or anyone presenting a concept pitch to clients should find that the content provided is more than adequate for demonstration, where the actual look of assets is less relevant. End users, who will no doubt grow tired of the limited content provided, will be disappointed that they have to shell out for 3DXchange to import more material.

With the assets in place, it’s time to animate, and there are many new tools to help you with this.



Whether it’s sexy girls, gym kits or vampires you’re after, the marketplace has plenty of assets for you to buy

New features



Direct Puppet lets you record your actor’s animation in real time, and if necessary lock body parts to locations. MixMoves enables seamless blending between motions. Body Motion Puppeteering enables the user to control the animation speed and direction. 


Simple floor contact is taken care of with Human IK Motion Editing for Actors, and allows props (which can now be animated in real time) to be held onto realistically. The Timeline has been updated so that animation curves can be varied in playback by adding curve adjustments such as Ease In and Ease Out. For physics animation there are Rigid and Soft Body options for simulation, and other uses such as game prototyping.


Effects can help to enhance your movies, but they are limited to a maximum of five within a project

The premium new animation tool being touted for use with iClone5 Pro is the Mocap Device plug-in. With this you can act out your animations in real-time – the recorded mocap data is then applied to actors.

At $140, this is a lot cheaper than buying your own professional mocap studio, although it requires you to have an Xbox 360 with Kinect. It’s also only compatible with the Pro edition.

The plug-in is a significant add-on that falls outside the remit of this review. Judging by forum responses, however, it’s a successful product and great for anyone who wants to physically generate their own movement.


Other notable tools and settings, with which Reallusion is catching up with market competitors rather than introducing groundbreaking innovations, include Ambient Occlusion, which improves the quality of visual output with barely any impact on render times; post-FX tools for colour and blur, which are easy to apply; and cartoon rendering, which can be achieved with just a few clicks and some minor texture corrections. 


Rigid body simulations can pep up high-speed chases. In iClone5 Pro they are easy to deploy

There’s still plenty of room for improvement in the renderer. The options are minimal and simplistic – which is part of the general charm of iClone, but it doesn’t always do justice to the end result. Multiple cameras and Picture-In-Picture features offer greater control between shots. Much-requested duplication settings enable you to instance objects with ease, and adjustable pivots, snapping and aligning tools are now possible for objects.


More resource-hungry improvements include higher poly counts for actors, with notable increases to head meshes, which enable more natural deformations. In practice this works far better than before, and since faces are areas that most viewers’ eyes are naturally drawn to, it’s a clearly visible improvement. However, it can still be difficult and time-consuming to tweak.

The new Toon Shader is found in the Atmosphere section of the Stage tab, and can be adjusted for your project needs

Cartoon character facial controls have been advanced to include exaggeration. Height Map Terrains now allow bigger landscapes, but they are limited to just five. Smart iProps have been updated for game-like interaction.


During testing, these new tools all worked admirably, yet iClone crashed a number of times for no apparent reason. When pushed to reasonable extremes for any shot – such as 20 actors set up with different parameters and animations applied – iClone responded well. But other times it would crash with, for example, a fairly empty scene during terrain set-up. Ordinarily, this would only be a minor annoyance, but since there’s no autosave option in the program, it becomes more 
of a frustration.


Hardware-wise, iClone doesn’t require an overly demanding system. Rather misleadingly, it’s listed as being 32-bit and 64-bit Windows compatible, but it’s not actually a native 64-bit release, so it won’t take advantage of any extra memory installed over 32-bit limitations. It’s rumoured that a 64-bit update will be released, although this was unconfirmed as we went to press.


Overall, iClone5 Pro remains an easy-to-use application, and it can be a real time-saver for pre-viz work and presentations. The learning curve isn’t too steep, and setting up shots is intuitive. For existing iClone users, it should be a no-brainer to upgrade because content from previous versions is compatible, the upgrade price is good, and the new tools (and mocap plug-in, if you choose to buy it) will enhance its usability. New users will need to assess whether they have the funds for additional content and a copy of 3DXchange.

VERDICT

PROS

• Simple for novices without previous animation experience

• Easily modifiable preset models

• Ready-made animation categories

• Intuitive editing

• Options for advanced animators



CONS

• Facial profiles are difficult to tweak

• Additional content incurs extra costs
• Rendering options still limited

• Not a true 64-bit application



A speedy solution for pre-viz but hampered by limited content options, basic render settings, and lack of true 64-bit support

About the author


Paul Champion is the demonstrator for undergraduate and postgraduate 3D and VFX courses at the National Centre for Computer Animation, Bournemouth

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