I now have LightWave 5 for Windows, the Amiga, and the Mac. For serious projects, I like the Mac (a PowerMac 100Mhz system, until I upgrade to a 200+ later this year). I find that the Pentium, in general, is more cludgy than the Mac, and that the Amiga (until Gateway decides to do something about it) is just too damn slow for anything but test renders. There are a few quirks about the Mac LightWave 5, however, that should be mentioned.

Figure 1. QuickDraw 3D rendering is turned on in the Options Panel.

First, LightWave 5 on the PowerMac makes excellent use of QuickDraw 3D. The coming extensibility of QD3D with multiple renderers should make LW a very attractive alternative for Mac artists and animators. Unfortunately, LW5 does not save to 3DMF, one of the best 3D formats around. Why? This should be fixed ASAP if NewTek really wants to attract pro PowerMac users. Since 3DMF files (QuickDraw 3D) are also supported for Windows, this makes their inclusion all the more vital.

Figure 2. LightWave for the Mac does support the standard Mac PICT file convention for saves.

Another very silly feature is that images must be in the IFF format. IFF for Macphiles? Ridiculous! Give them PICT (or TIFF and JPEG) files or give them a refund! NewTek: When you port to other systems, support the formats that are the most common on those systems. Please. Luckily, PICT files are supported as render saves. QuickTime movie files are also supported, though I have yet to test them thoroughly. QuickTime is a much more widespread format at this point than AVI files, which LW has always had problems with.

Figure 3. The Mac LightWave interface uses QuickDraw 3D to display Layout objects in color.

It seems to me (though I don't have the time to do specific benchmarking) that LW5 for the PowerMac renders faster (maybe about 20% to 40%) than a comparable Pentium. That's great. Another help in this regard is that unlike the Pentium, there is no intermediate render screen. You go right from the numerical indicator to a finished render screen. Another anomaly to get used to concerns the Mac's singular mouse button. To manipulate on-screen models in the Z plane (something two-mouse button users do by holding down the right mouse button), Mac users have to do by holding down the left mouse button and the Apple key. The only problem is, you cannot do 360 degree rotations like this, but have to use the numeric option.

Figure 4. This background had to be translated from a TIF to an IFF image before LightWave would recognize it.

Seeing the familiar LightWave interface on the Mac is an awesome sight. NewTek has managed the near impossible in allowing Mac users to work with an interface and tools that are 99.9% compatible with LightWave experience and knowledge gained from other platforms. All in all... congratulations to NewTek!!!

In the last column, there was a letter from a gentleman that asked if I would write about trueSpace 3. I got all irate and foaming at the poogerz, and said "hell no" in my most appreciative voice. After all, Visual Inspirations pays me $10,000 a column to write about LightWave. But now I think I will do a future piece on trueSpace 3's modeling tools, rationalizing my efforts (in a future column) by using them to save out to a LightWave file,.. which trueSpace has always offered. Besides, the coming LightWave 5.5 is going to have a load of new modeling features as I understand it, and that will make a nice juxtaposition. It's no secret that many LightWave users still prefer other modelers to create 3D objects, importing them to LightWave for texturing and animation.

It is very important that none of us become so addicted or obsessed with one piece of software(including LightWave) that we are prevented from seeing how another application can serve our creative efforts. One thing to remember about LightWave animations is that LightWave allows us to apply an animation sequence to a background, or even map it to an object within a LightWave scene if needed. It doesn't matter that the mapped animation has been created in another application, even a competitive product. This is why I am suggesting that you make a beeline to your software distributor and order a copy of Fractal Design's Poser 2, as fast as you can. For about a hundred bucks, you will be getting one of the best (I think the best) anatomical animation systems in existence, and one which continues to be upgraded extensively. With it, you can produce figure animations that rival those of very high end systems, and add some possibilities to your LightWave animations that would be very difficult to achieve with LightWave alone. Since LightWave now appears on both the Mac and Windows platforms, using Poser 2 in conjunction with LightWave is better than a good idea. here's what Poser 2 is about.

Fractal Design's Poser software was created to fill the need digital artists and animators have when it comes to including realistic anatomical characters in their work. The most overwhelming response for Poser development came from the professional 3D community.

The interface for Poser 2 has four control windows in addition to the composition window: Parameter Dials, Tools, Library, and Animation Controls. The Parameter Dials Window features interactive dials that adjust selected body parts of a posed figure or other imported elements in the composition window. Element attributes like size, axis rotation, movement on all planes, and tapering can be adjusted with these dials. The dials can be set to target poser body parts, the whole figure, the viewing cameras, and the three scene lights. The Tool Window displays a set of icons for adjusting posed elements, whole figures, cameras, and lights. Tools work in conjunction with Parameter Dials. The Poser Library Window allows you to load and save and of the four Poser elements: Poses, Bodies, Cameras, and Lights. A collection of presets is also included in each category. The Animation Controls Window lists every element that makes up a scene so that key frames can be set either globally or part by part.

Figure 5. The Poser 2 interface, showing a figure with an enlarged head and a bump mapped texture applied.

Swappable Geometry: Poser 2 allows you to import Wavefront, 3DMF, DXF, and Fractal Detailer objects that can be used to replace any selected body part.

Vanishing Elements: Any selected Poser element can be made invisible. This allows you to animate the remaining elements as stand-alone figures.

Imported object elements can be glued to selected Poser body parts, so that horns, wings, swords, clothing, and other object paraphernalia can move in conjunction with that body part in an animation.

Keyframe Animation: Poser's Animation Window takes its cue from the same control mechanism found in Fractal's RayDream Studio. Keyframing is as simple as selecting a frame in a sequence and moving an element on the composition screen. Keyframes can be added and deleted.

Inverse Kinematics: IK can be set for either or both arms and legs. This glues the extremities (hands and feet) in place, so that moving elements higher up in the chain gives an animation a more organic look.

Customized Textures: I spent several hours importing one or another of the included textures into Painter and/or Photoshop, customizing it, and using the resulting textures to wrap animated Poser models. Textures map to models with Implicit Mapping, making the textures seamless in appearance as the model moves. Poser 2 can also translate any selected texture file to a Bump Map.

Backgrounds: Import either graphics or movie files as Poser backgrounds. Rendering Options: Render the graphics or movies as seen in the composition window (as silhouettes, outlines, wireframes, hidden line, lit wireframe, flat shaded), smoothed renders, or full textured renders with customized sizes and DPI settings to screen or disk. This allows you to render a LightWave animation as part of a Poser 2 animation, then load the whole business back into LightWave as a background animation.

Body Sets: Poser 2's Body Sets have been increased over those in version 1, with the most notable choices now including fully dressed formal and casual textured models.

Hands: hand types now include 19 choices, from relaxed to peace sign. Documentation: Poser 2's documentation follows the Fractal standard for thoroughness and pleasing design.

What other programs might animators might use in place of or to complement Poser 2? Without exception, every one around. Fractal is developing other export formats for Poser 2 models (LightWave, 3D Studio, etc.), but the exports will not include animation data. Anywhere you need an anatomical figure, Poser 2 can supply it. You can use the internal animation features in the target software (for instance, "Bones" in LightWave) to do the animation. Poser 2 will find infinite uses for Web animations, multi-media, and broadcast uses. Remember, a saved Poser 2 animation can also be mapped to a 2D plane and placed in a scene in any 3D environment that accepts this process (most do).

Mac: '040 based processor with FPU or PowerMac, System 7.5 or later, 12+ MB of RAM (16+ recommended), hard drive with 20 MB free, color display (24bit recommended), CD-ROM drive.

Windows: 486DX, Pentium or Pentium Pro, Windows 95 or Windows NT, 16 MB RAM (20+ recommended), hard drive with 20 MB free, color display (24 bit recommended), CD-ROM drive.

Suggested Retail Price: $249.00 (street price is less than $200.00). Registered Poser 1 users upgrade price: $69.00.

See ja next issue, in FlightWave online!

Poser 2
Fractal Design Corporation
5550 Scotts valley Drive
Scotts valley, CA 95066
(800) 846-0111
http://www.fractal.com