LightWave 3D
  
 NewTek"s LightWave 3D is a complete modeling, rendering and
animation system, used extensively in broadcast TV, film
production, print, pre-views and game development. LightWave
3D is used throughout the entertainment industry, in
production facilities large and small. In fact: LightWave is
responsible for more artists winning Emmy Awards than any
other 3D application. The LightWave user community is the
most passionate, most active and most helpful in the
industry. Light Wave's robust feature set makes it easy to
realize your projects from start to finish. Right out of
the box, LightWave 3D's extensive feature set is apparent.
With most 3D packages, the software is practically useless
without a huge investment in external plug-ins. LightWave
come stock with a super realistic node based surfacing
solution that supports high end features such as sub surface
scattering, anisotropic specular & reflection shaders.
LightWave still supports the easy to use layered surfacing
system, but the new nodal system makes ultra complex
surfaces easy to create. LightWave's animation system has
seen many new features as well. New Joint and bone features
make character rigging, and animation easier than ever. New
"Real Lens" tools allow you to create ultra realistic lens
based image distortions. New light types and tools make
photorealism a snap. The new IES Light tool allows you to
enter data directly from a light manufacturers data sheet,
guaranteeing total accuracy. And to top it off, the
rendering engine speed has been improved to the point where
Ray-Traced scenes that were once impractical, now render in
no time. LightWave 3D comes with unlimited render nodes
for free. You can run the rendering engine on an unlimited
number of render nodes, creating your own render farm. Also
included free of charge; the entire fully supported SDK.
This allows you to create your own customized LightWave
tools using NewTek's easy to use scripting language. This
also has allowed thousands of end users to create and post
their creations in the NewTek forum and elsewhere...
usually, once again totally free. Another cool freebee
from NewTek is the Open Beta Program. NewTek has always
counted on end-user feedback to drive the direction of new
feature development. This causes LightWave 3D's feature set
to be totally in tune with the current 3D workflow that the
major studios use, and filter that down to the simple
hobbyist.
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