LightWave [7.5] Feature Highlights

With every release of LightWave, NewTek's users have come to expect hundreds of new features. This new release is no exception. Here are a few of LightWave [7.5]'s exciting new capabilities.

Animation Tools
Sliders are a fast and easy way to control anything that LightWave can animate. Create your own custom slider banks to aid you in animating characters, lighting rigs, and more. Appearing directly in the 3D viewports, you can customize their size, color and range. You can see your work right through them, or minimize them.

The new Expression Builder makes it easy to create expressions without to memorizing a long list of commands. It's three things in one - a collection of useful expressions that you can customize, an online technical reference for all of LightWave's powerful expression commands, and a 'wizard' for helping you to create your own expressions.

Dynamic Parenting and Simple Constraints make complex interactions between objects easier to animate.

The Path Tool lets you drag all of an item's motion key frames around directly in the 3D viewport.

Enhanced OpenGL feedback boosts interactivity, showing frame ticks on motion paths and joint limits on rotation handles. Previews of motion blur and depth of field effects reduces the need for test renders.

Character Animation Tools
Motion Mixer 2.0 has an improved user interface as well as powerful new motion weighting and blending features.
X-Ray mode allows you see bones while working with your character in a solid shaded Open GL mode.
Numerous performance boosts for greater responsiveness in IK, bone deformation, OpenGL display and subdivision surface animation.

Lighting
Colored Shadows allow you to not only tint shadows, but to also create less intense shadows. All options are adjustable on a per-light basis.
New Per-Light Object Exclusion options allow you to more easily set lights to effect only certain objects.
Luxigons attach lights to polygon normals in modeler, making models intelligent enough to carry their own lighting rigs.

Rendering
New Multiple Bounce Radiosity solutions add realism to LightWave's already powerful, built-in global illumination rendering features.
Matte Objects and alpha properties make special compositing passes a breeze, without altering object surface properties.
Virtual Darkroom 2.0 puts the "photo" back in photo-realism adding grain and realistic light response to your renders. This new version includes a simplified interface and over 20 presets, simulating a variety of black and white and color stocks.
Multiple render buffers are saved in layered PhotoShop (.psd) format as well as the RPF format.

Pricing and Availability
LightWave [7.5] is currently shipping for a suggested retail price of 1795 Euro + V.A.T. the [7.5] update is available for download immediately from NewTek's web site, as well as international NewTek partners. Registered owners of stand alone LightWave 3D may upgrade to version [7.5] for 450 Euro + V.A.T for the next 60 days. LightWave [7] is available for Macintosh OS 9 and OS X-native, and for Windows 98, 2000, Me and NT4, and runs on AMD and Intel processors. Product is available through NewTek's channel of authorized resellers and distributors worldwide.

About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools including the Video Toaster, LightWave 3D and Aura Video Paint. NewTek launched the desktop video revolution in 1990 with the release of the legendary Video Toaster. The company's products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home video to feature film.