LightWave 3D 8 1001 Tips & Tricks phần 3 potx

mode, and click on the + next to 1 Vertex and 2 Vertices to select them all.Delete them, and save the model with a different name for export.Versions: 6.5-8 260 Robin Wood | Import/Expor

mode, and click on the + next to 1 Vertex and 2 Vertices to select them all.Delete them, and save the model with a different name for export.

Versions: 6.5-8

260 Robin Wood | Import/Export | Beginner to Intermediate

Preparing Files for Export — Exporting UV Maps

If you want to export a model to another format, such as obj, with the UVsintact, simply use the map in at least one channel in each material, and export.The UVs will be retained (You don’t even have to assign an image, just theUVs.)

Versions: 6.5-8

261 Patrik Beck, Robin Wood | Import/Export | All Levels

Loading DFX, OBJ… and 3DS Files?

LightWave can load several different object formats, such as dxf, obj, and.3ds, even though the option is semi-hidden Select Load Object as you normallywould, navigate to the directory containing the non-LightWave object, and selectthe All Files option so that files with extensions other than lwo will show up.This allows you to load public domain objects you find on the Internet or objectcollections that may not be in the native LightWave lwo format

Versions: All

ð Mac Note (Robin Wood): On the Mac, changing Show to All Documents enables the other formats

so you can select them (When LightWave objects are showing, you can see them, but they are dimmed.) It’spossible that the names will still appear to be dimmed Go ahead and click anyway; they will open

262 Brad Krause | Import/Export | Intermediate

Export Orthographic Views

You can export any of the three orthographic views or all three of them atonce out of Modeler using the EPSF exporter You can also export the object’swireframe in a UV map view after you create a UV map

These exported views can be best used for placement into Adobe Illustrator

or any other vector or bitmap program to create a quickie CAD-like drawing

Versions: 5-8

ÜNote: Only objects in a single foreground layer will be exported

Import/Export

Chapter 4

Modeling

It can be argued that learning to model is the single greatest challenge facingnew users While primitives are fun and give you immediate gratification, therecomes a point when the novelty of making balls, boxes, and cones wears off andthe need to actually make something settles in When this happens, most usershit a very steep wall Certainly they expect some type of learning curve Butmost aren’t prepared for the “insurmountable” wall that looms before them Asthe weeks go by and they find themselves still climbing that wall, their enthusi-asm often wanes You see, learning to model is not synonymous with learningModeler It is a skill that requires time and dedication and is no different thanlearning to paint, sculpt, or draw Taken in this light, it’s easy to understand whymodeling presents such a formidable challenge to new users Still, for those whostick with it, modeling can be incredibly rewarding The ability to realize yourdreams in 3D is exhilarating And the freedom that comes from knowing you

can model anything you desire is simply intoxicating.

Still, modeling can present challenges to even the most experienced artists.Experience often yields confidence; however, confidence should never be mis-taken for expertise The skills needed to model photorealistic cars and planes arecompletely different from those needed to model realistic human beings Havingexperience in one area does not make you adept in all areas, and even the mosttalented artist will struggle when working outside of his comfort zone

The bottom line is that we all need a little help now and then And this ter provides it in droves For new users, these tips can make the wall look morelike a curve For experienced users, they can help get the job done faster.Whether you’re just beginning your climb up the wall or you’ve been modelinglike a pro for years, the tips in this chapter will meet you where you’re at andprovide a valuable resource for years to come

chap-— Steve Warner

General Tips

263 Steve Warner | General Tips | Beginner

Point Info Window

You can use Modeler’s Point Info window (“i” keyboard shortcut) to tively adjust the position of selected points in your object In this regard, thePoint Info window functions like an interactive version of the Set Value tool.But it can be used for much more than setting global point positions If you’ve

interac-103

ever dealt with two or more points that overlap but are not welded, you knowthat moving one but not the other can be difficult With the Point Info tool, how-ever, you can select just the point you want to move and adjust its x, y, and zcoordinates.

Versions: 6-8

264 Robin Wood | General Tips | All Levels

Don’t Overlook Point Info

Don’t overlook the Point Info panel Just select the points you want to workwith, and tap “i” on your keyboard to bring it up From here, you can examine oredit anything you like about all of those points or any number of them, includingtheir position in x, y, z space and the attributes they hold in any vertex map theyare part of (color and alpha for color maps, U or V value for UV maps, etc.).You can also examine but not change other information, such as the number ofpolys that share that point

When you open the panel, each selected point will be labeled in the

viewports, so it’s easy to see exactly which ones you are working with

There’s similar information for polys, too Just select them and tap “i” tofind out their type, how many points they have, and their flatness, surface, andwireframe colors

These two panels are perfect places to check when you suspect that you havemultiple points or polys and can’t select them individually (you can, once you’re

in here) or when you need to change the values of a raft of points simultaneously

or set values for several axes at once, or do other examinations and tions (especially now that the dynamics will read all the VMaps) This is the oneplace where you can easily find out which points are used in which maps andwhat their values are!

modifica-Versions: 6.5-8

265 William “Proton” Vaughan, Wes “kurv” Beckwith | General Tips | All Levels

Black Wireframe Shade

If you would like to see your object with black wireframe shade, simplycopy the object into another layer and put it in the background with your originalobject in the foreground There you have it — black wireframe shade

Alternatively, LightWave 8 has added texture wireframe mode in which youcan make your wireframes any color To do this, simply change the sketch color

in the Detail tab Remember, if nothing is selected in LightWave that is the same

as everything being selected Having said that you can also select specific polys

on which to change the wireframe colors

Versions: All

General Tips

266 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | General Tips | All Levels

Easy on Your Wrist

Using a Wacom or other digitizing tablet when you’re dragging points ismuch easier on the wrist than using a mouse — “tap-and-drag” vs

“click-hold-drag-release.”

Versions: All

Scanning and Setup

267 Jennifer Hachigian | Scanning and Setup | Beginner

Cel-shaded Modeling

When modeling a cel-shaded model, use an actual drawing as your modelsheet instead of referencing a photograph or trying to model without reference.Scan the drawing, load it in as a backdrop image, and try to match the contoursand proportions of the drawing with your model Leave out the details that thedrawing leaves out For example, if the model sheet does not depict nostrils forthe character, do not model nostrils Otherwise, the character model will notmatch the drawing LightWave’s Edges and Super Cel Shader cannot add orremove detail to a model; they can only trace existing polygonal edges and sim-plify the shading This is why loading up a photorealistic humanoid model andslapping edges and a cel shader onto it does not often deliver the look of a genu-inely good drawing

all backdrops.

Versions: 5-8

ÜNote: This is important because when you save your file LightWave does not save the backdrops with

it If you are like me you may have done this once or twice and wanted to shoot someone…

Modeling | 105

Scanning and Setup

269 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels

Using Reference Images

When modeling something with reference images, I have found that it helps

to use the Sketch tool to trace the image This way I end up with a 3D sketchthat I can use in the Background layer and have it show up in the Perspectiveview

Versions: 6-8

271 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels

Mapping an Image on a Polygon

If you would like your reference image to show up in the Perspective dow, simply map the image to a flat polygon In Texture view mode, the imagewill show up in the Perspective view

win-Versions: All

272 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels

Breasts and Butts

At some point you’re probably going to want to model a woman Here is atip I wish I had known when creating my first few female models When youwant to model areas that need to be smooth and round, like a butt or breast,place a ball object in the background layer to use as a guide This has saved meseveral times when creating character models, but is not limited to butts andbreasts (I just love to type those words whenever I can :))

274 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | Object Construction | All Levels

Work Smart, Not Hard

If something is only going to be seen in silhouette, only model its silhouette

Versions: 5-8

ÜNote: This does not work with the Modify tools

276 Kevin Phillips | Object Construction | Beginner

Work Flow — Colorful Wireframe Welding

I was modeling a WWII aircraft in which I was joining the wings onto thefuselage of the model What was difficult was that in wireframe mode, thingsgot quite confusing — to say the least! The same color wireframe for both fuse-lage and wing, lines and points everywhere — surely there was an easier way.Luckily, I was able to make my life a little easier by selecting all the wingpolygons, then selecting the Detail>Sketch Color option and setting my wingsketch color to be red, rather then the default gray Once I had the different colorapplied, I switched the viewport to Color Wireframe Now that I could see eachpart in a different color, it made selecting the right points a lot easier!

Versions: 7.5-7.5c

277 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate

Speed Screen Redraw

If you don’t need to see your model in SubPatch mode, you can speed upscreen redraw considerably by tapping the Tab key to return your model toFaces

If only part of the model is using SubPatches, you can assign all the polysyou want to be SubPatched to a part using the Create Part button (in LightWave7.x: Display>Selection>Grouping>Change Part Name…) That will let youselect them easily (from the Polygon Statistics>Part: menu) when you are ready

to toggle them back (The only caveat is that you cannot assign polys to morethan one part So, if you’re using parts for something else, you may not want to

do this.)

Versions: 6.5-8

Modeling | 107

Object Construction

278 Steve Warner, Kevin Phillips | Object Construction | Beginner

Work Flow — Hide Selected and Unselected

If you are working on complex meshes where hunting for that elusive point,edge, or poly gets difficult, or Modeler starts to become sluggish, select all thenon-necessary polys and press the – key to hide them and make your life a littleeasier! (Alternatively, pressing the = key will hide the non-selected polys.)Once you’re done, pressing the backslash key (\) will unhide the polys.This will also help you isolate the area you’re working on, which can beextremely helpful when working in the orthographic views in version 7.5 or ear-lier (as they lack LightWave 8.0’s new Hidden Line view mode)

Holding down the Shift key while pressing the backslash will toggle

between hidden and unhidden Thanks to Robin Wood for making me aware ofthis keyboard tip!

Versions: 6-8

279 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate

Save Ephemera for Later Adjustment

Sometimes while you’re working you’ll wish that you could go back andadjust a Boolean, lathe, extraction, etc., without losing the work you’ve done onthe other parts of the model since To make it easy to do that, save all those bits

in a “working” file

Just open a new file, append “working” to the name, and copy and paste allBooleans, outlines, curves, and other ephemera into it Save as soon as it’spasted, so you won’t lose anything Then, if you need them at any time (evenweeks or months later), you’ll still have all those parts and won’t have to recre-ate them

Versions: 6.5-8

280 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate

The Measure Tools Are Your Friends

Don’t be afraid to use the Measure tools and do a little arithmetic They cansave you tons of time

Measure, Angle, and PointCenter are found under Detail>Measure (or struct>Utility in LightWave 7.x) (If you’re on a PC or using LW 8, you mayhave others as well, including Find Center and Bounding Box.) Measure andAngle give you a positionable blue line while showing the length or angle in theInfo Display PointCenter gives you the coordinates of the average of all

Con-selected points (or all visible points, if none are Con-selected) Find Center puts anew point in the center of a selected poly, and Bounding Box gives you the coor-dinates of a bounding box that encloses everything on the layer (and alsoreplaces it all with a simple box if you click OK, so be careful)

Object Construction

Using them, you can determine the measurements for clones and arrays, thecorrect angles of a gemstone to get the best internal reflections for the refractionindex, the exact spot to use for the center of a radial array, and many, many morethings.

Versions: 6.5-8

281 Robin Wood | Object Construction | All Levels

A Little Math Can Save a Lot of Time

A little bit of math can often save a lot of time Not just simple arithmetic,like figuring out angles of rotation, etc., but actual equations

If you don’t know the equation for something, sometimes it’s faster to look it

up on the web than to try to find the correct numbers through trial and error.For instance, use the Pythagorean equation (a2+b2= c2) to find the cloningsettings for a row of balls with a radius of 1 m so they’ll line up like unbrokenpool balls (1 m on the x-axis, and 1.732 on the z) Use it again to find the set-tings to stack those spheres like cannon balls (x=1, y=1.633, z=.5774, thendelete the ones you don’t need) Use C=pD to find out how far a wheel with adiameter of 1 m should travel for each complete rotation (3.14159 m) Andthat’s just a few of the useful equations! Remember, calculators and the NumericRequester are your friends

Which do you like better when animating:

1 Robot: Layer1 (unnamed layer)

2 Robot: Left Arm (named layer)

Simply double-click on the name (default name is Unnamed) in the Layerpanel (Ctrl+F5) This really comes in handy when you are trying to find a partic-ular object in a scene and you can’t remember what layer the robot’s arm is in

In a simple scene this might not be so important, but in a complex scene full ofobjects this becomes very important

Also, while you have the Layer panel open to name your layer, you couldparent the layer as well, which will save you time in Layout

Versions: All

Modeling | 109

Layers

283 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels

The Power of Layers

When modeling, I find it very useful to copy my work into the next availablelayer every few minutes to save a backup of my work By doing this I never runout of undos and I save my steps along the way It’s also very useful to pull one

of these steps (layers) for use with a new model that has similar geometry.For example, a head model pulled in an early stage can easily be modeledinto a completely new model, thus saving hours of work in some cases

Versions: All

ÜNote: Object Collapse in LightWave 8 does this in one step

286 Steve Warner | Layers | Beginner

Layers in LW 8

Modeler 8 includes some nice new layer tools (which can be found in theView tab), including the ability to merge layers or collapse them into a newobject But what if you want to redistribute parts of your object after you’ve col-lapsed it? Do yourself a favor and surf on over to http://cgi.f23.aaacafe.ne.jp/

~fisjunk/plugin/plugin.php to pick up a copy of Fi’s CrackIt Pack It includesthree plug-ins: CrackIt, Merge High Layers, and Distribute (each of which iscross-platform compatible) The real gem in this plug-in set is the Distributetool It will take any polys that do not share points (in other words, distinctobjects whose points are not welded together) and place them on separate layers.Let’s say you have a character The hair, shoes, shirt, and pants are all separateobjects from the body By using the Distribute tool, you can place each of theseobjects on separate layers for easy editing Then use either Merge High Layers

or Modeler 8’s new layer tools to rejoin them

Versions: 6-8

Layers

287 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels

Locking Layers

Using the Layers panel allows you to lock layers (just click in the eyeballcolumn) Locking layers appears to do nothing in Modeler but it will stop thoselayers from loading objects into Layout I like to leave my Boolean objects (thecutting objects) in my model but lock them off so they won’t load into Layout.This can be very useful for storing unwanted geometry for Layout in the model

Versions: 6-8

Selection

288 Larry Shultz | Selection | Beginner

Basic Selecting and Deselecting

LightWave Modeler supports two types of basic primitives or elements —points and polygons In order to be able to create a model, it is important toknow how to select and deselect those elements At the bottom left of the Mod-eler screen you will see a button labeled Point and another labeled Polygons It

is important to be in the proper “mode” to select points or polygons

In point mode you can select a single point by putting the cursor or mousepointer over the point and clicking the left mouse button This will select a point

If you keep the button depressed and don’t let go, you can move the cursor overother points and continue selecting more points If for some reason you let go ofthe left mouse button, you can continue selecting by holding down the Shift keyand using the left mouse button as usual This works the same way for points orpolygons

There are three ways to deselect Simply let go of the left mouse button andclick on a selected point or polygon and it will deselect it Click the left mousebutton anywhere in a blank spot in the gray border surrounding the activeviewport or press the / (forward slash) key to deselect all the selected points andpolys

Group select points or polygons by clicking the right mouse button and ing it down, then draw a blue line around or lasso what is needed Deselect thesame way described above or lasso deselect with the right mouse button

hold-Versions: 5-8

289 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee, Steve Warner, Wes “kurv” Beckwith | Selection | All Levels

Selecting and Deselecting

Modeler’s tools work only on the points/polys you have selected You canisolate sections of your model by selecting them; tools such as Drag will ignoreall but the selected points/polys/patches Remember that if nothing is selected,Modeler often assumes everything is selected

Versions: All

Modeling | 111

Selection

290 Dave Jerrard, Rob Powers | Selection | Beginner

Always Select

In Modeler, the middle mouse button acts as an “always select” tool

Normally, you use the left button to select points or polygons As long as youdon’t release the button, it will continue to select them as you drag the mousearound, but once you let go, you need to use the Shift key to continue selecting

or the cursor will start deselecting By alternating between the left and middlemouse buttons you can select and deselect without ever having to touch thekeyboard

Versions: 7-8

291 Robin Wood | Selection | Beginner

Selecting the End Caps

When you make certain primitives, for instance the disk (which makes acylinder), you may find that you want to select the end caps for one reason oranother Assuming that you’re working with the Polygon Statistics window open(which I highly recommend), you can select them both with a single click byclicking the + next to “>4 Vertices.” That will select all the polygons that havemore than four points, which in this case means the end caps

The Statistics window, in fact, is a great way to select all kinds of things,which is why it’s handy to have it there at all times You can select by surface,part, type, number of vertices, wireframe color — all kinds of ways

Versions: 6.5-8

292 Robin Wood | Selection | Beginner to Intermediate

Select Polys by Normal

If you want to select polys that have their normals visible from only oneaxis, change to one of the shaded modes in the appropriate viewport, and use thelasso (right mouse button) Only the visible polys will be selected (You mayneed to do this in several steps, depending on the shape of your object.)

Versions: 6-8

294 Robin Wood | Selection | Beginner

Select Objects from Tightly Packed Groups

If you want to select a number of complete objects from a closely packedgroup, all you have to do is draw a lasso with the right mouse button that catches

Selection

some polys from each object, and then press the ] key (right bracket) to select allthe polys in that object.

Versions: 6.5-8

295 Steve Warner | Selection | Beginner

Making Complex Selections with

Expand and Contract Selection

The expand and contract

selec-tions (} and {, respectively) are

terrific ways to select points and

polys in hard-to-reach areas, such as

the innermost edge loop of a

charac-ter’s eyelid Simply select the polys

close to the area you want selected,

then choose to expand or contract the

selection Oftentimes by using a

combination of these (for example,

expanding several times to include

all the polys you want, then

contract-ing to limit the range) you can get

just the polys you want selected

without having to hide entire parts of

your object

Versions: 6-8

296 Leigh van der Byl, William “Proton” Vaughan,

Eki Halkka | Selection | All Levels

Selecting Polygons by Their Surfaces

This may sound like a bit of a

stupid tip, but I actually find myself

using it often If you have a single

model that has a number of different

surfaces assigned to it, you might

find yourself wanting to select

poly-gons according to the surface that is

assigned to them, without having to

painstakingly select each polygon

one by one

To select polygons by their

sur-faces, simply open up the Polygon

Statistics window by pressing “w”

when in Polygon mode (Ctrl+h)

Modeling | 113

Selection

The third item from the bottom of the panel is Surf Clicking on the littlearrow to the right of the Surf label brings up a list of all the surfaces that areassigned to the model currently displayed in your viewports.

Select a surface from the list The name of the surface then appears next tothe Surf label Clicking on the little + symbol to the left of the Surf label thenselects all the polygons to which that particular surface is applied

Versions: 6.5-8

Selection

297 William “Proton” Vaughan | Selection | All Levels

BandSaw Tool for Selection

Besides being a great tool for cutting geometry, BandSaw is great for ing bands (loops) Select a few polygons in the loop and run BandSaw Makesure Enable Divide is unchecked and click OK BandSaw will select the loopwithout performing any cut

select-Versions: All

ÜNote: Select Loop in LightWave 8 does the same thing but only if the selected polys are adjacent

(BandSaw doesn’t care.)

298 Leigh van der Byl | Selection | Intermediate

Using Parts

Parts in Modeler are one of those funny little features that nobody ever tions Basically they are groups of polygons (selections) that you can save foreasy reselection at a later stage I use parts a lot, especially when setting upthings like morph targets in Modeler, where I often find myself having toreselect areas such as the jaw of a character or the brows or the entire mouth,etc Having to reselect all the polygons in a certain area every time you want toadjust it again is a real pain This is where the Parts feature comes in handy.Let’s look at an example I have a character’s head that I am making morphtargets with With each of the morphs, I need to move the lower jaw around.Obviously, having to constantly reselect that entire area every time I want tomove it to a new position is going to make me very irritable

men-However, I can save this selection as a part, so that I can

reselect it at the touch of a button later on To save this selection

as a part, go to the View tab in Modeler and click on the Create

Part button under the Selection Sets heading

Modeling | 115

Selection

A window pops up into which I can enter a name for the part For this ular instance I simply use the name “lower jaw.” Now, at a later stage when Iwant to select those polygons, all I need to do is hit “w” when in Polygon mode(Ctrl+h) to bring up the Polygon Statistics panel Second from the bottom in thispanel is the Part label Clicking on the little triangle to the right of the labelgives me a list of all the parts I have assigned to the model that is visible in myviewports.

partic-I can then select that part and hit the little + symbol to the left of the Partlabel in the Polygon Statistics window to actually select that part

Versions: 6.5-8

299 Robin Wood | Selection | All Levels

Putting Polys in More than One Part

Ever wish you could have polys in more than one part? Well, you can’t dothat, of course, but in LightWave 8 you can get the same result by using one ofthe new Selection tools and the well-known ability to have points in multipleselection sets

Just select the polys you want for a part, and then use Sel Switch (View>Selection: More) to choose the points that are connected to those polys Make aselection set using either the VMap bar or the Selection Sets button (View>Selection Sets: Selection Sets) Do this for each extra part you want

When you want to use them, simply reverse the process Click the + in thePoint Statistics panel for the selection set, and then Sel Switch to change to thepolys for those points And there you are — all the polys neatly selected andready to go, with the very same poly in as many sets as you like

polygons is to use Change Sketch Color (Detail>Polygons>Change SketchColor) This tool works on selected polygons/volumes If no geometry isselected, it will color all of the polygons at once.

Another way to color the polygons is to select the polygons that you want tocolor, press “i” to bring up the Info panel for those polygons (Display>Selec-tion>Info), then select the color that you want for those polygons from the Colordrop-down list Once you have added color to your polygons, you can thenreselect those polygons from the Polygon Statistics panel in the Color section

In LightWave 8, the button for the Info panel is found at the bottom of theModeler interface

Versions: 6-8

302 Steve Warner | Selection | Beginner

Volume Select Modes

If you right-click when using the Volume Select tool in Modeler, you candrag out an irregular shaped selection area This works with both the Include andExclude modes In LightWave 8, the Volume Select modes have been removedfrom the interface, but they can still be accessed via the Ctrl+j keyboard shortcut(hit once for Exclude and twice for Include)

Versions: 6-8

303 Robin Wood | Selection | Beginner to Intermediate

Find the Center of Any Selection on the Fly

It’s easy to automatically load the center of a selection into the NumericalRequester so you can perform precise operations on an object To do so, makesure the Numerical Requester is open, set the mode to Action Center: Selection,and perform any interactive operation

When you do, the numbers in Center X, Y, Z fields will change to show thatcenter Undo the action, and the numbers will persist Now, just enter the

Modeling | 117

Selection

numbers you need into the Angle, Size, or whatever fields The operation willoccur around the center of the selection.

Versions: 6.5-8

304 Robin Wood | Selection | Beginner

See Your Model Selection-Free Without Losing It

You can toggle back and forth between points and polys without losing yourselection in either one This means that if you are working with polys selectedand you want to see what the model looks like without the distracting yellowlines, all you have to do is tap the Spacebar to toggle to Point selection Thelines vanish Take a good look, then tap again (Tap three times in 7.x to gothrough the Volume settings.) Your poly selection is intact, waiting for you toresume work

Versions: 6.5-8

Copy/Paste

305 William “Proton” Vaughan | Copy/Paste | All Levels

Special Paste Method

Here’s a simple technique for pasting geometry to ensure that it lines up withexisting geometry:

1 Select the geometry that you want to copy

2 Move the geometry to the new location

3 Select Copy

4 Select Undo to move the geometry back to its original position

5 Select Paste (7.5) or Paste in Place (8)

Versions: 7.5-8

ÜNote: This will paste the new geometry where the original geometry was placed before the undo and

at the time it was copied This method will allow you to copy/paste without moving the original points

(which are sometimes attached to other geometry) When you select something, then copy and paste, the

originalitem remains selected So if you move it, you’re moving the original, not the copy

306 Larry Shultz, Jennifer Hachigian | Copy/Paste | Beginner to Intermediate

Getting Rid of Duplicate Geometry

Sometimes when teaching modeling to new students I find someone who is alittle heavy-handed with the paste key when doing a copy/paste with polygons orsplines If the paste key is held down too long or someone forgets that theyalready pasted something in and pastes it in again, this creates duplicate geome-try, which can interfere with a number of operations in Modeler Since the newgeometry is exactly on top of the old geometry, it’s hard to tell just by looking.Sometimes you can see that you appear to have a single poly or spline selectedbut the selection field at the bottom left of the Modeler screen indicates youhave more then one poly or spline selected You may also notice that when

Copy/Paste

selecting an object you have more geometry selected than your object appears tohave; for example, a cube has six sides but when all the polys are selected Mod-eler indicates that you have more then six polys selected If this happens, here’s

a simple way to fix the problem:

1 Hit the “m” key (merge points) — If you get the message that x number of

points were eliminated, that’s a good indicator that you did have duplicategeometry

2 Hit Shift+i (Unify) — This gets rid of duplicate geometry occupying theexact same space Again, if it indicates that so many polys or splines wereremoved, you did have duplicate geometry

Versions: 5-8

Create Primitives

307 Larry Shultz | Create Primitives | Beginner

Primitive Objects and the Numeric Panel

When building objects in Modeler there are several primitives you can createsuch as boxes, spheres, cylinders, and so on Much of the time drawing themfreehand is fine for many tasks, but sometimes you need more precise controlover placement, dimensions, etc This can be done by hitting the “n” key(numeric panel) This brings up a panel with many more options for precisioncontrol I usually keep this window open all the time

Versions: 5-8

308 Steve Warner | Create Primitives | Beginner

Easily Correcting Mistakes

If you’ve made a box or other primitive shape that’s the perfect size and thenrealize that you need changes (i.e., more segments, rounded edges, etc.), deletethe shape, then reselect the tool However, rather than clicking/dragging in theinterface to get the new shape, go to the numeric panel and use the Actionsdrop-down to select the Activate option This will bring up your last used set-tings, making it easy to create the same shape with the minor revisions

Versions: 6.5-7.5

Modeling | 119

Create Primitives

310 Robin Wood | Create Primitives | Beginner

Make a Symmetrical Primitive with a Single Click and Drag

If you’ve been working in Modeler for a while, and your Perspectiveviewport has some, well, perspective, you can make a symmetrical primitivewith a single stroke Just choose your primitive, hold down the Ctrl key, anddrag in the Perspective viewport It will drag out in three dimensions at once

To see what size you’re making, keep your eye on the Info area in the tom-left corner of the screen It’ll show the width, height, and depth of yourobject

bot-Versions: 6.5-8

311 Robin Wood | Create Primitives | Beginner

Duplicate Primitives While Making Them

If you know that you are going to need several primitives with the samedimensions, create one, and then click and drag the cyan cross in the center withyour right mouse button to make and place as many more as you need

Versions: 6.5-8

Points/Polygons

312 William “Proton” Vaughan | Points/Polygons | All Levels

Creating a Cluster of One-point Polygons

LightWave gives the user many ways to go about creating an object or effect.You can use the Spray Point’s tool to create a cluster of one-point polygons, but

if you would like to limit the cluster to an exact polygon count, follow thesesteps:

Modeler also supports other types of polygons:

Point polygons (made of just one point)

Line polygons (made of two points)

N-sided polygons (made of more than four points)

Triangles, quadrangles, line polygons, and N-sided polygons can be directly ated using the Pen tool (Create>Polygons>Pen):

cre-1 Select the Pen tool

2 Left-click on a view to create polygon points

Points/Polygons

3 Continue left-clicking in the desired positions to create subsequent polygonpoints.

4 Finalize by deselecting the Pen tool (Spacebar)

To create triangles and quadrangles you can also use the Make Polygon mand (Create>Polygons>Make Polygon) on the currently selected points:

com-1 Select the Points tool (Create>Points>Points)

2 Right-click on a view to create as many points as you want

3 If you want to move the current new point, left-click and drag it around

4 Finalize by deselecting the Point tool (Spacebar)

5 Without deselecting the points just created, use the Make Polygon command(standard hotkey “p”)

Versions: 7-8

314 William “Proton” Vaughan | Points/Polygons | All Levels

Two-Point Polygon Chains

Here is a quick way to create two-point poly chains:

1 Create a flat plane with as many segments in one axis as you would likeusing the Box tool

2 Lasso select one edge of the flat plane and delete them

You are now left with a row of two-point polys This is your two-point gon chain

poly-Versions: All

Curves

315 Robin Wood | Curves | Beginner to Intermediate

Using the Bezier Tool

When you’re using the Bezier tool, all the points are corner points bydefault If you want the points to be smooth points instead, just hold down theCtrl key as you drag the handles This allows you to shape the curve just likeyou would in Illustrator

You can control how many points are in each curve segment with the spinner

in the Numeric panel (The arrows don’t change the segments with this tool;instead you can use them to pan right, left, up, or down Shift+arrow pans alarger amount.)

Versions: 6.5-8

Modify, Translate, Rotate

316 Steve Warner | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Beginner

Modifying Complex Objects

Often when you’re using one of Modeler’s Modify tools (such as Drag,Move, Rotate, etc.), you can inadvertently tweak a part of the model you neverintended to modify This is especially true when you’re working in SubPatch

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Curves

mode and several points lie in close proximity to one another To limit yourmodification to just the polys you want, select those polys first This will essen-tially lock the modification to the polys you choose.

Versions: 6-8

317 Robin Wood | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Beginner

Modify Tools All Have Falloff

When you’re using the Modify tools, don’t forget that most of them ing things like Move, Drag, and Snap) have Falloff settings If the default is

(includ-“none” it won’t be as obvious in the Numeric panel, but it’s still there

So, if you want to place a ball exactly into a socket, for example, you don’thave to eyeball it, you don’t have to measure, and you don’t have to use theAlignment tool (which won’t work when the bounding boxes must intersect any-way) Instead, just select all the points or polys you need to move, make sure thetarget point is also in a foreground layer, grab the Snap-Drag tool (“G”), set thePoint Set to Connected Points, and snap the ball right in!

Versions: 6.5-8

318 Larry Shultz | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Beginner

Falloff Controls for Modeling Tools

One of the nice features that I like to use in Modeler is the falloff controlsfor any of the tools that belong to the Modify tab With these tools we can move,rotate, stretch, and so forth with a lot more options such as Linear, Radial, Point,Polygon, Point Radial, and Weight Map I use the Weight Map falloff optionwhen creating facial morph targets because I can create a weight map for thelower jaw and have falloff as the weight map extends away from the jaw When

I rotate the jaw open with the Rotate tool, I get a nice skin-like falloff rather than

a group of polys simply rotating as a strict group The Falloff button is located inthe Numeric panel (“n” key) and appears when most of the tools under theModify tab are selected

Versions: 6-8

319 Dave Jerrard | Modify, Translate, Rotate | All Levels

Constraining Tools

The Modify tools, like Move, Drag, Rotate, Bend, etc., can be constrained

by using the middle mouse button Move tools (Shear, Drag, Dragnet, etc.) can

be constrained to a single axis, Rotate tools (Bend, Twist, etc.) to 15-degreeincrements, and Stretch tools (Stretch, Taper2, Pole, etc.) to one or two axes,depending on the direction the mouse first moves when the middle mouse button

320 William “Proton” Vaughan | Modify, Translate, Rotate | All Levels

Jump Points

Select some points and place your cursor at the location to which you wouldlike the points to move Select “j” on the keyboard; the last selected point willmove to the cursor location, moving the others proportionally with it

Versions: All

321 Robin Wood | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Beginner

Using the Bend Tool (and Other Similar Tools)

The various Modify tools, like Bend, Twist, Vortex, and so on, all work byplacing the cursor in the viewport perpendicular to the one in which you wantthe modification to take place, just like you would with the Rotate tool

So, to bend this flower petal, select the polys (or points) you want to modify,place the Bend tool in the Top viewport, and carefully drag it toward the top,making sure that the polys remain aligned (Symmetry will help with this, ifyou’re bending something that has it.)

Modeling | 123

Modify, Translate, Rotate

Place the tool in the viewport perpendicular to the desired motion

To bend the bottom part in the opposite direction, select the desired gons, and click on the other Shape wedge in the Numeric panel That changesthe direction of the bend When you find that the polys you want to anchor yourbend are bending, while the ones you wanted to move are anchored, click on thisbutton.

poly-Then move to the Top viewport again, and fully drag in the direction you want the curve to go; inthis case, down (toward –Z.)

Modify, Translate, Rotate

… and drag carefully in the desired direction to bend the object.

Click the Shape button to

change which polys remain

still and which curve to form

To bend the sides of the petal up, select them and drag in the Right viewport.You get the picture.

Modeling | 125

Modify, Translate, Rotate

Drag again to complete the bottom part of the bend.

Continue to drag in the viewport perpendicular to the desired bend.

All of these tools work this way You can twist the petal by using the Twisttool in the Right viewport, and so on, to give the petal any shape you want.Then tap the Tab key to SubPatch it, and you’ll have a lovely, smooth petal.

Simply select the points you want to line up in the correct viewport Thenchoose the Stretch tool, choose where you want the points to line up to, holddown the Ctrl key, right-click and hold your mouse, and move the mouse untilall the points are in a line Voilà!

Also, if you know the exact position where you want the points to line up,you can simply tap “v” (or go to Detail>Points>Set Value in either 7.5 or 8.0) toopen the Set Value dialog that allows you to choose an axis, and type in thevalue For instance, you can place all the points at –.5 m on the x-axis by choos-ing x as the axis in the dialog and typing –.5 into the field Hit OK, and it’sdone!

if you don’t Choose your reference to determine where the object will end upafter the resizing operation, and what you would like to use for the Action Cen-ter (This works the way most tools of this sort work in LightWave For instance,

if you choose Bounding Box for the reference, and Xc, Y-, Zc, the object willshrink (or grow) from the bottom center of a bounding box that describes its out-ermost points on the three axes.) Then pick your size in X, Y, and/or Z

Modify, Translate, Rotate

If you are using Locked, change the size on the axis that’s most important.You won’t see the others change in the dialog, but they’ll change when youclose it, so don’t worry Like most numerical entry fields in LightWave, thesewill do the math for you For example, if you know you want the object to behalf the current size, you can just append “/2” to the size.

Click OK, and your object will be exactly the size you need — just like that

Versions: 6.5-8

324 Larry Shultz | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Beginner

Spline Guide Tool

The Spline Guide tool is great for bending and distorting objects in a number

In the following figure I show a grid object that is displaced into hills or bubbles

by using the Crumple procedural set to Inverse

Versions: 6-8

Modeling | 127

Modify, Translate, Rotate

326 William “Proton” Vaughan | Modify, Translate, Rotate | All Levels

Model with Dynamics

If you need to model a set of curtains or a tablecloth draped over a table, trydynamics Use Motion Designer (LW 7) or Cloth FX (LW 8) and use a flat, seg-mented polygon Apply cloth dynamics to it and pick the frame you think looksbest for your model Use Save Transformed and the deformed object will besaved out ready to use Easy as 1, 2, 3:

1 Model base object

If the Display SubPatch Level is set to 1 or higher, Save Transformed willsave out a frozen polygonal object instead at the subdivided level specified inDisplay SubPatch Level

Versions: 6-7.5

Modify, Translate, Rotate

Using the Textured Point tool to displace the grid’s points into hills using the Crumple

procedural.

Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken

328 Jennifer Hachigian | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | Intermediate

Seashell Tool Tricks

Use the Seashell tool (Multiply>Extend>Seashell) to model the side of thescroll of a violin Start with a two-point polygon offset from the origin Use theSeashell tool to form a diminishing spiral of four-point polygons Use the UnifyPolygons tool (Shift+i or Construct>Reduce>Unify Polygons) to eliminateredundant polygons Then extrude the spiral

included on the CD that comes with this book, but can also be downloaded athttp://www.3dfightclub.com/~jettocrack/ (JettoBevel and JettoFillet will work

on both the Mac and PC JettoLocal is for the PC only.)

Versions: 6-8

330 Steve Warner | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | Beginner

Edge Beveling

LightWave 8 includes a new edge bevel tool called Rounder This tool makes

it easy to add small, uniform bevels to an entire object For users who do notupgrade to LightWave 8, however, the freely available KZ Mentory, which can

be found at http://www.p-island.com/factory/, is a nice alternative Place a copy

of your object in a background layer, then run the Mentory plug-in You will bepresented with a requester asking for the size of bevel you wish to create Add asize and hit OK and a new beveled version of your object will be created

Versions: 6-8

331 Steve Warner | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | Beginner

Take Your Model from Average to Great!

Beveled edges often determine the difference between an average model and

a great one Thankfully, LightWave 8 includes new tools to solve the most mon beveling problems For those not upgrading, however, here’s a straightfor-ward technique for creating these rounded corners

com-Modeling | 129

Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken

Place your original poly in a background layer Using the Disc tool, drag out

a small perfect circle The size of this circle will be used to determine the radiusfor the new rounded edge Position copies of this disc at each corner of yourobject or at any joint you feel needs rounding (Corners that are greater than 90degrees may require you to scale the size of your disc object.)

The top and side point of each disc should land directly on top of the ground poly (as shown in the previous image) When each disc has been put intoposition, select the points that form the arc around the corner of your back-ground poly Cut these points, delete the remains of the disc objects, and pastethe points back into your original polygon’s layer The following figure showsthese points with the original poly in the background

back-Kill your original poly so that only the points are left, then delete the pointsthat made up the original hard-angled edges Now, go back and select the points

of your poly in a clockwise fashion Hit the “p” key to create a new polygon

Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken

You can extrude this object to get smooth, rounded edges, as shown below.

practice, you’ll get the gist of its requirements See Essential LightWave 3D 8

for more information.)

Versions: 6-8

Modeling | 131

Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken

333 William “Proton” Vaughan | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | All Levels

Extrude to Thicken

An easy way to give thickness to a pipe, pants, and shirt that are made up ofonly single-sided polygons is to follow these steps:

1 Select the geometry you would like to thicken

2 Extrude the geometry away from the base geometry

3 Select the new geometry and move it back on top of the base

4 With the geometry still selected, use Smooth Scale to shift the geometryin/out away from the base

And there you have it — thickness as promised

Versions: 6-8

ÜNote: This method works best with organic objects

ÜNote: Third-party tools like Thicken and Pump_it do the same thing

334 Larry Shultz | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | Beginner

Making an Object Thick

To make an object thick, copy the object and hit the “f” key (Flip) This willflip the polys the other direction

Smooth Shift the object slightly to create an edge around it Now paste in the

original object and hit the “m” key (Point Merge)

Versions: 5-8

Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken

Versions: 5-8

336 Steve Warner | Rail Extrude | Beginner

Carl Merritt’s Align to Rail

The Rail Extrude tool requires you to place your template poly at the firstpoint of your spline guide That’s easy if your spline is perfectly aligned to thex-, y-, or z-axis But if it’s not, the alignment can be a real pain And if you’regoing to be repeating this process on multiple rails, it can really eat at your pro-ductivity To resolve this, pick up a copy of Carl Merritt’s Align to Rail plug-infrom http://www.m2estudios.com/plugins.html This handy tool will locate thefirst point in your spline and align your template poly to it It will then go on toprovide its own Rail Extrude interface, making the entire process a no-brainer

Versions: 6-8

Modeling | 133

Rail Extrude