These buttons create Procedural Geometry versions of unit primitives; ideal if you just need a ground plane (use the Grid primitive) or placeholder objects that are completely scene-based
Pipeline, Assets and I/O
Alembic 1.8.6 Update - Now supports particle loading/saving for Houdinin/RealFlow simulations.
Unreal Bridge 5.3/5.4
Documentation
New documentation features:
Searchable
Dark and light options
Responsive (works on mobile and tablet)
The start of integrated docs including 2020
Documentation build system
Layout
Animation & Rigging:
RHiggit-We are thrilled to announce the integration of a fully updated RHiggit into LightWave 3D, now rebranded as LW RHiggit. This powerful rigging tool brings advanced capabilities to LightWave 3D, enabling users to create complex character rigs with ease and efficiency.
WeightBrush - Introducing WeightBrush, a powerful new tool for LightWave 3D that revolutionizes the way you create and manipulate weight maps directly in the layout. This innovative tool provides live, intuitive control over weight maps, enhancing your ability to fine-tune character rigging, instancing, surfacing, and more.
Geometry Nodes
Procedural Geometry Nodes Presets - The ability to save presets in geo nodes means we can supply you with great starting points for complex Geo Node set-ups such as Tendril.
Thicken - Thicken allows a generated mesh to have thickness, such as a pipe or walls of an open box. Automatically add thickness to a real-time Boolean object direct in layout. Thicken also gives you animatable controls, so you can change thickness over time.
Lathe - Lathe as the name suggests, rotate/spin geometry around an axis. Controls for number of revolutions, number of segments, and even an offset for creating screw/spiral geometry.
Tendril/Hyperpaint/Branch - Tendril is a set of advanced procedural geometry tools for LightWave 3D, designed to enhance creative workflows. It leverages two (2) new ProGeo nodes (Hyperpaint and Branch) to generate dynamic shapes and effects. Realtime painting of Tendrils / Vines over time and over Geometry, perfect for architecture, advertising, films and TV shows. Create time-lapse sequences, motion graphics, and more.
Flow (UP) - Unified Physics - With the inclusion of Flow, we bring you the ability to create variable viscosity fluids - from liquid pouring into a glass, water splashing onto the floor, to jelly cubes bouncing and deforming in real-time.
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Please note that Flow is currently only available for Windowss/Nvidia systems due to the lack of Flex for the Mac. A Direct3D version supporting AMD cards may be available shortly
Rendering (Native)
AA improvements (up to 30% quicker)
Clip Map Motion Blur: Improved motion blur for clip maps, enhancing the realism of animations.
Rendering (Octane 2024)
New Octane Photon Tracing kernel, open image in new tab for full 2555 x 4815 resolution. Image courtesy Lewis
Updated Post Processing node to include Lens flares
Modeler
Edge Slide - In free-form modelling, there are times when you need to move a point or edge across a polygon's edge to place the detail or a crease exactly where you need it. LightWave's new Point Slide and Edge slide tools give you that ability. Create wrinkles; change points and edges and get precise bevel placement.
LW Pro Tools
Kit Surfacer - Introducing the Kit Surfacer, a game-changing update for LightWave 3D users looking to save time and streamline their workflow. This innovative tool automates the integration of purchased assets and surfaces, ensuring seamless compatibility and reducing the need for manual adjustments.
Convert T Nodes - Converts 2015-style surfacing into nodes for native, Octane and Unreal
Image Replacement - Replaces images used for surfacing in many ways
Quality of Life Updates
Many fixes, additions, and enhancements to your daily workflow to make your LightWave experience easier:
Consolidate Surfaces
Adding Under Mouse
Mouse wheel zooming
Quick fit all
Drag-n-drop support
Custom colors
Group to compound node
Node presets
Add node shortcuts
Flat node menu
VPR node editor shortcut
Tidy selected nodes
Duplicate nodes
Node connection early rejection
Global Node Graph Tree
Library Updates
OpenVDB Library updated to v11.0-We are excited to announce significant updates to LightWave 3D with the integration of Open VDB 11, upgrading from the previous version 8. This enhancement brings a host of improvements and optimizations to our suite of tools, particularly impacting our flame tool, Turbulence - which can now output to VDB - and water generator, Flow.
