• Teague
  • Teague
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Topic: Lightwave for Beginners

So, Owen was asking me where to get started in 3D.

Since I'm insane, and also like doing tutorials, I'm now going to teach everyone how to use Lightwave. This requires absolutely no history with 3D software at all, much less Lightwave, and is intended to be an accessible ground-up starting point for getting goin' with Lightwave 3D.

Lightwave is available legally for FREE for a 60 day trial, btw. Boom.

This links you to the playlist for what's up so far, it's about an hour or so, teaching you how to use Lightwave at all, what the hell the buttons do, and starting you off on modeling and modeling theory. At the end of this chunk of videos, you will actually know how to model shit in Lightwave, and also how to teach yourself the other modeling tools.

In other words, this is enough to make you quite dangerous.  big_smile

I'd love it if some of the more-bored folks around here would join with us and show your work, ask questions, get better, all of that fun stuff.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Montpellier, France
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

You look so cute on this thumbnail. It's like you're asking us to enter the amazing lightwave ship (which can look tiny like this but is huge on the inside) with you and have fun all across the universe.

Also, you're insane - *like* - I don't think I'll be watching them anytime soon as I'm already learning 3D with Maya at school right now, but it's great.

Sébastien Fraud
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  • From: Alberta
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Challenge accepted.

Twitter

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Since viewing these videos I've attempted a TARDIS (as per homework) and a Pikachu. Neither are particularly great, but only after using the software for a day or so I'm starting to get the hang of it. I still need a lot more practise though!

Gonna take another stab at the TARDIS soon, get it more refined and shove a lot more detail in there. I can see TARDIS's becoming my Lightwave equivalent of lightsabers in AE. For a while, they were pretty much all I could do until something clicked and I suddenly became able to grasp everything else.

TARDIS
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/7043/screenshot20130109at180.png

Pikachu
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/6886/screenshot20130110at180.png

Last edited by Owen_Ward (2013-01-10 18:14:15)

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  • Teague
  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Holy crap. The Pikachu is awesome.

Freaking awesome, man. And I heartily endorsing the TARDIS being your 3D lightsaber.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Thanks a lot! I'm just happy I thought of modelling something and it actually turned out to look somewhat like what I wanted to make.

Google taught me how to colour polygons (for anybody interested, you select the polygons and then press Q to make them a different surface and thus change the colour), so I spiced Pikachu up a bit.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/827/screenshot20130110at185.png

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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I grinned rather hard when I saw this colored Pikachu pop up on my Facebook feed.

Now it's time for TARDIS 2.0, now in technicolor.

(Q allows you to make a new surface for the polygon or choose a different one, btw. So if you already have a surface you like, you select the poly, hit Q, and the drop down will let you pick an existing surface.)

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Thanks for the tip!

Can't promise when the next TARDIS will be due, Stargazing Live is on soon and it may be sleep-time not long after that. I've been up at normal waking hours for once!

Also, I've used the shiny Paypal button on the homepage to send a little something as a thanks for these tutorials.

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  • Spork
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Derpfish!

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/282/spna.png

"To Spork you listen."  - Trey Stokes

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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I'm so psyched at everyone getting onboard with this. Awesome stuff.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Red Deer, AB
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I figure since I'm the one that started this whole lightwave thing around here I should probably post something.

So here's what I've been building for the last 3 days. It doesn't look like much, but I've built that one corner piece about 6 times, all of them using different routes and tools... it's just my learning process, anyways, moving on.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o251/maul2/weightedstoragecube_v0001.png

I can definitely feel myself getting faster and more used to the way lightwave works. So progress is good! Progress is wise!

ZangrethorDigital.ca

BigDamnArtist's Website

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  • From: Montpellier, France
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I started making the cube in Maya too out of curiosity, and the corners aren't that easy to figure out indeed, especially if they're meant to be smoothed. Good job!

Sébastien Fraud
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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Mmmm. What y'all want is that fancy boolean tool.

The fact that you made that without the boolean tool is rather impressive, though. Really good work.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Quick question, how would I go about bending something? Like making a rectangular box into something more like a bracket shape.

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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Looks like it's time for me to make some more tutorials.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Exciting, but also scary! I'm not ready for the trials.

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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I've added 3 videos to the playlist. This will complete the initial course on Modeler.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

I feel like an idiot for not noticing that bloody Bend tool, aha! I am also now in love with Lathe.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4130/screenshot20130113at013.png

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4130/screenshot20130113at013.png

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  • Teague
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Fuck YEAH dude.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/7748/yaylightwave.jpg

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  • bullet3
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Goddamn, it's crazy how fast people are picking this up. That looks super rad. How did you do the shadow? I assume the photo is a flat 2d surface, but the shadow looks like it's projecting backwards the way you'd expect if the environment was 3d

Last edited by bullet3 (2013-01-13 07:52:20)

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  • From: Liverpool, UK
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

The shadow is just Photoshop. nothing fancy.

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  • Lamer
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Cheater!




tongue

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  • From: Iceland
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Halfway through tutorial nr. 2

http://ashdigital.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/wip/lightpost_wip_01.jpg

Single object, made from disk (six sided) and bevel.

Last edited by AshDigital (2013-01-13 18:35:27)

---------------------------------------------
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  • From: Red Deer, AB
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Re: Lightwave for Beginners

Teague wrote:

The fact that you made that without the boolean tool is rather impressive, though. Really good work.

Impressive because it's point modelled or impressive because it's on 3 days of lightwave learnin?

If it's the former, I'm not sure why, I've always been a point modeller. Granted, the fact it took 5 hours in lightwave when it would take me 5 minutes in blender can pretty much be chalked up to the fact I was attempting to figure out and find and learn the equivalents of all my favorite tools (Still missing a couple, but I got most of em)

Hopefully I'll have some time in the next couple days to get back into lightwave and watch the rest of he tuts. I've just been so freaking busy the last couple days, I haven't even had time to stop and think for 30 seconds, let alone this.

And yeah, booleans is gonna be my next thing to attempt. Although I've never really used them much in any package, (because they just ruin any geo they touch and it takes 5 hours to clean it up after), so it'll be interesting to see if lightwave's actually works.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

BigDamnArtist's Website

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