BV: When and how it happened that you started to use the Newtek software for visualization and animation - Lightwave? Do you have experiences with other visualization applications? Can you compare your experiences with these and Lightwave?

AT: Well, first of all I started on AutoCAD trying to produce 3d that way but on the early versions its 3d abilities left a lot to be desired so we got a copy of 3d Studio 4, which was pretty dam good back then, it did what it was told and gave a pretty good look, and back then they were owned by AutoDesk so the formats where easily transferred, then 3ds MAX came out. It was icon driven madness but the most annoying thing was the materials which didn't seem to reflect any kind of real world properties and had to be applied is such a complex way that it just wasn't worth it for the result.

Luckily for me we had another guy at our office who was interested in 3d so I passed that onto him and for basic architectural stuff it worked fine and I was basically out of 3d for a couple of years.

A friend at a graphics design company had a problem with his system and I went to take a look and he happened to be using Lightwave, I was watching him work and it was like a dream come true. He wanted polys so he just made polys, he wanted them to be a certain color and he just specified the color, the surface editor actually contained real world properties that could be easily adjusted and when rendered it appeared as u thought it would. Just power without gimics and toys.

That was me hooked :)

Image 1 - Bio Blood

BV: Lightwave caught my heart also, just half a year ago. Since that I play with the idea to use this product in a full range. Problem is that this product is not very popular here; it means you cannot find people to employ or to build up a team for certain project when necessary. However RENDER production is based on Newtek Lightwave. But normally all companies or users are used to work with MAX or VIZ. How is the situation with Lightwave in England? Is Lightwave more popular than above mentioned applications?

AT: It seems to me that Lightwave is most popular in the States, this may be cause of the fact that for some reason Lightwave is only available in 2 languages, there are quite a few Lightwave guys here but the situation in England is pretty similar to yours, different industries seemed to have adopted different applications, lots of game companies bought into the MAX pipeline early on and movie and production companies seem to prefer Lightwave or Maya. Although Lightwave is my favorite application the principles of 3d are what matters, all the programs do essentially the same thing they just have the buttons in a different place. Obviously they all have their strengths (Maya- animation, Lightwave - modeling and rendering) but more and more now they are becoming the same, which is a pretty good thing. In the long run I don't think it matters which app u use, it’s your vision that counts, then grab the best tool to do the job.

Image 2 - Bug Case

BV: Yes, I also think that users should have the possibility to choose graphic interface they prefer and data would be 100% compatible. But the reality is that all software companies are trying to make their product as incompatible with the other applications as possible. Lightwave is also a self-standing application. Are there any applications for Lightwave that are directly linked to the Lightwave in the meaning of the continuous workflow? I have the feeling that LWO - LightWave Objects are not supported by many applications. What data import/export possibilities a user have with Lightwave? I have a good experience with importing data from DWG/DGN CAD formats only.

AT: Well, Lightwave’s format is completely open and accessible to all companies but unfortunately not many actually use it, but its still better then formats like MAX who keep there format completely secret which makes transferring from one to the other a pain, but not impossible. Lightwave can read EPS, DXF, 3DS, OBJ and of course LWO formats which are pretty much alive ever needed although what I’d really like is native AutoCAD support, would make life easier.

Image 3 - Bug Room

BV: I have found out recently, that you are the author of few very popular tutorials published directly on Newtek pages. How did it happen? Many companies prefer to publish their own “certified” tutorials?

AT: Heh, a friend of mine asked me to help out on a little site he was creating called thealphachannel.com. I said no problem and wrote a couple of little tutorials for him, this has now grown in to the great www.cgfocus.com and when ever I'm working on a new project and have to come up with an interesting effect I try and write it up so that everyone can get something from it, unfortunately time is against me so they hardly ever make it off notepad, I have about 6 more about 50% done but don’t really have the time to finish them. I'll get to it sometime soon thou because the last one was really popular, in fact Newtek asked me if they could also use it on their site, who am I to say no to Newtek :). A friend of mine pointed out that it has now been translated into at least 4 other languages, feels good to know people like it.

Image 4 - Bugs

BV: On which projects you participate at the moment?

AT: At work I'm building two bridge projects, one still and one animation, and another animation of a launching gantry. Normally I have to prepare the working CAD drawings and then generate the 3d models and renders. Kinda basic stuff but fun.

BV: Can you tell me more about your work?

AT: I work for a company of civil and structural engineers where I prepare drawings and images for tender jobs, so basically it’s my job to make our scheme look pretty for the client to hopefully help us to win the job.

BV: Did you take some special trainings on Lightwave?

AT: As for training, I pretty much learned it as I went along, starting with basic CAD, then onto 3d then to a standalone 3d program.

Image 5 - Teleporter

BV: Which plugins do you consider as a must in Lightwave? Commertial or not commertial, that does not matter.

AT: Keytrak, Fi´s Bend and Happy Digital Pump It. Pump It is a great plugin for adding thickness to an object, say you wanted to make a shirt, you just build it out of one layer of polys and then run this little beauty. Fi's bend is something that should be built into Lightwave, its a free plugin but one of the greatest, it simply lets you bent objects in layout. For instance I had a scene that had about 10 roads and flyovers in it and I had to make the ready bent roads in modeler and load them into layout. With this plugin I made one road then loaded it into the scene as many times as I liked then bent each on to suit, you can even animate the bending :). KeyTrak is a timeline editor that in its most basic for lets you drag keyframes interactivly, speeds up timing and animation no end.

BV: Adrian, many thanks for your participation in this interview for RENDER.cz and great tips. Keep in touch.

Related links:
http://www.cgfocus.com
http://www.btinternet.com/~realism3d/
Tutorial-Blood Cells LightWave® Style
Newtek Lightwave Home Page