First published 2007
Kevin Phillips breaks down LightWave 3D software into manageable lessons for digital artists and animators. The book covers modeling, lighting, surfacing, animation, and rendering in the first seven chapters. Phillips explains polygon modeling, Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces, and spline techniques. He demonstrates UV mapping methods that avoid distortion and shows how to create high-quality textures. The guide covers character animation using forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, and IK Booster tools. Phillips teaches compositing techniques for blending 3D objects with photographs. Advanced topics include the Node Editor for complex surfacing and deformations, particle effects, dynamics, and expressions. The book concludes with render farm setup for handling complex projects. A companion DVD provides trial versions of LightWave v9.2 software.
Genres: art, reference, non-fiction, how-to, computer-science, academic
Vibes: informative, instructional, thought-provoking
Tropes: educational, instructional
992 pages · Paperback · Wordware