This book focuses on one of the most popular multi-platform 3D applications available - Lightwave. The book emphasizes Lightwave 6 features with a special focus on the modeling alternatives. It provides guidelines for selecting the right tools for specific tasks, details the Lightwave primitives and other internal options, and covers specific Lightwave modeling plug-ins. HyperVoxel modeling is detailed along with modeling necessities like light placement and configuration, and time is spent on Materials use and assignment. Additionally, material on handshaking with other programs (Amorphium, Organica, and more) is included. Through the tutorial-based approach, novice users will learn new skills and increase their mastery of this powerful program. Intermediate users will gain access to professional modeling ideas and insights, and the professional user will find a variety of useful new ideas.

This book focuses on one of the most popular multi-platform 3D applications available ? Lightwave. The book emphasizes Lightwave 6 features with a special focus on the modeling alternatives. It provides guidelines for selecting the right tools for specific tasks, details the Lightwave primitives and other internal options, and covers specific Lightwave modeling plug-ins. HyperVoxel modeling is detailed along with modeling necessities like light placement and configuration, and time is spent on Materials use and assignment. Additionally, material on handshaking with other programs (Amorphium, Organica, and more) is included. Through the tutorial-based approach, novice users will learn new skills and increase their mastery of this powerful program. Intermediate users will gain access to professional modeling ideas and insights, and the professional user will find a variety of useful new ideas.

As one of the most popular 3D applications in the Film and TV industries, LightWave continues to wow its users with every new release. Keeping up with the changes and improved functionality of each new version can be challenging, but with the hands-on projects and tutorials provided here, you’ll get up to speed quickly. Detailed guidelines walk you through the maze of features found in the Layout and Modeler interfaces, and teach you how to select the right tools for specific tasks. Through the tutorial-based approach, novice users will learn new skills and increase their mastery of this powerful program, and intermediate users will gain access to new modeling ideas and insights. The book is broken into five main parts exploring the ins and outs of LightWave modeling. Part I, Basics of LightWave Modeling, provides a refresher course that targets all of the basic LightWave modeling techniques. Part II, More Advanced Modeling Technique, walks you through more complex modeling alternatives, including Displacement Modeling, Metaballs, HyperVoxels, Metaform Modeling, Self-Similar Modeling (Mirror, Array, Clone, Symmetrize), Modeling with Particles, Pivots/Parenting/Hinges, and more. Part III, Plugins, deals with the specific use of both commercial and shareware/freeware plugins. Part IV, Handshaking Application, includes tutorials on external applications including DarkTree Textures, Surface Tool kit from dvGarage, Eovia’s Amapi, ElectricImage’s Amorphium, Impulse’s Illusion, Greenwork’s XFrog, and Onyx Software’s Tree Professional. Part V, Projects, provides a selection of detailed project tutorials.

On the CD
* ANIMATIONS: A collection of LightWave animation examples in QuickTime format
* IMAGES: All of the images from the book in full color, Tif format
* MODELS: Ready-to-use 3D models that you can import into LightWave
* PROJECTS: All of the LightWave projects covered in the book
* SCENES: Various LightWave scene files for your use
* TEXTURES: Ten textures created in Tif format with the help of U&I Software’s ArtMatic on a Mac
* DEMOS:
* Sonic Foundry AcidPro 3 Demo (WIN),
* Evoia Amapi (WIN/MAC) Full working 4.15 version with no constraints and a demo of version 6.1
* Maxon BodyPaint 3D Demo (WIN/MAC)
* Impulse Illusion Demo (WIN)
* Curious Labs Poser and Poser ProPak Demo (WIN/MAC)
* Greenworks Xfrog Demo (WIN)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS WINDOWS: Pentium III or higher, 24-bit color card and monitor capable of displaying high resolution (at least 800x600), WIN 98/ Me/NT4 (Svc Pk 6a)/2000 (Svc Pk 2), minimum of 128MB RAM. More is better. TCP/IP Network Protocol installed, CD-ROM, Hardware Lock Port—USB or Parallel, minimum HD space of 32MB. More is better. MAC: Power Mac Processor G3 or higher, 24-bit color card and monitor capable of displaying high resolution (at least 800x600), Mac OS 9.x/OSX, Min of 384MB RAM for OS 9.x; 128MB RAM for OSX. More is better. CD-ROM, Hardware Lock Port—USB or ADB, minimum HD space of 32MB. More is better. Both systems also require LightWave 6.5 or higher and QuickTime 4 or higher.

Truly Disappointed

"One and a half stars." I thought to myself that a book can’t possibly be that bad. An award-winning application mixed with questionable information can’t possibly be printed. I was wrong, ... dead wrong! The book is worst than 1 1/2 stars. More like 1/2 a star, but I can only rate it a one. (No half stars here, sorry.)
This book isn’t very practical for those who desire to learn how to model within Lightwave. I found the book lacking in projects that would appeal to most readers entering into the 3D world. This book takes a distorted perspective on oddball projects that leaves you scratching your head as to what planet the author resides.
There is a focus on organic modeling. Anything that requires precision has fallen by the wayside. I am usually very generous with comments and I rarely verbalize a disappointment, but I feel I have been cheated even though I paid a measely $7.75 for this book. Can you imagine the outrage if I paid full price? The manuscript should have seen the bottom of a trash can before allowing innocent trees to be sacrificed for publication!
Dan Ablan has many fine publications in his name. (The Inside Lightwave series is excellent.) For those searching for modeling information, your answers will not be addressed in this book.

Execrable

One look at the cover should have told me everything I needed to know. If the inept rendering of two triceratops and a pickup truck on top of a giant cantelope doesn’t scream "DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! THE AUTHOR IS AN INCOMPETENT HACK!!" then I don’t know what does.

But I bought it anyway. Because I didn’t really look at the cover. And I never dreamed that a book this useless, inept, unprofessional, and frankly misguided could ever find its way to print. There had to be *some* value in it, right? Boy was I wrong.

The material is weak. Half of the book is a pale rehash of the LW manual, and the other half a compendium of screenshots of various plugins.

This Shamms guy seems to have no talent or skill whatsoever at modeling. If indeed he is the one responsible for such polygonal crack-babies as "TekMan," then he should be prohibited by law from ever using any 3d application anywhere, including, but not limited to, playing Doom3 and watching Tron. He shouldn’t even be allowed to own a Rubik’s Cube. He’s a danger both to society and reality. If you see this book in the bookstore, take a flip through it...you’ll be astonished at the sheer ineptitude within. You’ll wonder how anyone could look at these horrendous images and say "wow, that looks great...I’m gonna put that in my *book*."

The incompetence isn’t limited to aesthetics; the technique is also flawed. Shamms frequently recommends freezing subpatches, which dramatically increases the polycount and complexity of your mesh, which is generally the opposite of what you want to do--i.e. create a well thought-out and efficient model. (There are exceptions but Shamms freezes as a rule.)

Run screaming from "Modeling in Lightwave." This truly is the absolute worst book I own...and I own Dianetics.

The worst book I ever purchase in amazon

Don’t waste your money on this book.

I have been purchased at least 3 books on lightwave and this is the only I regret.

The worst book I ever purchase in amazon

Don?t waste your money on this book.

I have been purchased at least 3 books on lightwave and this is the only I regret.

Horrible Lightwave book, but great for aspiring authors

This book is excellent for aspiring authors as it proves anybody can get a book published, even if you can’t write and you have nothing of value to say. This is just about the only useful thing about this book.

This book is just as awful as every other title written by Mr. Mortier.

The really bad part is that someone at Charles River Media seems to think Mr. Mortier’s books are worth publishing. Because of the pitiful nature of every one of this author’s titles I’ve seen to date I am now very reluctant to purchase any Charles River published book. It’s sad that a company with so many excellent titles would continue to publish such poor quality books by the same author.

If you’re expecting anything along the lines of something that would be written by Tim Albee, Patrik Beck, or Dan Ablan you will be sadly disappointed. If you were looking for in-depth coverage of modeling in Lightwave keep looking, it’s not in here.

Very misleading title

Sadly, this book doesn’t really give any help at all in modeling in Lightwave. Instead, it reads like a book written by a guy who simply opened the program and sat with the manual in his lap, writing down what he discovered. Nothing about modeling your own creations using the many tools available in the program.

The idea the Mortier doesn’t actually know much about Lightwave is given credence by the amount of space given to programs that aren’t Lightwave but that Mortier does know. Talking about Amapi and Poser doesn’t give any information about Modeling in Lightwave, but it does fill space. We’ll have to wait for a really good book specifically about Lightwave modeling. As for this one: AVOID!