LightWave 3D 11 is a 3D modeling, rendering and animation software. It offers features like instancing for mass object duplication, Bullet physics engine for realistic simulations, fracture tools for breaking 3D objects, flocking tools for natural crowd behaviors, and iridescent car paint shaders for realistic materials. LightWave 11 also enhances its interchange with ZBrush for sculpting details and improves its rendering tools and user interface for faster workflows.

1. LightWave 3D 11 is a complete modeling, rendering and animation system. Used extensively in broadcast television production,
film visual effects, video game development, print graphics and visualization, Light Wave is responsible for more artists winning
Emmy Awards than any other 3D application.

2. Technical Specification
General
System System RAM: 512 MB minimum requirement, 1 GB recommended,
Requirements:
Graphics card: nVidia FX 5200 series (minimum) or ATIFireGL V 5100 (minimum),
Graphics support: Full OpenGL (OpenGL 2.0 support, or ARB_shading_language_100 OpenGL
extension in earlier versions, required to use GLSL features),
Graphics driver: Latest from chipset manufacturer, Dedicated video RAM: 64 MB per display
minimum requirement, 128 MB recommended,
Minimum resolution: 1024x768 minimum requirement, 1280x1024 recommended, Hard drive
space: 230 MB for program installation (not including content),
Operating System
Windows 32-bit: Operating System: Windows XP
Processor: Intel or AMD, Windows 64-bit, Operating System: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition,
Processor: Intel EM64T or AMD64, System RAM: 1 GB

3. About LightWave 11
LightWave 11 offers major feature upgrades, enhancements and optimizations that empower artists and studios to move their visuals to all new
extremes. Achieve greater detail with instancing, better realism with dynamics, fracturing and natural flocking motion, and easier control with unified
sampling and industry-standard SDK-level access Python scripting. LightWave 11 is a solid, production proven start-to-finish 3D modeling, rendering and
animation software that is built to stand alone or easily integrate into any 3D workflow. Read more on the features below.
New Features in LightWave 11
Instancing Mass duplication of objects with little memory overhead.
Bullet Dynamics Production Proven Physics Engine.
Fracture Pre-shatter objects for use with Bullet using a variety of algorithms.
Flocking Create natural swarming, crowd avoidance behaviors with ease.
Unified Sampling New sampling system which features higher-quality sampling at often reduced render times
Shadow / Reflection Catcher Blend believable shadows and reflections into background plates easy and fast
Car Paint - Iridescence Updated Car Paint shader to support iridescent effects, giving you more realistic results
Python Scripting
Virtual Studio Tools
ZBrush™ GoZ™ Support
Render Buffer Enhancements
FiberFX Enhancements
Industry standard, SDK level access Python scripting
Playstation™ Move support, SDK and much more
GoZ support for Layout and Modeler, with zero-config installation
The new Compositing Buffer Export panel makes exporting render buffers easier
New Stroke volume rendering mode, new instancing support and speed improvements
Print Camera Utility
Align to Plane
Scene Loading Optimizations
Optimizations
Overhauled utility for setting up renders for print
Easy object alignment for modeling off-axis
Significant speed boost with some scenes loading up to 7X faster
Speed improvements to IK performance and GLSL shading means smoother working in Layout

4. Instancing
Instancing can be used to mass-duplicate objects in a scene with very little
system overhead. With the ability to support massive "virtual" polygons, you
can populate a scene with incredible detail while retaining reasonable
rendering times.
While instances can be thought of as clones of the original source objects,
they don’t need to be identical. Instead, you can randomly scale, position,
rotate and surface cloned objects differently from the source object, which
can be a tremendous timesaver on many types of 3D projects.
Bullet Dynamics
Bullet is a fast production-proven Open Source physics engine that is used to
create many high-profile, effects driven films and real-time game engines. It
features rigid-body 3D dynamics originally created by ABC.
In LightWave 11, the Bullet Dynamics engine is located directly in Layout, but
can be used with the Fracture tool in Modeler to create compelling physicsbased animation like collapsing buildings or massive explosions. It can also be
used to naturally place items in a random pattern, a process that can be
time-consuming and difficult to do by hand.

5. Fracture
This LightWave Modeler tool was designed to complement Bullet Dynamics
in LightWave by allowing you to pre-fracture objects that are to be
destroyed.
Fracture offers a variety of methods and settings to fine-tune the look of
pieces as they are being fractured. You also have the ability to create an
Endomorph of the resulting fracture and animate a fracturing object with or
without dynamics.
Weight maps can also be applied to the source object to control the density
of a fracture, making it an extremely flexible tool for breaking 3D objects in
LightWave.
Flocking
Get control over the crowd with Flocking. Easily calculate crowd avoidance of
neighbors, target alignments and cohesive attractions for natural motion.
Classic examples of flocking motion include:
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Flocks of birds
Schools of fish
Swarms of insects
Animal herd behaviors
Craft maneuvers (planes, alien ships, etc.)

6. Car Paint - Iridescence
Iridescence, also known as "Gonjochromism," is a property that describes
how surfaces change color when they are viewed at different angles. This
effect can be seen on soap bubbles, pearlescent sea shells or cars with
"Chameleon" or "Flip-Flop" paint.
The Car Paint shader in LightWave 11 has been updated to support iridescent
effects, giving you more realistic results.
Enhanced Virtual Studio Tools (VST)
LightWave 11 expands the Virtual Studio Tools (VST) toolset with additional
controller types, including support for the affordably priced Playstation™
Move. These types of third-party controllers use the Virtual Studio Tools SDK
to hook directly into the system.
The new Control Booth and Device Managers in the VST can be used to
manage every aspect of how a controller is figured and used in LightWave.
Virtually anything that can be animated in LightWave can be controlled
using a multitude of devices.

7. Enhanced Interchange Tools - GoZ™
GoZ is interchange technology from Pixologic® that allows applications to
send model and texture data to and from ZBrush™ for sculpting detail on a
base mesh. It is incredibly popular with many 3D artists and now it is directly
supported in LightWave 11.
The GoZ implementation in Layout and Modeler is full-featured and
powerful—it can be used to exchange model data and all the associated
texture maps. The LightWave Modeler implementation even lets you use
ZBrush for sculpting Endomorphs in facial animation.
Render Buffer Enhancements
Saving and viewing the buffers produced by the render engine is now easier
and more robust in LightWave 11.
The new Compositing Buffer Export panel makes it possible to select the
objects that are to be included in the specified buffers, making it easier to
select buffers for saving or viewing.
These enhancements streamline rendering out for compositing by combining
and extending the functionality of the two panels you had to visit previously
in LightWave. It also allows presets of commonly used buffers to be saved to
aid in setting up for output—a function that was not possible in earlier
versions of the LightWave.

8. User Interface Enhancements
LightWave 11 has a number of workflow improvements that add up to a better user experience and overall faster creative environment:
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Node Search - The list of available nodes can now be searched to quickly find a specific node.
Adding Multiple Nodes - Adding multiple nodes in one go is now possible using the menu option
Grouped Property Panels - Commonly accessed properties that affected rendering are now grouped into one panel to speed setup
Faster Access to Morph Mixer - This often used feature has been pulled out from the Displacement list and placed on the main Deform tab to speed
up workflow
Optimizations - Speed improvements to IK performance and GLSL shading means smoother working in Layout for animators
Scene Loading Speed - Featuring a significant speed boost with some scenes loading up to 7X faster
Faster Layered Objects - Experience speed improvements when working with multiple layers in Modeler
Align to Plane - Allows you to toggle the alignment of your object in Modeler to the World Coordinates and back. Making it easier to work with tools
that operate better when aligned along an axis
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