Terms and techniques on how to key elements in Lightwave 3D

1. Animation VI
Keyframing in Lightwave

2. Keyframing
 Do this, do that…
 In order to items to
change over time, you
need to set down
reference points
(keyframes) to tell the
item what to do at a
given point in time

3. Keyframing
 Start here, end here
 Once you have two or
more
keyframes, Lightwave
will figure out how to
change the item from
its starting point to its
end point
 Called tweaning or
tweens

4. Keyframing
 Good/bad keyframing
 Usually the fewer the
keyframes, the
smoother the effect
 Don’t try to overthink
the action – let
Lightwave get you
where you want to go
 Too many keyframes
can cause jittery action

5. Keyframing
 Everybody has one
 Everything in your
scene must have at
least one keyframe
 Some things don’t
need to change so they
only have a keyframe
on the very first frame
(0)

6. Keyframing
 Frames and Time
 Depends what you are
doing
 NTSC = 30 fps
 PAL = 25 fps
 Film = 24 fps
 Stills = single frame
 We operate at 30 fps
 Think in frames
 300 = 10 seconds

7. Let’s Get Started
 Start up Lightwave
3D
 Clear the scene if
you need to
 Select Load Object
(+)
 In the Landscape
folder, select
Canyon.lwo

8. Let’s Get Started
 Select Load Object
(+) again
 In the Vehicles folder
select
MonsterTruck.lwo
 This object lost a
surface image, so we
have to fix…

9. Let’s Get Started
 Several surface
images got ‘lost’ and
have to be
reconnected.
 Click Yes, then select
FractalReflections.tga
 Repeat this process a
couple more times
until all the surfaces
load and you can see

10. Let’s Get Started
 Let’s fix the Truck
 While the
MonsterTruck is still
selected choose:
 File > Save > Save
Current Object
 Choose Replace
 That should fix the
problem

11. Scaling Things in
Porportion
 That canyon is
mighty small!
 Select the Top view
(2)
 Zoom out so there’s
lots of room
 Select the Canyon
as the current object

12. Scaling Things in
Porportion
 Select the Modify tab
 Under Transform,
select Stretch
 We want to change the
width and depth, but
not the height (at least
for now)
 In the Numerics
section change the X
and Z axis to 35

13. Keyframing
 See the big picture
 The best way to create
a motion is to set the
starting point and end
point first
 Then tweak parameters
in-between these two
points to what you
need
 This help set a
consistent pace

14. Set One Keyframe
 Choose Camera view
(6)
 Truck looks like it’s
stuck in the mud
 In the Modify tab
select Translate and
Move
 Drag the Green arrow
and drag the truck up
so it sits on the

15. Set a Start and End Point
 Make sure the
MonsterTruck is
selected
 Choose the top view
 Zoom out so you can
see the whole canyon
 You can see that some
parts of the canyon are
above the grid while
other parts are below

16. Set a Start and End Point
 While at frame 0,
move the truck to the
upper left corner
 In the Timeline,
change the last frame
to 300 frames
 Drag the slider to
frame 300 and move
the truck to the lower
right corner

17. Making a Keyframe
 What do you want to
do?
 Make a keyframe for
what?
 Selected item
 All items
 Selected item and
any other items it
controls

18. Making a Keyframe
 What should get a
keyframe
 You decide if its
position, rotation
and/or scale gets
locked down or not
 If the item should not
get a keyframe for the
selected frame, just
turn that parameter off

19. Set a Start and End Point
 Click on Create Frame
or press Return
 Make sure Create Key
At is set to 300
 For: Selected item
(your truck)
 Position, rotation,
scale are on (blue)
 Press OK

20. Action Without
Keyframes
 Target
 Causes the camera to
always see an item in the
middle of its frame of view
 If the item moves, the
camera pans or tilts to
keep that item in view
 Camera will not MOVE
unless you set keyframes
for its location
 Targeting and moving
the camera can make
very interesting
animations

21. Have the Camera Keep
an Eye on the Truck
 Select the Camera
as the current item
 Press M to bring up
Motion Options
 In the Target Item
pop-up menu, select
Monster truck
 NOT Parent

22. Have the Camera Keep
an Eye on the Truck
 Switch to Camera
view and scrub
through your
animation
 Now the camera
follows the truck from
beginning to end
 Truck faces the
wrong way – that’s
OK for now

23. Action Without
Keyframes
 Aligning to Path
 Once you set up a motion
path for an item, it can
automatically follow in the
direction of that path
 Left and right
 Up and down

24. Action Without
Keyframes
 Make sure the truck
is the current item
 Press M to select
motion options
 Select the
Controllers and
Limits tab

25. Action Without
Keyframes
 We need the
rotation of the truck
to follow the path
 Select the Rotation
tab
 Under Heading &
Pitch, set the
Heading Controller
to ‘Align to Path’

26. Action Without
Keyframes
 In Camera view
scrub through your
animation
 Your truck should
now follow the path
from beginning to
end
 That was easy!
 Lighting is not so
great though…

27. Action Without
Keyframes
 Parenting
 An item that mimics
what another item
does
 What one airplane
does, all the other
airplanes do
 The controlling item is
called a parent
 The controlled items
are called descendants

28. Action Without
Keyframes
 Give the truck a little
light
 Switch back to the top
view & zoom in a little
 Drag the slider to
frame 0
 With the Modify tab,
move the light so it is
in front and to the
right of the truck

29. Action Without
Keyframes
 While the light is
still selected, press
M to bring up the
Motion options
 In the Parent Item
pop-up menu
choose
MonsterTruck

30. Action Without
Keyframes
 While still in the top
view scrub though
your timeline and
notice how the light
now follows the
truck along its
animation

31. Finessing Motion
 Adding keyframes in-
between the start and
finish
 Now that the pacing is
set, you can adjust the
item in-between start and
end points without
causing the motion to
jitter
 Still remember though
– the fewer
keyframes, the better

32. Add Some Character
to the Truck Motion
 Select the top view (2)
 Select the truck as the
current item
 Move the slider to
frame 75
 With the Modify
tab, select Move

33. Add Some Character
to the Truck Motion
 Using the arrows, drag
the truck down and to
the left to the top of the
hill on the left side of
the canyon
 Make a keyframe for
the truck at frame 75

34. Add Some Character
to the Truck Motion
 Move the slider to 185
 Using the arrows, drag
the truck to the right so
its on top of the hill on
the right of the canyon
 Make another keyframe
for the truck at frame
185

35. Animate the Camera
 Switch to the top view
(2)
 Make sure the slider is
at frame 0
 Move the camera so
it’s in the middle of the
canyon, but in front of
the truck

36. Animate the Camera
 Give the camera a
better view
 While still at frame 0, in
the numerics window,
change the Y value to 6
meters
 Switch to the camera
view to see your new
look at the truck

37. Animate the Camera
 Switch back to the top
view
 Move the slider to frame
300
 Move the camera so its
further down the canyon,
but behind the truck
 Make a new keyframe for
the camera at frame 300

38. Add Some Character
to the Canyon
 Select the back view (1)
 Move the slider to frame
0
 Select the Canyon as the
current item
 With the Modify
tab, select the Stretch
tool
 In the numerics
box, change the Y value

39. Aligning to Motion
 Not just left and
right, but up and
down
 Like the
Mustang, when an item
along the motion path
goes up or down, it
can also point in that
direction with the
‘Align to path’ feature

40. Unbury the Truck
 Getting things in place
 Using different views we
can get the truck out of
the canyon
 Make sure the truck is
the selected item
 Using the transport
controls, click to the
next keyframe (frame
75)

41. Unbury the Truck
 Select the back view
 With the move tool, drag
the green arrow to pull
the truck up out of the
hill
 Toggle different views to
get the height correct
 Update the keyframe by
pressing Enter, Enter

42. Un-levitate the Truck
 Oh, oh – the truck is
following the smoothest
path from the start to the
top of the hill, but the hill
hasn’t started yet
 Move the slider to frame
36
 Move around in
perspective view so you
have a good look at the
truck above the ground

43. Un-levitate the Truck
 Drag the green arrow
to set the truck back on
the ground
 Create a new keyframe
at frame 36
 Scrub though the
motion to see the truck
now climb the hill

44. Un-levitate the Truck
 Switch to the back view
and zoom in
 Drag the slider to frame
144
 Drag the green arrow and
move the truck back
down to the ground
 Make a new keyframe for
the truck at frame 144

45. Un-levitate the Truck
 Select the camera view
and scrub though your
scene
 If the truck is levitating
or buried, try modifying
existing keyframes
 Can also try creating new
keyframes, just make sure
they are not too close to
each other
 If the motion gets jerky, you
need to delete a keyframe
to smooth out the motion

46. Save Your Scene
 Save your scene to the
My Scenes folder in the
Lightwave content
folder
 Save another copy to
the desktop
 Email the .lws file to
me as an attachment.

47. Animation VI
Keyframing in Lightwave