NewTek has brought their industry standard 3D creation tool, LightWave3D, to Mac OS X. LightWave3D 6.0 is available as a beta version for Appleis beta OS. LightWave3D allows users to easily create complex 3D images, and has been used for pre-production in an array of movies and TV shows. According to NewTek:
NewTek is proud to announce the availability of the first professional 3D application for OS X. All registered Macintosh LightWave 6.0 and 6.5 users can download this special version.
Be one of the first to welcome the introduction of Appleis next generation operating system, with the next level in animation software, LightWave 6.5!
LightWave 3D has consistently dominated the television and film markets. The game development market is soon to follow. Designed for production use, LightWave boasts the industryis fastest most beautiful rendering engine, complete subdivision modeling, and an animation system built upon the worlds fastest, most accurate 3D Inverse Kinematics (IK) engine.
You have found the application that delivers all the power you need today, the flexibility to expand tomorrow, and at a price the competition cannot beat. With radiosity, caustics, subdivision surface animation, Skelegons, thousands of enhancements, and an unsurpassed workflow, LightWave [6] is everything you need in an animation system.
Model Faster:
NewTekis LightWave 3D introduced the first real time subdivision surface modeler and now the industry has embraced subdivision surfaces as the way of the future. With LightWave [6] you own a robust tool set for manipulating these revolutionary surfaces, including interactive modifiers that allow you to model in multiple "soft" modes. LightWave [6] allows you to sculpt "digital clay" by direct manipulation at the vertex level by controlling groups of points or polygons with an extreme list of operators.Smarter Models:
NewTekis IntelligEntities allow you to create smarter objects that understand animation, including time independent models that ease the production process. IntelligEntities include Skelegons, endomorphs, MultiMeshes and VMaps, making your objects practically self-aware. Skelegons add the skeletal structure directly in the model so you can use all the modeler tools to build and manipulate your characteris skeleton. Facial animation has been simplified with endomorphs: Teach your model about different expressions and lip positions and then animate and blend them together with complete non-linear access. Combined with layered geometry and expansive extra vertex data your models are more than simple objects, they are digital actors. LightWave [6] delivers refinements to the animation pipeline that pay major dividents.Exquisite Rendering:
In 3D, image is everything. LightWave 3D has long been regarded as the best rendering engine in the business for image quality, features, flexibility and speed. Now, LightWave[6] sets an all new standard for rendering systems. Built on a pure 160 bit floating-point pipeline, this render engine has image depth beyond compare. Massive amounts of internal data computed at floating-point accuracy ensure the color depth that results in ultra high-quality imagery. With true radiosity, caustics, and HyperVoxels integrated into the industryis most mature distributive ray tracing engine, LightWave [6] is untouchable. These breakthrough enhancements guarantee complete interoperability with motion blur, depth of field and ray traced shadows, reflection and refraction. this is truly the most feature rich rendering engine available in any 3D animation system. And itis fast beyond belief!
You can find more information and download links at the LightWave3D web site.