From LightWiki

T h e   E v o l u t i o n   O f    L i g h t W a v e   3 D

by Dean A. Scott and Ben Vost

This page is a compilation and an archival record of how NewTek, Inc's., LightWave 3D computer graphics software has evolved and changed interface styles, box packaging, and logo design over the course of time, now in its 17th year and 9th version. Nowhere else on the web will you find such a comprehensive collection as this!

This is a work in progress as screengrabs of past and future version are obtained. We are still seeking screens of LightWave 2.0 on the now defunct Commodore Amiga running NewTek's Video Toaster. If you're able, get a screen grab of LightWave and Modeler 2.0 and send them to Dean or Ben (unless you feel adventurous and want to upload them and edit the respective location yourself! - it's not hard since the Gallery function of this site processes large images into thumbnails as well as medium size images as needed automatically).

Additional info, such as pricing and features will also be included as time goes on and as YOU the visitor supply (see Ben's note below). If you have any questions, comments, or resource locations, just drop me a line.

(Notes from Ben: The new format of this page is a wiki, which means that details can be added, mistakes corrected and most importantly images contributed to the pictures for each version. I really want to build this page into a comprehensive history of LightWave since the beginning)

(Notes from Dean: Thanks, Ben, for taking my initial history page (with permission) and updating it to include this cool feature that only improves what I started back in 2002.

Sept. 19, 2005
Bernhard Bazant loaded up an Amiga emulator on his Linux machine, fired up LightWave 3.5, 4.0, and 5.0, and took 25-something screen grabs for me using my "famous" Babylon 5 clone models! Thanks Bernhard! That and I made all the box shots with transparent backgrounds for a somewhat cleaner look.

1988 - Precursor to LightWave 3D

Before LightWave came Videoscape 3D and Aegis Modeler 3D on the Commodore Amiga. Videoscape was written by Allen Hastings and Modeler 3D by Stuart Ferguson, giving a historical basis behind the split personality of LightWave 3D. Have a look at the sticker on the Videoscape 3D box to see how things have evolved since this program was state of the art...

Of course the Videoscape solution wasn't the only one available to NewTek when they wanted to add a 3D graphics application to the Amiga Video Toaster back in 1989 - it was almost equipped with Dr. Eric "Juggler" Graham's Sculpt 3D...

• screens courtesy: Ernie Wright (Videoscape #3 and Modeler 3D) and Hector Moratilla (Videoscape #1 & #2)
• Videoscape box courtesy: Franck Lafage
• Modeler 3D box courtesy: Stuart Ferguson (the programmer) and Gökhan Sönmez from AGF, Turkey

Videoscape Amiga	Videoscape Amiga	Videoscape Amiga	Modeler Amiga
Boxshot	Boxshot

1990 - LightWave 3D 1.0

1990 saw the first actual release of LightWave on the Commodore Amiga-based Video Toaster. NewTek had been promising its arrival for about two years at this point, but the problem lay with the chipset for the Video Toaster itself, not LightWave. At this point in time, there were 3D programs available, but they tended to cost tens of thousands of dollars, while the whole Toaster retailed for less than $5,000. The only real competition for 3D on the Amiga at that time came in the form of Imagine.

• screens courtesy: Ernie Wright

Modeler Amiga

Layout Amiga

Logo

1992 - LightWave 3D 2.0

The Video Toaster got an upgrade in 1992 and so did LightWave. Later that year NewTek released the "LightWave 2.5 Pro" slice upgrade. This was the first version to have built in lens flares and some other "special" goodies for the Lightwaving Toaster users.

• No large screens available! Thumbnails are placeholders only.
• Someone fire up LW 2.0 on their rusty, err, I mean, trusty Amiga and send some screen shots to Dean or Ben (loaded with some interesting model and scene, of course)!

1993 - LightWave 3D 3.0/3.1

LightWave was still locked to the Video Toaster with the VT4000 that came out this year, however a small company called Industrial Might and Logic catered to a growing number of people that wanted access to LightWave but didn't want to or couldn't use the Video Toaster (because they had Amiga 3000s or lived in countries that used a television system other than NTSC). IML (natch) created their own dongle (named "LightRAVE" often referred to simply as "RAVE") that emulated the presence of the Video Toaster card so that LightWave could be run on machines apart from the desktop video card.

• screens courtesy: Bernhard Bazant
• box shot courtesy: Norm Pickthall

Modeler Amiga

Layout Amiga

Layout Amiga

Boxshot (lores!)

1994 - LightWave 3D 3.5

The first official stand-alone version for the Amiga (no Video Toaster required)

• box courtesy: Gökhan Sönmez
• screens courtesy: Bernhard Bazant

Packshot

Box detail

Layout

Modeler

1995 - LightWave 3D 4.0

This was the first version ported to Windows Intel PCs and DEC Alphas.

• PC screens courtesy: Anthony Rosbottom
• Amiga screens courtesy: Bernhard Bazant

Amiga version	Amiga version	Windows version	Windows version
Boxshot (lores!)	Logo (lores!)

1995 - LightWave 3D 5.0

This was when NewTek really started to branch out. LightWave was available for Intel and now also for SGI, DEC Alpha, Macintosh, and in its last version for Amiga

• PC screens courtesy: Norm Pickthall
• Amiga screens courtesy: Bernhard Bazant
• box courtesy: Norm Pickthall

Amiga version	Amiga version	Windows version	Windows version
Boxshot (lores!)	Logo (lores!)

1997 - LightWave 3D for the VTNT

Finally, NewTek managed to bring out a version of the Video Toaster for the PC platform on a PCI card. Obviously it had to come with LightWave as had previous Amiga incarnations, so here is the Video Toaster bundled version.

• screens courtesy: unknown

Windows' Video Toaster version of Modeler

Windows' Video Toaster version of Layout

Windows' Video Toaster Boxshot (lores!)

1997 - LightWave 3D 5.5

• screens courtesy: unknown

Windows version

Windows version

Boxshot (lores!)

1998 - LightWave 3D 5.6

• screens courtesy: Norm Pickthall

Windows version

Windows version

1997 - Inspire 3D 1.0

Also in 97, NewTek released a cut-down version of LightWave called Inspire 3D for the PC. It offered the same ease-of-use as LightWave but was much simpler in terms of its abilities. Still it brought many people into 3D who could then move up to Inspire's bigger and more powerful brother once they had a handle on what was needed.

• Screens courtesy: Ben Vost
• Box courtesy: Franck Lafage
• Logo courtesy: NewTek Europe

Windows version

Windows version

Boxshot

Logo

1999 - LightWave 3D 6.0

The redesign version! LightWave got a major redesign and a new element - the Hub - was introduced to synchronise files between Layout and Modeler automatically. There were numerous other changes, such as a new, user-editable menu system, the ability to have multiple layers in a single object along with the ability to keep them in sub-patch mode, rather than having to freeze when you saved out of Modeler.

First commercial application to introduce HDRI, and first incarnation of new render at 128-bit. First implementation of Monte Carlo and Interpolated radiosity for LightWave3D.

Modeler introduced many new tools like skelegons, and upgraded many modifiers to interactive tools.

• screens courtesy: Czech LightWave Users Homepage

Windows version

Windows version

Boxshot

Logo (lores!)

2000 - LightWave 3D 6.5

Because of the major redesign, more than a few people complained about the stability of LightWave in its new incarnation, but NewTek was on the case. A year after the release of 6.0 they brought out 6.5. It fixed most of people's major concerns, but also added cloth dynamics and Motion Designer 2 - in a free upgrade!

• screens courtesy: Dean Scott

Windows version

Windows version

Boxshot

Logo

2001 - LightWave 3D 7.0

LightWave 7.0 added new radiosity methods and integrated new character animation tools: motion mixer for non-linear animation, new bone setup for faster preview, new subdivision options to speed up animation workflow. The SasLite hair and fur solution was added, along with many other additions.

• screens courtesy: Dean Scott

Windows version

Windows version

Boxshot (lores!)

Logo

2002 - LightWave 3D 7.5

Another free upgrade to LightWave including such features as improved radiosity and caustics, better OpenGL performance, BVH motion capture support, Powergons (polygons with scripts attached), Bandglue and the truly well-named Magic Bevel amongst other things. 7.5 was eventually followed by 7.5b (06-Mar-03), which was not very successful and had a number of problems, and so was replaced almost immediately by 7.5c (16-May-03). This remained the cutting edge of LightWave for a time, but once LightWave 8 was released a last update to 7.5 (7.5d on the 27-Aug-04) was released to counter problems with Apple's OpenGL implementation in OSX 10.3.

The 7.5b, c and d revisions were the first visible fruits of the new development team's labours.

• screens courtesy: Ben Vost
• box courtesy: Darkside Animation
• logo courtesy: NewTek Europe

Windows version	Windows version	Mac OS X version	Mac OS X version
Boxshot	Logo

2004 - LightWave 3D 8.0

A long hiatus caused by the split between the original programmers and NewTek management meant that LightWave 8 had to be created by software archaeology - digging through the code in an attempt to understand it. This work paid off and resulted in the first new version in two years officially released on 30-Jun-04. For some people LightWave 3D 8 was only a commercial plugins collection, but it was the real starting point of LightWave3D Reborn. The new Team start to integrate many of their external plugins and add powerful features like : Bone Tools (a complete bone edit system), Dopesheet (to edit key in the time line faster and more confortable than in past), new dynamic rigid and soft, soft and hard link to animate with new dynamic, new OpenGL acceleration and preview, and many other small but important improvment

• Screens courtesy: Ben Vost
• Box and logo courtesy: NewTek Europe

Windows version	Windows version	Mac OS X version	Mac OS X version
Boxshot	Logo

2004 - LightWave 3D 8.0.1

First patch to LightWave 3D [8] released 01-Sep-04.

2005 - LightWave 3D 8.2

Second free upgrade released 18-Jan-05

This update included a method of making distortion-free UV maps for subdivision surfaces and was a world-first. Apart from bug fixes it also introduced PLD anti-aliasing, improvements to VIPER and IK Booster.

2005 - LightWave 3D 8.2.1

Patch for 8.2 released 02-Mar-05

2005 - LightWave 3D 8.3

This was the fourth free update made available to registered users of LightWave 3D 8 on 09-May-05. It offered improvements to HyperVoxels, Photoshop export and lots of other things...

• Screens courtesy: Ben Vost

Windows version

Windows version

Mac OS X version

Mac OS X version

2005 - LightWave 3D 8.5

Fifth free upgrade released 10-Oct-05

This new update adds GLSL compatibility to LightWave's Layout section and Multishift to its modelling tools along with plenty of bug fixes and implementations of feature requests.

On the 20-Oct-05, NewTek also released a 64-bit version for Windows XP Professional xp64 edition. This allows people with 64-bit Windows-based machines the chance to access more than 2GB ram. As of writing, this version does not exist for the Mac since OSX is not a completely 64-bit OS yet.

2006 - LightWave 3D 9.0

Released 13-Jul-06

• box and logo courtesy: NewTek

Boxshot

Logo

Screen Shot

More details to be written up including screenshots, box artwork, etc. - B

This is the second evolution (6.0 was the first overhaul) of LightWave and the feature list is very exciting! There's also something of a white paper devoted to future LightWave development at the same site:

• Future LightWave Development (no longer online)
• Feature videos
• Feature highlights
• Feature list

2007 - LightWave 3D 9.2

Released 25-Apr-07

• Boasts massive improvements across the renderer and shading pipeline
• Three radiosity modes: Backdrop, MonteCarlo, Final Gather
• Interpolated radiosity switch for fast radiosity solutions for any of the three modes
• Real Lens camera perfectly mimics actual digital camera lenses
• Photoreal motion blur and adjustable shutter efficiency to eliminate strobing
• Photoreal depth of field
• Physically correct materials
• Much-improved Modeler OpenGL
• Layout previewing of motion blur/depth of field

2007 - LightWave 3D 9.3

Released 17-Aug-07

• Point/Edge Rendering in new cameras
• Single-sided area lights
• OpenEXR image loader/saver
• Volume stacking (means an end to using reversed geometry to indicate changes of IoR)
• New subsurface scattering nodes Fast Skin and Sigma 2
• Macintosh Universal version for improved Intel-based Mac rendering (roughly 3x faster on average)

2007 - LightWave 9.3.1

Released 20-Nov-07

• A maintenance update that provides improved reliability and speed enhancements to the additions made in LightWave v9.3.

(note: the Windows installer contains both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions)

2008 - LightWave 9.5

Released 12-Aug-08

• Enhanced radiosity with disk-based cache and unique animated radiosity caching mode.
• FiberFX hair and fur rendering system supports combing, dynamics, raytraced fibers, radiosity-shaded fibers and modeled fiber creation.
• Much improved IK/Rigging features, Same As Item controller, improved IK stability, Pole Vector, Align to XY Plane IK goal.
• Joint bone types, easier to rig, allow correct twist along their lengths and allow for stretchy limbs.
• HDR antialiasing options in the image viewer.
• Lights are now an API allowing for third party lights to be coded with the SDK. New light types included are Dome, IES/Photometric and Spherical/Ball lights. Area lights quality improved.
• Collada, FBX added and OBJ I/O support improved.
• Interpolated Soft Reflections/Refractions for Node-based surfacing.
• Composition Overlays for composing shots.
• EXIF metadata support for images loaded and rendered.

---

LightWave v9.5 is now the current version available for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit. Not yet available for Mac OS X CFM and Universal versions.

You can have a look at what LightWave is capable of here.

About this history

Copyright 2002, Dean A. Scott, chrusion | FX, all rights reserved. Updated wiki version and editing by Ben Vost, 2005-2008