Well they almost got it right. They shouldn’t have waited until yesterday to make that video.
Or whatever their excuse is for the quality. They need to get Kiki and William to deliver these things, or if they can’t do it find someone who looks good and can present well, and do a REALLY good job on them.
If they were really smart they would pull out all the stops and pay Dick Van Dyke to do it. That would be awesome. For those who don’t know, he is a long time lightwave user.
For LW Modeler
My most frustrating thing about is plugins. As my understanding, we have 4 flavors of plugins…
Need unified plugin that works on all platform… This is poor design. I hope CORE will fix this.
I think im talking for all the newbie ones in 3d.
i think that you should make the software more friendly for beginners in 3d. if it was more friendly for beginners more people will choose to work on it. if i’m a beginner(and I am) and i found a software that is friendly and easy to activate then i will choose to work on it.
hope you got what i meant
Significantly improve the character modeling tools, make more tool similar to Zbrush.
Significantly improve the hair creating tools.
Make the dynamics a lot easier to use.
here’s just a few I don’t think anyone thought up.
A ‘close polygon hole’ tool. ( steal this from Cinema 4D ). I found out that works a “hole” ( get it? 
) lot faster than selecting 4 points en pressing p.
Cheers.
Recently I had a very entertaining and very short discussion with DSW and Tama, so I decided to write this review of LW 9. May be of some use.
this thread started in 2004 I am typing this in 2011 and I guess we need
1-some icons in lightwave interface,
2-we need to freeze objects but keep them visible, not talking about keep them in another layer in black wireframe mode, we need to freeze objects and keep them visible just like max.
3-we need to embed some standsrd features like PLG UV unwrap and thickener.
4-we need a soft selection tool, just like Maya and Max, don’t tell to use a weight maps, or a quirky get around like magnet tool.
5-we need the ability to adjust the patch of a curve at real time.
6-we need lattice tool, it will help.
7-we need to tide things up and let the user DOCK the numberic, statistics, layers, and vertex map windows into wherever he decides left or right side of Modeler interface.
8-we need cap hole tool, this will save time.
those are the things that came up with my mind, if somehthing came up I will add it here,
As far as Character Animation…Some way to LOCK frame 0 (or the rest frame of your choice) so the frame that you have all your bones rested on CANNOT be accidentally modifed when you’re in the groove.
You should ACTIVELY have to go to a SPECIFIC menu button in the lower GUI to enact the LOCK…and if you DO turn the lock off to make changes/adjustments, there should be some constant flashing indicator to REMIND you of what frame you’re mucking around in.
Pre-made, humanoid and quadruped RIGs with IK should be shipped in Contents. (It would make for a good start, at least.) Also include tail setups, so if you’re doing a monster or alien you don’t have to go hunting the WEB to find out how to set one up.
As far as Modeller:
If there was a way to take basic modeled forms and turn them into Metaballs, it would be easier to create anatomy, I think. 
Greg
I think this applies to the topic. Right now I am back in school majoring in computer science. The way I see it, the best way to improve any piece of equipment or software is to have full understanding of what its limitations are. I don’t have that as of yet. I understand most of the endeavors that take place here are artistic, but didn’t traditional artists have knowledge of the type of material they were painting on, the type of paint they were using, the type of clay, granite, stone, they were shaping? In the technical age I think this endeavor has become more demanding and complex, but no less relevant. If Lightwave is the canvas, then I think it prudent for the artist to increase his understanding of it 1st.
Lately I’ve found that, yes there are programming limitations within the framework, but much of the mundane tasks can be scripted with little programming effort. This is from an artistic point of view. Great things have come out of this approach, the most notable for me is Powal Olas’s tree designer which was a fantastic little plugin that was popular with lightwave 6-8. It was a real time saver and made creating far faster and easier.
My universal answer to this question is that the best way to make Lightwave better is to improve user understanding of how it works. Less ranting about like “Softimage has this, why can’t lightwave do it?” Now, I’m like, neat, I wonder if I can create that myself, even improve it in a new environment. Not only is it a great problem solving endeavor but there’s also a chance to generate some capital with a great plugin. One less starving artist in the forum. From there, as is tradition with lightwave users, it just keeps getting better.
My two cents.
While I do understand and even appreciate what you said, not every artist have the time to learn programming and the few (including myself) who studied a little bit of C, Python, MEL, whatever either in school or by themselves don’t really have the time to become master programmers, they just learn what’s needed to finish the job.
Think about this: complaining that LW won’t do X or Y and that it should copy Z feature from O package may seem like whining from YOUR perspective because you’re probably able to implement some new functionality on your own. But this is not what a company like NewTek should expect from their customers, and it’s not a very user friendly environment to work with.
As of now, LW is in its 10th installment and it’s still missing BASIC funcionality. Sure, there are plugins, but have you ever taken into consideration the TIME and MONEY and actual PAIN involved in searching for the right plugins (not to mention the very real and troublesome issue of not having a safe way to compare these plugins with each other before purchase). We’re talking about a 2010 release that won’t do, say, edge slide. Really? Really NewTek? It’s been YEARS now and you’re still way behind the competition.
Out-of-the-box, LW is an incomplete application. Other packages require that you purchase plugins, too, that’s a given, BUT they come with every tool you’d expect from a basic set. EDIT: Have you noticed how MODO covered most if not all of LW’s modelling deficiencies in like 5 years?
2nd EDIT: And to make my point, I surfed the web real quick adding the prices of some of the best known plugins (TrueArt, LWCAD, etc) and this is what LW costs for real: U$ 2000+
So NewTek sells you a package for 900+ dollars that actually costs double to turn into a production ready software. Meanwhile, MODO is out for 1000 dollars and it does most of what these plugins do, out-of-the-box. How can you honestly tell me NewTek is not in trouble? Like I said before, long time users of LW have a tough love relationship with it: some turn into fanboys and are oblivious to its faults and/or don’t want to face reality while others feel nostalgia and a degree of depression at seeing it promise changes year after year. People are expecting A LOT from CORE and yet we haven’t heard a word. We know the former NT guys over at Luxology are working on Modo’s animation tools. I honestly can’t say whether LW will survive or become the next Strata 3D.
my assessment’s
maximum limit 5(* * * * *) star:)
speed * * * * need to layout (dynamics)
system usage * * * *
stabilization * * * * * (should not be sacrificing any of this)
clean code * * * *
modelling * * * * may be added to sculpting tool
uv tools * * *
painting -
node editor * * *
texture and surface editor * * * * *
rendering * * * * * (do not need mental ray or vray)
VPR * * * * *
animation tools * *
rig * * * *
dynamics * * (stabil , speedy and simple cloth , particle, fluid,hair ,fur and more )""original code clean and pure not added any plugin
my expectations
Make modeler better by providing better cut tool, better point welding and better UV tools, I use Lightwave and I count on it, you might consider this upside down but sometimes I model in Max and render in Lightwave for it’s powerful render engine. :bounce:
Very aptly put
Minus the CORE part of course since its been scrapped :sad:
p.s I’m probably one of the “tough love” uses lol
I switched to Maya full time. Nobody uses LW anymore in Canada to my knowledge in any studio.
NT really screwed itself out of a loyal user base. If you want to work in the industry, use something else.
LOL Maybe you should tell that to the production house that did the Movie Iron Sky that is coming out. They used lightwave exclusive and Dumped Maya Because it sucked for production and was causing them nothing but problems… I have actually had to redo some Maya models because they were so bad full of holes so why would you want Maya?
A Quote from Kelly Myers It just kills me in this day and age that people would blow the money on Maya/max/mentalray or whatever for a small shop, when LW and a couple of good artists with it can run circles around entire maya based departments.
It’s question of costs. Maya and most autodesk products seem to be purchase as some kind of “bling” factor for studios. It’s silly.
Are not the guys who did Iron Sky the same group that did Star Wreck? They used Lightwave for that, so WHY would they switch to Maya when apparently many of their artists are used to LW? I certainly wouldn't. Hell, I want to get out of using Lightwave myself but since I have so many licenses and it's pretty much the only 3D software I know... I'm pretty much screwed for the time being. It doesn't matter HOW good software like Maya, Max or Softimage is - you use what you know. After seeing what Pooby has done using XSI, I have no doubt that the software is allot less important than the artist using it. You take a great Maya artist and a great Lightwave artist and they can BOTH do great things. To say that LW is overall better than these other packages is just delusional. It's the ARTIST, not the package.
After the crap that Kat spued on the LW forums AND during his webinars regarding LW CORE, I don’t care what Kelly Myers says at all. He’s pro “old” LW to the detriment of the community - as were so many others who railed against CORE. And now the rest of us suffer for it.
And to add to this “How to improve LW” thread… simple, Newtek needs to sell Lightwave to a developer that CARES about their customers. The LW developers are excellent and doing a great job with LW - as they were doing with CORE. Management screwed it up. New management that CARES about their userbase will propel LW forward. Keep the same management, LW will continue to lose users. Blender will gain more and more - it’s really looking incredible.