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Applying the Patch
Un-archive the zip file to your NewTek\Programs directory. Open a dos prompt and cd to your programs directory. Apply the patch by entering "updatlw" at the command prompt and hitting enter. When the patch is finished you will find your old executables renamed to .55a or .55c (depending on the revision you are patching from). You may delete these if the patch was applied successfully. After applying the patch the build of Layout should be '255' and the build of Modeler should be '251'. (This can be checked by holding down CTRL and SHIFT and selecting 'About' from the file pop-down window in either app.)
New Features in Build 253
A check box and edit field for the stereoscopic rendering feature have been added to the Camera panel. When it is turned on, the eye separation distance can be specified in a requester. The camera should use a target object to make the "eyes" converge. Rendering with this option active will result in two images for each frame, which depict the scene as viewed from positions to the left and right of the single camera that would normally be used. The frame numbers in the filenames of the saved images will be followed by either "L" or "R" to distinguish these views. The Eye Separation input field defaults to 60mm, which is about the average distance between an average human's eyes.
Hint: Use a null object as a Camera target and place it at the point where you want eyes to converge.
Direct3D is now a standard feature in Intel versions. (Currently LightWave only supports Direct3D 5 under Windows 95, and requires that you copy the included 'Openim.dll' into your windows/system directory.)
Graphics Library The layout view graphics library is now selected through a popup menu, allowing for new choices to be added, such as Direct3D. (Options panel, Layout View tab)
Image Format The output RGB and alpha image format settings are now saved in the config file.
Texture Panels The current texture layer number is now shown in the title bar of all Texture panels.
Motion Graph When the motion graph editor is first opened for an item, the current channel will be X Position, but from then on it will open showing the most recently graphed channel for that item.
Modeler/Layout Buttons have been added to the Macintosh and SGI versions.
Multithreaded Rendering The maximum number of rendering threads has been increased to eight.
Data Overlay feature now supports lower-case letters.
Layout Window The size and position of the main Layout window is now saved in the config file and restored the next time LightWave is started.
Match Goal Orientation The children of items using the Match Goal Orientation option are now oriented as well. For correct results, the children should have been added to the scene after the "goaled" item (which is usually the case).
Loading Images There is a new choice at the bottom of every image selection popup allowing a new image to be loaded with having to open the Images panel.
Check out the plug-ins section for even more new features!
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Changes for Plug-ins
- Generic Pop-up A popup giving access to generic plug-ins in the left side of the main window has been added as an experimental feature.
- SkyTracer
(SkyTracer.p) now uses the same "doubler" technology as Steamer to speed up rendering. See the updated Steamer docs for more information.
Other Improvements to LightWave
- Texture reference objects are no longer lost when sending objects to Modeler and back.
- Constant Value Alpha
option for surfaces should now be rendered with the specified alpha value no matter what transparency options they may have. This is true even if they are morphing into surfaces that don't use Constant Value.
- Frame Slider
Clicking on the frame slider or view navigation controls now cancels bone drawing, preventing strange behavior caused by the non-delta mouse mode used when drawing bones.
- Multiple-thread Rendering
Transparent polygons are now rendered correctly when using multiple threads. Overall multiple-thread rendering has been improved significantly.
- ScreamerNet II
now properly handles scene names containing spaces.
- Plus much much more!
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Techical Support Information
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