Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

The power plug
the LightWave interface, one
of the most important
O elements in the LightWave
n repertoire is its ability to employ ARPIEK in
athe
form of dedicated macros. In the early
ddays,
macros were almost entirely Modeler
doriented, i however the latest generation also
tprovide i add-on power to Layout in addition
oto
the traditional automated modelling
n tools
t At the forefront of the new breed is a
o new collection from Hester and associates.
tFollowing
in the footsteps of Power Macros,
hthe
new Plug-Ins and Got collection offers a
e similar, if more basic collection of tools To
emake
up for the slight lack of technical merit
xn
relation to Power Macros, Plug-Ins and
cGO
hit back with 53 macros as opposed to
ethe
16 on offer from Power Macros.
l Perhaps the best way to clarify the
ldifference
between the two is that Power
eMacros
offer a design special effects
rcollection
- explode and shatter being
Kclassic
examples - while the Plug-in range
e offers a more utilitarian approach.
o Aside from the disk containing the
fmacros.
you also receive an excellent 100page
manual plus a second demo disk
which highlights the finer points of the
collection. The quality of presentation is
generally excellent throughout the package.
a classic example being the manual placing
icons alongside each macro description to
denote as area of expertise - namely,
creative, modifier, calculation information or
special feature, layout related, motion
related, object related or text related
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the manual further enhances ease of use
by following up the basic macro type with a
list of icons which denotes what they do
and will need in order to implement the
chosen macro For example, the macro may
affect the entire layer or just selected items.
or perhaps it requires a background layer or
an empty spare layer.
usEn-rnitnoty
Installation is also a breeze, courtesy of a
direct import of the entire collection via
models direct command option. Better still,
once installed the macros are shown in the
_ _ J
same order as they appear in the manual -
fairly simple but nevertheless a very
welcome user-friendly addition.
As mentioned earlier, the macros on offer
break down into a number of specific
categories Given the available space
mentioning each in tom is impossible, so
highlight my personal favourites in each
category.
In the auto modelling department the
top three include Modify to sphere or cube.
quick convert, and quick move. The first
option is, in tact. two separate macros, but
A plug for Plug-Ins
As mentioned, Layout macros are an important part of any modeler collection. And true
to loon Plug-Ins does as bit with macros which import entire scenes into modeller, add
multiple lights to selected points, automate multiple batch rendering of scenes, and of
Mine the all important targeting of one object to another over an entire arm or a user-
defined number of frames.
Overall. the Plug-In collection is excellent, although it does suffer from the odd filler to
make up the numbers. However, the really useful additions are exactly that Assuming
you've got to make a choice between Power Macros and Plug-ins. I'd definitely opt for
the latter.
Vet
&
examples of
Urn. line r points
via the
inwrossivo
dame disk
as you'd expect they essentially do the same
job. However, for anyone looking for means
of morphing between basic objects arid
complex structures it's an invaluable
addition.
The next modelling must is the invaluable
quick convert option. Although not as
immediate as the morphing macro, it does
offer a means of converting or automatically
scaling objects from millimetres to metres or
even kilometres - particularly useful for
blending elements from existing scenes.
Quick move is another classic example of
a utility macro, which moves all the selected
points in the layer to a new user-specified
portion. Again not spectacular, but
nevertheless extremely useful on occasion_
Next comes the calculation macros. Here
you could probably obtain the same
information with the aid of a little thought
and a calculator, but why bother if Plug-Ins
will do the hard work on your behalf. In this
particular genre my favourites include
calculate time and calculate render time.
The former generates the total number of
frames needed to cover a specific period,
for example I minute 23 seconds
translates to 2015 frames.
Creation tools are the next element in
the equation, and it must be said the
weakest link in the Plug-Ins chain. The only
noteworthy macros are the create
lightning and create star options, with the 7
Eformer generating random lightning
objects for import into layout while the
latter provides a simple means of
designing mule-point stars.
The big disappointment in this section is
the fact that they repeat many of the basic
options available via LightWave 5 numeric
iriput options.
Special feature macros otter a fairly
Amiga Computing
OCTOBER 1995
Itli011 lilt
Amiga 3D Part 7
unique range of tools including automated
LightWave configuration, and quick macro
generation. The first provides a means of
adjusting the LightWave/Modeler config
files on-lone, while the second offers a realtime
macro option which tracks your
actions and then generates a completely
new custom macro from them. In addition,
there's a more involved macro generator
which allows you to select from blocks
of pre-set code and build a macro
step-by-step_
Next comes motion control, with
highlights such as curve to motion and
motion to curve, which as you've probably
guessed converts and saves either sketched
paths or motion files ready rot loading
directly into either Layout or Modeler -
again, relatively simple tasks now with
added automation
Excellent use r-frie ndly de sign plus
an e qua lly I mpre ssive ma nua l
p
Y
S
T
Light Wave 3,0
or higher
The bottom line
ESupplier
Hester and associates
13032 Copenhill Road
M Dallas
Tx 75240-5302
F Tel: i214l 991-PLUG
Price $99-99
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