3D Animation I

1. 3D Animation I

Lightwave 3D
The Interface:
Having a look around

2. Let’s Get Started

Start Lightwave
Layout
Select File > Clear
Scene
Command N
This allows you to start
with a fresh scene at any
time

3. The Interface

What you see
Tabs on top
Selectable items on
left
Based on tab
selection
Timeline on bottom
Play controls
Tabs
Viewport
Menu Items
Timeline

4. The Interface

What you see
Every new scene
starts with a light
and a camera
The wireframe you
see in the viewport
is called the grid
Used to help you
line up objects,
but is not seen
by the camera
Light
Camera
Navigation Controls

5. Let’s Look at Something

Make sure the Items
tab is selected
On the left, select
Load More and then
select Object…
Notice that the shortcut
to loading an object is
(+)

6. Let’s Look at Something

In the Objects
directory, open the
Animals folder and
select Triceratops.lwo
Note that all objects are
.lwo

7. Looking Around

Different views
Displaying 3
dimensions on a 2D
screen
Top, Bottom, Back,
Front, Right, Left,
Perspective, Light,
Camera views
Shortcuts 1 - 6

8. Have a Look Around

Click on the View popup menu and choose
Top
Shortcut (2)

9. Looking Around

Changing your point
of view
Selected item always
center
Click on this will
keep whatever you
have selected in the
center of your view

10. Looking Around

Changing your point
of view
Dolly & Truck
Moves your view
forward, backward,
side to side

11. Looking Around

Changing your point
of view
Rotate
Allows you to swing
around the current
view up, down, left
or right
Not available in
the top view

12. Looking Around

Changing your point
of view
Zoom
Allows you to zoom
in and out on your
current view
Shortcut (,) (.)

13. Have a Look Around

Click & hold on the
Dolly button and drag
your cursor
Keyboard shortcut
(Shift, Option)
Click & hold on the
Zoom button and drag
your cursor
Keyboard shortcut (,)(.)

14. Have a Look Around

In the View pop-up
menu choose
Perspective
Keyboard shortcut (4)
Click and hold on the
Rotate button and drag
your cursor
Keyboard shortcut
(Option)

15. Have a Look Around

In the View pop-up
menu choose Light
Keyboard shortcut (5)
This shows you what the
light is seeing
Helpful when aiming
lights at certain things

16. Have a Look Around

In the View pop-up
menu choose Camera
Keyboard shortcut (6)
This shows you what the
camera is seeing
The most important
view
When you render a
frame or your scene
this is what you get

17. Manipulating Objects

Use the Modify tab
Allows you to move,
rotate, scale and
stretch your object
You can also move
and rotate your
camera or lights as
well

18. A Better View of Our Dino

Select the Modify
tab
Select Rotate
Shortcut (y)
Click on the Red
circle and rotate the
dino so you have a
better view

19. Manipulating Objects

Numerics
Bottom left
Allows you to set specific
settings to the type of
manipulation you are doing
Rotation
Horizontal, Pitch, Bank
Note the colors red, green
& blue match the control
rings on our dino

20. Tweak the Settings

Using the Numerics, click on
the <> button and change
the horizontal setting
Change the pitch and bank
settings, then select inside
the setting window, type 0
and press Enter to reset the
pitch and bank

21. Timeline – Left Side

Timeline Slider
Drag this slider to the desired frame in your
animation
Current frame is displayed on the left side of the
timeline

22. Timeline – Left Side

Item Type
Allows you to choose the kind of item in your
scene you would like to modify
Object, Bones (things you add inside an object),
Lights, and Camera

23. Timeline – Left Side

Current Item pop-up menu
Once you have chosen the kind of item you would
like, then you can choose which of those items you
wish to modify
Since we only have one object in our scene, our
Triceratops is the only object we can select

24. Timeline – Left Side

Item Properties
This allows you to change
features of the selected element
Object properties allow you to
change its opacity, morph into
something and other tricks

25. Timeline – Right Side

Total frames in scene
This is how long the scene is
Measured in frames
30 frames per second this scene is 4 seconds
long
Type in any value you need to set the duration

26. Change the Scene Duration

Select inside the Scene
Duration window and
type 300 and press
Enter
Scene is now 300 frames
long = 10 seconds

27. Timeline – Right Side

Auto Key
When checked, every time you change an item at
any frame, LW will make a key frame to remember
that change
Handy feature, but sometimes you need to turn this
off
Leave it on for now

28. Timeline – Right Side

Create Key
Allows you to manually create a key frame when
Auto Key is turned off
Shortcut (Enter)

29. Let’s Make a Simple Animation

Make sure the Timeline
slider is at frame 0
Using the Modify tab in
Camera view, select
Move, then move the
dino back away from the
camera and to the right
With Auto Key on, the
new position is memorized

30. Let’s Make a Simple Animation

Move the slider to
frame 300
While Move is still
selected, move the dino
closer to the camera
and to the left

31. Let’s Make a Simple Animation

Move the slider to
frame 150
While Move is still
selected, move the dino
to the left or right of
its current location
You now have 3 key
frames

32. Timeline – Right Side

Navigation Controls
Allows you to move your slider to specific frames in
your scene
Go to the beginning, go to previous key frame of
selected item, go back 1 frame, go forward 1
frame, go to next key frame of selected item, go
to end of scene

33. Timeline – Right Side

Navigation Controls
Handy keyboard shortcuts
Go forward or backward 1 frame =
Go to previous or next key frame = Shift

34. Zip to Your Key Frames

Use the navigation
controls to go to the
beginning and end of
your scene
Use the navigation
controls to go to your
key frames
Try out the shortcuts

35. Timeline – Right Side

Preview pop-up menu
Allows you to make a preview of your animation
without rendering out a movie
Much faster – allows you to find problem areas in
your scene without wasting too much time

36. Make a Preview

Click on the Preview
button and select Make
Preview
1st frame = 0
Last frame = 300
Frame Step = 1
Viewport = Camera
View
Press OK

37. Play the Preview

Click the play button
to play your preview
You can scrub, step, go
to beginning, end, set
the frame rate
When done, click End
Preview

38. Timeline – Right Side

Viewport playback
Plays the scene forward or backward
Playback speed depends on the complexity of the scene
Step
Plays back each frame (1) or any interval of frames you
choose
2 = every other frame
10 = every 10th frame

39. Rendering

Render tab
Render the current
frame
F9
Render the scene
F10
Can render a
selected range of
frames or the whole
thing

40. Render a Frame

Using the timeline
slider, select a frame
you would like to
render out
Select the Render tab,
then click Render
Frame
Or just press F9

41. Rendering

Render Status
Window
Shows you what
Lightwave is doing
when rendering your
frame
Watch Lightwave
build your frame
Slows down
rendering time & can
be turned off

42. Rendering

Render Frame
In its own window
Allows you to save the
image if you like

43. Save a Frame

On the Render
Window, select Save
RGBA > LW_JPEG
(.jpg) and save your
frame to the desktop

44. Save Your Scene

Select File > Save
Scene As…
Select the Scenes folder
(if necessary) and
create a new folder
‘My Scenes’
Title your animation
and Save

45. 3D Animation I

Lightwave 3D
The Interface:
Having a look around