Lightwave X?

[Signal to Noise]

Is Lightwave X going to be a release after 8? Or is "X" just a place holder for whatever version is coming out? The reason I ask is I came across Ablan's new Inside book and it's listed as such (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735713685/qid=1057935583/sr=1-23/ref=sr_1_0_23/702-4767976-8103202)

[meshmaster]

but a very good way to start rumors.

[jimnokc]

My first guess is that it's a production title. Kinda like Chicago was before it became the released Win95.

G2 is another example, except the name stuck so they kept it.

IT's a Dan Ablan book, so it's pretty much a guaranteed success.

The next version of LW is version 8, which many of us paid for early to get the extra goodies. LightWave X is just a few years down the road :)

My ultimate theory, since Dan started on it early, before 8 was even announced, he may have asked to keep the title as LightWave X until it goes to press.

[dablan]

Thanks for the interest folks.

Inside LightWave 8.
and
LightWave 8 Killer Tips
are out this fall.

The X is a placeholder only. Often, when we plan these books, we're not sure if 8 is going to 8 - such as 3D Studio 4 went to to Max 1. Or something like that :)

New cover for Inside 8 will be posted soon.

Thanks again,
Dan Ablan
AGA Digital Studios, Inc.
www.3dgarage.com training

[hairy_llama]

Dan, PLEASE inclued some screen shots of LW 8 on the new cover ;)

[dablan]

Now, that's just silly.

The cover will be quite nice. I assure you.

Go to bed children.

Dan

:)

[jimnokc]

See, and we all thought maybe Dan was writing a book on LW 10! :)

If Inside LightWave 7, and Dan's Video/DVD tutorials are any indication of what we can expect from these two books, they'll be required reading for every LightWave user! Dan consistently crams more information into the same space than others do. His CityScapes and Character tutorials from Class on Demand are some of the best I've seen. I learned more from CityScapes than I did with four "other" tutorials covering similar portions of LW.

[dablan]

Jimnokc,

thanks a lot! Wow, glad you like the stuff.

Well, all I can say about Inside LightWave 7 is that I wasn't "that" happy with it.

With Inside LightWave 8, I'm completely re-writing everything. Nothing is repeated from any previous book, not even the introduction.

I've come up with a way that will get you going with the new
software instantly - rather than sifting through hundreds of pages. The new book is designed a bit differently than those in the past, all for the better. Lots and lots to cover, so I better get to work now.

Dan Ablan
www.3dgarage.com

[Noclar7]

Nothing is repeated from any previous book


Excellent. To be completely honest, your books have definetly been a part of my learning curve with lightwave, but the repetition turned me off from yhe "inside" series as well as Doug Kellys too.. I understand the reasoning somewhat, but in the end, your "somewhat" buying the same book twice. Maybe upgrade paths would be the solution??

regards,
RJ

[dablan]

Glad you like the books. But other than the head tutorial (which was updated for 7), every tutorial was new in the 7 book. The 7 book was 300 pages larger than the 6 book.

The only info that was similar was in the very beginning, about axis, panels, etc.

So, not quite the same book.

Inside 8 will be even better. More time into it, cooler tutorials, match moving, particles, bones...bwwhahahahah!

Dan

[jimnokc]

Dan, I know you've probably already got the book contents defined, but what I would love to see is some additional architectural modeling, more along the lines of "traditional" buildings like you did in CityScapes.

After using other programs that can "snap" objects to one another based on verticies, faces, etc, one of the hardest things I've found in LW is aligning stuff precisely in modeler. I know there are quite a few options for aligning points, polys, and layers, but sometimes it's a little confusing which way I need to go.

====================================

LW8 should see very good support from the publishing community, we already know that Dan has two books in the works. As far as I know, Leigh van der Byl is still working on a texturing book for LW, and Tim Albee has an upcoming book for 7.5 called Essential LightWave 7.5, which may be available by now. I'm pitching a couple of ideas that, if approved, would probably be published for LW8, and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there doing that, so hopefully 8 will see some massive publishing support as well.

And this probably goes without saying, but every serious LW user should be subscribing to at least Keyframe magazine, and NewTek Pro (once they get back to a regular publishing cycle). Each issue of Keyframe is packed with tips, tricks, and tutorials as well as LW news. A collection of back issues of Keyframe will provide you with hours of fun and ideas, even some of the stuff for older versions like 5.6 still has merit today.

In case anyone wants to slam me for that last paragraph, I should mention that I have submitted some articles to Keyframe, so my opinion is admittedly biased in respect to Keyframe. However, it's also worth noting that I purchased all back issues PRIOR to contributing to Keyframe.

[Hieraco]

Hey Dan, I'm actually sitting here with a copy of "Lightwave Power Guide" trying to learn how to use what I know from my Amiga and implement it on the newer LW for the PC. (Sigh, what a challenge, like learning all over again) anyhow I was wondering if I could trade the book in for an upgarde of you LW 8 book when it comes out? (I'm using LW 7.5 right now)

Anyhow thanks for the excellent books and tips. Any hints on how to convert early (LW5.0) surface files so they can be used in LW 7.0 and above?

Hieraco

[hrgiger]

Looking forward to it Dan. I don't use my Inside Lightwave books anymore (I've read them so many times, I don't need to). Now I almost keep them for sentimental value. You rock.

[riki]

Sounds great, can't wait to see it.

[dablan]

Hierco,

sorry, can't trade in a book -
I have 3 cases of Power Guides so I don't need any more. But thanks :)

Inside LightWave 8 will be better formatted, a little more for beginners, and more for advanced users. Lots of good stuff.

Dan

[sadkkf]

So, Dan, just to satisfy my own curiosity, how much of a peek does NewTek give you on releases to write your books? Do they call you in advance and say, "Hey, Dan, [X] is being worked on. Wanna write an 'Inside' book?"

Thanks!

[dablan]

NewTek is a great company to write books for.

Dan

[sadkkf]

Well, keep up the good work!

(Whispers: Boy, everyone is so tight-lipped about LightWave, VT... :D )

[Matt]

Hi Dan

Glad to hear the v8 of "Inside" will be more "pick up and do" orientated. My only gripe with 'Inside 7' is the fact that I have to read and do the whole tutorial to learn stuff.

Sometimes you just want an explanation of a feature with an example showing _how_ the feature works.

Obviously that might not be possible for some features which need to be shown 'in context'.

Cheers
Matt

[Matt]

Originally posted by sadkkf
(Whispers: Boy, everyone is so tight-lipped about LightWave, VT... :D )

dude, we've had more leaks in a week than, well ever before!!! :)

[dablan]

Matt,
Inside LightWave 8 has been completely re-designed over the previous versions. Of course, it's completely re-written from page one, but I've also really worked it so that you can segment your learning.

We're doing something very differnt and new with Chapter 1, and with it, I think many of your concerns will be answered.

More to come.
Dan

[sadkkf]

"dude, we've had more leaks in a week than, well ever before!!!"

That's very true! Just remarking on the secrecy of developers. :cool:

CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK!

[js33]

Well it probably has alot to do with a little thing called an NDA.
Non-Disclosure Agreement.
It basically means don't say anything before it's time or else. :D

Cheers,
JS

[hrgiger]

Did it happen to mention in here at all when Inside Lightwave 8 will be released. Does it say it on Amazon?

[dablan]

It will be released when it's done.

Hehe. Actually, meat is done, people are finished. :)





We're shooting for the book to be out as soon as LW 8 is out.


How's that?
Dan

[hrgiger]

Sounds good to me Dan. Just out of curiosity, but is chapter 10(head modeling) going to be in this one too? Or do you have some new organic modeling project in this one. You only have to look through the WIP forums in the last few years to realize just how popular that tutorial has become.

[dablan]

No head modeling chapter in Inside LightWave 8. I think we all have enough head modeling!

Instead, we're putting in a full character model, something along the lines of "The Incredibles." You'll build it, rig it with the new tools, etc.

More to come

Dan

[Leigh]

Originally posted by jimnokc
As far as I know, Leigh van der Byl is still working on a texturing book for LW

Yep, I'm still writing it :) "Texturing For LightWave 8" will be published by the end of the year (hopefully!) :D

Looking forward to "Inside LightWave 8", Dan! Sad to hear there won't be a head modelling tut though - I learnt to model heads from "Inside LightWave 6.5" :D And head modelling tuts are always such good practice...

[dablan]

Well, if you want to learn head modeling, use INLW 6 or 7. :)
That technique really doesn't change for 8.

Although, if you guys like it that much, maybe I can put it on the CD for you?

Dan

[jimnokc]

Put it on the CD and call it BONUS CD CONTENT!

The head modeling tutorial was awesome, and I was very pleased to see you take a different approach in your DVD collection. Just shows theirs more than one way to skin a cat (you don't have any cat skinning tutorials you could include, do you????) :)

I particularly enjoy your architectural sections. You did CityScapes DVD completely different than they was you did the model in Inside LW 7. This is the kind of stuff I like to see, and I'm sure others do as well. It helps reinforce the "there's no single correct way to model anything", there could be tens or hundreds of ways to achieve the same results.

It also makes you realize your creativity is limited only by the number of functioning brain cells you have remaining (and in some cases, even the dead ones participate!)

[dablan]

Thanks -

I'm glad you like the different approaches. I don't like to repeat this stuff, and you're right - there are always more than one way to go.

Bonus on the CD it is! I'll reformat the head chapter and add it to the CD content. The only problem might be file size. We're adding a lot of "special" bonus content in the form of free video tutorials as well. I also plan to put the book's screen shots on the CD in full color as well.

Dan Ablan
AGA Digital Studios, Inc.
www.3dgarage.com

[iluvatar]

Hi Dan,

I finally meet you!! nvr thought about that :) I've recently bought the "inside LW 7" from a friend of a friend of a friend of a ..... but the guy really messed up the CD. I think he used it more in the kitchen than in his PC. So now I'm missing the reference pictures for the head modeling tutorial :( is there some way to get them online?

p.s. book's really great, looking forward to inside LW 8!!

[dablan]

Hi there -
glad you got the book.

Honestly, I don't publish the book or CD. I just write them. I can't tell you how many requests for missing or broken CD's. What's going on? I have books from 8 years ago with CDs in tact. The problem is, we don't create CDs by themselves, they go with each book, so there are no extras. I can make copies, but if I spent my days doing this, I'd have no time for anything else.

If you want a copy, email me at dablan at earthlink.net and I can work out arrangements for a replacement CD. It's just like $5 for burning and shipping.

[Matt]

Hey Leigh!

Never knew you were writing a book on texturing! Excellent, if it's as good as your online stuff you can vouch for me buying a copy!!!

:)

Matt

P.S. Glad to see you made the leap over from CGTalk.com, welcome aboard!!! :)

[Ade]

Dan one little thing id like to request is give the macintosh a lil more love in your books. Show Apple shortcuts, compatibility and would be nice to see (athstetics) some screen shots using OSX...Just to brighten it up a bit.

Also how about a section of screamernet setups-
Mac to Mac (dual cpu savvy)
PC to MAC
PC/Linux (renderer)/mac

Some great presets and LS would be nice on a cd too. I have my money ready!


I felt Inside 7 was almost the same as 6 and had to think 3 times before I bought it...

[dablan]

Ade,
thanks for the comments. I'll see what we can do about Screamernet, and put a few Mac screenshots in.

As for the 7 book being the same, I'm not quite sure about that - I mean, not only is it about 300 pages more, the tutorials are completely different. How could it be the same? Only the head modeling tutorial is repeated.

One other person mentioned this, then realized how much more was in the 7 book once they actually read through it.

Either way, Inside 8 is entirely new as well, and what's more, it's formatted better.

Thanks!

[mattclary]

Dan, I think it is probably the head tutorial that is confusing people, I fell into the same trap. I considered getting the ILW 7 book but didn't because it looked like the same (mostly) content as ILW 6. My bad. :) Now every time I'm in Barnes & Noble I keep my eye out for a copy and they never have it, so I guess I'll just have to go to Amazon. Can't wait for 8 and your new book to go with it!

[dablan]

Thanks Matt.

We got such a great response from the Head tutorial, we thought to keep in there, but updated for 7. Of course, the additional 300 pages should have made up for this repeated tutorial :)

Nothing repeated in the new book!

[sadkkf]

Dan--

will Inside 8 be perfect bound as the others? Any chance we can go for a spiral bind this time?

It's just easier for me when following tutorials to not have something heavy on the pages to keep it open :)

Chime in here, people, how does everyone else work?

[dablan]

Everyone loves sprial bound, but I know that's not going to happen. They're more expensive to produce, and they have no shelf presence.
If you take a look at a sea of books in the stores, the sprial bound one would simply be lost.

Thanks!

[Matt]

spiral bound inside a sleeve?

:D

[dablan]

Matt, sprial bound inside a sleeve is great - we've looked at options like that. But the costs are too great, from what I'm told.

How many books do you actually see like this? Not too many. We want to keep costs down so you're not paying $70 for a book. Right now, less than $40 for a 1000 page book is pretty good. There are books smaller in size and page count that cost almost double this, that are not spiral bound. Adding something like this I think is not only impossible with a 1000 page book, but more, just costly.

I'll ask around again though..

[sadkkf]

It was only a thought. I understand the costs will be greater and the shelf presence can be unwieldy.

Thanks for the reply, though. Looking forward to getting into it!

:sadkkf

[Matt]

I know Dan, just dreaming!

Mind you if the content is as good as you've said I wouldn't mind paying extra!

:)

[dablan]

I hear ya -
but we still want to keep costs down. The Inside books are the best bang for the buck all around. I'd like to keep it that way :)

[Matt]

any idea when we can purchase this wonderful tome?

:)

[dablan]

Well, I'm working on it now. Probably late Nov/Early December, depending on the release of LW 8.


Thanks much.

[Chris Partridge]

Originally posted by dablan
Jimnokc,

thanks a lot! Wow, glad you like the stuff.

Well, all I can say about Inside LightWave 7 is that I wasn't "that" happy with it.

With Inside LightWave 8, I'm completely re-writing everything. Nothing is repeated from any previous book, not even the introduction.

I've come up with a way that will get you going with the new
software instantly - rather than sifting through hundreds of pages. The new book is designed a bit differently than those in the past, all for the better. Lots and lots to cover, so I better get to work now.

Dan Ablan
www.3dgarage.com

Hi Dan,

This is really good to hear: especially as I am a complete newbie to Lightwave, and any modelling, rendering and animation program. I'm sure I speak for many that the thing I want to do is be able to get up and running with the best visuals as soon as possible...in otherwords cut to the chase and let's see what I can achieve. The nuances and depth of Lightwave will develop as I continue to explore the program.

For me, Lightwave 7.5 arrives tomorrow in the post: with the free update to version 8 when it comes out. :)

I just hope my 2100 XP Athlon with 1GB of RAM and take the strain until the 3.4GHz Prescott sits next to it at the end of the year :D

regards,

Chris Partridge

[dablan]

Chris,
that system will be fine.

You guys are all such whimps! :)
In my day, we had oh, 32MB of RAM and a 40Mhz processor. That was my system and I was the envy :)

Seriously - LW runs great lessor systems.

As for the book, I listen to all comments, and am adding much more "introductory" LightWave information - so it'll be great for beginners. I'm going back to methods used when I first learned LightWave.

From there, we'll have a lot of character animation. Modeling, texturing, rigging, and of course animating.

More to come!

[pauland]

Originally posted by dablan
Seriously - LW runs great lessor systems.

I just had to smile when I read this, since the guy only has a "2100 XP Athlon with 1GB of RAM ". A real slouch system.. LOL

Paul

[Chris Partridge]

Well, I have had Lightwave now a few days and have flicked through the manual, and also received Dan's Inside Lightwave 7.

For me, I get the impression that many books try to explain what Lightwave does in a very careful step-by-step basis. This is an excellent approach, but I'm wondering whether another approach might be slightly better.

As I have just spent £800 on Lightwave, I want to be creating the best and most interesting sequences as soon as possible. Of course I have to learn the basics, but I think soooo much can be learned by going through tutorials straight from the word go. These have two advantages: the feel as if you are actually doing something rather than the tedious method of learning something, and secondly you do actually learn the methods as you progress through the tutorial.

What I'd like to see is a big chapter near the beginning dedicated to a whole range of tutorials for creating many different completed things in Lightwave. This could begin with a short MPEG animation on the CD showing you the effect, with steps in the tutorial in the chapter on how to create it. Within the tutorial, and at the relevant point, there are links to pages deeper in the book on that Lightwave feature in all its glory. This method has the advatange of maker the user feel they've achieved something reasonably quickly, they don't feel swamped with detail early on, and they have the reassurance that that particular aspect will be examined in a more in-depth and challenging manner when they feel right for it. This is just a way that I personally would like to learn (by actually doing it).

Just some thoughts...

[Matt]

Hi Dan, well if you're taking requests . . . :)

I've already said this somewhere else, but I thought I'd re-iterate it! For what I use LightWave for these topics would be very welcome . . .


1) Lighting (achieving realism with and without radiosity)

2) Advanced texture mapping (including how to work around distorted UV maps!)

3) Motion plugins - which ones are worth looking at and how they work! (Advanced parenting and following)

4) Sub-D modeling for non-organic shapes - i.e. man made objects

5) Rigging for mechanical objects (non-deformable)

6) Motion designer - hard body rather than soft body


If you could touch on any of these areas ya got my cash!!!

:)

[dablan]

Chris and Matt,
thanks for the comments! They'll be noted for the table of contents.

However, Chris, I think you'll like how Inside LightWave 8 is formatted. I too am a regular user of software programs, everyday. I know what it's like to try and learn - and so, I've reformatted this book so you're up and running by chapter 2!

You'll see what I mean soon.

Thanks

[Chris Partridge]

Sounds great :)