Important Installation Information

In order to use the LightWave plug-ins that we have included with this release of 

LightWave 4.0, you will need to configure them for your system. The 

installation program cannot do this for you, so you will need to set them up 

manually. 



Once a plug-in has been added to LightWave, it will remain available in all 

future LightWave sessions. Follow the steps below. 



To install the HIIP plug-in (which allows for multiple file format support): 



Enter Layout. Select the Options panel (from the top of the screen).Click on the 

button labeled Add Plug-ins. Navigate to the HIIP directory (inside the main 

NewTek directory). Select and load the file HIIPSaver.p. This automatically installs 

the plug-in and modifies LightWave's config file so that the plug-in will be 

available each time you run the program.  



***HIIP provides animation support thru AVI files. However, Windows 3.1 users

must have Video for Windows installed for this feature to function. ***



When saving AVI files it is necessary to include the .AVI extension at the

end of the filename, otherwise no file will be saved.  There are 3 AVI savers

included with Lightwave.  NT-Avi.p is for use only with Windows NT and

provides some options for compression.  HIIPsaver.p includes 2 AVI saving

utilities, HIIP-Avi32 and HIIP-Avi16.  HIIP-Avi32 is for use with

Windows NT while HIIP-Avi16 is for use with Windows 3.1.



To install the Pennello plug-in (which allows for image processing effects): 



Enter Layout. Select the Options panel (from the top of the screen).Click on the 

button labeled Add Plug-ins. Navigate to the Plugins directory (inside the main 

NewTek directory). Select and load LWPNLO.p. This automatically installs the 

plug-in and modifies LightWave's config file so that the plug-in will be available 

each time you run the program.  



To install Layout-specific plug-ins: 



Enter Layout. Select the Options panel (from the top of the screen).Click on the 

button labeled Add Plug-ins. Go to the Plug-ins directory, and enter the Layout 

directory there. Select and load any files with a ".p" extension. You may need to 

repeat this step several times, once for each plug-in that you find there.  



To install Modeler-specific plug-ins: 



Enter Modeler. Select the Objects panel (first button along the top of the 

screen). Below it, drag your pointer over the "Custom" pop-up and select the 

Add Plug-in option. Go to the Plug-ins directory, and enter the Modeler 

directory there. Select and load any files with a ".p" extension. You may need to 

repeat this step several times, once for each plug-in that you find there.  



That's it. From now on, the plug-ins you have configured will be available 

whenever you run LightWave and Modeler.  



Note: If you wish to update or remove an existing plug-in, you will need to 

remove its command line from the LightWave or Modeler config file. Use a text 

editor to delete the line from the file so that it will not appear in your plug-in 

pop-up menus. Information about the name of the config file for each platform 

can be found on page 313 (Appendix B) of the Reference Manual. You may also 

wish to delete the actual plug-in executable from your hard disk. This is of 

course optional, since you may wish to reinstall the plug-in at a later date. 



*************************************************************



Last-Minute Additions to LightWave

The following items were altered/added to LightWave 3D after the manuals 

went to press. We have provided a page of "See the ReadMe file!" stickers to 

accompany this text file. As you read through this file, you may want to place 

them on the appropriate pages in the LightWave manuals to serve as a reminder 

that a control or function has been added or updated. 



Among the stickers you'll also find a set of Technical Support stickers as well. 

We recommend that you place them inside the front covers of your manuals, or 

on your computer as a handy reference for calling on our software support 

services. (There are more stickers than you actually need, so you should have a 

few extras.) 



If you did not receive a sheet of "See the ReadMe file!" stickers for any reason, 

please contact Customer Service at 800-647-6111 or 913-228-8000. 



Systems Guide and Installation Page 12

Referenced Appendix

The Systems Guide refers to an appendix that lists all of the files included with 

the LightWave content CD-ROM. This appendix does not appear in the printed 

manual and is not included on the CD-ROM. 



Systems Guide and Installation Page 14

Installing LightWave Software (on Windows NT and Amiga platforms)

The installation instructions state that you should run the LightWave installation 

program from a floppy disk. This is no longer accurate. All of the files that you 

need for your version of LightWave can be found on the CD-ROM, incuding the 

installation program. Insert the LightWave CD-ROM in your CD drive and run 

the installer from there. 



Win32 and Windows NT users run the program called "Setup.exe."  Amiga 

users run the program called "Install LightWave 4.0." 



Reference Page 4

User Guide Page 12

Middle mouse button support for three-button mice (all platforms)

In Modeler, clicking the middle mouse button engages extended selection 

(extended selection allows you to highlight items in addition to the currently-

selected ones). This is the equivalent of holding the Shift key while clicking with 

the left mouse button. This makes extended selection a simple, one-handed 

operation. 



LightWave Layout already supports the three-button mouse. In Layout, use the 

middle mouse button to select objects from the main screen (rather than the 

pop-up menu button). 

 

Reference Page 184

User Guide Page 216

TrueType font support (Windows systems only) 

Modeler now supports both PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts. The panel 

for generating 3D text now features "Add Type-1" and "Add True-Type" buttons 

in place of the "Load Font "button discussed in the manual. 



Reference Page 290

User Guide Page 268

Screen Selection Options (Amiga only)

In Modeler, you can select among the different screen modes supported by 

Modeler and your display via the Options panel. 



To change screen modes, go to the Display panel and select Options to access 

this new screen mode control. Click on the Change button and select a new 

mode from the dialog box. Click OK, then click OK again to exit the Options 

panel. Modeler will temporarily disappear, then return in the screen display 

mode you selected (as long as it is compatible with your system). 



Modeler can display each screen mode in one of two color schemesgrayscale 

or grayscale with yellow highlighting. Click on the Color button to toggle 

between these two modes. When you exit the panel, Modeler will reset itself to 

its new color settings. 



Reference Page 313

New Layout Configuration File Options

New configuration file options have been added to the Layout config file (which 

is documented in Appendix B of the Reference Manual). The new lines are 

specific to different platforms, so your config file may or may not display all of 

the additions shown here. The options that appear at the end of each line 

(following the space) may be edited by you to fit your preferences. 



FileTypeImages *.iff;*.tga



The list of image extensions instructs LightWave to show only the files of that 

type in the Load Image or Save Image file dialog. You can edit the list of 

extensions to display only the file types that you prefer to see. Note that each 

file type is separated by a semi-colon.



Note: Non-Win32 and non-Windows NT systems do not use file types and will 

ignore this line. 

 

FileTypeAnimations *.*



The list of image extensions instructs LightWave to show only the files of that 

type in the Save Animation file dialog. You can edit the list of extensions to 

display only the file types that you prefer to see. Note that each file type is 

separated by a semi-colon.

 

Note: Non-Win32 and non-Windows NT systems do not use file types and will 

ignore this line. 



OverwriteWarnings 2



When you go to save a file over an existing file with the same name, LightWave  

will warn you that you are about to do so. However, depending on your level of 

expertise with LightWave, you may not wish to have constant reminders of this, 

particularly if you are saving an object or scene with desired changes. There are 

three levels of overwrite warnings you can choose among for the config file. 



A value of 2 allows LightWave to warn you any time you save data to an existing 

file name. This helps prevent you from saving over an existing file. 



A value of 1 tells LightWave to supress its warning message if the current file 

name is the same as the file name already saved (i.e., if you load a scene, add a 

light source, then save the scene again using the same name). Saving the current 

version of a file (especially a scene or an object) is a common action and one 

where repeated warning messages may be considered a nuisance. 



A value of 0 supresses all overwrite warnings. 



QuickMotionPathFrames 30



In Layout, when you move an object (or make a preview animation), its motion 

path is shown extending both ahead-of and behind the current object. The value 

set for QuickMotionPathFrames determines just how far ahead and behind an 

object the motion path is calculated and displayed. 



AnimationsDirectory Framestore



This line directs LightWave to save animations in a directory called Framestore 

(located within the main NewTek directory). This is for Video Toaster (Amiga) 

support, since the Toaster can play back HAM8 format animations in real time. 



FramestoresDirectory Images



This line instructs LightWave which directory to use as its Framestore directory 

(for the Save Framestores, Play Framestores, and Save Animation buttons). This 

is primarily for non-Video Toaster (Amiga) users who wish to save animations in 

another format and directory than Toaster owners might use. 



FlyerClipsDirectory  Clips



This line tells LightWave where to access Video Toaster Flyer clips. 



Reference Page 347

User Guide Page 31

New Keyboard Shortcuts Added to Layout

The following keyboard shortcuts were added to the main Layout screen:

i       Display inverse kinematics options panel for selected item

=       Add child bone 

F1      Display shortcuts for current panel (in addition to Help, Amiga version) 



In addition, when the skeletal system of an object is selected, you can now press 

either the plus (+) key to add a bone to Layout, or the minus (-) key to remove a 

bone from Layout. 



User Guide Page 395

Advanced Tutorial #5

This tutorial did not mention the names of the objects and scenes shown. The 

objects shown for this tutorial (the flag and the pumpkin) are included in the 

Objects/Tutorial directory. The scenes can be found in the Scenes/Tutorial 

directory. 



Pennello Page 12

"Troubleshooting: Pennello does not appear on my Image Effect Plug-in menu"

This troubleshooting tip refers to the LightWave config file for Win32 and 

Windows NT users (lw.cfg). If you are an SGI user, your config file will be 

named .lwrc.



