http://www.newtek.com/3d/lw55features.html (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)

LightWave 3D 5.5 New Features and Functionality

April, 1997

New streamlined user interface provides a highly interactive workspace for animators; includes real-time texture mapping, non-modal environments and user-definable interface color and configuration.
New color wheel options provide better control of color selections (in both Layout and Modeler).
Multiple items can be loaded simultaneously (affects both the Layout and Modeler).

Enhanced Inverse Kinematics boasts a 500 percent speed increase and new calculations to maximize accuracy.
Multi-threaded rendering takes advantage of multiprocessor systems.
Direct 3D support (Intel MMX technology) is available in addition to OpenGL and QuickDraw; users can choose their API for real-time shaded environments.
Render GL support provides high-speed rendering; takes advantage of OpenGL hardware during the rendering process.
New ScreamerNet commands provide processor status and user-definable node update times.

Morph Gizmo generates facial animations very quickly and easily.
Volumetric lighting engine creates ultra-realistic lighting effects.
Lscript allows users to create scripts to control almost all functions available in LightWave 3D 5.5.
Super Cel Shader turns 3D models into 2D cartoons and Anime-style films.
Particle system includes emitter, gravity and animated particle shading.
Negative lights allow the user to "subtract" light or light color from a surface.
Area lights permit the creation of soft-edge ray trace shadows and user-definable light size.
Linear light source simulates neon and florescent lighting and irregular specular highlights.
Interactive texture mapping includes scale, position and rotation.
Animatable textures enable the animation of size, position, rotation of image maps and algorithmic textures.
Users can move, rotate and scale entire motion graphs interactively.
Enhanced Scene Editor has options for loading audio files, selecting item visibility options and time slider options for frames, seconds, or time code.
Unseen by Camera options can "hide" an object from the renderer.

Add Item function quickly adds objects, Null objects, bones, and point, spot or distant lights.
Play mode enables users to view animations without creating a preview and make changes to an animation interactively while the scene is playing.
Undo for key frame modifications.
Improved Camera control provides direct input of camera lens focal length plus horizontal and vertical fields of view.
Animatable modeling functions include twist, taper, bend, shear, vortex, and pole.
New item selection tools and view control widgets are included.
Enhanced transport controls feature Play mode and variable time display.

Interactive text modeling tools includes real-time typing, position, scale and font selection.
Users have greater control over deformation tools for modeling.
Knife modeling tools slices objects rapidly.
Pen tool quickly draws polygons.
MetaNURBS features support for triangles and quads.
Enhanced modification tools are more intuitive and interactive.
Protractor tool quickly measures angles.
Multiple backdrop images enable template modeling.
DragNet and Smooth Scale are two new modeling tools for working with organic models; especially useful with MetaNURBS objects.
Statistics window can stay open to allow review or selections at any time.
User settings are preserved across sessions, or can be loaded and saved individually.

An enhanced Lazy Points plug-in created organic deformations based on an object's motion.
A motion-capture data conversion plug-in is available for Acclaim and Wavefront formats.
A Skeleton Maker plug-in easily creates bone hierarchies for character animation.
An Extender plug-in provides more control when creating objects with MetaNURBS.
The application features an enhanced plug-in architecture that offers new functions as well as a friendlier environment for developers.