[stratisphere]

Heya, Im just gettin into the great world of lightwave (yay!). And im just wondering if there is any useful tip's or plugins conf's etc etc any 1 think's deserve's me getting

(Also, any tip's on what not todo or thing's to avoid etc would be a help!)

I thought also that it would be a good idea if this would be made sticky, that way, any other starter's that come along, can read this stright away without having to search thru the forums

Cheers!
Adi

[Fallenswordsman]

First thing to do is just learn the software as best you can before spending your hard earned wonga on any commercial plug-ins.

One good site to go to for free plug-ins and news is www.flay.com. I would visit this every so often just to keep up with developments.

A good site for lightwave tutorials would be:
http://members.shaw.ca/lightwavetutorials/Main_Menu.htm
You should be able to find some nice basic tutorials there that can introduce you to most aspects of Lightwave.

[Techi]

dont bother with plugins to start with, only look for them wen finding difficulties...

i learnt the basics of lightwave from

http://www.3dbuzz.com

it has plenty of starting video tutorials for geting used to the interface - but you have to register.

The only plugin i still use is an export tool.... iv tried the tool for converting low poly to high poly or other way but it still requires lots of tweaking (plugin for this is qemLOSS2 - alsoavailable is qemLOSS3)

[Mark]

And, of course, as everyone so far has completely neglected to mention, there are the excellent tutorials here at SLW.

Start out with some of the more simple free tutes, such as the coffee mug, introduction to layout, ocean scene for instance. Then think about getting the stratocaster tutorial (it's currently on special - see the home page). What you'll learn from this will be more than enough to set you on the way to mastering the software.

You'll also want to obtain some books (both Lightwave and General 3D one as well). Check out this thread for more details...

[Cchristensen]

I have to disagree a little bit. You should look at getting the plugin called FPrime (www.worley.com). It speeds up the learning process in many area a great deal. It is invaluable to any skill level user.

[Mark]

Definitely. Any tools that aid with speeding the actual rendering process (such as FPrime) should be mandatory (same goes for sasquatch for hair - SASLite really lacks too many features for truly realsitic hair/fur/grass/etc...)

However, tools that shortcut the actual modelling or rigging process should be left until you know the long-hand way of performing the task. That way, you can be sure that you're learning your craft rather than a set of tools alone...

[stratisphere]

Hey (soz for the delayed, email account screwed up and i completly forgot about a few important thing's )

Anyways, thanks alot guy's! these are really great tip's for me. Even tho i can find stuff on the net, it's harder when i dont know what im looking for if ya get me but now i do! Iv already started downloading pretty much most of the free tutorials here, they are great! As soon as i get paid, you can bet im gunna come back and get some point's to get a few cool tutorials . Iv gotta say, phillip and peter have done a great job!

Well, iv looked at the price of sasquatch, and from the looks of that, i'll be saving for a bit but im sure it'll be worth it, same with FPrime.

Anyways, Thanks alot guy's. Keep the tip's (and links?) comming if any other's have them

Cheers, Adi