[davie563]

Hi, guys, im new to lightwave, been using it for about a week now. I have been using Cimena 4D for about a year before this, but i just cant seem to adapt to this program, i need to because ive been accepted into 3rd year of an animation coarse. And it is all very lightwave driven. ive got till sept 27 to get up to a good lvl, its really just getting used to the interface, well here is my question, its very stupid i know, but, ive been doin the basics in all the different things, and i was performing a simple extrude, but i cant seem to get the thing to extrude straight, usually u hold shift and the objectct will only go in the x,y or z axis, but i read the manual and its the control key for lightwave, but it isnt working. what have i done, and can some1 tell em how to fix this.

cheers.

ps. i was messing about with settings at the start, and maybe ive unticked a box, or somthing.

[Mark]

Nope, you need to press and hold the Ctrl key before you start moving the mouse otherwise it won't work. It takes a little getting used to, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

I tend to find LW works better if you move the mouse a significant distance when constraining motion, so over emphasize the movement, then bring the object back to where you want it.

[davie563]

thanks alot mark, that helped alot, im on my way throu a tut now,

cheers.

its actually alot similir to Cinema 4D once u get into it, ive been able to skip many bits as i have a good idea of how to do it,

cheers again m8

[Cchristensen]

Also, the middle mouse button, if you have one, works the same way.

[Mark]

Originally posted by Cchristensen Also, the middle mouse button, if you have one, works the same way.

Bloody hell - I had no idea. Been using LW now since version 6 - always with a 3 button mouse, and never, not once have I come across this (although I had found, completely by accident mind, that the middle mouse button allows you to select geometry without having to worry about pressing the shift key).

Thanks for that tip there Cory.

[davie563]

hello again, thanks for the feedback, while ive been modeling, i keep getting this weird view. My models go this transparent way, and i cant see the top and sides of cylinders, what have i done to make it go this way, i want it to be completely solid, so i can work on it

by the way, were is the bridge command, i cant find it, thats what i used all the time in Cinema 4D to make a poligon out of 4 points, if lightwave dosent have a bridge command, how do i turn points into polys

Cheers

[neone]

Originally posted by Cchristensen Also, the middle mouse button, if you have one, works the same way.

thnx for the tip from me too

[Mark]

Originally posted by davie563 hello again, thanks for the feedback, while ive been modeling, i keep getting this weird view. My models go this transparent way, and i cant see the top and sides of cylinders, what have i done to make it go this way, i want it to be completely solid, so i can work on it

Lightwave surfaces are single sided by default, so the only side of the geometry that you see is that in which the surface normal faces. I suspect that you may have accidentally flipped the polygons using the 'f' key. Simply select the polygons that are facing the wrong way, and press the 'f' key again to flip them back.

You might also find that it helps your selection to look at the model in wireframe shaded mode - that way, you'll see the outline of the polygons no matter which direction the normals are facing.

Alternatively, you can open the surface editor and make the surface of the polygons double-sided (it's a checkbox towards the bottom of the panel), although it's generally better practice to work with single-sided geometry in the first place since it makes your renders more efficient.

Originally posted by davie563 by the way, were is the bridge command, i cant find it, thats what i used all the time in Cinema 4D to make a poligon out of 4 points, if lightwave dosent have a bridge command, how do i turn points into polys Cheers

There isn't a 'bridge' command as such. You're looking for the basic, downhome and dirty 'Make Polygon' command (see that's why Lightwave's so nice - it does exactly what is says on the tin ). Anyway, select the points for your polygon (ensuring you select them in a clockwise fashion for the direction you want the polygon to face and then press the 'p' key.

[davie563]

thats great man, thats actually much easier than the bridge tool so i guess u have to always go in a clockwise order ?

cheers for the comments guys, this has been great, hopfully ill have my 1st piece ready to post on the site for u guys to see.

:0

[kumar]

Lightwave 8 has the bridge tool, just thought you should know,,, in case you are thinking of an upgrade... But i do agree that manually it works better.. Hehe

[neone]

i don't think you always have to do it clockwise davie. working counterclockwise or clockwise just defines the direction of the polygon. If u made a mistake with the direction just flip it (f) and it's ok (at least i think so )

[Mark]

Indeed - the direction the points are selected in determines the direction that the surface normal points. It always looks towards the 'front' of the polygon when viewing the vertices in a clockwise fashion.