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leroy3rd · 23-12-2006, 04:28 PM

I recently emailed Stever Warner to see what the status of Lightwave 3D 9 Modeling was, and recieved a LONG reply from Steve himself! I don't know about the rest of you, but this has been the book I've been MOST anticipating since I first saw an ad for it in 2004. I mean, a book ENTIRELY devoted to modeling... THIS IS EPIC! The short version is, things have been pretty crazy with this book, HOWEVER, the book should be completed by late January, and be released in March or April of 2007. YEAH!!!! Is there anyone as excited about this as I am??!?!?!

-LeRoy3rd

Below is the email, you've got to feel sorry for this guy, he's got a lot on his plate!:

I appreciate your interest in the Modeling book and apologize for the inconvenience caused by its delay. To better understand the reason for its delay, here is a brief rundown of its development starting with its inception:

October 2002 - I begin talking to Wordware about doing a comprehensive modeling book.

Januar 2003 - Wordware awards the contract for a modeling book to a different artist.

June 2003 - Wordware asks me to structure, edit and help author a LightWave Tips and Tricks book.

August 2003 - The artist who was awarded the modeling book contract pulls out and I get offered the contract which is scheduled to begin once the Tips and Tricks book is done in the early part of 2004.

October 2003 - Wordware asks me to write the update for Tim Albee's Essential LightWave 7.5, bringing it up for LightWave 8 which is scheduled for release by December 2003.

December 2003 - LightWave 8 has still not been released and features continue to be added / changed, making it difficult to nail down exactly what we're writing about. Writing continues slowly.

April 2004 - LightWave 8 is nearing completion. Work on Essential LightWave 8 goes into full production to release the book as close to the software shipping date as possible.

May 2004 - A fire breaks out in my home, taking out half of the house. Work on the Essentials book halts as I relocate and focus on rebuilding my home.

December 2004 - Work on my home caused the writing on the Essentials book to drag on, however the final chapter is turned in just before Christmas.

February 2005 - Reconstruction on my home is complete and I move back in. Essential LightWave 8 ships. Work begins on the modeling book.

March 2005 - The structure of the Modeling book is complete. It's going to be massive.

April 2005 - NewTek announces LightWave 9 with a tentative release of October 2005. Work on the Modeling book gets put on hold once again in order to begin working on an update to Essential LightWave 8 for a Fall release.

September 2005 - LightWave 9 is still in early development and many of the new features are being changed on a weekly basis, making it difficult to learn and write about the new features.

December 2005 - LightWave 9 still has not shipped and many of the features are still being developed and changed. Time is spent learning those new features as best as possible in order to properly write tutorials about them for the new Essentials book.

April 2006 - LightWave 9 has finally begun to solidify and work begins on a solid table of contents for the Essentials book.

May 2006 - After analyzing the strengths and weaknessess of the previous Essential LightWave books, I decide that this version should be completely restructured and almost completely rewritten. Wordware approves the structural changes. A team is put together consisting of Kevin Phillips, Larry Schultz and myself in hopes that it will allow us to get the book done sooner.

July 2006 - NewTek releases LightWave 9, nearly a year later than expected. Larry Schultz backs out due to a hectic work schedule. Kevin and I pick up the slack and distribute the work amongst ourselves.

August 2006 - Cesar Montero is brought on to do technical review of the chapters being produced.

September 2006 - The deadline for Essential 9 comes and goes. Work continues at a feverish pace with an eye on quality and thoroughness. We want to make sure the book is the best LightWave book out there.

November 2006 - Larry Schultz completes his work and comes back on to work on a few extra chapters for the book.

December 2006 - Work is nearly complete with only a few chapters remaining. Work should be wrapped up by late January with a March or April release date.
Since 2002 I've been trying to do a comprehensive modeling book. But other projects have popped up along the way which hindered its release. When I expected LightWave 9 to ship in October of 2005, I figured that Essential LightWave 9 would be out by November and that I'd have the modeling book done by Summer of 2006. But when LightWave's development ran over, so did the work on the Essentials book. When LightWave finally shipped in July, we set a deadline for the Essentials book of September figuring that would be enough time. And therefore I pushed the expected deadline for the modeling book back to January or February of 2007. But the restructure of the Essentials book has increased the workload exponentially.

The modeling book is my first love. I desperately want to get it out there. And I feel bad that it keeps getting delayed. It's still planned, but unfortunately it won't be out in January. However there is a bit of good news in all of this.

If you've been looking forward to the modeling book, you're going to love the the new Essentials book. I completely restructured the book to address the needs of beginning, intermediate and advanced users. You can pick it up regardless of your skill level and find outstanding information, tips, tricks and tutorials. We're even including a variety of video tutorials to augment and expand on the information in various chapters. I can honestly say that this will be the most comprehensive LightWave book on the market. And while it won't be a replacement for the modeling book, I have gone above and beyond with the modeling chapters to make sure that those who've been waiting patiently will have tons of good material to work through.

I hope that clears up some of the details. I apologize again for the delay and I appreciate the support. I'll send a copy of this email out to my web forum members so that they're informed as well. If you're active on other forums, feel free to let them know that the book is not dead, and that while it won't be available in January, the Essentials book will be out shortly thereafter and will include plenty of great new material to keep you busy. :-)

Best wishes and happy holidays!

Steve

Fallenswordsman · 23-12-2006, 06:29 PM

Cool - modelling is my main "thing" in Lightwave so I'll be looking forward to this one getting released. Now all I have to do is free up some shelf space for it.

Graham Nichols · 26-12-2006, 03:00 PM

Oh baby. Looks like my letter to Santa paid off. A LightWave modelling book from Steve Warner. Now that's a sweet deal.
Standing by with my cash Steve.

23-12-2006, 04:28 PM	#1
leroy3rd Lifetime Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA Posts: 295	Lightwave 3D 9 Modeling Book!!! I recently emailed Stever Warner to see what the status of Lightwave 3D 9 Modeling was, and recieved a LONG reply from Steve himself! I don't know about the rest of you, but this has been the book I've been MOST anticipating since I first saw an ad for it in 2004. I mean, a book ENTIRELY devoted to modeling... THIS IS EPIC! The short version is, things have been pretty crazy with this book, HOWEVER, the book should be completed by late January, and be released in March or April of 2007. YEAH!!!! Is there anyone as excited about this as I am??!?!?! -LeRoy3rd Below is the email, you've got to feel sorry for this guy, he's got a lot on his plate!: I appreciate your interest in the Modeling book and apologize for the inconvenience caused by its delay. To better understand the reason for its delay, here is a brief rundown of its development starting with its inception: October 2002 - I begin talking to Wordware about doing a comprehensive modeling book. Januar 2003 - Wordware awards the contract for a modeling book to a different artist. June 2003 - Wordware asks me to structure, edit and help author a LightWave Tips and Tricks book. August 2003 - The artist who was awarded the modeling book contract pulls out and I get offered the contract which is scheduled to begin once the Tips and Tricks book is done in the early part of 2004. October 2003 - Wordware asks me to write the update for Tim Albee's Essential LightWave 7.5, bringing it up for LightWave 8 which is scheduled for release by December 2003. December 2003 - LightWave 8 has still not been released and features continue to be added / changed, making it difficult to nail down exactly what we're writing about. Writing continues slowly. April 2004 - LightWave 8 is nearing completion. Work on Essential LightWave 8 goes into full production to release the book as close to the software shipping date as possible. May 2004 - A fire breaks out in my home, taking out half of the house. Work on the Essentials book halts as I relocate and focus on rebuilding my home. December 2004 - Work on my home caused the writing on the Essentials book to drag on, however the final chapter is turned in just before Christmas. February 2005 - Reconstruction on my home is complete and I move back in. Essential LightWave 8 ships. Work begins on the modeling book. March 2005 - The structure of the Modeling book is complete. It's going to be massive. April 2005 - NewTek announces LightWave 9 with a tentative release of October 2005. Work on the Modeling book gets put on hold once again in order to begin working on an update to Essential LightWave 8 for a Fall release. September 2005 - LightWave 9 is still in early development and many of the new features are being changed on a weekly basis, making it difficult to learn and write about the new features. December 2005 - LightWave 9 still has not shipped and many of the features are still being developed and changed. Time is spent learning those new features as best as possible in order to properly write tutorials about them for the new Essentials book. April 2006 - LightWave 9 has finally begun to solidify and work begins on a solid table of contents for the Essentials book. May 2006 - After analyzing the strengths and weaknessess of the previous Essential LightWave books, I decide that this version should be completely restructured and almost completely rewritten. Wordware approves the structural changes. A team is put together consisting of Kevin Phillips, Larry Schultz and myself in hopes that it will allow us to get the book done sooner. July 2006 - NewTek releases LightWave 9, nearly a year later than expected. Larry Schultz backs out due to a hectic work schedule. Kevin and I pick up the slack and distribute the work amongst ourselves. August 2006 - Cesar Montero is brought on to do technical review of the chapters being produced. September 2006 - The deadline for Essential 9 comes and goes. Work continues at a feverish pace with an eye on quality and thoroughness. We want to make sure the book is the best LightWave book out there. November 2006 - Larry Schultz completes his work and comes back on to work on a few extra chapters for the book. December 2006 - Work is nearly complete with only a few chapters remaining. Work should be wrapped up by late January with a March or April release date. Since 2002 I've been trying to do a comprehensive modeling book. But other projects have popped up along the way which hindered its release. When I expected LightWave 9 to ship in October of 2005, I figured that Essential LightWave 9 would be out by November and that I'd have the modeling book done by Summer of 2006. But when LightWave's development ran over, so did the work on the Essentials book. When LightWave finally shipped in July, we set a deadline for the Essentials book of September figuring that would be enough time. And therefore I pushed the expected deadline for the modeling book back to January or February of 2007. But the restructure of the Essentials book has increased the workload exponentially. The modeling book is my first love. I desperately want to get it out there. And I feel bad that it keeps getting delayed. It's still planned, but unfortunately it won't be out in January. However there is a bit of good news in all of this. If you've been looking forward to the modeling book, you're going to love the the new Essentials book. I completely restructured the book to address the needs of beginning, intermediate and advanced users. You can pick it up regardless of your skill level and find outstanding information, tips, tricks and tutorials. We're even including a variety of video tutorials to augment and expand on the information in various chapters. I can honestly say that this will be the most comprehensive LightWave book on the market. And while it won't be a replacement for the modeling book, I have gone above and beyond with the modeling chapters to make sure that those who've been waiting patiently will have tons of good material to work through. I hope that clears up some of the details. I apologize again for the delay and I appreciate the support. I'll send a copy of this email out to my web forum members so that they're informed as well. If you're active on other forums, feel free to let them know that the book is not dead, and that while it won't be available in January, the Essentials book will be out shortly thereafter and will include plenty of great new material to keep you busy. :-) Best wishes and happy holidays! Steve

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23-12-2006, 06:29 PM	#2
Fallenswordsman Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,702	Cool - modelling is my main "thing" in Lightwave so I'll be looking forward to this one getting released. Now all I have to do is free up some shelf space for it.

26-12-2006, 03:00 PM	#3
Graham Nichols Full Access Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 17	Oh baby. Looks like my letter to Santa paid off. A LightWave modelling book from Steve Warner. Now that's a sweet deal. Standing by with my cash Steve.