Introduction
Usage
Gallery
Videos
History
Requirements
Installation
Ordering

TrueArt's Global Materials is LightWave Layout system extending base application by global Node Editor where you can edit the all object's the all surfaces at once.

Example usage:
  • Smooth blending two or more materials regardless of surface (which has polygon edge boundary) or object. e.g. smooth transition from water to sand and then to grass in archiviz scenes.
  • Replacing time consuming copying and pasting of surfaces when same material is used in multiple surfaces or even multiple objects and settings need to be changed.
  • Transforming from one material to another one in animation.
  • Control parameters of multiple surfaces. e.g. same animated envelope connected to Diffuse channel of couple materials, surfaces or objects.

Add plug-in in Layout. Click Edit > Edit Menu Layout and search for Global Materials and Spread Global Materials and make buttons for them. Recommended place is right below Surface Editor.

Press Spread Global Materials to add Global Materials intercepting node to the all objects all surfaces. Surfaces which have it already added are ignored. Surfaces without material will have added Standard material.

You can also add Global Materials intercepting node by hand, double click on TrueArt's Node Library > Tools and connecting it to Material input in surface. You can make preset for such surface (double click on preview in Surface Editor) and quickly apply to the all wanted by you surfaces.

Only surfaces with Global Materials intercepting node will appear in global Node Editor!

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Renders made by Atlantis Arts.

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It's advised to download videos to disk using Save File As... and watch in off-line movie player.

This video shows Global Materials installation process and basic usage. Change YouTube quality to Full HD!

Download animation (0.000 KB) illustrating Global Materials plugin at work!

This video shows how to control couple surfaces in couple objects using same parameter for all of them in Global Materials. Change YouTube quality to Full HD!

Download animation (0.000 KB) illustrating Global Materials plugin at work!

This video shows how to globally set up matte by surface in Global Materials. Change YouTube quality to Full HD!

This video shows how to set up and preview render passes in Global Materials. Change YouTube quality to Full HD!

This video shows how to fix normals in broken OBJ. It's using Global Materials to greatly speed up workflow. Change YouTube quality to Full HD!

Changes made in the 2019 (25-Jan-2019)

  • Fixed to work with LightWave 2019.

Changes made in the 2018 (1-Jan-2018)

  • Fixed to work with LightWave 2018.

Changes made in the 1.0 (5-Jun-2012)

  • The first official Windows and Macintosh release.

Minimum Windows Requirements

  • LightWave v11+
  • Pentium or better
  • Windows 32 bit

Recommended Windows Requirements

  • LightWave 2018.0+
  • Core i7
  • Windows 64 bit

Minimum Macintosh Requirements

  • LightWave v11+
  • Intel CPU
  • MacOS X 10.5.x

Recommended Macintosh Requirements

  • LightWave 2018.0+
  • Core i7
  • MacOS X 64 bit

Installing the product

In order to install the program, please extract the archive to some location on your hard disk.

On Windows ®, the archive is in the ZIP format. You will need 3rd party software such as WinZIP, which you can download from http://www.winzip.com (it's not included in the package), or other compatible software to decompress the archive.

Windows XP ® has built-in ZIP support (simply right click on the archive�s icon, and choose �Extract all files...�).

On Macintosh ®, the archive is in the SIT format. You will need 3rd party software such as StuffIt, which you can download from http://www.stuffit.com (it's not included in the package), or compatible software to decompress the archive.

The LightWave ® plugin does not require files to be in specific locations, which is a very nice feature. But for easier file management it is recommended that the plugin files (i.e. those with .p extension) be copied to your LightWave ® plugins folder (f.e. LightWave\Plugins\).

Installing LightWave ® Layout Plugins

Run the LightWave ® Layout executable. Select pop-down menu Layout > Utilities ® Add Plugins..., then find the folder containing the new plugin files and select them. You should see a message from LightWave telling you that the plugins have been added successfully. The changes will be saved to your configuration file when you quit the program.

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Uninstalling the product

Uninstalling LightWave ® Layout Plugins

Run the LightWave ® Layout executable. Select pop-down menu Layout > Utilities > Edit Plugins..., then select the plugin files and press the Delete button. The changes will be saved to your configuration file when you quit the program. Now you can safely remove the files from your hard disk.

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Price

The price for a single license (product installed on the one machine) is 50 USD (United States Dollars).

On-line ordering

This is the preferred ordering method. It has several advantages:

  • Easy. You just need to type your personal and credit card details into the order form, and you will receive your goods within max. 48 hours.
  • Fast. Usually, you will receive the purchased products within an hour (depending on the time difference between where you live, and the hours we are working)!
  • Safe. You are sure your order won�t be stolen in transit, or held up by postal strikes etc.