Layout - Scene
Scene - About Lightwave 3D
This opens a small window which reports which version of the Lightwave
software you are using.
Scene - Clear Scene
This will remove all objects, graphics images, brushmaps, textures, lights,
and other items from memory. This is the same as setting the Layout to
the default stage as found when the Layout program is first entered.
Scene - Load Scene
This will open a file requester allowing you to load in a new scene, containing
its objects, lights, images, and other elements. This will automatically
clear from memory any scene currently in the Layout.
Scene - Save Scene
This will open a file requester allowing you to save all of the conditions
in the present Layout, such as the location of the objects, the use of
the images, and the location and types of lights. This allows the scene
to be reloaded at a later date, provided that the objects and images are
still contained in their original paths.
Scene - First Frame
This delimits the first frame to be viewed or rendered by the Layout. This
number must be less than the last frame, and is generally either 0 or 1.
The total number of frames is equal to the last frame minus the first frame.
The animation will consist of all of the frames in between in increments
specified by the Frame Step. A total of 32768 frames may be specified.
Scene - Last Frame
This delimits the last frame to be viewed or rendered by the Layout. This
number must be greater than the first frame, and may be as large as 32767.
The number of frames is equal to the last frame minus the first frame.
The animation will consist of all of the frames in between in increments
specified by the Frame Step.
Scene - Frame Step
This specifies how often a frame should be rendered in the range delimited
by the First and Last frames. To render every frame, a value of 1 is specified.
To skip a frame during rendering, a valur of 2 is used. To skip 2 frames,
a value of 3 is entered, and so on. The following chart shows some sample
frame steps.
First Last Step Frames Rendered
1 20 1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
15, 16, 17, 18 ,19 ,20
1 20 2 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19
1 20 3 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19
1 20 4 1, 5, 9, 13, 17
1 20 5 1, 6, 11, 17
1 100 10 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91
1 100 30 1, 31, 61, 91
In effect, as the Frame Step increases, the number of frames rendered decreases.
The number of frames rendered is calculated by subtracting the first frame
value from the last frame value and dividing it by the frame step rate.
If a frame step higher than 1 is used, the animation will also play back
faster since it is in effect dropping frames.
Scene - Shift All Keys
This is used to move a range of frames from one position of the animation
a specified number of frames forward or backward. In the evtn that the
frames pass a delimiter such as the first or last frame, these frames are
in fact moved either before the first frame or after the last frame. For
example, to move a given number of frames, you must first specify the lower
frame number and the high frame number. Then, you must specify the number
of frames that they will be shifted. The following table shows the effect
of the Shift All Keys command upon a given set of frames.
Low High Shift Low High
1 20 1 CHANGES TO 2 21
1 20 10 CHANGES TO 11 30
1 20 30 CHANGES TO 31 50
1 30 10 CHANGES TO 11 40
1 30 -10 CHANGES TO -11 20
50 90 -40 CHANGES TO 10 50
50 90 -90 CHANGES TO -40 0
These shift operations affect all objects in the given frames, yet do not
change the First frame or the Last frame. This allows a motion to begin
before an animation starts, and allows a motion to end after the animation
ends, which is very useful when objects are trailing each other along the
same path or in other cases. The following table shows how frames may be
modifed using the scaling routines.
Low High Scale Low High
1 20 1 CHANGES TO 1 20
1 20 2 CHANGES TO 1 40
1 20 3 CHANGES TO 1 60
1 30 2 CHANGES TO 1 60
1 30 .5 CHANGES TO 1 15
50 90 2 CHANGES TO 50 130
50 90 .25 CHANGES TO 50 60
Scene - Scale All Keys
This is used to alter the number of frames required for events to occur.
For example, if a particular animation contains 100 frames, and a particular
event occurs during frames 40 to 70, the time amount of frames devouted
to this range may be increased or decreased such that the actions still
begin together and end together yet occupy more frames.
Scene - Frame End Beep
This causes Lightwave to produce an audible beep through the audio output
of the Amiga's audio system. This is performed at the end of rendering
any given frame of an animation, notifying the user that the frame is ready
to be viewed, manipulated, or added to an animation.
Scene - Scene Overview
This provides an overview of the actions and events that occur in the current
layout over a given period of time. This time is a portion of frames, in
increments of 1, from the first to the last frame. All objects, lights,
cameras, and bones will be listed along with the frames where they are
present. The vertical slider to the right of the action area is used to
scroll through the elements in the layout. The horizontal slider above
the area is used to advance through the frames available in the current
scene. Objects are denoted by their names and a special code. In the event
that numerous objects are in the current scene, they may be selected by
name from this window. Upon closing this window, the currently selected
item will become the selected item in the Layout_ Items are identified
by the following codes:
O represents an object. Numerous objects may be used in the Layout
editor.
B represents the bone of an object. Numerous bones may be used in objects
or in the Layout editor.
L represents a light source. Numerous light sources may be used in
the Layout editor, although they tend to occur in small numbers due to
the increased rendering time required in some cases.
C represents the camera. Currently, Lightwave only supports one camera
in the Layout at any given time.
Scene - Continue
This will close the current window and remember certain changes that may
have been made to the Layout and its objects or images.