Subject: new proceedurals, new plug-in classes
From: [email-masked]
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 19:02:28 -0700

on 16 Apr 1996 "Dimitri Holman" <[email-masked]> asks:

> Have there been any *NEW* proceedurals added to LW 5.0?
> Furthermore, do the two new plug-in classes do anything to
> facilitate the creation of new proceedurals? I think I
> recall someone mentioned on this list a work in progress
> Renderman-2-LW proceedural compiler/plug-in. Any news?

There are no new proceedurals in LW 5.0. I think Steve Worley may be getting
together a set of plug-ins--including proceedural textures--for sale in the
not too distant future. I don't know anything about the Renderman proceedural
converter.

The two new plug-in classes are Pixel Filter and Special Buffers. From the
manual:

 Special Buffers

     The Special Buffer panel allows you to apply those Image Filter plug-ins
with the capacity for masking to objects on a surface by surface basis. It
has a field for each active Image Filter plug-in. Enter a number in this
field between 0 and 255 to determine the strength of that plug-in to be
applied to that surface.

Pixel Filter Plug-Ins

This class of Plug-Ins allows external applications to effect or actually
replace LightWave's rendering engine. Possible Plug-Ins for this class
include volumetric lighting, replacement rendering engines, and new Lens
Flare Plug-Ins. There are many possibilities for this class as it is one of
the most powerful plug-in classes. Plug-Ins in this class can be effected by
motion blur and other sub-frame operations since it is applied during the
render rather than as a post process.

[We are not shipping any Pixel Filter plug-ins with 5.0]

David Hibsher
Technical Writer, NewTek