Products: NewTek

While it may not garner the headlines the way some big-name 3D animation programs do, anyone paying attention in the post industry knows that NewTek LightWave 3D continues to offer a lot of bang for the dollars invested.

At SIGGRAPH 2008, the San Antonio-based company proved the app — now in version 9.5 — still had a range of useful new features to offer. For example, FiberFX, a polygonal fiber modeler, helps create realistic hair, fur, and feathers — according to the company — via a suite of tools to model and style each fiber, create volumetric shadows, and render-in reflection and refraction. Also on tap: improved rendering quality and speed, major upgrades to the radiosity sampling system and interpolated modes, and a reworked lighting system now based on a plug-in API — which allows third parties to create custom lights and lighting plug-ins. www.newtek.com