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Texturing
a Wine Glass in LightWave
by Tony
Gilchrist
If you followed
along in the first part of this tutorial you should have constructed
two simple models: a wine glass, and a beveled slab (table)
to set it on. You should have loaded the two pieces into Layout,
and have a scene similar to what is shown here.
If not,
see Part One of this tutorial, Modeling
a Wine Glass.
Open Lightwave
Layout, and either reload that scene, or add the two objects
to a new scene (+), and save the scene (S) under a sensible
name. I called my scene "Tableau_01.
Now we’re
ready to get down to some texturing.
- Near
the top of the main menu display is a button labeled "Surface
Editor". Click on it, and the "Surface Editor" will open.
It should consist of at least one window, but may include
all three of the windows shown below. If you don’t see all
three, you can turn on the missing ones by choosing the "Options"
panel in the lower left hand corner of the Surfaces Editor,
and choosing "Open VIPER" and "Open Preset Shelf".
From left
to right these are:
- The preset
shelf. Use this to store and recall settings for all the values
in the Surfaces panel. The existing spheres represent some
"preset" values provided by the software manufacturer to get
you started. The drop-down menu at the top of the panel allows
access to other groups of presets.
- The "VIPER"
window. This is a special preview window to allow real-time
interaction with the elements in the scene. For the moment,
it will remain blank, but we’ll turn it on later to help us
fine-tune our surfaces.
- The main
windows (the "Surface Editor"). This is where we access all
the settings for an individual object’s appearance. The right
hand side of the panel contains the many features which determine
what a surface will look like. Note that it is divided into
four "tabs" across the top of the panel.
 In
the left hand part of the "Surface Editor" window are two important
features:
a.
The sample sphere, which shows us what the current settings
will look like if applied to a sphere. The sphere will refresh
automatically when you make changes in the Surface Editor. To
hurry it along, left-click on the sample sphere. Note the two
buttons below this window which access various controls for
the sphere.
b. Scene
hierarchy tree, which shows all the objects in the scene, and
their surfaces. Your hierarchy should look similar to the one
shown here. Your surface names may vary a bit of course, but
it should generally be like this. The tiny White triangles beside
the object names allow you to hide or reveal the surfaces associated
with a given object.
 Surface
That Glass…
- Select
the Wine Glass’s surface, as shown (your surface name may
vary). We’re going to try to get a handle on how to build
our own surfaces, but let’s ease the first step a bit by accessing
the Presets, and applying a "glass" surface to the sphere:
- In the
drop-down menu at the top of the Preset Shelf, choose "Generic".
- Scroll
down to the sample sphere called "Glass Inside", and double
click on it.
- A requester
will appear, asking you to confirm "Yes" it.
Now
is a good time to save the scene.
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