LWCAD 5.0 key features
Smart Mesh
new unified geometry system based on polygons and NURBS surfaces
shared edges between polygons and nurbs surfaces are defined by new curves
curve version 2 - new version of nurbs curve with variable knot vector (backward compatible)
- closed segments
- improved editing options
flat surface - flat nurbs polygon based on new nurbs curves
- compatible with polygons
nurbs surface - standard nurbs surface with 2,3, or 4 edges
- open-closed along U or V direction
Smart Selection
new in-built selection system
fully integrated into smart edit tools
Smart Edit
minimalistic set of editing tools
complete set of editing operations compressed into few tools
works with smart mesh and nurbs curves
Multilingual support
All menu items, panels and messages are translated into:
German, French,Italian and Japan languages
Automatic installer
professional installation, LWCAD is set up automatically for specified LightWave
LWCAD 5.0 updates
Primitives
all curve primitive tools support curve 2
all surface primitive tools support polygons and nurbs surfaces
Point Tool - can divide new curves and smart mesh
Line Tool - new spline mode which creates an interpolated curve
Convert
Curvs To Surfs - converts curves to polygons or flat surfaces
Surf To Curvs - converts smart mesh to curves
Quads To NURBS - new tool, converts quad polygons to nurbs surfaces
Freeze NURBS - converts smart mesh to polygons
Modify & Clone
all tools upgraded to work with smart mesh
Drag & Weight - updated to be able to drag smart mesh and curves
Edit
Join-Explode - updated to work with smart mesh, new auto corrections
Divide - new tool for dividing smart mesh and curves
Reduce - updated to reduce flat nurbs surfaces as well as polygons
Flip - new tool for flipping orientation of smart mesh and curves
Smart Edit
Offset - Mass Offset upgraded to support smart mesh and smart selection
Extrude - Mass Extrude upgraded to support smart mesh and smart selection
Round - Mass Round upgraded to support smart mesh and smart selection
Loft - new skinning tool, creates blended surfaces on smart mesh
Patch - new patch tool, creates nurbs and flat patches
Profile - Profiler upgraded to support smart mesh and smart selection
Shape Library
Export Instance Data - new tool for exporting LWCAD instance positions into text file
Export Instance Lwo - new tool for exporting LWCAD instances as LWO objects
Snapping
all snap modes updated to also work with Smart Mesh
NEAR - disabled pol snap on ucs in perspective viewport
INT - intersections between polygons, edges, curves, lines, axis and projections
UCS grid - visualization of grid snapping
UCS grid - works on pol edges, curves, constraints, axis, and projections
- visualize ruler on ucs axis
RULER - works on nurbs segments, pol edges, and nurbs surface edges
PROJ - visualize all nearest and possible projections
AUTO UCS - new intuitive automatic mode, aligned to left corner