Plug-in Classes

LightWave

Compatibility Globals Table of Contents

Plug-in Classes

LightWave plug-ins are divided into categories called classes. For those familiar with the formal classes supported by object-oriented programming languages, this term may have unintended implications. The class of a plug-in simply defines what kind of plug-in it is, what it does, and how it interacts with LightWave.

Thumbnail Descriptions

AnimLoaderHandler
AnimSaverHandler
Load and save files containing animation streams, e.g. MPEG, QuickTime and AVI files.

ChannelHandler
Channel handlers can be applied to any animation parameter that can vary over time. They modify or replace the value of the parameter.

ColorPicker
Provide a user interface for selecting colors.

CommandSequence
Modeler plug-ins that can do almost anything the user can do through the interface.

CustomObjHandler
Layout plug-ins that add custom drawing to an object in Layout's interface. These are often used to add visual feedback for the parameters controlled by null objects, but they can be used with any object.

DisplacementHandler
Deform an object during animation by moving its points.

EnvironmentHandler
Replace the render backdrop, for procedural sky and ground rendering, for example.

FileRequester
Provide a user interface for selecting files (an alternative to the host system's default file dialog).

FrameBufferHandler
Provide a display or a device interface for rendered frames.

Global
Provide services to other plug-ins. See the globals section for information about LightWave's built-in globals.

ImageFilterHandler
Image post-processing of rendered frames.

ImageLoader
ImageSaver
Load and save files containing still images. Support for a number of image file formats is provided through plug-ins of these classes.

ItemMotionHandler
Animate the position, size and scale of an item.

LayoutGeneric
Miscellaneous utilities, Layout commands.

LayoutTool
Interactive custom tools in Layout.

MasterHandler
These receive event notifications from Layout and can control the behavior of other plug-ins based on those events.

MeshDataEdit
Modeler plug-ins that create and modify geometry at the point and polygon level.

MeshEditTool
Mesh editing with full user interactivity.

ObjectLoader
Load the 3D geometry data in non-LightWave object files.

ObjReplacementHandler
Replace the geometry of an object during animation.

PixelFilterHandler
Modify or replace the value of each pixel sample during rendering.

ProceduralTextureHandler
Procedural textures are just functions, like fractal noise, useful for adding detail to the appearance of an object or for modulating an item's motion.

SceneConverter
Loads the animation data in non-LightWave scene files.

ShaderHandler
Modifies the appearance of an object's surface.

VolumetricHandler
Creates volumetric rendering effects, including transmission and scattering through transparent media, and hypertexturing.