INSTALATION

Getting hold of Pshelf couldn't be easier presuming you are ok downloading a 20 meg ZIP file. (Pshelf is only available as a software download) After purchasing online you are given your password and username you simply follow the provided link to the ‘Worms of Art’ website owner area and pick the download to suit your OS. I use a PC with Windows 2000 installed and this review is based on that OS only. Pshelf surfaces use Lightwave's presets that were introduced back in version 6. They will work with all version from 6 onwards but the WOM website states that 7x versions are preferred.

Unfortunately Pshelf didn't find my installation of Lightwave (I don’t keep it in Program files directory so that may be why). It was simply a matter of finding the correct directory and installing it there. There is a GETTING STARTED PDF that takes you through installing Pshelf and it is really straightforward. It actually shows you pictures of how to do a correct installation if the default Lightwave directory can’t be found. A new user could follow the instructions with no problems and be up and using the presets in under five minutes.

WHATS IN THE ZIP

The ZIP unpacks to a 47 MEG set of files. These files include the Pshelf manager, the Metal pre-sets themselves consisting of 79 surface presets, the image files needed by some of the surfaces and related scenes and objects. The set comes with a `getting started` PDF that explains all this.

THE PSHELF MANAGER™

This is a custom browser that allows you to look through the available surfaces and extract them to a desired location. It is fully independent of Lightwave and has a look of its very own. I have to admit I wasn't expecting to see this browser and it came as a nice surprise.

The left hand side lists the surfaces by name in alphabetical order. The center of the browser allows you to view the surface as part of a render on one of a number of objects. The right side updates with information about the current surface and has such useful information as to how the surface was created. Clicking an arrow below the WOM logo on the right gives you a list of the related files that are included for a given surface. The Copper_Hammer2 surface in the screen shot below has a related JPG texture file, a swatch LWO and a REFTEX scene. Some of the surfaces had 6 or 7 related JPG's.

click image for larger version

At this point I have to say that WOA may be doing themselves out of a little future business here as I found that I learned a great deal about creating my own surfaces just by reading these descriptions. You can also gain insight into the world of Metallurgy as the WOM team give information about the makeup of a given metal. The Aluminum Anodized surface has information that explains that 'Anodizing involves placing an object between two conductive plates in a bath of water or other conductive liquid' etc etc. Ok, not really essential 3D reading but I find it really interesting.

One of the main uses of the Preset Manager is to select the surface that you need for a projects and create sets of them. These sets can be exported to a directory of your choosing. Obviously, all this can be done with a windows browser and a copy of Photoshop to browse the test renders but the Pshelf manager does it in a very sleek, compact way.



There are two buttons at the bottom of the browser that can be configured to switch to Layout and Modeler respectively.

USING THE SURFACES


The Pshelf LW Preset shelf click image for larger version

The surfaces integrate fully with Lightwave and are accessed as per any normal surface via the Preset shelf button from the Layout interface. The Preset shelf appears and you can scroll down to Pshelf_METALS to access the surfaces. If you have a surface selected in the surface editor, clicking one of the Pshelf metals will apply that surface to the required part of the model.



At the very basic level this is what Pshelf is about: providing a Lightwave user with fast and easy surfaces at the click of a button. At this point in reviewing the product I just felt the need to get the ubiquitous checker board/box/torus scene that I keep at the back of my PC for times when I just need to slap on a surface or two (come on, you've all got one somewhere...admit it?). The tests below were done with two lights and very little else. I didn't adjust any parameters in the surface editor channels at all.

With this release there are 79 different presets all based around metals as you would expect by the name. Some of those 79 are variations on a theme for example Brushed_Metal comes in varieties 1 through 5. So a criticism may be that WOA have skimped a little here by giving a surface a little tweak here and there and re-naming it as a whole new surface. Actually, when you dig into the surface editor you can see how much work has gone into getting the correct look and feel using a wide range of JPG textures and the various channels with procedurals, maps and gradients.

To give you an example of the complexity of some of the surfaces:

To create Ancient_Copper WOA used the following:

Texture Channel	3 Alpha gradient layers
	3 Procedural texture layers
	1 Alpha image map layers
	2 normal gradient layers
Diffuse Channel	2 Alpha gradients (with bump key parameters)
	3 Procedural texture layers
Specularity Channel	3 Alpha gradient layers
	3 normal gradient layers
	1 Alpha image map layers
Glossiness Channel	2 Alpha gradient layers
	1 Alpha image map layers
	3 Procedural texture layers
Bump Channel	1 image map
	3 Normal procedural layers
Total	31 layers accross 5 channels

EXTRAS: PDF’s and Tutorials

The owner area of the website, once signed in, gives you access to a number of related tutorials. They are presented as menu driven Shockwave files or PDF’s and each has a link related ZIP’s to follow the tutorials contained in them.

1. Gradients for the Non-Genius

This is a 17 page PDF that gives you a very good idea of how to use gradients in your surface channels. The Lightwave 7 manual covers off gradients in under two pages so there is a lot to be learned in here. The first part is a very simple exercise in how to use gradients in surface channels. The second practical covers the basic use of a gradient using the Lightwave scene provided. It shows you how to use the 'distance to object' input parameter to make a man appear as he approaches an object. Finally the third and most useful part in my opinion is the explanation of each of the input parameters namely previous layer, bump, slope, incidence angle, light incidence, distance to camera, weight map and the all new surface thickness.

click image to enlarge

2. The amazing Bump Key Technique

The idea behind this PDF is to give the user an idea of how to make effective use of the Bump Key. A lot of people think that you apply a bump in the bump channel and that is the end of it. What this tutorial reminds us is that in the texture, glossiness, specularity, diffuse channels etc. there is the option to use Bump as an input parameter. This is used to good effect in the Pshelf collection and this PDF explains how.

3. Introduction to REFTEX scenes

One of the preset surfaces alone can have an endless combinations when you take into account all the different channels and parameters. What the reftex PDF does is show you how to control the size, rotation and position of a texture on an object by linking these to a null object. Once linked (or referenced, moving, scaling and rotating the null. A well placed remined of a powerful little feature that you may just have forgotten.

TESTING THE METAL

So, no review is any good until we get onto actually using the product. I did a few test renders using the presets as they came i.e. I didn't change any of the settings in the surface channels. Although lightwave does come with a few nice metals they don't come near to the complexity of this set. The image opposite uses eight different surfaces literally just picked from the preset shelf and applied to basic objects. (actually, I wanted a little more reflection in the back vase so I tweaked that just a teeny weeny bit...couldn't resist a little rebellion). One of my favorite surfaces in the whole set is the basic brushed_metal2. I used it in this image and I must say I can't wait to try it on a model that is supposed to look like a machined-part, an engine block for example. The stretched grain in brushed metal surfaces is a crucial part of the illusion and this one works well for me.	click image to enlarge
On to a bit of HDRI (high dynamic range images). Whilst not mentioned in this preset release there will be Lightwave users who are going to use these presets as part of a HDRI scene. I set this test up using a basic head and the bronze _ancient4 surface. The large version shows a lot more detail and gives a clue to some of the underlying layers in bump and Specularity channels of this surface preset.	click image to enlarge
The final image I tried Pshelf out on was my 'Minder' robot. I spent a couple of weeks getting to grips with this model and readying it for animation. I had created a few texture maps for it but most of it had been textured using procedurals in most of the surface editor channels. I replaced my textures with about 15 of the presets and again, with very little tweaking I was a lot happier with the effects.

The PROS and Cons

If you need a metal surface for a project you can take Pshelf off the shelf (so to speak) and use the surfaces as is. If you want to learn how to make your own surfaces Pshelf gives you a good insight into how they do it and in the PDF files even shows you how. They give you a lot of information about the use of the surface editor and how to manipulate your presets. A new user could learn a great deal about texturing and surfacing models just from the PDF's.

I haven’t really got a criticism of the product itself as I think it really does-what-it-says-on-the-tin. It is a collection of pre-set metals for Lightwave. The one point that I imagine may be argued is price. At $99 I would imagine that a studio or professional individual would think of it as a time saving bargain. The hours of tweaking and test rendering that would go into creating this many presets would add up to far more than $99. If you are comfortable with all aspects of the surface editor and have time on your hands then you may feel that the price point would need lowering a little.

I used a lot of different surfaces in my robot images above and the complexity of the surfaces did add to the render time significantly. If you then decided to use radiosity in the images you could end up waiting a long time to see your next creation. This isn't a fault of Pshelf simply a result of using so many procedurals and maps.

IN SUMMARY

Pshelf is not just a collection of image maps to be slapped onto your models. A lot of time and effort has gone into building some very unique and useful surfaces. If you need a diverse set of metal surfaces and you can't afford the time to create them yourself then Pshelf Metal collection may be for you. There may be some criticism from users who think that it is cheating to use such sets but it really does come down to the individuals choice.