You??™ll find it in LightWave Layout??™s Surface Editor panel; just click the Node
Editor button to activate it.
The Node Editor does not replace the Surface Editor, and in many cases, you won??™t always
need to use this feature. The Node Editor is an addition to the existing Surface Editor, but
there??™s more to the Node Editor than just surfacing. You can also use nodes for displacements,
a technique you??™ll see later in this chapter. This is one reason why you did not learn
about the Node Editor earlier in the book when we discussed surface textures in Chapter 3.
This chapter will describe what a node actually is and how it??™s used in LightWave v9, and
then I??™ll show you how to use it. You??™ll then go further and use nodes for displacements.
Specifically, you??™ll learn about:
?—? What nodes do and when to use them
?—? Setting up basic node surfaces
?—? Setting up complex node surfaces
?—? Using nodes for displacements
It??™s important to remember that the Node Editor is not always needed for surfacing and
texturing objects. Certainly, you could use it exclusively and avoid the classic Surface
Editor entirely, or choose to use only the Surface Editor.
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