IMPORTANT UPDATE! May 12 13, 2026


Tomorrow Today Last Wednesday, on the 13th of May, the manual Patrons group (the one that gives you your green username AND access to dedicated Patrons spaces on WSL) will be has been DELETED.

This means that your access to those spaces will be has been revoked until you connect your Patreon account to WSL using the link below, which will give you access to the NEW, future-proof Patrons+++ group.

With the imminent release of ZEPPO BETA 2 - tentatively planned for released Friday today yesterday (!!) - I wouldn't dawdle... with Beta 2 (i.e. all my late nights in the past month), Zeppo has become something truly special, battle-tested and multi-user hardened in an actual production.

Yes, there will be a Reactor release eventually, and no, it won't have all the bells and whistles - those are for Patrons, because they are the ones keeping WSL afloat, which is still only barely these days...

I'd better get back to prepping that done did release then!

Thank you,

Pieter

Building Tools With the LWSDK

Welcome to the Lightwave Lab!

  • [DEV] - very much work in progress, don't build a business on this, could go anywhere

  • [BETA] - should kinda do what it's supposed to do, please test, give feedback

  • [RC] - this may end up in Reactor soon, polishing up, now's the time for last minute thoughts

  • [ABD] - died a premature death, sadness, will not see the light of day ever (unless someone picks up the scraps)

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AndrewHazelden
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Building Tools With the LWSDK

#1

Unread post by AndrewHazelden »

This thread is the start of an exploration of LightWave3D’s SDK. The content will be written from the perspective of a pipeline TD exploring what is possible with the APIs for the first time. New open-source Python scripts and compiled plugins will be created, and the completed tools will be available for download in Reactor.

The primary reference material I will begin with is to make my way through the “Python Scripting for LightWave” and “SDK” learning materials.

I hope to repeat a lot of the approaches I took 8 years ago when I documented the UI Manager framework in Fusion, but this time I am doing the coding in LightWave so more 3D graphics will be involved. Thanks for joining me on this learning journey.

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3D Bee
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Re: Building Tools With the LWSDK

#2

Unread post by 3D Bee »

This is awesome! I just heard about Reactor from the live stream from Lightwave 3D and I want to try it out. I'd love to learn it and use it because I'm tired of reinstalling a plugin manually. How many different types of software does this Reactor work with? Thank you for making such a cool tool by the way.

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SecondMan
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Re: Building Tools With the LWSDK

#3

Unread post by SecondMan »

@3D Bee Welcome to WSL!

Reactor was made as an addition to Fusion and Resolve in order to create a centralised repository for all sorts of plugins, scripts, even workfiles or documentation. Whatever is relevant material to the host software: Reactor 3 Release Announcement

Now that Reactor has evolved into a standalone application, an idea we have toyed with for a long time is finally coming to fruition; support for multiple host application.

LightWave 3D was picked as the next evolutionary step because of its longstanding relationship with Fusion. Many of us have started their 3D careers in LW (some of us even on the venerable Amiga computer) or are still using it to this day.

Next up I am hoping to get JangaFX's blessing (EmberGen, LiquiGen - Fusion is capable of reading/using VDBs for example).

More will follow, no doubt. Reactor is open source, by the way, so if there are community members wanting to contribute in its expansion, let us know!

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Re: Building Tools With the LWSDK

#4

Unread post by AndrewHazelden »

If anyone uses the Cursor IDE for their LightWave3D tool development efforts, an experimental MCP Server based wrapper for the LightWave3D command port Python script is available. If you know what Cursor is and are comfortable with programming then you likely have the skills to use the MCP wrapper. Otherwise it's not likely something you will find useful. :)

In LightWave the command port interface allows messages to be passed to the active LightWave Modeler and Layout session to control and automate operations remotely. This allows for powerful workflow automation, and for people with disabilities it unlocks the capability to use assistive devices to help them drive the 3D software.

Note: LightWave v2025.0.3 is the minimum supported version since the command port code was updated semi-recently. The MCP wrapper Python scripts were tested on macOS Tahoe.

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