--- title: LightWave 3D Reviews meta\_title: 'LightWave 3D Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 29 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how LightWave 3D works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 3.9 review\_count: 29 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-07' parent\_category: name: 3D Design url: https://www.g2.com/categories/3d-design --- # LightWave 3D Reviews & Product Details LightWave 3D combines a state-of-the-art renderer with powerful, intuitive modeling, and animation tools. * * * Seller [NewTek](https://www.g2.com/sellers/newtek) Discussions [LightWave 3D Community](https://www.g2.com/products/lightwave-3d/discuss) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Show More ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Blender](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Blender") Blender 4.6/5(319) ](https://www.g2.com/products/blender/reviews) [ ![3ds Max Design](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "3ds Max Design") 3ds Max Design 4.3/5(284) ](https://www.g2.com/products/3ds-max-design/reviews) [ ![Maya](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Maya") Maya 4.3/5(267) ](https://www.g2.com/products/maya/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/lightwave-3d/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 29 real user reviews. [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Tushar A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Tushar A.") TA Tushar A. Facial Animator Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 1/7/2022 Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores. "{"translation":"Translate the text from the Unknown Language to English."}" 5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Features that help us enhance videos and images. It is an excellent software to help you add effects and edit your images. Very useful and advanced in today's time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Nothing specific, it can add similar features like Photoshop to make it better, which will be an added advantage. Otherwise, it's a good version. I prefer this over other software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? I am solving my editing issues where I need to edit an image and video, and it really helps me with that. I realized it is easy, and the UI is also interactive. That's a good thing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Keith B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Keith B.") KB Keith B. Graphic Designer, Music Composer, 3D Architectural Designer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/22/2021 "Don't knock it till you've tried it." 5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Ease of use. User-friendly interface. Ability to surface and add textures to models. I prefer a third-party renderer, however. Kray Rendering is my favorite and Lightwave has a plugin for it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Price. It's very expensive, especially for beginners, however, there's a 30-day free full feature trial. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? Combined with Poser and Adobe Photoshop, I'm able to create really cool and photorealistic composites. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 7/22/2023 Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Roberto L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Roberto L.") RL Roberto L. Grafico senior - Pilota APR Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/25/2019 "Just for start with 3d today...but..." 2.5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Lightwave 3D have a very nice modelling workflow, fast rendering with good results, not required huge hardware and work good with not recently pc too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Model and scene editor (called layout) are 2 different software, animation and modelling tools not are update to the new "technology" like mesh fusion of Luxology Modo. Lightwave not is supported and is out of production. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: If you start with 3d lightwave can be a nice program to use, easy to understand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? When i start to use is it was the best program 3D ever for modelling and fast rendering. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Verified User in Animation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Animation") UA Verified User in Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 9/28/2019 "Lightwave" 4/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Lightwave was very easy to learn and use Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? I disliked the help option it offered. It was quite difficult to resolve a issue when I got stuck. Since I was new to this application, it took me a while to get used to it. Once I got the hang of it, it became a breeze. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? I used lightwave for a couple school animation projects I was given Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Biotechnology](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Biotechnology") UB Verified User in Biotechnology Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/30/2018 "how about to install light wave j a designer graficall and need it for small home work" 5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Photoshop , Adobe illustrator , programs animators music and games,Studio Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? slow rendering without simple 3 d solids for any purpouse Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: good program for fast solutions in 3d Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? J am freelancer j need 3 d animator to improve my skills Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Greg P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Greg P.") GP Greg P. Draftsperson Construction Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5/16/2016 "10 years usr" 3/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Very flexible and easy to use. I would recommend Lightwave 3D as an entry level 3d modeling software to everyone who wants to learn 3D modeling. Another very good feature LW has is the separate platform for rendering and animation. Instead of running the entire scene in one window you can work on a different program (LW Modeler) and then dropping the model into the rendering and animation editor (LW Layout), that makes the whole scene editing process more clean and easy to work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Limited 3rd party rendering software support. Unfortunately, when comes to 3D render Lightwave is not supported by major 3d rendering software such as Vray, even lack the file type support of standalone 3d rendering software like Keyshot. As a result most of the time you will have to convert your model into a different format in order to use any of those software, that might double up or just increase the job of assigning materials, etc. The Modeler despite is a very powerful tool (this is LW3D modeling platform) was abandoned for a while from the developers I would say, you could only get A-class modeling plugins by using addons (most of the time not free). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: Some support from major 3rd party software and addition of LW CAD tools as built-in tools would be a game changer for LW. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? Currently I'm using LW3D for modeling only and to prepare the model for rendering in a different rendering software. The in-built rendering machine seems weak to me, you can achieve good results with much more effort than any other rendering software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Piotr D.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Piotr D.") PD Piotr D. Compositor Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/27/2016 "Fully featured, thickest bang for your buck." 5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? I love LW's surfacing capabilities - nodal editor, more-than-adequate out of the box renderer, modeling capacity, greatly expanded by active community. I actually like that modeler is separate from scene editor (Layout) - while you render your scene out, you can work on modeling :) Customization options are total - you can make this software look as you want it to. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Probably the dreaded undo funtionality, which is very limited. Also we all could use some built in decent particle solver. Lightwave's a bit of an underdog, so you won't be getting mainstream things like VRay (but Octane's there). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: As always with a major expense, you should consider all available options. If you are heading to build your skills and get yourself employed by a big studio, you're probably better off with Max or Maya, even C4D. However, if you look into freelancing, Lightwave is going to cost you a \_lot\_ less and do whatever you want to do. Interoperability is great - if you're on your own, you can import/export all sorts of data. LW obviously supports UV mapping, so Substance or Quixel are yours. Things like WorldMachine produce bitmaps that work like a charm. Camera, nulls or lights export to After Effects? Check. Really, with what you can do single-handedly, it's more than enough. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? I'm using it in my freelance work - from print to video. It's the backbone of all my productions - I've grown accustomed enough for it to be helpful even in situations where people probably use Illustrator or After Effects - sometimes it's quicker :) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Armin P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Armin P.") AP Armin P. Owner Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/27/2016 "Best bang for the buck" 3.5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? Lightwave features a progressive rendering preview and although rendertimes can get quite high, the native renderer easily produces great images. The node-based shading gives a lot of flexibility. While Lightwave lacks any parametric modeling approach, this drawback is the same time it's biggest plus. Once you get the hang of it, you can model really fast (especially in conjunction with LWCAD - 3rd party Plugin). Since Rob Powers is in charge, Lightwave communicates way better with other content-creation tools. Direct links to Unity, ZBrush, etc. Overall it is a great Allround-3D-package with very good pricing. Especially considering the upgrade policy. No cloud or msa stuff need. You can always upgrade an older version to the current one. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Lightwave is a bit dated and it's natural seperation of Modeling & Layout is a big drawback in current workflows. It should be mentioned, that Newtek is totally aware of this drawback and working hard on a unifed mesh system. There is lot's of legacy stuff packed in, which results in a steep learning curve for beginners. But once you get the hang of it, common 3D stuff is very fast to produce. But don't try your hands on Hollywood FX with this software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: Every 3D software got it's own philosophy/interface/workflow/strengths and weaknesses. Some things are unique, others are shared among all software packages. Evaluate before you buy. If you are working on big teams for big movies, Lightwave maybe won't be the best of choices. But if you are working in small teams or as a one man show with a tight budget, have a look at it. Lightwave is often unrightfully overlooked. Although it is dated in many areas, it's still a great package, considering the price. And always look out for promotions and special deals. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? Most of the time I use Lightwaves Modeler in conjunction with LWCAD. This enables very fast architectural modeling. Besides that, I sometimes use it for Character animations and rendering. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Amit S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Amit S.") AS Amit S. Motion Designer, Stratergist, Visualiser, Editor Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/25/2016 "It's an amazing software as long as you can deal with it's small tantrums." 3.5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? It's ease of creating and setting up scenes. The work flow is really great as it allows a lot of flexibility in adopting different types of methods. Lightwave is really good for getting work done faster, specially for visualization and static scenes/products. The material & shaders are pretty easy to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? The rigging and animation can surely be improved to perform more effectively. I face a lot of issues when rigging characters, as it requires a lot of trials and errors to get something decently working. Compared to Lightwave, Maya has much more flexible & easier workflow for rigging. The particle & simulation system can be improved to have much for ease while creating effects. Integration with software like Substance painter, Substance designer would be really helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: It's a brilliant tool for experimentation and to create some really great stuff. It's a good option to at least test out Lightwave once. I use this for creating visualizations & illustrations. It's pretty great to use if you are experienced with 3D workflow. It has somewhat strict workflow & limitations to apply somethings but there's always a way around it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? Lightwave is really brilliant for getting render outputs. It's lighting & render engines give out a good output with minimal effort. Lightwave also has the dynamic linking system with After effects which enables to create some really interesting effects. It's also not that heavy on general systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 4/27/2016 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Giancarlo D.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Giancarlo D.") GD Giancarlo D. 3D animator Animation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/27/2016 "Small-Big 3D application" 4.5/5 What do you like best about LightWave 3D? I love Lightwave since the 5.0 version because is simple and easy to learn. With a few lessons you can get some results and also you don't need an Hi-End computer to work with, But also, after 10-15 years of using it, you'll get surprised from some features, such as render quality with his own render engine or easy rig and IK system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about LightWave 3D? Maybe some marketing and support for every new feature. Newtek just publish some videos for new features, but there are not good support and documentation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering LightWave 3D: From my experience, Lightwave is the best product you can model with if you are "polygon-oriented" modeler. You can also solve many problems in small and big productions, but you have to search for good tutorials and documentation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is LightWave 3D solving and how is that benefiting you? Lightwave gived to my business the chance to produce 3D videos for tv shows and advertising, many company profiles, visual fx for movies and short movies, and animations for animated series. All for less than 1500 usd, without the need to buy external engine or expansive plugins. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about LightWave 3D? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about LightWave 3D ](https://www.g2.com/products/lightwave-3d/discussions/new) GU Guest User What is LightWave 3D used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-lightwave-3d-used-for) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/lightwave-3d/discuss) ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/lightwave-3d/pricing) LightWave 3D Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_6112c138e20f80a02a073469ac6e865c/blender.gif "Product Avatar Image") Blender 4.6/5(319) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/blender-vs-lightwave-3d) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_150846d5b2eb45700b388d8055484e9f/maya.png "Product Avatar Image") Maya 4.3/5(267) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/lightwave-3d-vs-maya) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_4c780658e809bc5049c36f652e511ea4/cinema-4d.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Cinema 4D 4.6/5(137) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/cinema-4d-vs-lightwave-3d) ## Work at NewTek? Claim this profile to respond to reviews, update product info, and reach in-market buyers. 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