Virtual mirror does pretty much what it says on the tin. It’s a feature that is common in the newer 3D modeling packages of today and for most character, vehicle and creature modelers it is an essential tool.

The idea behind this little plug-in is simple. If you want to model a symmetrical head, for example , you would want to build just one side and have the other side created for you. Virtual mirror does just that.

You install it through the usual utilities>plug-ins>add plug-ins import function in modeler. Assign it to a tab at the top so you have easy access to it. Create a model that has an open side along the X axis. Call Virtual mirror and it creates a mirrored version of your mesh across the axis.





You can now, knife, drag, smooth shit, bevel etc. to your hearts content and see the mirrored version react accordingly. If you subdivide your mesh only the original side will be smoothed. This is actually a really cool feature as it allows you to tweak a smoothed version and see the results back on your cage.

I personally like a snap-to-axis feature which VM doesn’t have. In their video that you can download from their site their state that this might have been an issue to some modelers so they left it out.

I have to say that I am a big fan of this feature in other programs and the omission of it before this plug-in has been an over site by Newtek. I know you can use a symmetry feature but the full on virtual mirror makes character modeling so much easier. The price is such that it is a must have for all Lightwave modellers.

TrueArt is well worth a visit for Lightwave artists as they have a range of other plug-ins that may be of interest.