How can I convert a 3D model I made in Lightwave to a model

[EllenGossard]

I made a model of a bear and a duck in Lightwave, but I need them in Maya because that is the only program we are allowed to use for this assignment. I need a way to transfer the models over without having to start from scratch in Maya.

[BenjaminPowers]

There are many ways to achieve this. Lots of post and animation houses have modelers who work in Lightwave and then animate in Maya. However, if you are a student and don't want to spend money on converters or as long as you don't have to worry about bringing along Morph Maps or UV texture maps over then the simplest thing to do is:

1. Load your LW model in LW Modeler
2. Save the model as . 3DS or . OBJ
3. Load the . 3DS or OBJ model into Maya

Depending on which versions of LW and Maya you have, it might make this seem harder than it is. In older versions of LW if your LW was not installed right, you may not see the export object feature. Ensure that all your standard plugins are loaded in LW and you should be able to save your LW object as either a . 3DS (3D studio) model or an . OBJ (Wavefront object) - the . OBJ format will also retain the UV texture maps if you have them. Both should maintain the surface names and colors but won't keep the LW Procedural textures on them.

Hope this helps! :-)