CompuServe Messages

Firstly I'd like to say that for me it is strong complement to 3DS because of it's flexibility to create organic objects(we'll just have to wait for R5 before we have NURBS integrated, hint, hint <g>), and since this is the 3DS forum I want to present it in that light so that people understand why I'm commenting on the software. This I'm doing from a users point of view and nothing more. Whatsmore I've only got this software TODAY so I'm far from an expert but that doesn't lessen the interest in the incredible tools that this package offers. <<What's special about it ?>> It includes many editing tools that give a great deal of control(precise inputing of displacements etc) and yet allow a good "feedback" when pulling and pushing the various object around to get what you want. It has a different philosophy to 3DS when it comes to modelling. It is like the 2D Shaper, 3D Lofter and 3D Editor were combined into one viewport. You can draw complex 2D Shapes at any angle on a plane and then use them to "loft" objects or use them as profiles and contours. Once you've created an object you can easily change the profiles to regenerate the object. This is all on the screen at the same time. Instant feedback. <<What OS does it run under ?>> Apple Mac, Power Mac, IBM PC (DOS, Windows, Windows NT), Silicon Graphics, IBM RS/6000, SUN Sparc Stations, Hewlett Packard 700 series. <<How interactive, in real-time or near RT, are the tools/functions ?>> Completely interactive, pull on a control point and the nurbs surface and other vertices are pulled out instantly. An interesting feature is you can work in two modes, NURBS or Polygon mode but many of the tools allow you to act on the polygons like NURBS, like one pluck tool allows you to pull on a vertix and the others follow gradually, It's like you are pulling on a bed sheet in the middle. <<Does it feature Trimmed Surfaces using Curves and Surfaces ?>> Don't quite know what you mean by Trimmed Surface but it includes a Contour feature that allows you to define four profiles for a surface and the intermediate surface is generated. You can produce F1 car bodies and the like with this tool. <<If so, are they accurately translated on export ?>> It exports to DXF, CAD Render, Ray Dream Designer, 3DGF, Caliray, Explore, IGES, AMAPI 1.x, STL, RIB, HPGL, Adobe Illustrator. <<Can the surfaces be treated as solids, and std. Booleans performed….this includes creating the Boolean-operated polygonal meshes properly for exporting ?>> Yes, you can use both polygons and NURBS in booleans, though once you boolean a NURB it obviously becomes a polygon since it now has holes or additions pieces added. With the smoothing tool you can add and reduce the face count easily. <<Can Control Points be "hardened", that is, have a "weight" assigned ? How's this done ?>> You can select explicitly the points you want to move or add and subtract points interactively using the + and – on the keypad. <<Does it feature freeform (rolling ball) curve & surface filleting ?>> The three and four profile curved surfaces should suit this need. It does filleting and chamfering interactively as well as entering a precise value. Also smoothing a "rough" jagged polygon is very easy to obtain a smooth surface. <<If so, is the fillet geometry welded into the a single mesh along with the 2 original surfaces, upon translation for export ?>> This depends on the export format, but the resulting filleted polygon is a single polygon. <<Does it feature variable surface Blending ?>> You can solder to two polygons and then smooth them over at the join. <<Does it feature any tools/functions for maintaining tangency & continuity at the blend points ?>> Can't say I'll have to explore more. <<Swept Surfaces ?>> yeh, no problem sweep along bezier curves, straight lines, nurb curve just about any form you can draw. Much like 3DS in it's ability to loft along any path. The difference is that the path can be changed interactively and you can immediately see the result, no need to jump between editors. <<Skinning ?>> NURBS and other tools give this functionality. <<Besides construction tools, does it have a good selection of Editing and/or Deformation tools ?>> Yep, they are really good. You can perform twists and complex deforms by specifying a spline that will be the centre of the resulting deformation. The methods of selection aren't as powerful since you it is designed to produce one or two good models rather than construct a city. It is after all just a modeller. <<Can IsoParms be easily extracted and dropped into the mesh under construction ?>> I don't understand the question. There are heaps of other features that makes it worth the money. I treat it like a complex modelling add-on to 3DS that gives me organic modelling capabilities. It has multiple undos which is great for organic modelling where you experiment alot. In any case you should be able to see a demo at one of the companies I mentioned, if not it'll be demoed at SIGGRAPH 95. DaviD "Pluck here, pluck there, instant bald NURBS chicken" GouID