CompuServe Messages

Sculpt-Animate 4D is an object editor, an animation editor, and a rendering engine. SA4D's object editor is significantly better than the Sculpt 3D object editor. Both the current Sculpt 3D and SA4D can handle as big an object as one has memory for, although SA4D does use memory more efficiently than the current Sculpt 3D. SA4D is both forward and backward compatible with the current Sculpt-Animate 3D. Of the many new features, rendering times have been improved significantly. The non-68020/68881 version provides increased ray tracing times in excess of 4 times that of the current Sculpt-Animate 3D. Depending on the complexity of the scene, rendering times can be more than 6 times faster. We have optimized the rendering for complex scenes. Images are also now significantly better with SA4D (ray traced images are rendered in 12 bit planes and the best color palette is chosen from this to display 6 bit planes). The new anti-aliasing routines have also been significantly improved. In the "best anti-aliasing" mode only the edges are of an object are anti-aliased so as not to blur the entire object. Two new rendering modes have also been introduced, Scanline Painting and Scanline Snapshot. Scanline Painting is magnitudes faster than the current painting mode, especially on complex scenes. Eric Grahams rocking chair scene rendered over 15 times faster in Scanline painting than in the painting mode. Scanline Snapshot is also much faster than even the new faster Snapshot mode. Depending on which part of the country you reside, SA4D will be available to new users on their dealers shelves in the first week in November. Suggested retail is $499.95. Current SA3D owners can upgrade for $195.