CompuServe Messages

Version 3 New Features February, 1995 Over a year has been poured into this new version. It is a complete rewrite in C++ to accommodate an integrated interface. Below is a slight description of the new features I can remember. I hope you will be as pleased with it as I am. Action Overloading – applying layers of Actions to a character so that it can "walk", "talk", and "clench" its fists simultaneously. Stride Length – helps a character's feet and an automobile's tires stop slipping. Integrated Interface – adjust your Actions and see the changes in Direction immediately. Flat Shading – helpful in getting Decals just right while shuttling back and forth to a paint program. Gouraud Shading – see Quick Renders faster and smoother. Phong Lighting – see those Quick Renders with specular highlights. Bound Rendering – Quick Render or Ray Trace only a portion of the screen. Flatten – unroll a segment before applying Decals. Action Range – choose only a range of frames, Hold, and Wait, from an Action in the Action List. Faster Interface – prepared for GL (Graphics Language) hardware accelerators also made non-GL operation faster. NT Support – runs on different NT machines, including: Alpha, MIPS, Pentium, etc. Unattach – disconnect "attached" points while modeling. Insert Control Points – automatically adds control points to those hard to get to splines. Global Axis Translates – option to move control points in world space instead of screen space. Skeletal Frames – save and open single Skeletal keyframes. Perspective Modeling – option to model while viewing the object in perspective. Multiple Windows – have two action windows, or set up three modeling windows in a traditional tri-view layout. Dragable Panels – put the panels anywhere you want on the screen or hide them completely. System Color Dialog – uses your platform's standard 24-bit color dialog to choose and change colors. Simplified Operation – tools changed to operate in a more "standard" fashion. Save Interface State – choreographs maintain their window's layout for next use. Faster Rendering – Ray Tracer and Quick Render both substantially faster. Transparency Averaging – another form of transparency calculation now extended to all objects. Rotoscope facial movement in Muscle with sequenced backgrounds. Proportional Zoom – finer zoom control in Direction. Centered Turn – turn about the local coordinate system. TV Safe and Title Safe indication. Cross Platform operation simplified. Better memory utilization. Image Maps are antialiased. Hybrid Keyframe/Path animation – get the best of both world's with "Fixed Frame Control Points" on Paths. Frame Control of Animation Maps – so that image maps can cycle, skip frames, hold, wait, or "ping pong". Morph Along Path – a Character can distort its shape to fit the Path its on as it moves along. Vector Drawing – another drawing option for speed. Hide Paths in Direction for better visibility. Fixed Kinematics Lengths – makes kinematics even more valuable. Kinematics Anchoring – to lock masses in space while adjusting the rest of the Character. Improved Motion Blur, Antialiasing, and Soft Shadows with "nine pass" rendering. Motion Capture – directly supports Polhemus motion capture sensors. Nested Hide – hide more points when some already hidden. Steve, Hash Inc