CompuServe Thread

Walter, You can find many objects in Imagine format over in AmigaArts (GO AMIGAA) in the 3D section, and over in the Graphics Use Group A (GO GUGRPA) forums in the Imagine UG section. -GreG

Walt, Apex Publishing has created several products which are vital to any Imagine user. "Understanding Imagine 2.0" was a crystal-clear explanation of every facet of Imagine 2.0, complete with tips about correct usage, and warnings about common pitfalls. The book for Imagine 3.0 has not been released yet. "Essence I and II" are collections of 64 and 41 algorithmic textures, respectively. All are outstanding, offering you fractal noise-based effects (clouds, fire, dirt), complex non-repeating patterns (think Borg ship, Deathstar, microcrystals), crumpled paper, burnished metal, a collection of disgusting organic textures that look like bad acne or the black plague, cedar shingles, irregular flagstones, caustics (the patterns of light at the bottom of a pool), sea waves, LED counters, Mandelbrot and Julia fractals, plasma, and the list goes on. Essence textures come with superior documentation, including the best parameter description you've ever seen, printed samples of each texture, and a hundred ready-made attributes with color IFF thumbnails of each. And to help you discover even more parameter and texture combinations, there's "Forge", a texture explorer which lets you adjust sliders and see the new parameters draw themselves on a primitive sphere or plane. It uses a progressive display to show you (within 10 seconds or less) pretty much what your texture will look like, and fills in the details afterwards. This program allows you to waste untold hours fiddling with texture parameters; of course, a handy side effect is that you'll gain intimate understanding of what each one does. Forge will also create brushmaps of any size from your current texture, so you can precalculate a specific effect and apply it to Imagine objects as a brushmap, saving large amounts of rendering time. It will create flat, cylindrical or spherical brushmaps. It also animates, by morphing between two sets of parameters, to allow even more exploration, or to generate animated brushmaps. It doesn't currently work with Imagine textures, though, only the hundred or so Essence textures. You can reach Steve Worley, creator of these fine products, at (415) 322-7532. I have no relationship with Steve or its company, except that of being a satisfied user who's bought every single thing Steve has produced, and thanked his lucky stars every time. As for objects, go to the Syndesis section of this Forum. Syndesis sells two CD-ROMs of 3-D objects, each object appearing in various formats such as Imagine, Lightwave, DXF, 3DStudio, and so on. I believe vol. I is $100 US and vol. II is $200 US. Each comes with a printed guide showing thumbnails of all objects, to save you precious time. Their quality varies; some are Viewpoint-quality (a renowned commercial provider, with typical prices around $500 per object) — heck, I believe some objects _are_ from Viewpoint, but most are simply well-done PD-quality objects. Blaq!