#Simply 3D features
9 messages in this thread
As a neophyte to 3D, I find your introductory package, Simply 3D, very exciting
and powerful. So powerful, in fact, that I wonder why I should upgrade to
Visual Reality. (My work is mostly print-based: brochures, logos, magazine
production).
I know VR is made up of five packages. But if I use PhotoShop 3.0, doesn't that
make Visual Image redundant?
I use PowePoint and Q-Media multimedia presentation programs, so that seems to
make Visual Player unnecessary.
Visual Font, Rednerize Live, and Renderize Live are already represented in
Simply 3D.
Which leaves Visual Model. One thing Simply 3D apparently doesn't let me do is
create spheres from imported Corel circles. (They end up as Oreo cookie-type
objects.)
I know VR will let me output at high resolution, something Simply 3D won't. Am
I missing other benefits of VR that are important to print-based production? If
so, I'd be grateful if you'd briefly make a list of these benefits.
And finally, is it true I can't get a shere out of Simply 3D?
Thanks in advance,
John Mulvihill
Vancouver, BC
Hi John:
The Visual Reality version of Renderize Live allows for hi-res rendering, as
you already know. It also loads 3D geometry files from DXF, OBJ and STL,
making it compatible with most 3D modeling applications. Perhaps most
importantly, the VR version of Renderize Live supports bump mapping to give
surfaces topography, and environmental reflection maps for true reflections.
These are the main differences between Renderize LIve and Renderize Live EZ,
whcih is shipped with Simply 3D.
Visual Model is a nice 3D modeler in that you don't have to have a CAD or
drafting background to create 3D objects. It wouldn't be the best product to
use to model the Taj Mahal, but it, Like Renderize, offers an easy path from
the 2D world into the 3D universe. It generates 2D and 3D primitives, and
allows you to use extrusion, surface of revolution, path extrusion, Boolean
operations, etc. to generate complex 3D shapes without complex modeling.
Visual Image and Photoshop do overlap, but they're somewhat different in that
Photoshop is designed toward print output, whereas Visual Image is a bitmap
editing and collaging program.
And yes, finally, it's true that you can't get a shpere out of Corel, only an
Oreo. However, you can steal a sphere from our tutorials. Go to the
..\TUTOR\TUTOR6 directory and use File, Load Object to load 1BALL.GED.
Hope this info proves useful!
Best regard,
Nick Josephs
Visual Software
Thanks for the information. Yes, it is useful.
Using SImply 3D I've come up against an animation problem.
My client wants the camera stationary while three objects move independently in
the foreground. This raises the question of whether VR or Simply 3D are capable
of object-based, as well as camera-based, animation.
The promo material on VR seems to indicate that its animation is camera-based
only. To me, this seems to be a serious limitation.
Am I missing something here?
Thanks again in advance,
John Muilvihill, Vancouver
I also have simply 3D and am going through the tutorials. I find it quite hard
to believe that you can not animate objects in either of the packages, is this
true?
Thanks,
Ryan Chivers
We currently do not support object animation. Visual Reality v2.0, tentatively
scheduled for release in the 2nd Qtr, will support complete object animation.
However, don't look for object animation in the $59 Simply 3D product any time
soon.
Best regards,
Nick Josephs
Visaul Software
My initial question regarding object animation might have seemed a bit negative
but that was not the intent at all. I love simply 3-D! Its the first 3-D
package that I have really jumped into… The interface is very intuative and
easy to learn, I breazed through the well written tutorials in a few days and
am on my way to creating some truly breath-taking stills and Anims. I cant
believe all of the tools at my disposal for a mere 50.00….. I am considering
visual reality…. I just have one question….. With the amount of detail
that it incorperates, will I need a Silicon Graphics Workstation to use it, or
will my DX66 or Pentium do the trick? 😉
Hi Ryan:
Yeah, a '486DX 66 will do just fine, and of course a Pentium will smoke (if it
can divide!). The biggest performance issues really have more to do with the
amount of RAM you have. 8MB RAM is sufficient even for running Visual Reality
(becasue you can always bump up the swap file if necessary), 16MB will make a
noticable improvement in perfromance.
Nick Josephs
Visual Software
I have a question, when doing camera animation with simply 3-D, does the
background (if there is one) stay in a fixed background position or is it
treated like a big sqare polygon?
The background always stays directly in front of the camera, ie, you can't pan
over the background. The trick for a panning background: create a cylinder
who's normals face inward, and place this object around the scene. Map your
background image to the inside of the cylinder. Enjoy.
Nick Josephs
Visual Software