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Analysis: 3-D graphics get 'Flashed'
(IDG) -- 3-D graphics applications are getting "Flashed," as developers of modeling, rendering and animation programs are adding Macromedia Flash export capabilities. The latest is Curious Labs, which included Flash export in the new Poser Pro Pack, a companion to its Poser character-animation software. Electric Rain has positioned its Swift3D program specifically for Flash output, and Electric Image included Flash export functions in its recently released Amorphium Pro. Eovia, the new owner of Carrara, a 3-D graphics package originally developed by MetaCreations, plans to add Flash export capabilities to a future upgrade. Others are probably not far behind. Flash, the vector-animation technology developed by Macromedia, is one of the most popular rich-media formats on the Web, and in the increasingly competitive 3-D graphics arena, Flash export gives developers one more way to differentiate their products. The number of professional 3-D animators is relatively small, and as a result, many 3-D developers are looking to expand their reach to graphic artists more accustomed to working with 2-D images. And 3-D graphics programs can easily create content, such as extruded type, that would be difficult or impossible to produce in Adobe's LiveMotion and Macromedia's Flash authoring software. Flash files exported from 3-D programs can be imported into Macromedia Flash to add interactivity and other features, though getting Flash content into LiveMotion is trickier. With Web-based 3-D streaming technologies still in their infancy, Flash export provides a relatively painless way to get 3-D content onto the Web. However, you cannot manipulate models in a Flash movie as you can with streaming formats such as Metastream. Instead, Flash produces 2-D animations depicting three-dimensional objects. Swift3DThe simplest program of the bunch, Swift3D from Electric Rain lets you create 3-D text effects and also provides basic 3-D primitives: spheres, cones and torii. You can import models in the 3D Studio Max format and convert imported EPS files into 3-D objects. However, the $139 program offers only limited functions for modifying models.
When exporting to Flash, you can choose to render edges, either as outlines or meshes, and you can also choose from three shading options: mesh shading for the most-realistic look; area shading, which reflects only one light source on each surface, and flat filled, which shades the entire surface with a single color. In addition to producing SWF files that can be imported into Macromedia Flash, the program can also generate a series of EPS files that can be imported into Adobe LiveMotion, which otherwise does not support Flash import. Amorphium ProElectric Image's Amorphium Pro, a grown-up $379 version of its Amorphium sculpting software, includes Flash export as a new rendering option. When setting up the render operation, you can choose to render polygons as gradients (to simulate lighting effects) or solid colors (to create a cartoon look). You can render lines as outlines or wireframes, or choose not to render lines--or polygons. You can also set colors for the background and ambient light, and you can omit or include specular highlights. You set the movie's quality level by entering a number up to 100; the higher the quality level, the bigger the file. Unlike Swift3D, which is geared almost exclusively toward production of Web graphics, Amorphium Pro is a comprehensive modeling and animation tool that's especially useful for creating organic forms. However, it lacks Swift3D's sequential EPS export function, which means you can't import the files into LiveMotion. Poser Pro PackPoser, a character-animation tool once offered by MetaCreations, now belongs to Curious Labs, a U.S. subsidiary of egi.sys founded by Poser's original developers. Curious recently announced the Poser Pro Pack, a companion product that adds Flash export capabilities among other new functions. The company is currently offering the $219 product for an introductory price of $149. You also need Poser itself, which sells for $219. As with the other programs, the new Flash-export function provides several options for how the file is generated. You can set line widths and the number of colors, draw outlines or inner lines, and determine whether colors overlap. Quantization settings let you choose how rendered bitmaps in a Poser animation are converted to vectors in the Flash movie. The Pro Pack also includes seven new characters designed for use on the Web, along with associated animation libraries. Other new features include plug-ins that let you host Poser content within 3D Studio Max or Newtek's LightWave; Python scripting support; multiple camera views (up to four); 2-D motion blur; and a new Setup room--an alternative to the standard Pose interface--that lets you view a figure's internal bones and apply them to imported objects. RELATED STORIES:
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