Description:
For new Windows-based video and Web designers in need of 3-D graphics, Simply 3D from Micrografx might be just the tool the designer ordered to set your work apart from the crowd. While not the most sophisticated of 3-D graphics and animation tools, it features a relatively easy-to-use interface and a large library of objects. Also included in the package are materials, lighting presets, animation presets, and the ability to export as either an AVI movie or an animated GIF file. (The standard array of JPG, BMP, and other single-frame image formats are also choices.) Simply 3D features a ray-tracing render engine capable of reflective and refractive light properties, and the included material presets are fairly extensive. They include a wide variety of light and glasslike object materials, which nicely showcase the ray-trace renderer. The materials can be edited and tweaked to suit, as well. Other materials include woods, metals, organic textures, background images, and stones. In addition, this package is ideal for 3-D logos and text. It can import and extrude 2-D shapes, as well as create beveled text based on fonts installed in the system. The speed of the rendered, interactive display is impressive. By utilizing Microsoft's Direct3D for screen drawing and by keeping the camera window small, Simply 3D is able to rotate, move, and scale objects in real time, fully shaded and textured. Note that this is only available in the camera view, and feedback is slower if the window is scaled to full screen. Still, it is an excellent aid when composing the objects and lighting in a scene. Over 1800 assorted prebuilt objects and textures are included, which helps offset the rudimentary modeler. Happily, the publisher doesn't sell this application as something that it isn't--you won't be creating the next digitally animated masterpiece with it--but it's perfectly capable of meeting the needs of the majority of industrial-level computer graphics work. Like any tool, it is capable of more as you learn the limits and how to work around them, but as with any tool, there is a limit to how far you can go. For the money, this is an excellent utility for basic work. --Mike Caputo
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