Strata StudioPro 2.5
Article Abstract:
Strata's $949 StudioPro 2.5 3D design package, available for Windows 98 and the Macintosh, is one of the first programs to support the OpenGL interface across platforms. OpenGL greatly improves screen displays, allowing accurate shading and textures rather than rough approximations. Strata claims the Windows and Mac versions are built on identical code and that version 2.5 can render images 20 percent faster than earlier versions regardless of the rendering mode used. Scan-line, ray-tracing and other techniques render basic scenes blazingly fast, but adding lights and shadows slows the system down. Users can specify multiple bones in a polymesh object, a true high-end feature. StudioPro 2.5 comes with volume 1 of Strata's superb Power Module plug-in suite, with Deform, Mirror, Smoke, Fire, Hair, Smooth, PixieDust and HotSpot textures. Files transfer seamlessly between platforms, a major advantage for those working in mixed shops.
Publication Name: Publish
Subject: Publishing industry
ISSN: 0897-6007
Year: 1998
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Strata StudioPro 1.5
Article Abstract:
Strata Corp's $1,495 Strata StudioPro 1.5 3D imaging software offers a well-designed interface and excellent quality output, but it does not provide adequate basic features found in other applications. StudioPro's interface design significantly lowers the learning curve for its rendering, animation and modeling features. The spline-based modeler is the application's strongest feature, creating realistic looking objects with real curves instead of polygons. It now includes Boolean operations, which are extremely useful for combining individual shapes into single objects. The rendering feature includes an effective ray tracer for developing realistic images, but performance when using the rendering feature is terribly slow. StudioPro includes new and old features that are not fully developed such as scene lighting, metaball creation and animation creation.
Publication Name: Publish
Subject: Publishing industry
ISSN: 0897-6007
Year: 1995
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TriSpectives 1.0; TriSpectives Professional 1.0
Article Abstract:
3D Eye Inc's $295 TriSpectives 1.0, a 3D package, is noteworthy for its outstanding modeler, and it is also exceptionally easy to use. It incorporates unique features, such as an intuitive set of navigation tools, but its rendered images are less impressive than ones created using other Windows programs, such as Ray Dream Studio. Also, its animation capabilities need work. TriSpectives Professional 1.0, which costs $495, has an ability to automatically display an object's dimensions, a feature usually included in high-end CAD products. For most users, however, the regular edition is recommended. TriSpectives' minimum requirements include an 80486 PC with 6MB of system memory, 25MB of hard disk space, and Windows 95 or NT.
Publication Name: Publish
Subject: Publishing industry
ISSN: 0897-6007
Year: 1996
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