Tim Carden

September 1, 2001

After quietly developing away for the past few years, Visviva launched the version 1 release of their Multimedia development tool the Visviva Authoring Studio or VAS for short. Following this initial release is the new 1.1 upgrade, which adds a multitude of new features. Visviva calls their VAS a "new generation multimedia/animation tool" and the feature list is certainly very impressive. VAS attempts to combine everything you would need to develop any multimedia application (including websites, information CD-ROMs, screensavers and games) into one powerhouse of a tool. This means vector graphics, bitmaps, 3D objects and scenes, and interface components can all be created and arranged with interaction into a graphics-rich presentation.

With this in mind I eagerly installed the VAS looking forward to something completely new. It's interesting to note that the installation itself is made with VAS and, although fairly tacky, shows some definite potential with 3D particle effects and other fancy animations techniques.

The VAS certainly keeps it's "do it all" promise. Select new document from the file menu and the tab dialog that appears shows the application's flexibility with options to create new Images (bitmaps), Vectors, Objects (script-based elements such as interface components, particle systems, and so much more) and 3D Worlds.

From here you can easily create individual files, either for use within a VAS project or for some other purpose. Bitmap files are stored as PNG (Portable Network Graphic) or any of a number of other standard formats so you can easily move them between applications or directly onto a website. However, the other document types (including vector) can only be stored in the VAS's own proprietary formats. This is because non-bitmap files are stored in the VAS internal language called ScriptV. The VAS lets you visually create multimedia applications by using the plethora of visual tools or by writing this ScriptV code directly.

The combination makes the VAS incredibly powerful and flexible, yet you don't necessarily need to touch a line of code to get started.

The Interface

For a Windows piece of software you may be surprised to find Visviva have completely replaced the standard windows interface with their own custom components. What's more, these can be customized to a variety of supplied skin-like selections. You can make your VAS interface look like MacOS X (complete with Aqua-style buttons), "standard" windows and a lot more. It appears the application itself has been built using the VAS, with many dialog boxes including scrolling text with fading effects etc.. This is great fun initially but, I would rather software companies spend such development time on other more mission-critical tasks such as bug testing and features. In addition, the OS companies themselves have many more resources to spend on developing perfect interface controls, and some of the VAS interface occasionally looks and feels unprofessional.

No matter what element type you are editing, the VAS keeps a consistent and integrated screen layout. A toolbox is positioned vertically down the left-hand side by default. This contains the most frequently-accessed tools appropriate to the current document. A context-sensitive like property bar sits below the main toolbars along the top of the screen. You can show or hide a like color palette and drag and drop color from it onto object outlines and gradients (in the Vector graphics editor). Finally there is a utility panel area that can show help contents, the current project panel or the properties of the currently selected object.

Vector Tools

A typical multimedia project is bound to have a line, colored background, shape, logo or complex piece of clipart contained somewhere. This is what the Vector document type is used for. I was surprised to find it includes a number of features found in higher end illustration software.

Many of the standard tools you would expect to be there, such as shape creation, node editing, text boxes and gradient fills. In addition there are mesh fills, text on a path, polygons/spirals and a variety of stroke effects. At any time you can choose view source from the View menu and see the code behind your drawing.

If you haven't got other illustration software to create the elements for your multimedia application it is great having this tool built-in and it should be more than adequate for many projects. However, if you prefer your current illustration software or need more than the features on offer, you may be a little disappointed: the VAS doesn't have any import support for common Vector file types (unless you convert them into bitmaps first of course).

Bitmap Tools

Like the vector editor, the bitmap mode offers a number of powerful tools in addition to the basic feature set you would expect. However, I would think most multimedia designers would prefer to use their own bitmap editor and then import the files they create. Fortunately this is possible with the VAS.

The built-in tools include brushes, masks, paths, 12 categories of special effects, a special effects brush and a number of shape tools. By creating a path and then clicking on the text tool, you can even create text along a path. As with most image editors, an image sprayer for placing multitudes of objects from a source file is included. The VAS includes 3D objects that are rendered on-the-fly as you spray them.

Many of the tools are highly intuitive, including Xara-like onscreen gradients and spotlight effects that are applied by dragging the ends of a line to aim a spotlight.

You can also edit cell-based frame-by-frame animations from the bitmap editor.

3D Tools

The New Document dialog offers a number of templates in the 3D world tab to get you started. For example, there are 3D land, space, water and tunnel environments that can be built upon. You could quickly create an eye-popping presentation using the tunnel template as a memorizing background and adding a few animated text objects. The tunnel template automatically creates the objects necessary to give the impression yu are moving through a tunnel. You can also create a single object (see the next paragraph below) directly from this New Document dialog. So if you needed a sphere as the basis for a scene, you could create a blank 3D world with a sphere in it.

Once open with a new 3D world, an extensive object-creation tool lets you create a huge variety of objects. Pick from spheres, cubes, toruses, cones and every other standard primitive imaginable. But there is more. You can build tree-based branch systems, particle systems for adding smoke, water, mist, fireworks etc., lightning and many other more advanced objects.

Each object can be rotated and scaled and the object pane shows many editable properties (or you can use ScriptV).

HyperText

Information is key in our Internet-age world and whereas impressive projects need pizzazz, they also need information. The VAS offers hypertext tools designed to help you add webpage-like information sources to any project. I imagine the extensive inbuilt help system has been made using this tool.

Putting it together

The real potential of the VAS is not in it's individual tools but in the combination of them. For example, you can drag and drop a 3D object from the project pane into a new vector file. The 3D object can be scaled and rotated as though it was just another vector element. However, clicking on the object twice reveals extra handles that let you rotate it in 3D and position it within the view space inside the vector document. Another example is converting a standard bitmap in the editor into a 3D plane and adding rotation/lighting effects in true 3D.

Interactivity and animation are added via a library of (or custom) sliders, buttons, frames etc., a Trackview panel and the ScriptV language itself. Simply put, you build elements with the different modules and combine them into a number of Object files with interaction. The ScriptV editor is quite nice and offers auto-indenting and complete online documentation. You can insert standard function calls direct from the ScriptV pane.

Output

In order to produce the variety of media as promised, the VAS has a number of output options. You can select from CD-ROM package with Autorun (you select which is the first object file to open), Web Package with HTML start, VAE package (readable by the Visviva Animation Engine, if the user has it installed), Self-expanded Package (includes the VAE if the user doesn't have it). The Web Package is designed to work with the VAS web plugin. This is available for Netscape or Internet Explorer but is a hefty 1.6 MB download. This is understandable, as it allows full 3D playback of the VAS files directly in your browser. However, it is a long time for users to wait to view your site, although they will only need to do it once. Maybe one day if the ScriptV plugin has the reach of the Macromedia Flash player it will not be such an issue.

The VAS uses on-the-fly OpenGL display for all final projects. This means if you have a high-end video card you can enjoy antialiased 3D real-time effects. However, if, like the majority of computer users, 3D support was not the highest priority on your check list, the result will be quite different. Using OpenGL means the projects are platform independent, and most major 3D cards support OpenGL. However, hardware dependant output means different computers will have varying levels of support. For example, my fairly old TNT2 card only has pseudo OpenGL support and doesn't offer antialiasing. This means even the Visviva demo at the Visviva site (they are rebuilding their website to be fully interactive, with 3D effects) looks dubious and unprofessional.

Final Thoughts

I have only managed to scratch the surface of the VAS. There are animatable deformers in the 3D module, debugging tools, plus the whole ScriptV language to learn. The Visviva website offers more detailed information and feature specifications.

As a new entrant into the Multimedia arena Visviva are offering a discounted introductory price to the VAS along with a free upgrade to version 2 when released. No doubt Visviva are hoping version 2 will be the killer product but would like as many loyal users as possible to release it to. Version 1.1 already shows immense power, potential and depth but I can't help but feel it is not quite there yet. Bugs and a resource hungry interface hint a lack of professionalism. However with version 1.5 close to release at the time of writing, and a full character animation studio slated for the free version 2 upgrade for version 1.x purchasers, I am confident Visviva are highly committed to enhancing the quality of the VAS until it rivals the professionalism of current multimedia tool leaders. It has definitely been a love-hate experience with many brilliant features and ideas. Judging by the responses at the online forum at their website they are also completely committed to their users and missing features raised by users seem to magically appear in the next free point release. If only all companies were like that :).

If you are looking for an easy do-it-all solution, the VAS is not for you, but if you love seemingly-infinite new tools to play with, and don't mind a similarly-infinite learning curve or the dependability of the output on the end-user's video card, the VAS will be worth evaluating.

You can purchase the Visviva VAS to experience it for yourself and return it after 90 days if you're not happy. You can also order an evaluation version CD-ROM ($15) from their website by going to the order page and choosing "evaluation" from the Edition drop down list. Make sure you sit through the online tutorials first or you may have trouble making sense of it all.

Visit Visviva

Price: VAS Professional Version ($599), VAS Personal Version ($129), VAS Evaluation Version ($15)

System Requirements

Copyright 2001, Tim Carden, All Rights Reserved