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Swift3D 4
Tim Carden
December 2004
One can't help but like Electric Rain, the company behind Swift 3D. They create a powerful niche product, present the best public image I've seen for a software company, and clearly have a lot of fun along the way. This relatively small Colorado-based firm even pushes product packaging to the extreme with no less than a logo-embossed tin holding the version 4 CD and manual. But even before you are convinced to order Swift 3D, prepare to be wowed with a rich, deep interface at the Swift 3D website, and a smoogasboard of mind blowing sample websites lashed with generous 3D animations. When it comes to 3D animation for the web, it's hard to go past Swift3D both as a trendy purchase and a handy tool. Partly because there are few (if any) competitors, but mostly because Swift3D does what it does well, and with each new version the developers add a lot of the features users are hoping for.
At its roots, Swift 3D is designed to create 3D graphics and animations for publishing on the web. Aside from 3D rendered to video, and recent 3D support in Macromedia Shockwave, there were few accessible options for integrating the depth and experience of 3D into a website. Swift3D gets around this by rendering 3D scenes and animations to individual vector frames (they call this renderer RAViX), and then publishing these to Flash format. The result is a compressed file that can be viewed by over 500 million installed Flash viewers around the world or exported into common vector formats.
The RAViX renderer improves with each version of Swift 3D and can include highlights, shadows and other effects in its scalable vector output
With version 3, Swift3D decided to go beyond its niche and added a bitmap renderer (called EMO). Where as RAViX estimates 3D animations with vector shapes and gradients, EMO generates proper ray-traced images allowing advanced features such as textures to be mapped onto the surfaces of objects, and realistic shadows and reflections. Consequently Swift 3D can be used for other non-web multimedia projects or anywhere where a more realistic output is required. In the example below you can see the file size benefits of RAViX for simple animations. EMO becomes the renderer of choice for complex realistic animation where file size and editibilty are not such priorities.
But Swift 3D is more than a vector renderer. As well as the RAViX and EMO renderers, Swift 3D includes import, modeling and animation tools meaning for many users it is the only 3D application they will need. Even better, Electric Rain made Swift 3D to be used by conventional designers and therefore many operations are more intuitive than some other 3D applications. However, there is still a lot of terms and processes to learn, and an overhaul of common operations wouldn't go astray. For example, onscreen handles for transforming objects like 2D applications have would be a big plus, and the interface is more clumsy than it has to be. The main window has a row of tabs across the top which correspond to different working environments. Having these tabs helps organize the multitude of tools and buttons in Swift3D -- the toolbar for each tab only shows the buttons and menu commands available for use in that environment. There is the main "Scene Editor" where you arrange objects, lights, cameras and apply animation. There are specific object editors for creating more complex custom objects to use in the Scene Editor. When the scene is completed, there is a "Preview and Export Editor" tab where scenes are rendered and saved in a number of supported formats.
The tabs are in a sensible order with the default Scene Editor first and the Preview and Export Editor tab near the end. To create a simple scene it is just a matter of switching to the Scene Editor (the default when you load Swift3D) and clicking shape primitives on the toolbar or dragging items out of the model gallery. You can then opt to manually enhance your scene using the built-in tools, or apply canned presets from Swift 3D's new galleries. These offer numerous objects, lights, animations and more that are simply dragged into the scene. The animated presets show an animated preview in their thumbnail when you click on them.
For creating more complex objects, you can proceed to the object editors and import a path (or draw your own in Swift 3D) and either lathe or extrude it into an object. In the example below, I used familiar bezier curve tools to define a simple profile in the lathe editor. On the right is the final object rotated and rendered to show the screw notches and head created by the lathe editor. Once you are happy with your scene you can click on the "Preview and Export Editor" to render with RAViX or EMO and save in Flash, bitmap or vector formats depending on what the project will be used for.
Animation is also relatively easy with Swift 3D. You can drag and drop preset animations from the animations gallery onto objects, or create your own keyframe animations. Keyframe animation allows you to define major places of change in an animation and Swift 3D will generate the in between frames. New in Swift 3D 4 is the ability to animate objects along a bezier curve, complete with specific control points. As you define keyframes for an object, movement is traced by an automatic bezier curve. The curve can be edited by dragging control points to change the shape of the path. Swift 3D 4 can orient the object so it changes angle depending on the angle of the path.
New in version 4 is the ability to animate objects along a bezier path
Once a project is complete, Swift 3D is particularly good at getting your rendered 3D work into Flash for integrating with other Flash content such as text, 2D graphics and ActionScript. Swift 3D comes with a proprietry add-on for Flash that imports a RAViX rendered project directly into Flash complete with shadows, outlines etc. on separate layers. Once the importer is installed, Flash can read Swift 3D's rendered SWFT files natively via the file import dialogue box. As you can see below, the imported graphic is about as Flash-native as you can get with each portion organized onto layers for toggling on or off, and separating into various symbols.
The big news for this new version for power users is Swift 3D's new Advanced Modeler. Swift 3D reads common 3DS and DXF formats for accessing objects from other programs or libraries, there are still times when these need to be edited, or you need to create something completely new that just can't be made using the other shape primitives or editors. The Swift manual relates the Advanced Modeler to creating your own new LEGO blocks when there simply isn't one already there for what you need. The Advanced Modeler lets you create and edit organic, non-geometric objects by working directly with the basic mesh that makes up any object. You can select portions of a mesh and reposition, rotate or scale them to change the shape of an object. It also opens up more editing possibilities allowing you to apply materials to different faces of an object, mark lines for excluding/including in vector renderings and selectively smooth or unsmooth groups of polygons.
The Advanced Modeler is the killer feature of Swift 3D v4
Swift 3D 4 is a solid release and despite limited competition, Electric Rain has managed to keep up development momentum. Vector rendering is useful for exporting to Flash, but the ability to export to EPS and other standard formats including SVG means 3D elements can be integrated into other projects, including print and corporate id design. This version further expands the possible projects Swift 3D can be used for while making it easier to use. The addition of a powerful new modeler will help satisfy the appetite of power users, while the new galleries of resources will help make simple projects quicker for those who prefer working with presets and applying their own customizations. Whether you are a new user looking for an easy 3D tool with powerful output options, or a loyal follower looking for some new tricks, version 4 delivers. You can download a trial from Electric Rain, and view cool animated demonstrations of most features.
Pricing: $189 full version or $99 upgrade
Company Website: www.swift3d.com
Requirements:
Windows
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Windows 98, NT, 2K, XP
- Min: 600 Mhz processor
- Rec: 1.2 Ghz processor
- Min: 128 MB RAM (256 MB for Win XP)
- Rec: 512 MB RAM
- 25 MB available disk space
- 1024 x 768 monitor resolution
Macintosh
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Mac OS X 10.2+
- Min: 400 Mhz processor
- Rec: 1.0 Ghz processor
- Min: 128 MB RAM
- Rec: 512 MB RAM
- 25 MB available disk space
- 1024 x 768 monitor resolution
Copyright (c) 2004, Tim Carden, All Rights Reserved
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