Are you a renaissance man (or woman)? We already know that if you're reading MFM, there's a good chance you’re probably a filmmaker, post production artist, cinematographer, best boy, grip, entrepreneur, financier and janitor. Electric Rain’s latest creation, Swift 3D v6, is something that you’ll want to consider if you need some simple 3D and animation in your film effort. However, if you also happen to wear the hat of marketeer and webmaster, then you’ll be even more interested in looking at what Swift 3D (S3D) brings to the table.
S3D lets users create 3D objects and animations that can be rendered as image sequences or QT movies suitable for intentionally stylized 3D looks. However, from a marketing perspective, it can export to Flash and Papervision 3D formats that can be included in your marketing Web efforts. This is not insignificant. In fact, S3D makes creating some visually rich, interactive, animated Web interfaces simple, elevating your Web presence from a mundane or “me too” site into something extraordinary. Sound interesting? Check out these sites for some examples of Web work with Papervision 3D content: Flashmoto.com and PaperVisionTut.Sourceforge.net
Swift 3D lets users export simply cartoon like imagery as well as near photorealistic. Pure outlines or wireframe renders are also possible, further expanding visual options.
If you are familiar with Swift already, you’ll be glad to know that v6 now includes Boolean functions with non-destructive options, significantly faster rendering and multi-processor support including raster render images, clone and array tools, bump map support, background tracing images and better liting controls including soft shadows. A tasty list that shows this product line is maturing nicely.
It is important to note that fundamentally, S3D is not for long, protracted animation sequences and consequently, its tools sets are tempered to match.
Elements from your film can be recreated in 3D and then used in Web content in engaging and enticing ways, boosting the marketing from your Web site.
Ease of Use
Like its namesake, Swift 3D is reasonably fast to pick up and begin using. Originally, S3D was only a way to process 3D data into Flash/vector (read Web and Flash friendly) formats, it has evolved into a full 3D solution suitable for basic to advanced basic 3D object generation and animation into both vector and bitmap formats. Before now, users were essentially required to have another 3D solution and then export the objects into a .3ds format or .dxf for S3D to import and render or process their 3D files with special Electric Rain/Swift plug-ins.
The interface itself I found to be logically laid out, although it’s non-standard in it's presentation when compared to many other 3D solutions. If you are coming from other 3D apps, you’ll need to slow down when you get to the S3D interface and look around. It’s not complex and is very simple, but it is different.
While it is possible to intuit your way into the program, a periodic trip into the well documented .pdf manual is a good idea - just to keep from burning valuable minutes going, “Duuuuuhhhhh, where is this function?” In fact, there were several times I thought S3D couldn’t do something but a quick check in the manual corrected me. (So, that’s what manuals are for...)
