Review of Swift 3D?

[Hollywood_Dave]

Does anyone know about how well Swift 3d works? It advertises itself as a 3 Dimensional Vector Graphics Tool. How well does it work. Their site is real nice, but I downloaded their demo and all it gave me was a limited 3D Text generator. I was, to say the least, underwhelmed.

Anyone use the full version? Examples of what you have done with it? Your overall opinion of it?

[BiggieD]

Personally, I don't have the program, but from what I've heard, any 3D program is better then having nothing...I think Swift3D is one of the top ten..but yeah i downloaded the demo too...not like i have any money to buy it anyway, but if it was good enough i might have gotten my mom to buy it for me...but the demo wasn't all that good...but im sure the 3D program should help you out (hopefully)

[metasketch]

Reviewing a 3D program can be difficult in that I don't know your current level of knowledge of creating 3D shapes and effects. If you are a 3D guy who use's high-end software like Maya, softimage, or strat3D, then Swift3D would not be my choice other then merely using it to convert your 3D objects into a .swf format for export and would not rely on it to do any serious creation. However, if you have no knowledge, then Swift 3D can be cumbersome, rather awkward and ultimately frastrating.

I have swift3D and love it. It allows me to create fast, and simple effects. I can import vector art from Illustrator or Freehand and add animation and then export it as .swf file for import into Flash with a relatively small file size. It takes some tweaking and some getting use to but it does the job. Moreover, if you have ever used Adobe Dimesions in regard to creating 3D shapes, it's about the same. Swift3D is not ment to do any high-end stuff. That is, creating directly in Swift3D, but more as a add-on to your exsiting 3D program. Swift3D accepts just about every 3D format for import like; Stratavision, Maya, RayDream and a number of other leading packages. Most I know who want to create any kind of 3D effect usually start in one of those programs and use Swift merely for export into a .swf file.

On the other hand, Swift does do a decent job creating simple 3D shapes like logo's and text effects. It has the standard pirmatives, a easy to use interface and drag and drop effects. The shader is fairly straigth forward as well. I would suggest getting the demo. It allows you to do everything but export. Ultimately, using the app will tell you if it is right for you. To make the experience more worth while have a project to do. Simply poking around will not result in the review of what the app can do. Besides, I think Swift3D goes for about 30 bucks. In any event I think it's well worth the money if you are looking to create simple, small 3D graphics for your web.


[Edited by metasketch on 06-26-2001 at 08:41 PM]