3D Artist #12 Online Supplement

Print issue published October 1993, 32 pages, all B&W.
Issue status: out of print

Cover: Tom Knight of Imagination Works supplied the female human model, a major work then in progress for Acuris, Inc. He and other human character model builders provided examples of their work to 3D Artist editor Bill Allen for a talk on "Adding the Human Element to Animation" at Autodesk University in mid-October 1993. When we discovered, while testing MacroModel, that we finally had a way to loft a 3D version of our banner from an old EPS file, the resulting object was floated over the model and rendered portrait style in 3D Studio r3 at 3DA. The model might fool you briefly, until you notice her angular hairdo. That could have been fixed easily in Photoshop, and Tom says the hair is better in later versions. But we liked the look--a kind of bridging between realism and working for realism. By the way, can anyone come up with other examples of magazines having their banner be an integral part of their cover picture?--Ed.

News
5	New Program Has Many Bugs...& Plants, Too Fractal fantasy flora and fauna for fun and freakiness using freeware Lparser
6	Siggraph 1993: Some Impressions So, what do you do when nobody wants to be seen talking to your interactive character?
8	High Color Flicks by Jeff Bowermaster Visual Circuits has "the ultimate" 16-bit real-time playback, but basic players can be had for less expense
9	3D Studio Release 3 by Alan Iglesias Highlights from among 200+ changes from r2, like: network and 48-bit rendering, new materials editor, more
11	Animation Commander: A Painless Experience by Bob Smith Sleepless in Montreal, testing a new product while learning video post with 3D Studio
*Other Reviews & First Looks*
7	Imagine-Detailor by Gary Dohanish
7	MacroModel 1.5 for Mac/PC & (Shhh) RenderMan for Windows
7	Photoshop 2.5 for Mac/PC
10	Visual Link: Not Yet 3D Studio by Vincent Stark
*Other News*
5	Envisage 3D <> 3DS Release 3 Release
6	Promation <> Altamira Composer <> CrystalGraphics Dangles Dongle Offer & v5
29	Lightwave 3D News <> Lightrave <> Lightwave Pro
29	Dynamic Motion Module <> LetterBlox <> Getting Listed <> Other News
How-To's
16-17	*A Spread of 3D Tips* > Light Relief: Basic Lighting for Most Programs by Michele Bousquet > Chrome & Glass: Hints About Glints by Scott Davidson > Stereo Pairs with Playmation by Randy Croucher - Thinking Double & Seeing Single [full text]
18	Moving the Topas Camera by David Berry Five rules for never getting lost in space and The drawing plane and the camera
20	MIDI Online: Help from Around the World by Paul Sebastien Just like with graphics, when you need sound advice, it's time to fire up your modem
21	Imagine-ing Hyperboloids by Mike Hall Oops. How you gonna explain a missing headline? Hard disk failure. Right. Someone failed to load the headline file from C: drive.>
Also... Tips & Tricks:
23	> Desktop Animator Targas > Neon for POV
Departments
32	Calendar <> Gallery Gallery
31	Classifieds
30	Contacts: Where to get more info
4	Corrections & Follow-Ups
4	Editorial Space: Anniversary
4	Opinions Rendered: Missing Dimension
29	Readings
32	SIGnificant People

Page 17: Playmation How-To by Randy Croucher

Stereo Pairs

38.7Kb stereo GIF (© Copyright Robert Terrell)

While visiting Will Vinton Studios [home of the California Raisins--Ed.], I saw an intriguing marketing technique: an inexpensive but very impressive stereoscopic slide viewer. Doug Aberle explained that the worst thing about still images of clay models is the client doesn't get the 3D feel given by animated film output. This six-dollar viewer puts that third dimension into an eye-raising single still image.
___ After seeing his beautiful slides, and learning how they were created, I decided there was no reason a similar process couldn't be used in Playmation. The scene I decided to try was a single frame from a nearly three-minute Frankenstein animation we were working on for Siggraph. It turned out remarkably well on the first try, and I urge you to dig up your favorite scene and give it a shot, too.
___ All that Vinton Studios does to make their 3D slides is to take two pictures of a scene--one for the view from each eye. They get the slides developed, stick them into this viewer, and, presto! Instant 3D. We can mimic that by setting up two choreographies, one for the view from each eye. Then send the resulting Targa files to a service bureau to output slides.
___ To make 3D slides, start by using a single point for your camera rather than a path. This will be the view from the left eye. Once you've positioned the camera where you want, add another point just to the right of the first. You will probably have to add it far enough away so it does not attach to the first one, then move it closer. This second point will be the right eye (make sure they are the same height).
___ The most difficult part is deciding just how far apart to place the two views. Try to imagine yourself standing in the scene, and how far apart your eyes would be, then place the camera points accordingly (approximately three inches apart, translated into the units you're using).
___ Check target position. The technique tends to work best if the camera target is in the middle of the scene, rather than way back or close to the camera.
___ Once you've done all this and the camera is on the left point, save this choreography as NAME-L.CHO, where NAME is a descriptive name for the scene. Now click on the right point you created, and assign the camera to it. Save the choreography again, this time calling it NAME-R.CHO. Now you're ready to render.
___ The resolution for 35mm slides doesn't have to be great (900x600 is enough), but you should keep a 3:2 width-to-height ratio, and a 1.0 aspect ratio.
___ 3D slide viewers are available from Reel 3-D Enterprises, Inc.
___ These slides are something you have to see to believe. They can be a huge help in marketing, and they're great to show to friends.

Randy Croucher is an artist and animator with Hash, Inc., publisher of Playmation. (Since this article was first published, Playmation became part of Hash's Animation Master 3D package, aka A:M, with other names including AM99, AM2000, and, at one time, Martin Hash Animation 3D, aka MHA3D.)
___ Robert Terrell tells us that the Hash copyright published originally in 3DA#12 for this stereo image was and is an error, and that he is the copyright holder. We will be reconstructing the image to embed the correct info. (You can see more of his work at www.computoons.com.)

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more stereo pairs from the pages of 3D Artist

Errata:
> p18: The "Construction sidebar" was actually the Topas "Drawing Plane" article on page 19.
> p21: The article lost its headline, "Imagine-ing Hyperboloids", and the first main press run also had some obscured text, as follows:

___ The front view should now show a line that slants from the lower-left to the upper-right, and is positione d one grid space in front of the initial axis, as shown in Figure 1.
___ 9. Select Mode/Pick-Groups (A/1), to exit the drag-points mode.
___ 10. Now select Object/Mold (A/E), and click on the Sweep selection button.
___ 11. The sweep requester appears; set 20 sections, and click on the Perform button. Voila! A personal nuclear reactor colling tower! (Figures 2a & b.)

Revised: 4 May 01
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3D Artist #12 Online Supplement

Contents

Stereo Pairs