1. Platforms, prices, and company
Power PC/MAC
$380.00
NewTek: http://www.newtek.com/
2. Applications
With Inspire 3D, you can model, animate and render 3D elements in any style and
complexity. By adding texture,
motion, lighting effects and more, your print materials will almost pop off the
page. Use the images you create as
single frame print graphics or as lower resolution animation files for
multimedia or the web…or choose from a
library of pre-created images. And use the photorealistic or stylized animation
images you create for real-time
graphics applications, including VRML 2.0, for all kinds of projects.
3. Examples/Samples
4. Functions
Modeling
Inspire's Modeler retains LightWave's
precision modeling tools, which include accurate Boolean operations (scoop out,
slice up, or stencil polygons onto the surface of an object based on the
surface of another object) and MetaNURBs tools
(excellent for modeling organic shapes such as characters, cars, or airplane
hulls).
However, when you get into the details you see the difference between Inspire
3D and its big sibling; Inspire's reduced tool set doesn't allow you to adjust
the level of polygon detail in a MetaNURBs object as
you can in LightWave - it's locked at three polygons
per patch.
Rendering
Inspire 3D comes loaded with Lightwave's rendering engine and is equipped to handle resolutions up to 8,000 x 8,000. That's pretty impressive. Its rendering and modeling capabilities can handle 3D elements from the very simple to the very complex. I was quite impressed by the "high end" assets of the program, the lighting, the motion, the texture, etc. It is very versatile. You can output to a single frame or a full-blown multimedia project. This program allows the user to create anything from cartoons to very complex animations and output to 16 image formats and 7 model formats. It is loaded with a variety of plug-ins. Other features include spline-based modeling as well as MetaNURBs just to name a couple. It also contains a library chock full of images (1,600 models, objects and other items to be exact) that you can you use, create your own, or mix-n-match, it's up to you. You can also use most Lightwave and Photoshop plug-ins as well.
Animation
Inspire 3D can handle 2D, 3D, photographs, and video with 3D with ease. Its front projection mapping makes applying cast shadows over or against a photo or video image very accurate. Using the Motion Graph makes animation easy to achieve. As far as rendering is concerned, Inspire 3D rivals any rendering engine out there in speed and quality. Anti-aliasing is excellent even at its lowest denominator. Unfortunately the highest rendering size is 640 x 480 pixels. Animation support is still extensive: bones, displacement mapping, and animated textures, spline-based key framing of objects, lights and camera, and object morphing are all there. Glows, depth of field and extensive lens flares allow a sophisticated touch to be given Inspire images, while motion blur can be used either in animation, or to give a feeling of movement to print work.
File Format
Photoshop, QuarkXPress, Illustrator, Freehand, Director… Inspire 3D is compatible with every one of them and more. You can also use your Photoshop plug-ins with Inspire 3D, which makes working with both programs fast and seamless.
5. Web Resources