Strata’s New Power Tools
06/14/06 @693 | Martin | comments (1)

You may have heard about Strata’s three new software releases: Strata 3D CX 5.0, Strata Foto 3D and Strata Live 3D. These three tools are an interesting trio of technology and in this review GFXartist puts them through their paces.

Strata 3D CX 5.0

Strata 3D CX 5.0 interface

Strata 3D CX is the flagship product for Strata and a longstanding favorite of graphic artists for many years. This new release adds a variety of features that have been demanded by users for some time – and some surprises not anticipated.

What’s New?
Notable new features include a completely revised skeletal animation system, application scripting (via the popular Lua scripting language used by Adobe and for many successful games such as Far Cry), a “Render to Layers” feature that exports the image components as layers in a Photoshop file (exciting possibilities here) and full history control via a tabbed palette similar to Adobe’s Photoshop history palette. Overall the CX interface has moved even closer to Adobe’s standard. Users now have a form of palette docking, command and hotkey combinations coincide with Photoshop much more closely now and many smaller details have been cleaned up to optimize the workflow. And speaking of workflow, it’s hard to beat the combination of being able to import native Illustrator, apply Photoshop files as linked textures for 3D surfaces and then being able to output a rendered layered Photoshop file.

The Test Drive
So, how does Strata 3D CX 5.0 really work when you take it out for a drive? We found it to be smooth running and easy to handle – especially when you take into account the market for which is primarily designed for – designers, illustrators and multimedia artists. The interface makes it easy for Adobe users to shift into 3D. The modeling tools include familiar Bezier curves that any Illustrator user already knows how to handle. The polygon modeler supports cutting edge subdivision surface modeling (SDS). And the ability to render out a layered Photoshop file of your final scene is certainly the nitrous oxide of the package (to stretch an already thin analogy).

Render to layers allows the user to create a highly realistic 3D image and place the component elements onto separate Photoshop layers in the saved PSD file. When opened in Photoshop you can see that image components such as reflectivity, ambient lighting, diffuse lighting, transparency and more are mixed together using blending modes to create the final image. This is exciting because it allows the user to increase, alter, change the mixing, etc. of these differing layers. You don’t have to re-compose your 3D scene to make subtle or even extensive changes to your image – you can use the power of Photoshop to enhance your work.

Overall we found Strata 3D CX to be the perfect application for designers who want to get into 3D without leaving behind the comfortable realm of their Adobe tools.

Strata Foto 3D

Strata Foto 3D, 3D capturing

Now here’s an application that – at first blush – an artist might react to by saying “Neat – what would I use it for?” Indeed, it is kind of an odd duck. It’s easy enough to use. You simply place an object on a special grid that the software prints out and take a series of pictures from different angles – the more pictures the more accurate the captured model.

What’s It Good For?
We think you’ll stop scratching your head once you see the high quality of the models. Your mind will to race with all the possible uses for this clever piece of coding. Imagine easily producing fully textured, photo-real objects for use in games, movies effects, illustrations, etc. Think of clients whose products need to be placed into a virtual environment. Picture how many hours this could save you. We did and now we’re believers.

The Test Drive
Setting up to shoot pictures for use in Strata Foto 3D is a bit of a task. You’ll want to find a suitable turntable (sometimes called a “lazy Susan”) to place the printed pattern onto. Then you’ll want to make sure you have sufficient lighting for the photos. Ideally you’ll want to use a tripod for your camera. From there it is a matter of following the directions to shoot pictures from multiple angles around the object and above the object.

Once the images are brought into Foto 3D each image must be “masked”, which means that the background must be trimmed away. Thankfully Foto 3D comes with many tools that make this a relatively easy task. And on top of these tools, a reasonable workflow with Photoshop has been worked out by Strata for those that would be more comfortable using the standard in image editing software.

The next step is creating the geometry – which is an automated process in Foto 3D. You simply input the desired level of detail and let the application churn away. Once you have your geometry created the next step is the creation of the UV mapped texture. This process involves using bits of each digital image to create a perfect image map. This process too can be adjusted for quality.

Once your model has been created and textured you can examine it directly from within Foto 3D. When you’re satisfied with the quality you can export the model as a VRML file for use in a variety of applications.

Overall, for the majority of 3D artists, we feel this will be a must have application.

Strata Live 3D

Strata Live 3D, bringing 3D to the web

Strata’s new Live 3D product just might bring the long promised benefit of 3D on the web. I know we’ve all heard it many times before but this product actually works and doesn’t require the viewer to have a special browser plug-in. On top of that, Live 3D makes it easy to create high quality 3D PDFs – an important growing market for Adobe.

The 3D Web
In the past, companies have pushed a VRML based web 3D solution. However, there were multiple problems with these technologies: odd browser plug-ins, poor image quality, excessively large model files, difficult development tools and (to be honest) simply bad timing.

Live 3D seems to deal with all of these problems. The application is based on the Java programming language. This means that browsers that have Java installed (which is just about all of them) will run the content. And the content looks spectacular with great looking texturing, lighting and reflection effects.

Integral to the application are a series of technologies that reduce the model size through polygon reduction and data compression. And though a great deal of work can be done directly in Live 3D, the application accepts animated files from virtually all popular 3D programs. When used with Strata’s CX application, the user is provided with an easy to use workflow to create interactive content.

For Strata the timing couldn’t be better. More people than ever have broadband. 3D content is more abundant and accepted than ever. And (as if they engineered this) it works perfectly with their Strata 3D CX 5.0 application. Very good timing.

The Test Drive
The downside of Strata Live 3D is that it is written in Java. This is also the upside. The interface is very platform independent and somewhat non-standard. The benefit of this is that the product is available on both PC and Mac – which most 3D web applications are not. Being consistent with Java also means that you get to see what your content will look like and how it will function as you’re working on it – no export and test work cycles necessary here.

Once you get past the slightly unconventional interface, you’ll find that the product does provide a very logical set of tools and palettes to help you achieve your goals. Scripts are built using a simple hierarchical structure of sequences that are constructed using event markers, menu commands and multiple choice dialogs. Users can create hotspots, action and state dependant scripts (the door must be open before the ball can roll out for example). Lights and materials can be animated and views can be scripted.

For those that want to go deep into a project, full access to the project can be accessed through the XMM file format. The program supports a simple scripting language named Meson that is fairly straight forward and easy to use.

The final content is definitely hard to argue with. The program allows you to select from a variety of “Navbars” and you can even create your own custom navigation bars. Content can be produced for web viewing, embedding in PDFs and even integration with Flash content.

Overall we feel this product is a winner and will find a home with many designers in a variety of disciplines. Environmental designers will find it useful for walkthrough presentations. Product designers will appreciate its ability to communicate an intended product’s functionality. And marketers of all stripes will want to take a hard look at using Live 3D to produce sales demonstrations, online catalogs and PDF brochures.

The Final Verdict

Strata has done what seems like the near impossible – release three products simultaneously that work well, add value to the 3D market and fill unique niches. We recommend all three.