From the makers of the popular scene-rendering program Bryce comes DAZ Studio, a powerful 3D-modeling and CAD program for Windows and Mac that looks great but is a resource hog and can be sluggish for the average user.
The publisher recommends having at least 256MB of RAM, but that's wishful thinking. The program runs choppily on anything less than 1GB, although some of the more complex rendering was processed more slowly than others. It also requires an OpenGL-compatible graphics card with at least 128MB of RAM onboard, so machines built before 2003 will certainly struggle. This isn't unusual for this kind of program, though.
DAZ offers up a wide array of built-in models and tools for creating, animating, and recording life-like scenes. Users can purchase additional models through the publisher's Web site. Free tutorials on the site take a bit of the edge off the learning curve, although it's still steep. The feature set is nothing short of incredible: you can take a model, manipulate it, add detail and texture, have it interact with other models, and manage your art files. The tool panels on the left and right navigation bars can be hidden, to maximize screen space, and all the tools have mouse-over labels to help newbies learn what's what. There are also components for easy export to other programs, like Photoshop.
According to the publisher, the program is compatible with Windows Vista, however, we were unable to install it on our Enterprise edition. Also, keep in mind that all users must register on the publisher's Web site to get the free serial number to run the program.
This glowing orb is your home.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Article updated at 8:05 p.m. PST.
Greetings, Earthlings. There's big, round news in the world of software, and its name is Google Earth. Hot on the heels of major improvements to Microsoft Virtual Earth, Google Earth has had a few big announcements of its own. On Monday, KML, the markup language behind Google Earth, was approved as the international standard by the Open Geospatial Consortium. The Google Earth Blog also announced a research project to simplify placing images into precise locations within Google Earth. Anyone who's tried this knows it requires some advanced photo-matching techniques, so we can all look forward to a more streamlined process.
But today comes the biggest news--a brave new Google Earth 4.3 for Windows and Mac that received a passel of new features, including some ported over from other Google products.
New features
One of the more exciting additions to Google Earth 4.3 is the capability to switch on day and night views. I'm thinking this is a good way to see the Eiffel Tower at sunrise and peek in on the countries that sleep when I'm awake. Also noteworthy is the news that Street View, which you may remember from Google Maps, will be woven into the version update, complete with the familiar photo viewer.
Speed is another theme with this new release. 3D buildings will render faster, and Google Earth accelerates the switch between Earth and Sky modes (this is a really neat feature; if you haven't checked it out, do.)
Where possible, images will be getting time stamps for easily seeing when they were created. Since so many photo sources populate Google Earth, not every image will bear a born-on date, but those that do will add another layer of information to this simulated world. Finally, Google is updating the look of the app's navigational controls to complement mouse and keyboard-scrolling. I don't know, maybe a Google-branded joystick and shooter games are the next evolution, though I highly doubt it.
What kinds of mash-ups and integrations would you like to see in the next iteration of Google Earth? Share your creativity in the comments.
In the meantime, making models with Google SketchUp is a good way to populate Google Earth, or your own personal version of it. If you prefer to create your own 3D landscapes, Bryce is the freeware application to beat. DAZ Studio, Bryce's sister software, offers the same extensive range of modeling freedom with human subjects in mind.
Google SketchUp landed with a big splash last year, but it's not the only freeware option for budding 3D designers. From the makers of the popular scene-rendering program Bryce comes DAZ Studio for Windows and Mac, a powerful freeware 3D modeling and CAD program that looks great, but is a resource hog and can be sluggish for the average user.
The publisher recommends at least 256MB of RAM, but I found that to be wishful thinking at best. The program runs choppily on anything less than 1GB, although some of the more complex rendering was processed more slowly than others. It also requires an OpenGL compatible graphics card with at least 128MB of RAM onboard, so machines built before 2003 or 2004 will almost certainly struggle. This isn't unusual for this kind of program, but caveat emptor and all that.
DAZ offers up a wide array of built-in models and tools for creating, animating, and recording lifelike scenes accessible from the Content window in the left nav. Models include realistically designed animals such as goldfinches, angelfish, cats, and dogs, as well as an ichthyosaur, a dragon, and more Pixaresque renderings of kid-friendly beasties. The dragon is the most impressive and comes with its own category, which includes highly detailed claws, head spikes, tail accouterments, and other user-selected body parts.
Users can purchase additional models and program plug-ins through the publisher's Web site.
Tabbed navigation makes what could be an overwhelmingly complex series of views and windows much easier to deal with. The left nav features Content and Scene options, while the top nav visually presents Load, Pose/Animate, and Render options. The interface is important to note here because there are so many moving parts in this program that if it navigation was difficult, it'd be nearly impossible to get going.
Fortunately, free tutorials linked from within the program to the publisher's site take a bit of the edge off the learning curve, although it's still steep. The feature set is nothing short of incredible: You can take a model, manipulate it, add detail and texture, have it interact with other models, and manage your art files. The tool panels on the left and right navigation bars can be hidden, to maximize screen space, and all the tools have mouse-over labels to help newbies learn what's what, but I still found the tutorials to be practically essential for getting started. There are also components for easy export to other programs like Photoshop.
According to the publisher, the program is compatible with Windows Vista, however, I was unable to install it on my Vista Enterprise machine. It might've been because of a hardware problem, but I find it hard to believe that my XP computer is better equipped for 3D rendering than one outfitted for Vista. Assuming you can get it working, don't panic when the program asks you for a serial number--all users must register for free on the publisher's Web site to get the free serial number.
Even with these gaffes and problems, DAZ Studio runs well for an app with the potential to be so monstrous, and any budding 3D animator should check it out.
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