Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!ucsd!nosc!crash!crash!pro-party.cts.com!seanc
From: seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics
Subject: JMan Review: SCULPTURE (cont)
Message-ID: <1991May18.001612.10750@crash.cts.com>
Date: 18 May 91 00:16:12 GMT
Sender: root@crash.cts.com (Bill Blue)
Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA
Lines: 59


     PEAK makes the splines between selected CONTROL POINTS rigid,
like they were vectors in a polygon editor, while SMOOTH will give
you a "continuous junction" between CONTROL POINTS.  But JMan doesn't
stop here.  You have three-dimensional control over splines via the
ALPHA, GAMMA, and MAGNITUDE gadgets.
 
     Let's say you have curve made up of three CONTROL POINTS
connected together by a single spline.  ALPHA lets you interactively
control the tension of the curve along the same plane as the curve
while GAMMA controls the tension along the plane perpendicular to the
curve.  These allow you to twist and shape your curve from each
CONTROL POINT.  The MAGNITUDE controls how tight the curve is between
control points.  In other words, the higher the number, the more
broad your curve will be.  Lower values cause your curve to become
PEAKed.  And since the cubic patches are laid down over the curvature
of the splines, these three tools give you total power over the the
surface characteristics of your SEGMENT.  Even minor adjustments can
dramatically change your surfaces.  
 
     After you've modified your SEGMENT to your liking, or while you
make your modifications, you click the Front-to-Back gadget in the
upper right corner to take you back to the PAINTER screen.  Once
here, click on the QUICK RENDER gadget.  After some thinking, you'll
see b&w shaded representation of your object. (Note: the viewing
angle of the FIRST viewing window is used for QUICK RENDER's view)
This brings us to another of JMan's features that sets it apart from
the rest: DECALing.
 
     There's only one problem with me reviewing this feature, it
doesn't work.  According to Ken Baer of Hash Enterprises, this
feature is supposed to work beautifully, but I have yet to see it
happen.
 
     DECALing lets you bring in IFF brushes (by clicking on one of
fifteen DECAL BUFFER gadgets), and stamp them over your QUICK SHADEed
SEGMENT.  After stamped, you click the GLUE gadget to render the
SEGMENT again, but this time you'll see the image wrapped onto the
surface of the SEGMENT.  In addition, you can use the drawing tools
to paint *directly* onto the surface of the SEGMENT!
 
     The current version only supports what are called STANDARD MAPs,
which are the equivalent to COLOR MAPs in IMAGINE.  Future versions
will support TRANSPARENCY, and BUMP mapping.  Plans also point to
ANIMBrush mapping.
 
     After you've DECALed your SEGMENT to your taste, you choose SAVE
SURFACEMAP from the PROJECT menu.  The SURFACEMAP must later be
called from the CHARACTER module.
 
Next up: CHARACTER
 
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  UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc       RealWorld: Sean Cunningham
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                                    // | * All opinions  expressed herein |   
  HELP KEEP THE COMPETITION UNDER \X/  |   Copyright 1991 VISION GRAPHICS |   
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