Imagine 2.0

Here's another one of those terrific software applications that is hard to close once you open them. Imagine 2.0 is the easiest 3D creation software I have encountered. If you know you're stuff when it comes to 3D, you won't have any trouble jumping right in to Imagine and I bet it's easier to use than what you're using now. 

If you don't have any experience with 3D, Imagine is the application to have. The user interface is quick to learn and the menus are set up perfectly. The Imagine 2.0 manual is a terrific resource for learning all that you can do with Imagine 2.0. The quad view makes it great for seeing all the angles as you create. 

One of the things that threw me when I started with 3D was being confused by what happened when I manipulated an object. With Imagine, when you manipulate an object, it acts as you would expect it to instead of going off in some wild direction that you don't expect which I have experienced with other 3D software. 

Below is the detail editor, one of four editors available. The other three include the forms editor, the spline editor, and the stage editor.

From the menus below you can see that Imagine does it all. You won't need another 3D mesh or rendering application if you have Imagine.

It's easy to set the attributes for each object in your project.

Anytime you want to see a quick render of your project it's as easy as clicking on the camera on the tool bar. You'll see a panel like the one below that gives you tons of options of how you want to quick render your project. Along with that is the option to trace render. Just getting into this panel and playing with the settings and scan line rendering was a lot of fun.

Below shows some of the pre-made objects that you can load and do anything with.

On the left side of the user interface are icons for deformations - twist, taper, bend, shear, pinch, and stretch.

Key Technical Specifications: (taken directly from Impulse Software site)

• Quad View Interface
  Front, Side and Top Views with perspective
  Preview in wire frame or solid mode
  NOW SUPPORTS OPEN GL
  offers a more realistic real time preview of your work
  Render
  Full Trace (with shadows, reflection and refraction)
  Scan Line (limited reflections)
  Color and Black and White Solid Mode
  Color and Black and White wire frame mode
  User Customizable Tool breakaway toolbars
  Render safe area window
  Multiple Editors
  User customizable interface
  Detail Object creation and properties application
  Stage animation control and object staging
  Forms slice object editor
  Spline font and 2D spline object creation
  Action Dialog quick view of all stage actors
  Portals, giving you a mini view of what to expect prior to committing to a render, also makes work flow faster
  and easier to visualize
  Procedural Texturing with over 100 textures included such as Wood, Brick, Bath tile, Fire, Ghost,
  Image mapping, and various applications of image maps such as, Color, Specular, Altitude, Filter, Reflective
  Object manipulation
  Bend, Twist, Taper, Shear, Scale, Move, all manipulations are Animatable.
  No limitation to point, edge or face count
  Boolean operations for slicing and cutting objects
  Real Time Point reduction, visually control the point and face count of objects with a simple slider, all in real time
  Object States an Imagine unique feature allowing each object to have various states where different aspects of the object can be set, then when animated users can morph between various states. Great for creating character animation movements.
  Built in primitives
  Sphere, cone, plane, torus, tube and disk, hemisphere, cube, box, rod.  Simple drag and drop to the work surface
  Full lathe and extrusion function with
  Spin, Sweep, Extrude and Extrude along a path or axis.
  Conform objects to object types and paths
  Magnetic control of selected points
  Object selection tools include, click, lasso and drag box
  Editor zoom tools
  Particle system support, various built-in particles as well as load any object as a particle and full Animatable
  Supports Grouping in mass and hierarchical
  Meta Ball functions
  Backdrop images both static and animated
  Full AVI support and Image sequence save and load
  Animation Bluing show last position of animated object
  Imagine and DXF, 3 D Studio and Lightwave file format load and save
  Key Cell tweening with absolute or spline base motion paths.
  Animated objects can fallow define spline motion paths.
  Inverse Kinematics for character animation
  Rotoscoping
  Unlimited Animatable light sources that where color, intensity and type can be controlled:
  Point, Spot, Square and parallel
  Full Camera control
  Special Effects including
  Toon, Particle, Explode, Fireworks, Jitter, Balloon, Tumble, Haze, Lens flare, Shredder
  Global variables including
  Field Rendering
  Motion Blur
  Anti Alias controls
  Depth of Field
  Star Field (fully animatable)
  Global Fog with density and color
  Full 24 bit video support
  Renders from 1,1 pixel to 16,000 by 16,000 suitable for multimedia, print and motion picture film and video
  Image out put format includes, TGA, TIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG.

Imagine 2.0 comes with an "extensive" manual that is written in plain English with examples. It's very easy to read, and believe me, you'll want to read it just to learn all the great things Imagine 2.0 can do.

"a very quick project...the textures are included with Imagine"

Imagine 2.0 is one of those applications that you need in your tool box for creating top of the line images. If you don't believe me, run over to Impulse Software and take a look at the images on their site, and don't forget to stop by their gallery. You will see some truly amazing renderings there. It's hard to imagine they were computer rendered and not hand painted on canvas.

Download the demo from Impulse Software and see for yourself how terrific this software is and how much it can do.

Impulse Software