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Cool 3D 3.0
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DescriptionLong regarded as a competent–though basic–tool for generic 3-D work, Ulead Cool 3D 3.0 includes some sophisticated features. Although not a tool for creating the next Toy Story, it offers a solid feature set for creating clean 3-D text and logos. There are various additions that improve the tool without compromising its ease of use. The new path editor is a vector drawing tool–shapes can be outlined and then extruded. Each face of an object can be shaded differently, and front and back face bevels can also be added. Other new features include a 3-D geometric-shapes library with a wide variety of objects, an object manager for easier organisation and management of scenes, and new plug-ins for transitions, bevels, distortions and motion path animation. Testing on a Pentium 500 at broadcast quality (720 x 540) resolution, we found that screen redraws were remarkably fast; even when using complex shading effects like “fire”, Cool 3D didn't waste much time in generating an image. There are literally hundreds of pre-sets for things like bevels, textures, surfaces, lighting, animation, effects, and even a nice library of objects. Cool 3D relies on DirectX for drawing and rendering, and also imports DirectX models (*.X). Rendering to an assortment of formats (QuickTime, AVI, animated GIF, BMP, JPEG and TGA) is supported, making it possible to export to almost any other application or platform. For users of more sophisticated 3-D packages, you will miss the basic quad window display (front, right, top, camera) and tweaking lighting to be just right is difficult. Still, this is an excellent basic tool for flying logos, graphics and titles, and with some creativity, Cool 3D can create some really nice animation. —Mike Caputo PlatformsWindows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000
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