Template Graphics Software (TGS) recently announced that its modeling and
animation software Amapi, was receiving an upgrade. The new release will be
'officially' announced at the Mac World Expo in January, however, the new
version is available now. It features Dynamic Geometry, which allows users
to edit an object dynamically by changing its outline, profile or basic
structure, through the software's ability to remember the construction
history of the object. The upgrade also has a new Decimation tool, which
reduces the density of complex meshes while preserving their key data
points and polygons, allowing game designers to control the density of
their meshes dynamically. Other additions include new Deformation Tools,
new Filleting Tools, new Display Modes and a new 3D Text tool which
displays edited text in real-time. But Amapi 5's most exciting addition is
probably TGS' ZAP technology. ZAP is a revolutionary technology which makes
it possible to publish your animated 3D creations on a Web site at
interactive speed. With this new technology, models, textures and animation
can be reduced to a few kilobytes making transfer over the web lightning
fast. An extremely compact 3D player, which is freely distributed by TGS,
reconstructs the full geometry on the client machine and animates objects
in real-time. The new version is available now from TGS at a price of
US$399 dollars.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
