Swift 3D V. 4 Reviewed

Having never used 3D software before, the guys at Flash Magazine thought it would be a good idea if I were to test out Swift 3D V4. So after downloading and installing it, I jumped right in to learn how to create 3d animations.

Why would you want it? To create 3d content.
Platforms: Windows and Mac
Manufacturer: Electric Rain
Price: Full-$248, Upgrade-$158

After I had made several attempts at creating 3d animations, with no success, I hit the help section. The help section is loaded with content including the normal search and find as well as a ton of walkthrough style tutorials going over many details of the interface and how to use it. After a few of those, I started to get the hang of it.

The Interface
At first glance, the interface can seem a bit intimidating with 2 views being active, 2 spheres at the bottom to control rotation and lighting, a pretty big timeline and an assortment of buttons and tabs at the top. But the more I worked through it, the more natural it felt, even rotating objects to the exact point manually became easier. The one thing I thought was difficult to work with was the camera object. I had heard in other 3d software, the camera acts just like any other object on the stage, but it did not appear to be the case in Swift 3D.

It does however come with some ready to go shapes to get you started as well as some built-in colors and animations. And when you want to add color or an animation to your shape, all you have to do is drag and drop them on the shape itself. This makes it real easy when your new to it to quickly make small animations and make subtle adjustments to better fit what you need. And, as you select each shape on the stage, the properties box on the left allows you to access everything about that shape including the position, scale, material (coloring) and the bevel for quick and easy adjustments.

Animating
Animating can be a little tricky, especially if you are used to animating in Flash. You cannot directly create key frames in the timeline, instead you select the frame where you want the adjustment to be complete, and change one of the shapes properties. This will create the animation in the timeline, automatically tweened.

You can see 2 examples below. The first one simply plays in a loop over and over again, but with a little bit of ActionScript, you can actually make your 3d animations interactive like the 2nd example.

 

Publishing
By far, the easiest thing to do in Swift 3D is to publish your finished work. You can publish in both Vector and Raster forms and save in a variety of formats including PNG, SWF and SWFT which can be easily brought into Flash and still maintain some layers and shapes (which are grouped when brought into Flash.) Once published, you simply have to export either a selected frame, or the entire animation. Importing SWFT files into Flash is a breeze as well once you have installed Swift 3D.

The Extrusion Editor
The extrusion editor allows you to draw 2d shapes, and when you return to the Scene Editor, they will become 3d shapes. You can not only use the predefined shapes that are available, but you also have the ability to draw them by hand using the drawing tools.



Another great thing about the Extrusion Editor is you can import EPS files, then adjust them in them more precisely in the editor. That is how the I was able to create the image on the right from the image on the left (which was created in Flash and exported as an EPS.) Once I brought it into Swift 3D, I made the adjustments I needed, then set the bevel, and colored it.

The Lathe Editor
Another great editor tab in Swift 3D is the Lathe Editor. This editor allows you to draw a 2d shape just like the Extrusion Editor, only you just need to draw half of the shape and when you return to the Scene Editor, it will take the shape you made and wrap it around the Y axis 360 degrees. You can see in the 2 figures below the 2d shape being drawn, and the 3d rendering (after I added some color.)

Advanced Modeler
This new editor has been on many Swift 3D designers for quite some time. This editor gives you complete control over all points, lines and polygons shapes of your 3d shape. I was pretty surprised at how easy it was to use this section since it was called &Advanced& Modeler. And the properties box on the left side is active here, so you can also make certain adjustments from it as well.



Overall
Swift 3D wont replace Maya as far as ultimate 3d goes, nor will it put the dent in your wallet that Maya does at over 20 times the cost of Swift 3D. But if you are interested in diving into the world of 3d design, and are already familiar with Flash, Swift 3D is definitely a good choice. With all the tools, editors, pre-made content and tutorials, you will be building 3d objects and animations in no time.
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