Graphics

One of my main interests is Computer Graphics and as such I have devoted a large section of my site to this topic. Examples of my work include this site and the numerous backdrops I have created.

Also I hope to get TopModel as soon as it is released by Cerilica. TopModel is a comprehensive 3D modelling package.

Composition

Compo is my favourite piece of software ever. It is extremely versatile and allows for a wide variety of effects to be created and combined on a single canvas. It is very user friendly and intuitive. All my backdrops where put together in this program and I've found it to be both fast and reliable in use.

Compo is sold as an "image manipulation package" by Clares and allows for bitmaps, vector files and even 3D models all to be present on the same canvas. All three types of graphic can be seamlessly blended together and all make use of the same tools, albeit in different ways. For example the "rotate" tool on the toolbar can be used to rotate bitmaps and vectors in 2 dimensions but also rotate 3D files in 3 dimensions. The program allows for import and export in a multitude of different file formats. This is a very well rounded and feature laden package, I would certainly recommend it. Put short, it's fantastic.

An example of what can easily be done is the animation in the top left corner. It was created by making two text objects, an "S" and an "A" in one of my favourite fonts (HongKong). The opacity of the "S" was set to 100% and the opacity of the "A" was set to 0% (invisible). A black background colour was chosen. The line border was imported from Draw in the bitmap layer, with Compo automatically generating a mask. This masked black border would not show up on the black background so the object was tinted white. The picture was exported as a sprite. Next the opacity value for the "S" was decreased to 90% and the "A" increased to 10%. The picture was exported again. This was repeated again until the "S" had reached 0% and the "A" had got to 100% opacity. The resulting 11 frames where exported to InterGIF to make the animated GIF in the corner.

Photodesk

Photodesk is a quality professional bitmap art package. I am still only getting used to this but I am already getting a feel for how powerful it is.

Studio24

Another professional bitmap art package. I used to use this quite a bit, it had plenty of swift features. We upgraded it to Studio24Pro but the package had become a bit of a beast and I never got round to taming it. I use it very occasionally now but I prefer Photodesk. The original is now incompatible with StrongArm so I can no longer use that either.

Draw / DrawWorks

Draw is a standard vector graphics program supplied with all RISC OS computers. It is a very powerful piece of software but it was never easy to use as when using it, you would often overlook many of its' features. DrawWorks is a kind of bolt on upgrade for Draw, it makes Draws tools more accessible and extends Draws functionality. Both use the Drawfile file format.

All the border lines around the links on the left where created in Draw and then exported into Compo. Also the [S] Smooth and [A] Artist pictures, used at the bottom of every page were done in DrawWorks and exported to Compo. These make use of Draws "interpolate" feature.

The legendary SmoothArtist Design Firing Target Set contains two target designs, made with DrawWorks. The targets have been converted to PDF format for distribution purposes. To view and print them you will need a PDF viewer. For RISC OS machines there is the freeware !PDF or the commercial !RiScript. For windows computers there is the free Acrobat Viewer. External links can be found on the Links page.

WebFX3D

WebFX3D is a very powerful tool for quickly knocking together simple 3D models. It does all the generating of the wire mesh and polygons itself. This means you can create or edit a models' structure yourself. It is therefore very simple to use and good for producing simple, yet striking 3D images. To create a model you import some text or a vector shape (Drawfile). You then select some options like the type of bevelling you require and then your object is extruded into the third dimension. You can then set up the objects size, orientation and lighting before rendering your image. You may find this too basic for your needs, in which case you will need a proper modelling package. eg TopModel.

This is an example image, a 3D version of the title graphic. It was very simple to do: The text was typed in, a font selected and then I chose to give it a curved bevel type. (This is just a description of how the front and back faces are connected.) Next, the object colour was set to white, with a white light source at the camera. The image was then rendered at my chosen resolution. I told WebFX3D to give me 10 frames of animation and rotate the model about the X axis. Finally the separate frames where imported to Composition to add the elliptical border for the text. The duck used in some of the backdrops was created with this software.

Others

There is also a bunch of other software that I use regularly.

SmoothArtist (tlsa)

This page is © Michael Drake 2001 - 2003