If you've worked in any of the 3D animation softwares available for the Amiga or the PC, you may recall your feeling of awe at the vastness of the virtual universe that were creating. Combine that with the limitless reaches of the Internet, and you've got a mindboggling amount of space to fill. Graphic Detail has bridged some of that vastness with the release of Light ROM 3: a set of three CD roms primarily dedicated to the Lightwave 3D artists. Don't let the name fool you, there is much to interest users of other software packages on both the Amiga and PC.
Most of the 3D models, textures, et al are available in the public domain. These CDs bring all of these resources together in one convenient and inexpensive package. Much of the material on the discs is available exclusively to Light ROM 3 purchasers.
The first disc in the set contains literally hundreds of LightWave models, loadable into both Amiga and PC versions. Also on the disc are full color thumbnail pictures showing you the models already rendered. Since there is no good way to preview models on the net, this feature alone makes the discs worth adding to your collection. New to this version of the collection is the fact that the models, their surfaces, imagemaps, etc. are in directories on the CD optimised for easy loading into LightWave.
Another LightWave-aimed directory includes several Plug-ins, Arexx scripts, surfaces, and other related programs. Also is a directory of Jpegs produced by Questar's World Construction Set, a landscape generating program. I loaded this demo sequence into my DraCo, and was surprised at the stunning realism. The WCS demo sequence takes you on a slow flight into a canyon, as the sky goes from day till night. This is truly a superb demonstration of the latitude of this program. Those of you who have Vlab Motion or PAR cards, would do yourselves a service if you load up these frames.
Disk #2 in the set has 100.7 megs of objects in 3D studio format, some with GIF thumnail renderings. Other directories contain objects in Imagine (176 Megs), Real 3D (7.2 megs), and Sculpt (32.7 megs) formats. These objects can be converted for use in LightWave by using both Pixel Pro (axiom) and Interchange (Syndesis).
820 textures are included in Jpeg format, along with thumbnail renderings. It would be nice to have these organized into categories, and have names instead of numbers. Another of Graphic Detail's CD collections Texture Gallery, does have it's textures named and categorized. These new textures include cloth, brick, tiles, and a directory of greyscale images for bumpmapping and alpha channel compositing.
In addition to a Video Toaster directory with accessories and textfiles for NewTek's Amiga video hardware, is a directory of DEM objects. Landscape generators such as World Construction Set and Vista Pro use DEM (Digital Elevation Maps) to create their landforms. DEMs are geographic digital data gathered by the US Government. DEM compatible software uses this information to fractally generate landscapes. This disc's DEMs have been converted into actual 3D objects for use in LightWave, 3D studio, and Imagine.
There are Thumnail indexes in IFF and Targa format on disc 2 for the true DEMs on disc 3. Also included on Disc 2 are various PD programs for both Amiga and PC, and issues of 'Tesselation Times', another electronic publication concentrating on 3D graphics.
Disc 3 contains the true DEMs mentioned earlier. On this disc are thumbnail rendering of the DEMs in JPeg format.
In my work I've used all three volumes of LightROM, and this latest 3 disc set represents an impressive accomplishment. While many of these programs and objects are available in the public domain, having so many of them assembled in one place on a rapid access disc makes this volume well worth the $49.95. If you're a 3D graphic artist, you cannot be without a CD ROM reader. Internal double speed drives are availble for about $50, and there are several good PD CD interface programs for the Amiga. With the increasing number of texture and object CDs coming out, you won't want to be left behind. This CD set is a great example of what's out there for computer users with CD rom readers.
LightROM 3 is an excellent investment for any artist, and the investment of time that Graphic Detail has put into this collection is clear in the high quality of the CDs. Since the objects and textures are created by users of varying skill levels, be prepared for varying levels of quality in the material on the discs. I've been very satisfied with the CD's objects. Even if an objects isn't exactly what I need for a particular project, I've found that having even a rough object to use as a template saves me considerable time in modeling. As you can see LightROM 3 is a very complete answer to the needs of beginners and pros alike. The CDs are updated every six months, and are very reasonably priced.