Software Review:
Micrografx Webtricity 2
(Part 2)
By David Fiedler
Overview, Simply 3D, and Media Manager
Webtricity's motto night be "easy to use".
The included 340-page manual as well as the programs themselves are stuffed with step-by-step instructions, wizards, and handy hints and tips, so that even the most scared novice can turn out gratifying results fairly quickly.
As per our own habit at WebDeveloper.com, all the non-boilerplate graphics accompanying this review were created with Webtricity.
Simply 3D is a high-quality VRML 1.0 and 2.0-compatible program for creating or modifying 3D object files,
but its main uses for the Web are for creating 3D scenes (in VRML) or animations
(as GIFs).
Used in "bare" mode, this can be a very intimidating-looking program, since it has the kinds of features (variable lighting, views, shadows, materials, extrusions, etc.) as any other 3D program.
On the other hand, used in "wizard" mode, it's a regular pussycat...just decide whether you want to create 3D text or object animation, and it prompts you through every step.
If that's not even simple enough for you, it will even work from canned templates...the image here was created that way in just a few moments.
Simply 3D will open Renderize, Visual 3D, AutoCAD, Wavefront, Corel Draw, and Windows Metafile formats, and can save files as VRML, Targa, TIFF, GIF, and JPG.
Media Manager is a graphics manager, essentially a thumbnail browser. While it's very fast and allows searching Micrografx libraries (even by keyword), I didn't find it particularly useful or intuitive as a cataloging or browsing tool, and wasn't able to drag-and-drop to any but Webtricity applications. I added some of my own files, but could never find them again. Also, it has a very eye-disturbing habit of resizing its window instantly and constantly based on the number of icons it finds. It's hardly a loss, however, because Picture Publisher displays thumbnails in its file browser dialog.
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of the review ]
This article first appeared in June, 1998.
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