3D animation is the hot ticket in multimedia, film, video, web site, business, advertising, and game design. As John Lasseter, Toy Story Director, recently said, "There's unlimited potential for profit in 3D computer animation. And besides. it looks really cool." With its Directional 3D Sound on the Digital SoundStage, 3DJoy's Presenter module makes 3D even cooler. Because the real world swirls with motion and abounds with sound, we should expect no less from 3D virtual worlds. Capabilities to create such virtual worlds were formerly the domain of large studios that had access to expensive and proprietary 3D systems and could afford to hire the computer wizards and experienced 3D graphic artists and animators needed to use such systems.

Presenter offers a new concept in multimedia, video, and film production: A 3D Multimedia Production Studio complete with a virtual stage, lighting, sound recording, and camera equipment; a control room to preview sound, lighting, and the action as seen through each camera as well as the final cut; an effects library where you can store and access movie clips and a variety of animation, shader, texture, and sound effects; and the script that defines the action that occurs on the set. Presenter provides the ability to do pre-production and production work for film, video, and multimedia. Whether you are preparing an animated ad, designing a game, or preparing a multimedia presentation, It offers the sound, projection, and animation capabilities that make this a true 3D digital production studio.

Special Capabilities

Digital Studio

The Stage

Equipment

Control Room

Effects

Script

Action

3D Sound

The Professional Digital Studio

Presenter's breakthrough Digital SoundStage technology provides a virtual production studio, sound stage and on-location shoot, all in one product. This has made it possible for multimedia, game, web site, and broadcast producers to simulate the real pre-production and production world in a way not possible with any other 3D animation product. Where other products support sound and live action as post-effects, Presenter provides the ability to simultaneously control and sync multiple cameras, lighting, sound, film projection, and 3D animation. The Digital SoundStage ability to pull sound, pictures, and animation together makes this the tool to use for building the virtual worlds of your imagination and puts the Macintosh at the forefront of the game, multimedia, video, film, business presentation, web site, and graphic design markets.

Presenter's digital studio offers you the ability to set up a multimedia presentation, broadcast video, and film pre-visualization and production complete with: a virtual stage, lighting, sound recording, and camera equipment; a control room to preview sound, lighting, and the action as seen through each camera as well as the final cut; an effects library where you can store and access movie clips and a variety of animation, shader, texture, and sound effects; and the script that defines the action that occurs on the set.

The Stage

The Digital SoundStage includes a virtual stage where all equipment, characters, and props are set up. The Top, Front, and Right windows show the different views of the stage.In addition to showing the chararacters and stage props from the three views at any point in an animation, it also can show the changing positions of the characters and moving objects as the animation proceeds.

The Equipment

 The Tool palette is the source you go to set the stage with light, camera, microphone, and projection equipment. It also includes the tools to set up and manipulate the equipment and to position and re-size objects. In addition to lightbulbs, you also have access to spotlights, suns, and a still projector and movie projector that simulate real projectors in that the light is projected and not mapped. So if an object moves into the beam , the image or animation being being diplayed is projected on the object. If the projecte rotates, so does the beam and the image being displayed. The available microphones include omni-directional and directional that can be set to any angle. Using two directional microphones set about six inches apart, you can simulate the Doppler Effect by moving an object with sound attached rapidly past the microphones.

The Control Room

The Active Camera control screen and video controls serve as the control room where you preview sound, lighting, and the action as seen through each camera as well as the final cut. The control screen lets you preview the positioning of cameras, spotlights, and projectors as well as the composite cut made from all cameras used.

The video controls allow you to play, step forward or back and loop the current camera, spotlight, or projector selected, and peform cuts between cameras.

Mono or stereo sound can be played and the quality of the display can be changed here.

The Effects Library

These icons are samples and are not indicative of what actually will be provided
The Presenter effects libraries are the source for all the movie clips, and the animation, shader, texture, and sound effects. To apply an effect only requires your dragging one or more effects from the Animation, Sound, REnderMan Shader, or Texture libraries.

The animation effects portion contains the animation plug-in icons for effects such as Gravity, Collision, and Flock. They are used to affect the objects they are applied to according to the basic laws of physics.

The shader portion contains the icons for the available RenderMan Shaders. These icons can be used to apply Pixar's RenderMan shading effects.

The textures portion contains the icons for the available PICT images and QuickTime movies. Textures are patterns, logos, images, or background scenes that can be applied to objects in your digital scene. The projection equipment can be used to project textures and movies on objects in your digital scene.

The sound portion contains the icons for the available sound effects. These sounds can be used to create 3D stereo and Doppler sound effects in your digital scene.

The Script

The Script includes all the components and actions used in creating an animated presentation.

It identifies the lights, cameras, microphones, and objects placed on the stage.

The objects are shown as hierarchies with groups identified by folders and objects by pencils.

The event-based timeline portion identifies the time and the object involved in an action event. Events are marked by colored balls if no attributes are applied and squares if one or more attributes are applied.



Double-clicking on any object opens the object's dialog box. Here you can change change physical characteristics, and assigne render attributes, and apply animation, sound, REnderManshader, and texture effects.

The Action

The Action can involve motion and effects. Linear and angular motion occurs when the linear and angular position of objects is changed over time. Effects changes occur by varying parameters over time. For example, an object can change from blue to orange over time by assigning a new color at a later time.

The Velocity graphs allow you to vary the rate of not only motion, but all parameters according to pre-set and user-definable graphs. The velocity options include Custom, Linear, Sticky, Ease In, Ease Out, Ease In & Out, and Stutter.

Directional 3D Sound and Doppler Effects
You Haven't Heard Anything Like it Yet!

Imagine a train speeding toward you, its whistle screaming; a bullet grazes your head-Zing!; a herd of buffalo stampedes across the prairie and shakes the ground. What these scenarios have in common is the element of sound that becomes louder as objects whiz onto the screen and fades away as visuals disappear.

The Digital SoundStage is the first environment to offer sound the elements of distance, velocity, and direction. The ability to place directional and omni-directional 3D microphones and sound effects precisely within this environment produces lifelike sound effects that add depth, feel and richness to multimedia, game, film and video production. The result is a three-dimensional surround sound that envelopes the viewer, adding an extraordinary sense of realism to the visual presentation. They can be assigned a sensitivity level, range, and a directional cone with sound falloff, and they can also be animated. Sounds that are farther off are faint. As they approach, they become louder. If they are moving fast as they pass the 3D microphones, they are altered by the Doppler shift (which changes the pitch of a sound as it moves toward or away from the listener).

The microphones can play into the right, left or mono audio channels to simulate sounds coming from different parts of a scene. This enables you to create visual and audio cues that are synchronized with the actual motion produced. Using a train moving from right to left as an example, you simultaneously hear and see the train faintly off your right. As the train approaches, the sound increases in volume and pitch until it passes before you, and then both sound and train fade off to the left.

The Directional 3D Sound offering makes it easy and productive to create animations and realistic sound effects-without the costly on-location recording or painstaking audio post-production. This is a capability currently not seen in any other product. Most sound used in 2D and 3D graphics is actually two-dimensional. Like PacMan chomping across the screen, the noise never gets closer or farther away and there is no sense of velocity or position. Directional 3D Sound enhances the computer and video arcade game experience and the home and business interactive multimedia experience. If you close your eyes, the sound seems to come form directly in front of your face. You can actually imagine a jet roaring overhead, then disappearing into the distance. While at first this seems like a special effect, once you are used to it, other kinds of sound seem flat and unnatural.