Strata Design 3D CX

Strata Design 3D CX is the essential tool for designers - ideal for illustration, consumer product design, environmental design, motion graphics and interactive design.

Strata Design 3D CX is a professional-level 3D modeling and animation software for Mac and PC that delivers end-to-end power for the entire 3D design workflow. Quickly bring your creative ideas to life with a simplified learning curve and tight integration with Adobe Photoshop.

Key Features:

• Simplified 3D Learning Curve: Strata Design 3D eases the learning curve for 2D designers who are new to 3D. Quick start templates, libraries, predefined effects, backgrounds, environments and more allow designers to create complex scenes in minutes. With a user interface and tools that are familiar to todays 2D designers, you invest your time learning 3D design concepts rather than a new design paradigm.
• Model Anything in 3D or Import Existing 3D Assets: For many, the thought of 3D modeling is a daunting task. Design 3D offers an extremely friendly modeling toolset and environment for manipulating your polygons, splines, and primitives into any 3D object or scene you can imagine. If youre working with existing 3D assets, Strata Design 3D CX utilises a host of filters and options to accurately import third-party 3D models and scenes.
• Apply Surface Textures with Precision: In the world of 3D, texturing may just be the most important component in creating convincing final renderings. Once you have designed your 3D model, Strata Design 3D CX gives you powerful tools to create, apply and manipulate surface textures with beautifully accurate results.
• Set-Up Your Scene with Lighting, Backgrounds and Cameras: Scene composition is a critical step in producing stunning images. Design 3D CX makes it easier to control the environment than any photography studio you could imagine. Position your 3D objects and then place lights, reflection panels, cameras, backgrounds, environments, reflection elements and more to produce a superior final render or animation for your design project.
• Rednder Photo-Real Images and Animations at Blazing Speeds: Design 3D is well known for its extraordinary rendering technology. Whether youre after photo-realistic results or some other style for your static or motion graphics, you will find the rendering options to suit your needs and output the results using one of the fastest rendering engines in the industry. After all, its all about the final results and Design 3D delivers.
• Learn Design 3D CX Online at Strata 3D University: Learning 3D doesnt have to be difficult. Especially with Stratas online training library at your fingertips, covering every aspect of Strata Design 3D CX and the entire 3D design workflow. Strata 3D University makes it simple to find the subject of interest and quickly get up to speed with short, informative videos created by professional 3D designers.
• Tightly Integrated with Adobe Photoshop: Design 3D CX is a favorite among creative designers, thanks to tight integration with Adobe Photoshop. Design 3D allows you to use linked PS files as image maps, so changes made in the PS file are automatically updated in the Design 3D texture. Design 3D renders to Adobe Photoshop Layers for easy post-production work. Image maps created in Photoshop and saved (as TIFF, JPEG, PSD, etc.) can be loaded into the texture channels as image maps for creating textures.

Strata Design 3D CX - Features

Drawing Features

Strata Design 3D CX makes it easy for 2D designers to get started in 3D. You can import 2D elements from applications like Adobe Illustrator or you can draw 2D objects directly in Strata Design 3D CX.

• 2D/3D Text
• 3D Primitives
• 2D Drawing Tools
• Bezier Lines/Regions

Modeling Features

Strata Design 3D CX offers an incredible array of modeling options. You can model using familiar Bezier splines, but now in 3D: traditional polys- but now with Quad Polyspines; MetaSurfaces to meld objects together; Extrude and Lathe; Boolean to combine or subtract: Skin; Mirror and other features.

• Polyspline SDS
• Meld MetaSurfaces
• Bezier Surfaces
• Extrude
• Lathe
• Boolean
• Skin
• Polygonal Modeling
• Path Extrude
• Construction Objects
• Shy Objects
• Shape Instancing
• Replicate / Duplicate
• Object Manipulation
• Drop a Curve
• Hide Objects
• Fillet
• Thickness
• Mirror
• Hull Surface
• Deformation Lattice
• Grids - World, Custom & View
• Smooth Mesh
• Point Snap

View Features

Unlike you favorite 2D applications, Strata Design 3D CX gives you the opportunity to examine artwork from any angle. With the power of 3D perspective comes new challenges for control. Strata 3D rises to the occasion with split-able views, multiple views, depth cueing and even special views for cameras and light sources.

• Familiar Interface
• Split Views
• Camera View
• Multi-Views
• Depth Cueing
• Image/Movie Backdrop
• Spotlight Views

Environment Features

Sometimes great design is about the "negative space" - the area that surrounds your 3D model. Strata Design 3D CX gives you many options and an easy to use interface to control your "environment".

• Ground Plane
• Air Refraction
• Visible Backgrounds
• Reflective Backgrounds
• Atmosphere
• Gravity
• Wind

Lighting Features

You've heard of "looks good in any light" - now you've found the tool that gives you that elusive "any light". Strata Design 3D CX gives you point lights, spotlights, global sun-style lights, environment based lightdomes, High Dynamic Range Image lighting, glowing surfaces, gels - all unlimited and fully controllable.

• Point Lights
• Spot Lights
• Directional Lights
• Glowing Surfaces
• Lightdome HDRI
• Intensity
• Host Object
• Soft Edges
• Ambient Light
• Gels
• Animatable Lights
• Overflow Handling
• Spotlight Window View
• Effects Applied to Light
• Direct Manipulation Interface

Special Effects Features

Any image or animation can be spiced up with special effects like Lens Flare, Auras, Particles - and the new Script FX. Add multiple effect. Place effects on any object. Even animate the effects.

• Lens Flares
• Particle Collision Detection
• Script FX
• Auras
• Caustics
• Fountain Effects
• Global Gravity Control
• Global Wind Force Control
• Global Air Control
• Fire & Smoke
• Hair
• Hotspots
• Pixie Dust

File Import/Export Features

Being able to talk to other programs in your design studio is an important issue. Strata Design 3D CX offers a number of options in this area.

• U3D (in)
• Collada (in/out)
• Illustrator/EPS (in)
• Photoshop PSD (in/out)
• XMM (out)
• Quicktime (in/out)
• PICT (in/out)
• Quicktime VR (out)
• TGA (in/out)
• TIFF (in/out)
• BMP (in/out)
• JPEG (in/out)
• 3DS (in)
• PDF (in)
• DXF (in/out)
• AVI (in/out)
• MiniCAD (in)
• Amapi (in/out)
• OBJ (in/out)
• VRML 1 & 2 (in/out)
• IGES (in)
• Flash SWF (out)
• True Type Fonts (in)
• Postscript Type Fonts (in)

Rendering Features

The core of what makes Strata Design 3D CX so good - and what it's famous for - is the high quality rendering. Rendering is the process of taking the design you worked to put together and creating the final image.

• Toon
• Photons
• Raytracing
• Raydiosity
• Render to Layers
• Flat Shaded
• Hidden Line
• Outline
• Pointcloud
• Smooth Shaded
• Wireframe
• Scanline
• Transparency
• Alpha Channel
• Anti-Aliasing
• Oversampling
• Glow
• Reflectivity
• Anti-Matter Effect
• Field Rendering
• Atmospheric Effects
• Shadows
• MIP Mapping
• Soft Shadows
• Stereoscopic
• Custom Environments
• Specular Highlights
• Suspend Rendering
• Marquee Select Rendering

Animation Features

Strata Design 3D CX takes a simple approach to animation: Everything can be animated. And it takes a simple approach to controlling animation: keyframes, a timeline, and scripting. Even if you've never booted it up, you already know how to use it.

• Scripting
• Hierarchial
• Visible Paths
• Everything Time Variable
• Animation Preview
• Shatter
• Explode
• Jiggle
• Convert to Path Event-Based
• Cycle Back & Forth
• Key Frames
• Velocity Graphs
• Life Checkbox
• Align to Path
• FBX with Motion Capture
• IK (Inverse Kinematics)
• FK (Forward Kinematics)
• TCB, Spline & Natural Paths
• Proportional Event Scaling

Texturing Features

"What if" is as simple as drag-and-drop in Strata Design 3D CX. Select from the palette of hundreds of pre-made surface textures or make your own using features like live-linking to native Photoshop files - make a change in Photoshop and Strata Design 3D CX automatically updates the model surface.

• Scripting
• Hierarchial
• Visible Paths
• Photoshop Linking
• Displacement
• Box Wrapper
• Mist
• Image Textures
• Corrosion
• Starfield
• Rainbow Reflection
• Mock Tile
• Shadow Catcher
• Ripples
• Solid Brick
• Silk
• Solid Candy
• Solid Concrete
• Solid Marble
• Solid Moonscape
• Solid Rock
• Solid Stone
• Solid Terrain
• Solid Wood
• Wildlife
• Mock Plank
• Surface, Solid & Volume
• Layer & Mix
• Fog
• Haze
• Clouds
• Burn UV

Camera Features

A great camera can make even the novice photographer look good. Just think of what Strata Design 3D CX will do for you with all these imaging options at your fiinger tips.

• Scripting
• Hierarchial
• Visible Paths
• QTVR
• Motion Blur
• Depth of Field
• Boom
• Pan
• Dolly
• Arc
• Pitch
• Yaw
• Roll
• Host Object
• Target Object
• Focal Distance
• View Angle
• Panorama Camera
• Spherical Camera
• Cubic Camera
• Shutter Speed
• Stereoscopic
• Live Window Updates

Scripting Features

New to Strata Design 3D CX is Lua based scripting. Lua is a widely used language that has found a home among many of the 3D elite. Companies like Blizzard (World of Warcraft), Criterion Studios (RenderWare used for Spongebob Squarepants, NBA Ballers, ESPN Major League Baseball and more), LucasArts (Empire at War), BioWare (Neverwinter Nights), UbiSoft (Far Cry), Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts), Nival Interactive (Blitzkrieg) and many, many more use Lua as a major part of their game development and scripting.
Even new favorites, such as Adobe's upcoming Lightroom product, are being created using Lua. Now that you know Lua is a scripting language, what will it do for you? Strata's integration of Lua runs deep and wide. With Lua you can script object surfaces for creating custom transformations such as bending and twisting, control over shaders and textures, access to the rendering pipeline; lens scripting for the creation of custom lenses, effects and warps; Filter FX which allows you to write custom Lua scripts to apply filters based on an object's surface normal, direction, lighting, volume, and by pixel color, depth, transparency, layer within the psd file - and much, much more.
If you're a power user, or just want to create art and get scripts from people who are power users - then the addition of Lua scripting is big for you.

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Strata Design 3D CX - System Requirements

System Requirements

Macintosh

• PowerPC (G4, G5) or Intel Processor
• Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
• 512 MB RAM (1 GB or more recommended)
• 1.2 GB of available hard-disk space for install
• 1024 x 768 capable display
• DVD-ROM Drive (not required if application is downloaded)

Windows

• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP3 Recommended) or Windows Vista
• Pentium 4, Athlon or better
• 512 MB RAM (1 GB or more recommended)
• 1.2 GB of available hard-disk space for install
• 1024 x 768 capable display
• DVD-ROM Drive (not required if application is downloaded)