I am a student trying to make money here. I am about to take my AS-Level's in the summer and hope to...
I am a student trying to make money here. I am about to take my AS-Level's in the summer and hope to do well!
Member since:19.01.2001
Reviews:52
Members who trust:6
The name Cool 3D is certainly descriptive of what it does. Creating 3D text and other simple shapes is as easy as any program I've used and the results still look great. This simplicity comes from the Easy Palette shown at right. On the left side of the Easy Palette is a tree-structure of the various attributes you can apply with a visual representation on the right. When you find the bevel, texture, animation or other attribute you desire; simply drag it and drop on the appropriate object.
Since its first version, Cool 3D's main strength has been to create great looking text. Start by creating a new file. You can select any custom size you want or one of the many preset sizes that are sizes commonly used for video and Web design. Then you insert text by typing the text, selecting a font and clicking OK. One downside is that Cool 3D only supports TrueType fonts. Now that Windows 2000 supports Type 1 fonts natively, I was hoping to be able to use them. Once you've created the text, you can start dropping attributes from the Easy Palette onto the text. The example of the text at right can be created in only a minute or two though I'll freely admit that you should be careful about creating this kind of eye candy for a Web site.
With each of the attributes, you can select from the vast quantity of preset effects. There are 30 beveling effects of which 10 are animated to grow and shrink. Textures are even more numerous with 120 of them supplied with the downloadable version and over 500 in the boxed version. If that isn't enough, you've got 30 choices for light and color. All of these attributes are applied by dragging them onto the text and dropping.
While you learn the program, the drag and drop is fantastic. But after you've worked for a while you'll certainly want more control over your objects. Turning on the Attribute toolbar gives you that extra level of control. Use drag and drop to get an attribute on the object and then use the numeric controls, drop-down lists and sliders of the Attribute toolbar to get exactly what you want.
With the latest version, you aren't limited to just text. There are a number of pre-drawn objects that you can simply drop into your image. In addition, there are plenty of shapes and objects to choose from that already have textures and animation applied. But we all know that Murphy's Law is going to kick in and you won't find the shape you need. No need to worry as you can create any shape you want.
Thank you for reading my review, could you know (so I know if this was worth while) rate my review. Thanx!
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Advantages: Simple graphics created nicely. Cool 3D/animation effects are fun to mess around with. Disadvantages: Very difficult to get animated graphics to work properly and look good on a website. Cumbersome to use. Very limited range of options.
Advantages: Simple graphics created nicely. Cool 3D/animation effects are fun to mess around with. Disadvantages: Very difficult to get animated graphics to work properly and look good on a website. Cumbersome to use. Very limited range of options.
Feb 6th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
