The dvGarage, a company dedicated to training the next generation of visual media artists, has updated their 3D Toolkit, a Mac only application that the Garage’s Alex Lindsay told MacCentral will give Mac users “unparalleled access” to learning 3D.
The 3D Toolkit is designed as a visual training system that ships with a full version of the Electric Image software. Its goal: to teach 3D principles and techniques to visual artists in all industries.
The 3D Toolkit is made up of five parts: the tools, an overview, basic tutorials, advanced tutorial and bonus materials. The tools include an animation system (essentially Electric Image 2.9.2) and a modeler — each application will also have a 20-minute overview. Electric Image was chosen because it’s relatively straightforward to learn and has a lot of power under the hood, Lindsay said.
The new version (2.0) now ships totally Mac OS X native (previously, dvGarage offered an upgrade disk). It’s also Electric Image 5.0 compatible.
“We eliminated project files to make sure any version of application will work,” Lindsay said. “3D Toolkit now has attribute QTVR. These little movies give you live feedback of different surface and lighting conditions. The offer an incredible learning tool.”
The Surface and Lighting Labs have been integrated into the 3D Toolkit, adding 19 tutorials to the disk. Plus, there are four new tutorials covering Ship-Fly-by’s, Facial Morphing, Motion Capture, and Digital Matte. 3D Toolkit still comes with a special version of Electric Image Universe: a film-res, non-watermarked, fully operational, non-expiring 3D application ready to use.
3D Toolkit normally costs US$199. However, it’s being offered for $99 through December 6. For more info go to the product Web site.