What is DynaPerspective 2.0?

Several 3-D CAD programs can handle drafting, rendering, and presentations, but they usually specialize in only one aspect. Presentation was the forte of DynaPerspective 1.0 (July ’89, page 47), with its ability to create fly-through animations easily. Although its rendering was basic but fast, its drafting capabilities suffered. With version 2.01, DynaWare has added needed features to DynaPerspective's drafting capabilities, tweaked its rendering, and made its animations faster and smaller. All this, and DynaWare has cut the price as well. DynaPerspective is still geared toward presentations, and version 2.01 makes it easier. There are a few interface annoyances and missing drafting features, but this upgrade takes several steps in the right direction.

Drafting Layers. The most important new feature is the addition of up to 16 layers, which you can display or turn off. This lets you, for example, put a basic floor plan in one layer, plumbing in another layer, and furniture in another or keep alternative designs for a single room. Layers are easily handled through the layer palette, and a Move/Copy to Layer command lets you move items between layers in one step.

The good drafting features of version 1.0 are enhanced in the new version. Four linked views representing floor plan, two elevations, and perspective can be displayed one at a time or simultaneously. A screen redraw stops when you click the mouse, so you don't have to wait whenever you make a change or switch views. You can now also redraw a single window.

Moving the light source or the point of view is simple with the new set-light and set-eye tools, which let you draw the line of sight on-screen with the mouse. You can now also save as many as 20 views at different angles, distances, and zoom settings as recallable views, which become choices in the View menu.

The zoom tool has improved, now letting you specify the zoom factor to within .01 percent. The old wall- and shape-creating tools are joined by new manipulation tools, including extrude, scale, revolve, multicopy, and move (an alternative to clicking and dragging). These mostly work fine, although I found the revolve tool difficult to master.

The x,y,z position of the cursor is displayed at the bottom of the wdndow in an area called the Parameter Bar. When you select a shape-drawing tool, such as the wall tool, this is where you enter such parameters as the thickness and height of the wall. Dimensions can be entered or displayed in English or metric units. You can even set DynaPerspective to let you enter dimensions in one unit and have it display them in the other.

DynaPerspective’s biggest void is a method for measuring relative distances. Right now, the Parameter Bar displays only the distance from the origin (point 0,0,0) and only when you create a new part. If you select an object and drag to modify the shape, no dimensions are displayed to tell you where you are. DynaWare is considering on-screen relative coordinates for a future version. Another problem is that there really is no easy way to modify walls once you create them. It’s easier to delete them and recreate them.

Reality in Motion. Although rendering is not as fancy as in a program such as StrataVISION 3d, DynaPerspective is quite a bit faster and does include such niceties as movable light sources and transparent surfaces. Version 2.01 adds 24-bit color and anti-aliasing. If you need texture mapping, you can export your files in DXF format to StrataVISION. For ultrahigh-end rendering, you'll have to wait until the beginning of 1991, when DynaWare plans to have the capability of exporting to Pixar's Renderman.

Animations are easy to accomplish: You set viewing angles and distances in the perspective view and let the program interpolate frames between positions. Animations, also called films, can be recorded in two formats: DynaWare’s new high-speed format and PICS. Films in DynaPerspective 1.0 format can be converted to the new format, which shrinks them to about one-fourth their original size. Films created in PICS can be exported to MacroMind Director. PICS files are about three times the size of highspeed-format films, however, and are limited to 16 megabytes. This is a severe restriction, as animations can easily exceed 100 megabytes. Anti-aliased 24-bit animations must be in PICS. Films can also be exported to video.

Animations can be played in three modes. If the film is small enough, you can load it into memory and play it from RAM at up to 60 frames per second. You can also set the film to load from the hard disk in chunks, which is a little slower. The slowest mode loads the film frame by frame from the hard disk. In this mode, I could play an 8-bit 100-megabyte film at 15 frames a second on a IIci. filling up a 21-inch screen. You can speed this up to 30 frames per second by creating the animation in a smaller window.

You also have a great deal of control over animations. You can speed up, slow down, stop, and reverse the film from the keyboard. The step-plate feature lets you jump between different viewpoints in the film. You can also set the animation to play continuously.

The manual has been greatly improved since version 1.0 and is well written and illustrated, with a lengthy tutorial. If this isn’t enough, the program comes with a 40-minute tutorial videotape. It’s probably a good idea to go through these aids before trying to tackle a major project.

The Bottom Line. For those of you with 2-megabyte Mac IIs, DynaPerspcctive 2.01 is a powerful, versatile tool for visualizing and presenting designs in architecture, interior design, and space planning. At its new price, DynaPerspective is a great value. Registered users of version 1.0 are well-advised to pay the $25 shipping fee to upgrade. And if you’ve always presented your designs with static drawings, think about using animation — DynaPerspective makes it a snap.

Rizzo, John. (December 1990). DynaPerspective. MacUser. (pgs. 60, 62).

Download DynaPerspective 2.0 for Mac

Architecture

Motorola 68K

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II