another 3D-to-laser option

A

anticonnor

Member
Another option to get great 3D scenes to laser is Swift3D. It is a cheap and simple 3D program that outputs to Flash, which can then be output to laser.

Pros: Converts 3D to vector images for Flash, so you can get a great combination of 2D and 3D images being animated together. Once your 3D scene has been converted to Flash you can then create small, powerful and streaming Flash web advertisements for your laser show, instead of relying on Pangolins laser-to-movie option, which can get bulky. Also, Swift 3D is very cheap with products ranging from $129-$295 US.

Cons: The main draw back is that you won't get an immediate laser preview, you'll have to wait until it's been output to Flash and hten converted to laser (Swift 3D actually makes a very basic program which creates 3D objects out of 2D text and vector images, all inside of Flash). Also it's not as versitile as 3DStudio Max or Cinema 4D, but you really don't need anything too complex for lasers.

I thought that I would throw this idea out there if anyone was interested.
 
Hi Anticonner,

You are correct about your observations. I would throw in a few more cons as well:
* Any color information in the original scene is completely lost. You will have to manually re-colorize the laser result, or live with single color imagery
* For scenes with any kind of complexity at all, the output will not be optimal. It will likely have many small "runt" lines which change from frame to frame, and the laser beam path from frame to frame will also likely change -- both of which are disruptive to animations.
* The process is somewhat convoluted and will surely be somewhat time-consuming

Since our Lasershow Converter 4D plug-in is free for BASIC and PRO users, and since this was designed specifically to convert 3D Content directly into laser content, you will wind up with far superior results, in a far shorter time. Plus, the Lasershow Converter 4D plug-in even works with the demo version of Cinema 4D.

The Lasershow Converter 4D plug-in is good for sort of "novice to intermediate" users, but it lacks a lot of power that is in our Lasershow Converter MAX plug-in. For those interested in advanced 3D Graphics with fast rendering times and ultra-smooth animation results, we recommend our Lasershow Converter MAX product.

Best regards,

William Benner
 
You shouldn't lose any color info as Swift 3D renders as 2D vector frames for Flash with color intact, and then the LC-Flash should pick up that color info with no problems. Also, because you're using LC-Flash to convert these now 2D frames, you should get the same quality results as you would if your graphics were created in Flash itself. You're right about it being a bit more convoluted, I'm definitely not trying to say that this way is better than any other, I'm just trying to show some other options to get various laser effects.

Also, I don't believe that the Cinema 4D demo lets you save or export your animation. I've used the demo a little and haven't seen any way to do it, but please let me know if I am wrong.
 
Hi Anticonnor,

If you are talking about converting true flash output from Swift -- that is, solid looking objects, into laser, I am not so sure that this would work. I mean, theoretically from a distance, it might seem like it should work. But in practice, I am not sure that it will. I suspect that it will not actually...

Really from a program like Swift or Vecta 3D, you should use a line output, not a solid output. And these programs do not provide colored line output unfortunately...

Regarding Cinema 4D, the demo version does not allow you to save your scenes in Cinama format, but you can absolutely output to laser using our plug-in.

Bill
 
New info on version R11 (demo):
After the activation of this demoversion you can:

* Save and export your projects
* Create and save textures in 3D painting mode
* Save rendered images and animations
* Save compositing files (incl. Multi-Pass renderings)

This functionality is available for 42 days after activation. After this period the demo version can still be used but the features listed above will no longer work.
Click to expand...

http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/democ4d_e.php

If converter stores rendered frames directly to QM card memory (as max converter), it is easy to save them (even after demo period).
 
I'm still VERY new working with the LD2000 software suite, so I hope you don't mind my "noobie" question:

If frames from Cinema 4D are written directly to the QM2000, but the SAVE option is disabled in the Cinema 4D demo version, how DO you save the frames once they are written to the QM2000? Will the rendered frames show up automatically in the frame list of the LD2000 application?

Thanks!
 
I'm still VERY new working with the LD2000 software suite, so I hope you don't mind my "noobie" question:

If frames from Cinema 4D are written directly to the QM2000, but the SAVE option is disabled in the Cinema 4D demo version, how DO you save the frames once they are written to the QM2000? Will the rendered frames show up automatically in the frame list of the LD2000 application?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Never mind - I downloaded the demo & answered my own questions. :eek:
Yep, shows up right away as editable frames in LD2000.
Nice!
 
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