Taking 3D development to the next level

[omegaman]

The new Xara Xtreme Pro 4 is fantastic. Despite being an Xara user from way back I have not bothered to upgrade since the first Xtreme version. Being a graphic designer and working most of the time on Apple Mac I use Adobe products most of the time.

The new versions html abilities sold me on an upgrade and I can see Xara Extreme becoming my favourite graphics tool again. (Where's that Mac version of Xara Extreme!)

The 3D tool is great, but I would like to see this taken to the next level and turned into a basic (not bloated) 3D editing feature, providing different views for editing and mesh manipulation. That would be extremely beneficial in my business.

[behzad]

lets not get xara bloated, it was meant for vector graphics but soon it is starting to develop a bulge that is gowning in size.

[gwpriester]

The 3D tool is great, but I would like to see this taken to the next level and turned into a basic (not bloated) 3D editing feature, providing different views for editing and mesh manipulation. That would be extremely beneficial in my business.

I'll back that.

Welcome to the Xtreme Conference omegaman

[omegaman]

Thanks Gary.

I think its the next logical step and I know it can be done without the bloat, because that's what make Xara great!

[steve.ledger]

Whatever the future holds for XaraXtreme developement, I do hope for continued improvment to the installer.
Additions such as you suggest could be offered as install options - 'modules' if you will (and even some new & old features that already exist but which are not used by many), therefore any potential 'bloat' could be avoided by those 'module' choices the user makes.

[Xhris]

lets not get xara bloated, it was meant for vector graphics but soon it is starting to develop a bulge that is gowning in size.

It was actually designed to be the best graphics application available. Vector graphics are the superset of all graphics, including bitmap handling, hence why the vector approach is the main focus. But it is not the only focus, as we're now more clearly seeing. A more advanced 3D functionality would still come under the umbrella of "vector" graphics, and so couldn't really be defined as bloat (and I wouldn't be against it).

In fact "bloat" is another term that's frequently misunderstood or misused. People often claim something that is there but not used by them as 'bloat'. A less subjective and more objective description would be that bloat is something that is both less frequently used and implemented in a way that its presence diminishes work flow relative to before it was there, for example, by adding mountains of options and dialogues and new menu entries when something could be done much more efficiently. So bloat is really related to inefficiency.

[BobInce]

I'm not sure I can see how a fully-capable (even if 'basic') 3D modelling interface could be built into Xara. Making a usable modelling interface is *hard* even without the problem of integrating it with 2D vector editing stuff.

I'd strongly suggest looking at Sketchup if you haven't already: it's the only even halfway-usable modelling UI I've ever seen, and what's more you can now get it for free from Google. And exporting 2D vector models for further work in Xtreme is easy using PDF.

[behzad]

I just don't want to see xara become illustrator.
The architecture of illustrator and photoshop is very old. Indesign is fresh and new but what I was trying to say is that xara should not become like illustrator it should become better

I still disagree with having more 3d in xara, the 3d text is okay as is. There are ton of 3d programs that can do everything you ever want for incorporating into a 2d layout.

[MEB]

A more advanced 3D functionality would still come under the umbrella of "vector" graphics, and so couldn't really be defined as bloat (and I wouldn't be against it).

Sorry, i can´t agree with this statement. The way 3d is implemented in Xara Xtreme 4 is everything less vector. All the 3d effects are rendered bitmaps. You can´t convert the resulting 3d solids to 2d shapes either. You don´t have any way to control the geometry generated by the 3D engine except by changing some predefined values. Besides this, i can´t see how 3d functionality could be compared to vector except when creating the initial shapes/paths to be extruded/revolved whatever... (and most on the time 3d programs use b-splines to create them not bezier).
More advanced 3d features would mean something similar to the already mencioned Google Sketchup. It´s a "geometric" modeler in the sense it doesn´t allow to create organic shapes and relatively basic compared to a full featured 3d application like Cinema 4D or 3D Studio MAX.

I still disagree with having more 3d in xara, the 3d text is okay as is. There are ton of 3d programs that can do everything you ever want for incorporating into a 2d layout.

Agreed. Besides this Xtreme 4 already has expanded it´s ground a lot with the HTML export abilities, Bitmap handling, desktop publishing capabilities etc while the core vector tools remains the same...

[Odat]

About the only thing I'm personally missing out on in the 3D extrude area here is some sort of 3D transform manipulator like Blender has (and whatever apps the blender developers got the idea from). Being able to explicitly rotate an extrusion about any axis in a foolproof manner would be awesome. I find using the angle 1, 2 and 3 drop boxes and the slider to be.. not as good..

I'm not convinced that full 3D mesh editing is all that great an idea, personally. I fall into the "I already have an application that does that for me" camp. Bad things start happening when applications try to be all things to all people, what with people being different and all.