Discreet Plasma 1.0

Discreet has finally released the much-awaited 3D content creation solution for the Web. You can actually call it a scaled down version of their most popular 3D software, 3D Studio MAX, since it uses the same kind of modeling techniques. But actually the two are not comparable as they’re targeted at different sets of users. While 3DS Max is for production purposes, Plasma is solely aimed at bringing 3D to the Web using plug-ins like Shockwave and Flash.

It is a boon for designers wanting to extend capabilities of Macromedia Flash and Director by incorporating 3D. For Flash, this software offers a full-featured SWF renderer. It goes a step further for Director by bundling the Havok dynamics plug-in for Plasma and the Havok Xtra for Director. The former allows you to export Plasma-created 3D files to Director, and the latter allows you to add interactivity to it through Director.

Plasma’s user interface will be a pleasing experience for both experienced 3D Studio Max and Macromedia products users alike. Its interface is not as intimidating as 3DSMax, but instead uses a Photoshop/Flash like toolbar on the left and the panel-set on the right. The four viewports are almost the same as 3D Studio Max and are equally easy to use.

Export to Flash

The Flash renderer in Plasma gives four kinds of rendering options: Cartoon, Gradient, Flat and Wireframe shading. The Cartoon Shader gives the maximum number of options including smoothed shading or various levels of faceted shading. Gradient shading lets you choose between radial shading and linear shading. Some models give a better result with radial shading while others are better off with linear shading. What it lacks is simultaneous use of both linear and radial shaders. A dynamic selection tool should also have been available to select which shader (linear/radial) to be used. Flat shading just uses a single color to fill the surfaces and does not produce any special effects. Finally the Wireframe shader renders the scene with no fills, and could do with some improvement. By far, this software provides a hamper of export options for Flash, which can
help optimize and use the models in your Flash movies.

Plasma exports 3D and dynamics to Director using the Havok plug-in

Export to Director

As for support for Director, Plasma comes with built in Director 3D scene exporter, that is, W3D export which is accompanied by the Havok dynamics exporter for director (.HKE). These functions were earlier performed using either 3DS Max or Maya. This can serve as a budget alternative for the same. Plasma also ships with an extra for Director, which helps import and manipulate 3D objects in the scene. Director users may not spend a bomb now buying Max/Maya for their limited 3D usage.

Discreet may not want to link this software with 3DSMax but to us it seems like a great tool for beginners who are just stepping into 3D since graduating from this to 3DSMax would be a breeze. The things that disturb you regarding this software are the extensibility options and the limited rendering options (only Web formats). There’s no way to scale the package since there’s no support for third party plug-ins (which was a reason for 3DSMax’s popularity). Since there is no other serious competition for it in the market (except Swift 3D version 3, but it does not stand a chance here), Discreet can get away with providing no scalability.

The Bottom Line All said and done, this software is worth the price demanded.

Geetaj Channana