User manual ULEAD COOL 3D

[. . . ] April 2003 First English edition for Ulead COOL 3D Production Studio, April 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or storing in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form without the express written permission of Ulead Systems, Inc. Software License The software described in this document is furnished under a License Agreement which is included with the product. This Agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product. [. . . ] 8 Adjust the distance between the light source and the object in Light range. For Spot mode, you can adjust the angle of light by specifying a value in Spotlight angle. The general light that surrounds the object or ambient light can also be adjusted in COOL 3D. Ambient light is a result of illumination coming from direct sources and those reflected on the surface of other objects. Adjust Brightness, Saturation, and Hue by dragging their sliders. 41 Animation basics After familiarizing yourself with three-dimensional space, you're ready to start making fun animations. While there are many factors you have to take into consideration when creating an animated project, it's definitely worth taking the time to learn some basic ideas. From there, it will be easy for you to advance to creating stunning and complex animation sequences. The Animation Toolbar and its enhanced Timeline provide highly versatile functions for animating your objects. Brief descriptions of the Animation Toolbar functions are listed below. View: Timeline Object List Properties Menu Timeline Control Add/Delete Key Frame Reverse Smooth Motion Path Plug-in Mask Plug-in Enable Current Frame Number of Frame Rate Frames · View: Timeline Toggles between displaying and hiding the Timeline Window in the workspace. · Object List Allows you to select an active object that you can modify from the list box. The first on the list is always labeled as Group which merges all the objects and subgroups you've added as a single object. Only when you split the text will the characters be displayed separately, allowing you to work on the objects individually. · Properties Menu Lists all of the basic properties of the 3D object. If you have applied a plug-in effect to the object, this will be listed as well. The Timeline Control, just to the right of it, shows the timeline and key frames that are related to the property that you have selected from the list. · Timeline Control Allows you to choreograph your animation with key frames. The top line represents the frame-by-frame position, while the bottom line displays key frames. Key frames are those frames in which you specify an attribute or behavior of an object. For plug-in effect timelines, an additional Control Line (in red) appears between these two lines when you enable Plug-in Mask. · Add/Delete Key Frame Lets you add or remove a key frame from the Timeline Control. Each time you add a key frame, you can change the attributes or behavior of an object. When you remove a key frame, all attributes associated with that key frame are also removed. 42 User Guide · · · · · · · Reverse Allows you to reverse the sequence of key frames on the Timeline Control, so that the animation starts with the last frame and ends with the first. Smooth Motion Path Plays the animation smoothly, where the transition from one frame to the next becomes less noticeable. [. . . ] One minor disadvantage of the JPEG format is that some data are lost when compressing the file. In most cases, the changes are barely noticeable to the naked eye and you can control how much is actually changed. Creating animation for the Web Ulead COOL 3D lets you output your animated projects in formats appropriate for viewing on Web pages: GIF, SWF, and RealText 3D. If used wisely, these can be a good way to attract the attention of Internet surfers or simply to enliven your Web pages. GIF animation Many animations that you see on the Web are animated GIFs. Ulead COOL 3D provides you with extra controls to create a GIF animation that suits your needs. [. . . ]