You say you'd like to play around with 3D computer graphics? You wish you could draw in 3D, but you don't know an orthographic projection from orthopedic shoes? You think it would be cool to create realistic images with shadows, highlights, reflections, refractions, the works - but you don't want to shell out hundreds of bucks for those commercial modeling/rendering programs? In that case, Welcome to RenderBoy!
In techno-babble, RenderBoy is an integrated, parametric, 3D, object based modeler and photo-realistic ray-tracing renderer. Yeah, whatever - it's a lot of fun! Plus it's easy to use and doesn't cost much. Let's start with an example. Here's a sample image which is very easy to create with RenderBoy:
 
If you and your Mac would like to create graphics like this, read on. Here is how you do it:
STEP 1: You start by creating the geometry of your design. RenderBoy provides a variety of basic shapes, plus simple point-and-click tools and dialogs to make this step as easy as possible. For example, you can easily create the plate of objects shown below in just a couple of minutes.
 
STEP 2: Next, add a light source or two to brighten things up a bit. RenderBoy automatically figures out where the shadows (cast from the lights) will fall:
 
STEP 3: Next, specify some surface properties. Surfaces can be as dull or shiny as you like. On smooth shiny surfaces, RenderBoy automically figures out where the shiny spots are:
 
STEP 4: Objects in your design can be reflective too, like a waxed or mirrored surface. Look what happens when we polish up the plate....now we can see the reflection of each object:
 
STEP 5: Objects can also be made clear like glass or crystal. Light will refract (bend) right through them. Notice the light blue ring on the left is now made of glass. Pretty things up by applying textures to a few of the objects, and we have the finished result:
 
I hope you've enjoyed this quick introduction to RenderBoy...but what you've seen is just the beginning of what you can do. In addition to shading, shadows, illumination, glinty spots, textures, reflections, and refractions, RenderBoy can also create scenes with fog or radiant light affects. Again, all of this is 100% automatic and imaged by RenderBoy. Simple animations are also easy to make. On behalf of Vista Systems, I hope you enjoy your exploration of RenderBoy.
Rendering Your First Image
Now lets see how easy it can be to render an image! Launch RenderBoy by double-clicking its application icon in the finder. As RenderBoy starts, a new untitled design document will be created automatically. You can create an object to render by selecting a "New Positive Object" from the "Design" menu. For now, avoid the "New Negative Object" sub-menu. To keep things simple, just choose to create a sphere for now. To create your first image, just choose "Render Image" from the "Render" menu. RenderBoy will hide all of its windows and begin working. Within a few seconds (if you followed these instructions), RenderBoy will have completed your first rendered image! True, it's not as fancy as the ones above, but it can be! Just read on...
Where To Go From Here
The next eleven chapters in this document act as a training manual. They present the functionality of RenderBoy in a logical order, with references forward and backward as needed. If you have never used a three dimensional modeling or rendering application, you will probably want to read them. When appropriate, the ends of these chapters contain some recommended exercises. As you read them, feel free to experiment and have fun. The remaining chapters were designed to be used as a reference.
If you already have a pretty good idea of what RenderBoy is all about, you can probably just experiment, referencing this document as needed. However, this manual does contain dozens of tip, hints, and shortcuts which will make you more productive.
There are several demonstration design documents included with RenderBoy. These were selected to demonstrate the versatility and capability of RenderBoy. Each design includes a "Read me" document (in "Simple Text" format) which explains the purpose of the design and how they were created. Hopefully, they will provide some inspiration.
Some Words About RenderBoy, Shareware, and the Mac
RenderBoy is shareware. Being shareware, it is not free. If you continue to use RenderBoy, please support the Macintosh platform and the shareware concept by paying the one-time $25 registration fee. This entitles you to use all future versions. I want to continue improving RenderBoy, but I need your support. Thanks in advance.
To register, just run the "Register" program included with RenderBoy and follow the instructions. I use the Kagi Shareware registration service to handle registration. Kagi supports many different forms of payment, and it only takes a few minutes. Please read the "Register Info" document in the application folder for more info.
