Welcome to HTML help for UtahSoft's Insta3D

Welcome to UtahSoft's Insta3D version 1.2, the excellent 3D scene maker that lets you create stunning web and business graphics with 3D text and 3D charts. Now, with a few mouse clicks, you can make distinguished 3D titles and 3D graphs for your documents, presentations, reports, videos, and web pages. Insta3D needs OpenGL graphics library, which is included with Windows NT, Windows 98 and later versions of Windows 95. This HTML help file will take you through important topics and menu explanations on how to use Insta3D.
 
 
 

Topics   Basic file operations in Insta3D   Adding text   Changing text with the edit box   Adding chart   Changing a chart with the edit box   Move, Scale and Rotate an object   Adding and changing model and panel   Changing image size and background   Controlling the camera   Working with the color palette   Adjusting lighting   Adjusting colored light and the spotlight   Changing chart  labels and values   Working with the transformation box   Creating images

Menu    File menu   Edit menu   View menu   Mode menu   Create menu   Environment menu   Help menu   Toolbar   Text edit box   Panel edit box   Chart edit box   Model selection box   Color palette   Color dialog   Transformation box

Tutorial   Tutorial  #1(Simple Pie Chart)        Index

Basic file operations in Insta3D

UtahSoft's Insta3D allows you to save current scene information into Insta3D's own APN file format. In addition, you can create an image file in popular image formats like BMP, JPG, GIF, TGA, and RGB. If you want to re-edit your work later, remember to save your work in an APN file with your File menu's Save or Save As commands. To create an image file from your scene, click the File menu and move the mouse cursor on the Create Image File, where you can choose an image file format you want to save into. According to the selected file format, an appropriate image save dialog box will be opened .

Insta3D contains a selection of 3D models that can be used as 3D model objects or a cut shape model for charts. In addition, it can import 3D format files like 3ds or obj. For importing non-resident 3D models and cut shape models of a chart, Insta3D offers the file open dialog box.  In the dialog box, you may move through folders and select a file. Then the selected 3D object is imported into the current drawing window or scene. Insta3D saves the file path information for the 3D model in it's APN file. So if the model is later removed from the path, the 3D model cannot be loaded.


 

Adding text

With Insta3D, you can create four types of 3D objects: text, charts, panels and models. Text is probably the most frequently used object to make a 3D scene with Insta3D. To add a text object into a scene, first click the Add text icon which is located on the Toolbar. By clicking the icon, a text input dialog box is opened and you can enter text and specify the font and size of the text. You may also italicize the text by clicking the check box on the input dialog box. To specify the font or size, just click the drop-down font list box or the drop-down size list box, respectively. Other ways to add text are by clicking the menu item: Create --> Text,  or by clicking the right mouse button on the scene and choosing the Add text command.

Any Windows True Type fonts including special character fonts can be used to create 3D text. Multi-byte fonts like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts are also supported.

After clicking the OK button on the text input dialog box, a 3D text  is displayed in the center of the scene. At the same time, the object edit box on the left side becomes active and shows object properties such as Spacing, Bevel, Ratio, Extrusion, Quality and Color. It also shows already defined properties such as the Font, Size and Italic check box.

Changing text with edit box

Once a text object is inserted into the scene, the edit box shows various properties of the text. In the Name field, you can name a text object and the name can be used to identify the object. Also, in the Input Text field, you can change the text that you have already put into a scene. When the text property is changed, the change is applied to the scene instantly. With this edit box, you can change the properties of text across various parameters such as size, font, ratio, etc.

1. Spacing controls the spaces between the letters of your text in the range of between -5 and 5.
2. Bevel makes the edges of your text look chiseled. Higher bevel width and height value makes a chiseled edge look wider.
3. Ratio value can make your text look wider or narrower. With a higher value, the text becomes wider. The value can be set between 30% and 200%.
4. Extrusion controls the depth(Z-value) of your text.
5. Color specifies the color of your text.

Adding a chart

Insta3D can create four kinds of chart: bar chart, pie chart, line chart and volume chart. A chart is composed of columns, values and labels. A column is a chart body. For example, in a bar chart, each bar is a column. Each column has a value and label. In general, a value is a decimal number or unit that shows the height of the column. And a label shows the name of the column.

To add a chart to a scene, click the Add chart icon which is located on the toolbar. To add a chart, you must pass through the selection and data input stages. By clicking the Add chart icon on the toolbar, the chart type selection dialog is displayed. After selecting a chart type, another dialog box is displayed. Here you can give a name to your chart and set the number of columns in a chart. Next comes the chart data input stage. The data input dialog box contains columns of input fields. The number of columns of the fields matches the number of columns set in the previous stage. Each column has a value, height and label fields. All the fields on the dialog box should be defined. To input data into the fields, move your cursor between the fields with the Tab key. Having completed the input, a 3D chart is created and displayed on the drawing window. A new chart is drawn with default colors.

After creation, the chart edit box on the left side shows the properties of the chart. Each type of chart has its own set of properties. Thus, the chart edit box automatically shows these properties according to the chart type. For example, Cut shape is a property that is reserved for bar charts and line charts while Clockwise direction is reserved for pie charts. A pie chart doesn't have Limit height and Spacing properties.

Changing a chart with the edit box

Once a chart object is inserted into a scene, the edit box shows the various properties of the chart. In the Name field, you can assign a name to a chart object and the name can be used to identify the object.

In the bar chart edit box...
1. Origin sets the center of a chart to either left, center or right options. When rotated or scaled, this becomes an anchor point.
2. Spacing adjusts the distance between two adjacent bars of a chart.
3. Scale height resizes the column height uniformly.
4. Color specifies the color of  bars. With this color button, you can assign a color to all the columns of a chart. If you want to assign a color to a single bar, double click the bar and click the color button on the chart data control dialog box that pops up. Then a color selection dialog box will appear.
5. Cut shape determines the shape of a bar. Clicking on cut shape lets you select a cut shape from the model list. With Cut shape scale, you can resize the width and depth of a bar. When you click the increase or the decrease button of the scale the resized bar shape is immediately reflected on the 3D chart.
6. Label text property sets the text properties of labels, including the color. If clicked, the label property dialog box will appear. To change a label text, double click the bar where the label belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
7. Value text property sets the text properties of values, including the color. If clicked, the value property dialog box will appear. To change a value text, double click the bar where the value belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
8. Limit height sets the minimum and maximum height of bars. If some of your chart data has oddly large or small height values, use this control to limit the height by setting the minimum and maximum height values and you can fit the entire chart within the drawing window.
9. Add column adds a new bar next to the last bar of a chart. A newly added bar has the same height and color as the last bar.
10. Direction  lets you select the direction and the order of bars displayed. In other words, bars can be lined up either from left to right, from right to left, from top to bottom, or from bottom to top.

In the line chart edit box...
1. Origin sets the center of a chart to either left, center or right options. When rotated or scaled, this becomes an anchor point.
2. Spacing adjusts the distance between two adjacent bars of a chart.
3. Scale height resizes height of a chart uniformly.
4. Line and joint forms the body of a line chart. A joint connects two lines. Just click the line shape selection box or the joint shape selection box to change the shape of a line chart. If you want to make lines thinner or thicker, set the line Scale width and Scale depth. To change the color of each line, just double click on the line that you want to change.
5. Joint scale makes the size of the joint larger or smaller.
6. Color specifies the color of  the line and the joint. There are separate color editing buttons for the line and the joint. If you want to assign a different color to a line, double click the line and click the color button on the chart data control dialog box that pops up. Then a color selection dialog box will appear. The same goes for joint color selection.
7. Label text property sets the text properties of labels, including the color. If clicked, the label property dialog box will appear. To change a label text, double click the bar where the label belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
8. Value text property sets the text property of values, including the color. If clicked, the value property dialog box will appear. To change a value text, double click the bar where the value belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
9. Limit height sets the minimum and maximum height of bars. If some of your chart data has oddly large or small height values, use this control to limit the height by setting the minimum and maximum height values and then you can fit the entire chart within the drawing window.
10. Add column adds a new line and joint pair next to the last joint of a chart. A newly added line and joint pair has the same height and color as the last line and joint pair of a chart.

In the volume chart edit box...
1. Origin sets the center of a chart to either left, center or right options.
2. Spacing adjusts the distance between two adjacent bars of a chart.
3. Scale height resizes the height of a chart uniformly.
4. Depth sets the depth of the volume.
5. Color specifies the color of a chart. If you want to assign a different color to a line, double click the line and click the color button on the chart data control dialog box that pops up. Then a color selection dialog box will appear.
6. Label text property sets the text properties of labels, including the color. If clicked, the label property dialog box will appear. To change a label text, double click the bar where the label belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
7. Value text property sets the text properties of values, including the color. If clicked, value property dialog box will appear. To change a value text, double click the bar where the value belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
8. Limit height sets the minimum and maximum height of bars. If some of your chart data has oddly large or small height values, use this control to limit the height by setting the minimum and maximum height values and then you can fit the entire chart within the drawing window.
9. Add column adds a new volume next to the last joint of a chart. A newly added line and joint pair has the same height and color as the last line and joint pair in the chart.

In the pie chart edit box...
1. Direction sets the winding direction of slices. Clockwise direction adds a slice in a clockwise direction and counterclockwise adds it in the opposite direction.
2. Outer Rad and Inner Rad control specifies the inner and outer diameter of the pie slice. Setting the inner diameter effectively makes a pie look more like a donut.
3. Depth sets the depth or height of a pie chart.
4. Bevel makes a chart edge chiseled.
5. Color specifies the color of a chart. But, in the case of a pie chart, slices are usually distinguished with different colors. So, to assign a color to an individual slice, double click a slice and then a chart data dialog box will appear so that you can set the color of each pie slice.
6. Label text property sets the text properties of labels, including the color. If clicked, the label property dialog box will appear. To change a label text, double click the bar where the label belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
7. Value text property sets the text property of values, including the color. If clicked, the value property dialog box will appear. To change a value text, double click the bar where the value belongs. Then a chart data dialog box will appear.
8. Add slice control inserts a new pie slice into a vacant area of the pie chart. A new pie slice has the same label, value and color as the last slice.

Move, Scale and Rotate an Object

When you make your 3D scene with Insta3D, probably the most frequently used controls may be the move, scale and rotate objects with axis selection icons.  Three-dimensional space is mathematically defined as a space with width( X-axis), height(Y-axis), and depth(Z-axis). In a 2-D graphics system, an object can only have a height and width value. But, in a 3D system, an object has the depth value and can be seen as a 3D object that has volume with this depth value. So, you can freely move, scale, and rotate any objects within the drawing window of Insta3D.

Move positions your object on the scene along the selected axis. If only the X-axis icon is selected, an object can be moved only to the left or right. When only the Y-axis is selected, an object is moved only in an up and down direction. The X-axis and Y-axis can be selected simultaneously, then you can move your object freely. The X, Y, and Z-axis cannot be selected together. In fact, the Z-axis can be selected only by itself. If the Z-axis is selected, an object can be moved closer or farther away. Try selecting an object by clicking on it and move the object with the left mouse button pressed.
Scale sets the dimension of an object. The dimension can be increased or decreased along a selected axis. Any single axis can be selected, or two or three axes can be selected simultaneously.
Rotate sets the orientation of an object. The control causes an object to revolve around a selected axis. The X and Y axis can be selected simultaneously. But the X, Y, and Z-axis cannot be selected together. The Z-axis can be selected only by itself.
When in move mode, pressing the Shift-key while moving the mouse lets you scale an object. Likewise,  pressing the Ctrl-key lets you rotate an object.

Adding and changing a model and a panel

Insta3D contains a selection of 3D models such as solid arrows and stars which make your creative work easier. To add these models into the scene, just click the Add model icon on the toolbar. From the model selection dialog box, you can select the one you desire. Or you can import other 3D models in 3ds or obj file format. To import 3D models, just click File open icon on the bottom of the dialog box. Once a model is added into the scene, you can move, scale, and rotate it. Also you can assign a color to the object.

Panel is a box shaped object. It can be used as a board positioned behind a text or chart object. Panel object has the simple edit box that has Taper, Dimension and Color controls. Taper makes the side of box tapered. In addition, you may change the dimension of a panel. To have uniform taper on all four sides, you should use dimension control to change the size rather than using scale.


 

Changing image size and background

To change the dimension of an image, just drag the border of the drawing window with your mouse. If you want to set the dimension accurately, open the image size dialog and enter the height and width in pixels. To open the image size dialog box, click the Environment menu --> Image size command.

To change the background color of your work, click the Environment menu --> Background color command to open the color dialog box. You can select a color from a color picker.


 

Controlling the camera

The window located on the left side with Object, Light and Camera tabs is the edit box. By clicking the camera tab, you can edit the camera properties. Camera means "your viewpoint". You can look at the side or back of your object by changing the camera position. There is a camera direction controller at the bottom of the camera edit box. A little red cone indicates the direction of your view. Selection of Orthographic sets the orthographic projection. In the orthographic projection, the distance from the camera doesn't affect how large an object appears. Width value means the range of your sight. Larger value covers a larger area. So, you sense objects becoming smaller. Selection of Perspective sets a perspective projection. In a perspective projection, the farther an object is from the camera, the smaller it appears in the final image. FOV means field of view. Larger value makes the view angle larger and you can see a wider area. Distance specifies the distance between your viewpoint and an object. A larger distance value makes your object look smaller.

Working with the color palette

The color buttons on every edit box opens Insta3D's color palette. With the color palette, you can change the color of the object and also the color of  the light. Colored spheres are arranged in rows and columns on the color palette. The spheres represent colors you can select to apply to an object. Select a color by clicking the sphere, and click the OK button or double click the sphere, then the selected color is applied to the currently selected object. You may add a new color or modify an existing color in two ways: simple and detailed. A simple color dialog box shows a rectangular color picker where a gradually changing color spectrum is displayed. You can select a color from the color picker or enter Red, Green, Blue values with the transparency value. A detailed color dialog box lets you edit several color components. In the detailed color dialog box, Amb means ambient color. It is a non-directional surrounding color. Diff is a diffuse highlight color. The highlight is the result when a light source interacts with a non-reflective surface. Spec is a spectacular highlight color. This is the result of light reflecting from a shiny surface. Shininess controls the size and brightness of the highlight. The higher the value, the smaller and brighter the highlight. Transp is a control to make an object transparent. If you want to fine tune your color, after selecting either the simple or the detailed edit radio button, click the modify button. Then a corresponding color dialog box will be opened, where you can edit your color. After editing the color, click the OK button and then selected the sphere that will take the modified color. Adding a new color sphere on the color palette can be done similarly. The newly added color sphere is located on the first position of the color palette.

Adjusting lighting

In Insta3D, you can adjust the number and the position of lights that cast light onto objects. Directional light means that it comes from an infinitely far away location from the scene. The real world example is the sun. When the directional light radio button is selected, the distance control bar is disabled. Positional light has a position within the scene. A desk lamp is a positional light. The Insta3D light edit box has a lighted sphere window which shows the light effect, and on the left side of the window there are four light On/Off buttons. The four lights can be switched on or off one by one with a mouse click. Each light source is indicated with a tiny red or green cone on the lit sphere window. You can change the light direction by rotating the red cone around the sphere. The light editing occurs immediately on the scene. By adjusting lights, you can make your scene better defined and attractive.

Adjusting colored light and spotlight

Insta3D supports colored lighting. To set a color to a light, click the color button to open the color palette. Setting colored light is similar to setting a color to an object with color palette as described above. You can illuminate different parts of an object with different colors by positioning several colored lights around the object.

You can make a positional light act as a spotlight by restricting the shape of the light it emits to a cone. To create a spotlight, the spread of the cone of light should be specified.
You can change the spread of the cone with Cutoff Angle. You also need to specify a spotlight's direction, which determines the axis of the cone of light. Exponent controls how concentrated the light is. The light's intensity is highest in the center of the cone and attenuated toward the edges of the cone. The higher spot exponent results in a more focused light.

Changing chart labels and values

In Insta3D, a chart is composed of columns, which can be, for example, bars or slices. Each column has a corresponding label and value. To change these labels and values, click the text property control button of the label and value in the chart edit boxes. After clicking the label button, the label string property dialog appears. If the Show check box is not checked, the label data is hidden on the scene. Other parts of the label string property dialog box is similar to those of the text object edit box. Similarly, clicking the value button opens the value string property dialog box. Another way to open a label or value property dialog box is to press the right mouse button and choose the command.

Working with transformation box

Transformation is the change made in an object's scale, position or orientation. The transformation box shows the values of scale, position and rotation of an object. With the transformation box, you can enter the exact transformation value you desire. To open the transformation box, click the View menu --> Transformation command.

Creating images

You may create an image from the scene you made. After creating an image, you can use the image in web page authoring tools, word processors, presentation software, and other image editors. Insta3D supports five image file formats: TGA, JPG, GIF, BMP, and RGB. To create an image, click File menu --> Create image, and select the image file format you want to save in.

In TGA file format, you can save an image with the transparent background option. With the transparent background option, the background portion of the image becomes transparent by setting the alpha channel with a transparent value.

BMP image file format was developed by Microsoft and is the native graphics format for Windows users. BMP tends to store graphical data inefficiently, so the files it creates are larger than they need to be. If you use the image as windows wallpaper, create and use BMP image format.

JPG and GIF are the popular image formats for web graphics. Both the GIF and JPG image format are very compact. GIF images are limited to 256 colors, but  JPG images can contain up to 16 million colors. While the GIF format is good for images like illustrations, the JPG format is suitable for images like photos. You can also save in GIF format with the transparent background option.

File menu

The File menu contains commands for starting or finishing your work with Insta3D. You can  make a new file, open an existing file, save your work and create images in JPG, GIF, TGA, BMP, and RIB format.

See also  Basic file operation in Insta3D  Creating images

Edit menu

The Edit menu contains commands for handling your work. A 3D object can be copied and pasted. It also offers commands for recovering from mistakes. You may undo or redo up to 10 steps of changes. In addition, with the right mouse button pressed on any part of the work area, you can open a menu, and can select the Delete, Cut, Copy and Paste commands.

View menu

The View menu contains commands for showing and hiding the toolbar, status bar, edit box and transformation box.

See also Working with transformation box

Mode menu

The Mode menu contains commands for transformation of your 3D object. Transformation includes moving, rotating and scaling an object. Transformation is controlled by  X, Y, and  Z-axis restriction. For example, if the X-axis was selected for rotation, an object would be rotated around the X-axis. If theY-axis was selected for moving, an object would be moved up and down. The X-axis and Y-axis can be simultaneously selected for moving and rotation, and all three axes can be selected for scaling.  For transformation of an object, select a transformation mode and an axis, select an object and then move the mouse on any part of a drawing window as the left mouse button is pressed down.

See also Move, Scale, and Rotate an object

Create menu

The Create menu contains commands for creating your new 3D objects with Insta3D. You can create a fantastic 3D text, chart, panel or use an existing 3D model. Add icons on the toolbar does the same functions as the commands in the Create menu.

See also Adding text Adding chart

Environment menu

The Environment menu contains commands for adjusting the quality and size of an image and the background color. Image quality can be set to either low, medium or high. The medium and high settings make an image look smoother by using the anti-aliasing technique, but it takes longer to draw. When an image is created as an image file, the anti-aliasing is done automatically and thus you do not have to explicitly set the quality to high. In addition, you may change the size of an image and set the background color with a color selected from the color selection dialog box.

See also Changing image size and background

Help menu

The Help menu shows online help and information for Insta3D.

Toolbar

The Toolbar contains icons for file open, file save, edit, undo and redo. It also contains an Object list box and Add icons for new text, panel, model, and chart. You can select an object using the object list box.  The Toolbar also offers 3D object Transformation icons and Axis restriction icons.These icons are the most frequently used tool when using Insta3D. When your mouse cursor is placed on an icon, it shows a little command tip besides the cursor. For more details about each item, refer to each corresponding menu item.

Text edit box

You can edit your 3D text with the text edit box. When you select a 3D text in your window, a text edit box appears and shows the properties of the text. You can adjust the Font, Size, and Spacing of each letter like any other 2D text maker. You can give a 3D look to your text with beveling and extrusion. For beveling, as the width value is increased, the beveled edge is increased along the X-axis. The increase in height value makes the beveled edge increase along the Z-axis. Extrusion is the depth of the 3D text.

See also Changing text with edit box

Panel edit box

The panel edit box appears when a 3D panel is selected on the scene.You can change the dimension of the panel with X, Y, Z values and adjust the Taper value of your panel.

See also    Adding and changing model and panel

Chart edit box

The chart control panel appears when a chart is selected in your window. You may edit the properties of a chart including the name of the chart, text properties of the label and the value.

See also Changing chart with edit box

Model selection box

To add a model, select a model from the list and press the OK button on the model selection box.

See also    Adding and changing model and panel

Color Palette

The color palette appears when you click the color button on a 3D object edit box. It consists of  an array of color spheres and an edit material section. Each color sphere accurately shows the material quality of a color. The edit material section is for creating your own color palette box by adding, modifying and deleting a color.

Color Dialog

The color dialog box appears when you click the Add or Modify button on the color palette box. You can choose Simple or Detailed before adding or modifying a color.

Transformation Box

You can display the transformation box from view menu. The transformation box allows you to accurately tune the position and scale of  your selected 3D object.

Tutorial  #1  Making a simple pie chart

Let's make a sample 3D chart. To create a new title:
1. Click File menu --> New,
2. Click Add text icon. Then input the title text "Market share of mobile phone" in the input field. Set the Font and Size
3. Open the color dialog box and set the text object color to shiny yellow.
4. Set the Bevel width to 1 and the Bevel height  to 1, to make the text edge look smoother
5. Set the Extrusion value to 20, to give depth.
6. Click the X-axis, and the Y-axis icons and move the text to the upper area of the scene.
 
 

7. Click the Add chart icon and select pie chart. Then, set the number of columns to 5.
8. In the next dialog box, input the data as below and click OK.



9. Click the Scale icon and select all the X,Y, and Z-axes.
10. With the left mouse button pressed, drag the pie chart to scale it larger
11. Click the Label property button. Set the label size to 20 point to make it smaller, and set the label color to white.
12. Click the Value property button. Set the value size to 20 point to make it smaller, and set the value color to yellow.
13. Double click each pie slice and assign different colors.

 

14. Set the chart Bevel to 2 to make a beveled edge.
15. Click Rotate icon and select both the X-axis and Y-axis.
16. With the left mouse button pressed, move the mouse to the right to rotate the chart a little. This will give your pie chart more of a 3D look.
17. Input additional text information for the chart.
18. Click File --> Save, to save the scene into an apn format file and edit the scene later.
19. Click File --> Create Image --> GIF or JPG, to create an image file.
20. Congratulations!  Now, you have created your first 3D chart with Insta3D.

 
 

Index

A:    Adding chart / Adding color / Adding text /  Anti-aliasing / APN / Axis
B:    Background color  / Bar chart / Bevel / BMP /
C:    Camera / Chart / Changing Color / Color dialog / Color palette / Colored light / Column / Cone / Copy / Create image / Cut / Cutoff angle / Cut shape
D:    Delete / Depth / Detailed color dialog / Dimension / Direction / Directional light / Distance / Drawing window
E:     Edit box / Environment / Exponent / Extrusion
F:     File formats / Font / FOV
G:    GIF
H:    Height / Help
I:     Image file / Image size / Italic
J:     JPG
K:
L:    Label/ Lighting / Limit height / Line chart
M:   Mode/ Model / Modifying color / Move
N:    Name
O:   Object / Origin / Orthographic
P:    Panel / Paste / Perspective / Picture quality / Pie chart / Positional light
Q:   Quality
R:    Ratio / RGB / Rotate
S:    Save / Scale / Scale depth / Scale height / Scale width / Size / Spacing / Spotlight / Status bar
T:    Taper / Text / TGA / Toolbar / Transformation / Transparent option
U:
V:    Value / Volume chart
W:
X:    X-axis
Y:    Y-axis
Z:    Z-axis