Commentary: In preparation for this demo, you must first install LogoMotion onto your hard drive. This is done by simply double-clicking the LogoMotion "Install" icon found on this CD. When asked where you would like to install the application, select a location that can later be found easily. Once completed, place the Specular folder in the Preferences folder located within the System Folder.
Action: Launch LogoMotion.
Commentary: Specular LogoMotion 1.5 is a 3D flying logo tool that turns one’s computer screen into a synthetic, three-dimensional world. This world has real properties - height, width, depth, and (in the sense of animation) time. Constructed specifically with the user in mind, LogoMotion is so intuitive that one can make a 3D flying logo literally within minutes of opening the box!
Action: Point out the different elements on the screen.
Commentary: When LogoMotion starts up, three elements appear: 1) The Camera Window, the user’s view into the 3D world; 2) The Sequencer, which enables one to plot animations over time by using an event-based system; 3) The Tool Palette, allowing one to create and manipulate objects.
Action: With the text tool (icon is a “T” on the Tool Palette) selected, click on the Camera Window. In the dialog box, type in a person’s first name or company name. Choose a font.
Commentary: LogoMotion takes 2D text and easily transforms it into a three-dimensional object. When picking a font, one can choose any Truetype or Type 1 Postscript font on the machine.
Action: Turn the Shading from "Wireframe" to "Shade Fast" in the Camera Window.
Commentary: To see a shaded version of the text, all one has to do is change the shading mode in the Camera Window from “Wireframe” to “Shade Fast.” Just like that, your text will appear in chrome!
Action: Do a sample object movement. This is done by first choosing the top movement tool on the Tool Palette and then dragging on the object in the Camera Window.
Commentary: With the manipulation tools (the top seven icons on the Tool Palette), one can easily control an object in LogoMotion. And if one desires precision, there is an Object Floater (located under the Windows Menu), where one can numerically enter the exact data needed.
Action: Change the text's surface using the Surface Floater (located under the Windows Menu). Note: the text object must be selected in order for its surface to be changed.
Commentary: Suppose we don’t want to have our text in chrome, but instead prefer a different surface. Using the Surface Floater, we can simply select from various built-in surfaces. LogoMotion 1.5 ships with a library of 20 different surfaces ranging from a variety of plastics, metals, and glow surfaces. One can also create additional libraries.
Action: Add a bevel to text by selecting "Bevel" under the Model Menu. In the dialog box, change type from "none" to "straight."
Commentary: For extra effect, a bevel can be added to the text. Bevels are curves or angles to the edges of objects that catch and reflect light. Bevels give a feeling of elegance or distinction.
Action: Show the StageHands pull-down menu.
Commentary: StageHands are Specular’s new “point-and-click” 3D animation technology. StageHands allow the user to quickly select elements from a collection of pre-animated objects, light positions, backdrop images, and camera moves. LogoMotion 1.5 ships with over 100 different built-in StageHands!
Action: Select "Cameras" from the StageHands menu. Show the previews and choose “Pan Right with Prestige.”
Commentary: If one wants to create motion, all that has to be done is select "Cameras." This will show a variety of different built-in camera moves (in the shipping version, there are over 30 different camera moves, including: slow zoom left, window wipe, pan around, and pan back to front). With the real time previews, one can see ahead of time exactly what is being selected.
Action: Press the "Preview" button on the Sequencer (icon is a clap board).
Commentary: After a camera is selected, LogoMotion will add it to the Sequencer. By pressing the "Preview" button on the Sequencer, the user can see a real time bounding box animation. This way the user can get a sense of the motion before committing to rendering out the final animation.
Action: Select "Props" from the StageHands menu and choose “Whizzing Comets.” Press Preview on the Sequencer.
Commentary: Props are pre-animated 3D objects that can be added to enhance a scene. The shipping version includes over thirty different props, such as spinning dollar signs, rotating pastel gears, flipping squares, shooters, and gliding lines. Once added, the animation can once again be viewed by pressing preview on the Sequencer. One nice thing about all the StageHands is that they can be edited. One can customize the shape of the objects (using the modeling tools on the Tool Palette), edit their motion paths, and change the length of the animations.
Action: Select "Backdrops" from the StageHands menu and choose “Ocean Night Scene.”
Commentary: Just as in a movie or a play, Backdrops provide a background that sits in the back of a 3D production. Shipping Backdrops include: CloudScape, Runway, Canyon Scene, Brickwall, and Wall of Squares. Plus, one can create one's own series of backdrops, by using any PICT file or QuickTime movie.
Action: Press the "Make Movie" button on the Sequencer (icon looks like a film strip). Show off options.
Commentary: Once one is finished setting up a scene, an animation can be create by pressing the Make Movie button on the Sequencer. In the dialog box that appears, one can set such options as the shading quality, dimensions of the screen, color bit depth, automatic Alpha Channel creation (a mask), and even frames-per-second rate. The animation (or still images) can be rendered out as either a PICT, TIFF, PICS, or QuickTime movie. These forms of output are perfect for use with programs like Adobe Premiere, Avid VideoShop, Macromedia Director, Vividus Cinemation, Adobe Photoshop, CoSA Aftereffects, and others. Plus, LogoMotion files can be imported into Infini-D (Specular’s broadcast-quality animation package) to take advantage of Infini-D’s high-end features like ray-tracing and texture mapping.
Action: Select "Cancel" instead of "Render" in the "Make Movie" dialog box.
Commentary: The amount of time it will take to render this movie will depend on the type of machine that is being used. For example, on a Power Macintosh it is possible to render this animation in around two to three minutes at 10 frames per second and "shade fast" rendering quality. On other machines, rendering will take a little more time. This is a type of situation where one could go out for coffee or even let the machine render over night on a complex animations. For this demo, it is best to skip the actual rendering and jump into showing movies which have already been made.
Action: Quit out of LogoMotion and open the folder "LogoMotion Sample Movies." Show off a few of the QuickTime movies by using Peter's Player (a QuickTime movie player that ships with LogoMotion).
Commentary: All of these movies were completely modeled, animated, and rendered using LogoMotion. They can not be viewed within LogoMotion, but instead the movies can be seen using Peter’s Player (a QuickTime movie playing application). These movies are now ready for use in business presentations, desktop video productions, multimedia projects, or just for fun.
Other features in Specular LogoMotion 1.5 to note:
• Accelerated for the Power Macintosh
• Fast 3D rendering
• Powerful 3D animation using an Infini-D™-style Sequencer
• Anti-aliasing and automatic Alpha Channels
• System 7 subscribe
• EPS/DXF import
• Beveled text with any Type 1 Postscript and Truetype fonts
