Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved.
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functions drop down menu is where the deformations and attributes
such as texture and color are applied to an image. The previously
discussed attributes dialog box can be accessed from this menu. This
is where colors, textures, lighting, reflectivity, fog, roughness,
brightness, refraction indexes for glass, air, water and plastic are
set. A preview of the effect is available in the upper right window.
The object can be previewed from any direction based on the settings
in the lower right side. The attributes created can be saved by
clicking on the save button in the attributes dialog box. Saved
attributes can be loaded and applied to other images. The attribute
dialog box also has a Phong shaded radio box. The faceted image above
left shows the result when the Phong radio box is deselected. The
next image shows the result when it is selected. The attributes
dialog box also has a bounding box choice. This will cause the image
that is being worked on to change from what it really is into a box.
The perspective view remains the same. 
Transparency of an object is controlled with the filter color setting
in the attributes dialog box. Black is opaque and white is completely
transparent. Various shades of other colors may also be used for a
variety of color effects. Fortunately Imagine has the option of
adding a background while within the attributes editor so the user
may better gauge the degree of transparency. Although I didn't see it
mentioned in the manual until later, I discovered that it is
important to have the shininess slider set to zero or else no
transparency at all can be achieved. The adjacent image, above left,
shows a couple of transparent spheres with a cone and tube
primitives. The background was created with KPT 3 and added in the
quick render settings global area. There is also an index of
refraction that can make transparent/translucent images have a
refraction characteristic. Glass, water, plastic and air are preset.
The manual states that the reflectivity color setting of white can
make an object completely mirror like. I had some problems with this.
I read and reread the manual. Then I watched the gold tutorial on the
CD-ROM. I guess what I didn't realize was the importance of a global
brush file and a ground plane. The adjacent image, above right, shows
a chrome sphere with an image that was created with the KPT 3 image
as a global brush which is set in the globals area of the rendering
dialog box. 
I applied a checkerboard texture to the ground plane. I still have a problem that I do not fully comprehend however. Check out the next image, above left. I removed the global brush and added a procedural sphere with a marble texture and the previously used red cylinder. Do you see any reflection of the sphere and cylinder? I don't and I had a problem with that. Further research revealed that the objects must be raytraced to show reflections. For the next image I added reflectivity to the ground plane.
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manual continues with a discussion of the fog settings available via
the attributes menu. Radial, axial and planar fog is available as are
a variety of settings which the manual briefly discusses. Next lights
are discussed. Imagine has many controls for lighting. All sorts of
shapes, falloffs, intensities, colors, etc. are user controlled. The
maps section is where much of the fun with Imagine is at. 
Here the user can load any of the maps that ship with Imagine and modify them if desired. The mapping process is complex and many factors affect the result. By the way, maps includes textures and brushes.
Adding brushes can get interesting as well. Brushes are 2D images the
user may create. Textures are 3D in nature. Imagine ships with 108
textures. They are all described via an HTML file that is found on
the CD-ROM. Brushes would need to be modified in an external graphics
application. Maps may be modified within Imagine by the user. I
created a disk primitive, made the base color red then applied the
bricks texture. Then I clicked on the properties tab which is where
texture editing occurs. The info tab provides a description of what
is possible. 
As can be seen from the adjacent image, Imagine allows all the
parameters of the bricks to be adjusted. The first bricked disk is
with the default values. 
The second bricked disk is with the mortar color changed, the bricks
are made longer and the brick overlap adjusted. After the user is
happy with the modification, the texture may be saved. 
It
is not, however, saved as an .itx texture file but as a regular .iob
object file instead. 
Then
when another primitive is created or something is imported the user
just clicks on the load button and selects the appropriate .iob file.
The adjacent image shows a cube that was textured with the modified
brick texture. Of course this modified brick texture may also be
modified and saved under yet a different .iob file name. 
Imagine
also allows the user to edit the texture's label. Imagine also has 6
light textures such as venetian blinds, French windows, etc. The
item's position on the map list affects the item's impact. An item at
the top of the list may over ride the maps below it. Maps may be
easily moved up and down on the list with the move up/move down
buttons. Some textures such as fire and electric have characteristics
that may be animated. The adjacent animated .gif files are from the
CD-ROM and are samples of the fire and electric textures. The info
tab for the properties sections provides details.
All pages copyright © Roger A. Moncrief, Indepth Reviews, 1996, 1997
Thanks to Judy Gefter, !LuM! and Charles Blaquiere for their advice and counsel, some I heeded and some I didn't.