Render-Boy User Interface

The Render-Boy User Interface

With Render-Boy, creating great looking images is a simple and fun process. You'll be amazed at what you can do. As an example, I'll show you how easy it is to create this chess image. The five steps below explain how I did it. Each step links to a Mac screen shot picture which shows some of the features and interface of Render-Boy. Here we go...

STEP ONE - Create basic geometry.

You first create the geometry of your design by combining simple 3D solid shapes (blocks, cones, tubes, etc) as shown in this screen shot of a chess piece design. You can control each object's color, dimensions, location, orientation, surface properties, etc. This is all done interactively, using simple dialogs or graphical tools such as translate, rotate, scale, and mirror. Version 2.0 introduced an icon palette for frequently used menu functions. Just point and click! And you can immediately check the appearance of your geometry by shading any portion of it in the eye view, as shown.

Here we created a rook. I used a similar technique to also create some other chess pieces. Once you have your basic geometries you can save them for later "import" into a larger more sophisticated design. That is what we will do in step two.

STEP TWO - Create a completed design.

You create your completed design using these same methods, or by "importing" geometries already created. In this screen shot of a chess game, the three chess pieces (pawn, rook, bishop) were created as separate designs (as in STEP ONE), then imported into the "Chess Game" design. Several pre-created geometries (like these chess pieces) are included with Render-Boy! A chess board (large flat block object) underneath the chess pieces completes the design. Simple!

With your design complete, you next define the "eye view". The eye view shows the view of your design which will be rendered or shaded. Since Render-Boy understands the 3D solid geometry of your design, you can view it from any angle or location. A simple "Eye View Settings" dialog gives you complete control over viewing angles, size, and perspective. To verify the final eye view appearance, choose "Render Image" to create a rendering of it. Render-Boy automatically creates the "Test Rendering" shown. What could be easier?

STEP THREE - Specify lighting and surface behavior

Render-Boy is much more than just a 3D modeler. It is also a full featured renderer which uses "ray-tracing" to achieve near photo-realism. "Light source" objects act just like light bulbs, creating shadows, illumination, and glinty spots. Simple yet powerful dialog boxes define how objects will behave. Dull, shiny, reflective, radiant, mirrored, prismatic, you name it! You can even simulate fog! Render-Boy creates all these affects automatically. You can see some of these affects in the eye view of this screen shot. Notice how the chess pieces are now illuminated, shiny and casting shadows. You can even see their reflections in the surface they are sitting on! All of this is 100% automatic and simple to do with Render-Boy.

STEP FOUR - Make it look real

We're almost there, but we can make it even better! In addition to controlling object color and appearance, you can also apply "textures" to objects as shown in this screen shot. Any standard PICT file can be used as a texture applied to objects. Render-Boy includes several (brick, tile, marble, wood, etc), plus you can make your own with Clarisworks or other drawing programs. You can apply your textures to objects in a thousand different ways. Suddenly your design comes to life!

STEP FIVE - Render the final image

The last step is the easiest. Render the final image by choosing "Render Image" from the "Render" menu. That's it! Render-Boy goes to work and creates the final chess image for you, again completely automatic. This chess image is 640x480 pixels, but you can specify any size up to 2048x2048 pixels, regardless of the size of your monitor. Speaking of monitors, why not use Render-Boy to create your own custom Mac desktop picture? Render-Boy will even render in the background, so you can work on your Mac while Render-Boy works on your image.

But it doesn't stop there. You can just as easily render an entire series of images (each viewed from a different eye view location) and play them back as a movie. They can also be converted to Quicktime movies or animated GIF files using available shareware and freeware utilities.

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