Product Reviews

Modelling and animation in 3D has never been easy or cheap. DX Studio turns this notion on its head by letting even novices create interactive worlds for under £60. Your PC needs to have a DirectX 9 graphics card for the program to work. It can then render your models and worlds in real time.

This £59 version is a non-commercial licence, which doesn't allow you to sell your creations. To do that, you would need the commercial version, which starts at £175. There is also a Pro Edition, for twice as much, which offers extra features including a built-in database client.

The big new addition with this version of DX Studio is the arrival of a

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modeller. Where previously you had to import models created in other applications (such as 3D Studio Max), you can now create them in DX Studio. The modeller allows you to add basic 3D shapes, or draw 2D shapes and convert them into 3D. However, you may need a more advanced modeller for complex objects such as people.

Fortunately, DX Studio comes with a library of detailed objects, plus an online collection of free assets. You can simply import these to create your scene, or any objects in the XML-based COLLADA format. You can then add animation sequences and attach scripts to objects to control movement and user interaction, which means you can make your own 3D game. However, you will need to understand JavaScript for this. You can even enable physics for each object, so balls, for example, bounce off other objects.

Your project can be exported in a variety of ways. Alongside the usual options of image sequences, animated GIFs and AVIs, you can also build self-contained executables, HTML and even Windows Vista Desktop Gadgets.

DX Studio is packed with possibilities and, as such, is a bit daunting at first. Fortunately, lots of help and tutorials are provided. A free trial version is also available to download and is well worth a look.