The I Files ~ a complete reference for Imagine


The I Files is a complete multimedia reference for the Imagine 3D rendering and animation package.
Over a year in the making, the I Files is the result of Richard Foster 's quest to completely understand Imagine. Towards the end of this crusade, Richard was fortunate enough to team-up with Cory Collins, who happened to be working on a "Character Animation" course using Imagine. With Corrys animation course, Richards manual, and tips and tricks from many of the best users of Imagine, the I Files were born...
The manual itself is split into four sections:

  • Imagine reference ~ 722 pages packed with information and examples showing how every facet of Imagine works and what each is capable of. With numerous AVI movies and ScreenCam tutorials linked to the appropriate sections of the text and over 2500 figures, hopefully you can see the richness of the manual.
  • Stage F/X supplement ~ 66 pages covering Imagine's Actor and Global effects, each with linked AVI's showing how the various parameters determine the results of the F/X.
  • Texture supplement ~ 198 pages devoted to Imagine's procedural object and light textures, showing a pictorial representation of each along with explanatory text of the controlling parameters.
  • Users tips and tricks ~ 205 pages from such Imagine luminaries as: Richard Jennings, Charles Blaquière, Simon FC de Rivaz, Steve Blackmon, Bill Boyce, Tom Granberg, Pat Connelly, Tyler Lund, Kathryn Foston, Todd Cherniawsky, Hans Palmgren, Margaret Copeland, Bill Graham, Cory Collins, Gregory Denby, Conny Joensson, Stephen Gifford and Clae Tannet. May I (R. Foster) take this opportunity to thank them all for allowing me to include their work.



CD-ROM I

CD-ROM II

  • The Manual ~ the full multimedia version at a resolution that balances speed of use and clarity of display...
  • 181 AVI movies ~ linked to the appropriate sections in the manual...
  • 76 ScreenCam tutorials ~ linked to the appropriate sections in the manual...(*)
  • Objects and scenes ~ all my objects and scenes used to demonstrate various aspects in the manual...
  • Objects and scenes ~ used for Cory's "Character animation" course...
  • Various other reference sources ~ "Dare to Imagine", IML Frequently Asked Questions, the IML Archives and Conny's "Digestive IML"...
  • Demonstration version of Imagine for Windows
  • Demonstration version of Organica ~ the ultimate in organic modelling, for Windows or Apple Mac platforms...
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader ~ the I Files requires at least version 3 of this freely available postscript viewer...(*)
  • Amiga PDF and AVI interpretters/viewers ~ for those using the Amiga version of Imagine.
  • The Manual ~ the high resolution version of the manual allowing users to print it directly to anything from an inkjet to an imagesetter...
  • Third party textures ~ over 40 additional procedural textures from Alan Bucior, Richard Jennings, Ingvar Lybing, Evelyn Rosa, Ian Smith and Mark Willis...(**)
  • Attributes and Maps~ a collection of many predefined surface attributes and maps for you to apply and experiment with...
  • Third party programmes ~ a collection of support programmes from Miguel Grinberg & Alicia Crivicich, Richard Jennings, Ingvar Lybing, MicroMouse, Scott Thede, Darren Williams and Mark Willis...
  • Objects from the "Users tips and tricks" chapter ~ all the objects used in this section of the manual...
  • Objects ~ over 100 objects including the Gallimus from "DinoROM", courtesy of Mauro Marenzi...
  • Over 300 pics ~ a gallery of some of the best renders showing the variety and scope of what Imagine is capable of...
  • Over 50 movies ~ a collection of some of the best movies from leading Imagine animators.

(*) - Lotus Screencam viewer and Adobe Acrobat Reader only available on the Windows platform. Please refer to the Amiga PDF viewer page for details of viewing PDF files on the Amiga.
(**) - Some 3rd party textures only available on the Windows platform.


Some samples pages, listed below, are available for viewing. An Amiga PDF viewer is required.

I Files 1 For a complete listing of the contents of the manual showing the breadth of coverage, please view the "Contents" PDF by selecting the link below. I Files 2 Numerous example renders demonstrate the controls available; in this case varying the influence between two grouped perfect spheres
Contents PDF (119k) Blobs PDF (149k)

I Files 4 The "Attributes" chapter uses hundreds of full colour renders to demonstrate the many parameters controlling the appearance of surfaces. I Files 7 Using examples from complex Imagine related products, complex functions are easily visualised; in this case from Mauro Marenzi's "DinoROM".
Object light PDF (86k) Cascade Group PDF (65k)

I Files 6 A sample page from the "Stage" chapter showing how Imagine's digital camera can mimic the optics from a real-world camera; if only you know how! I Files 5 One of the key objectives of the manual was to graphically depict numeric parameters, in this case pairs of Spline Interpolation values as motion graphs.
Camera Lenses (161k) Spline Interpolation PDF (50k)

To order the I Files ($49) from Impulse, CLICK HERE

To order Imagine for the Amiga, CLICK HERE



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Copyright © 1998 CAD Technologies. All rights reserved. IFiles Copyright © Richard Foster/Corry Collins.
All specifications subject to change without notice.
Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or trademark holders.