Cupertino, Calif. - While industry attention has focused on Apple's forthcoming Newton line of personal digital assistants, the company quietly has been sketching out plans for pen support within the Mac operating system.
Apple reportedly has tipped its hand to corporate sites with a demonstration of pen-based technology on the Mac.
The recognition and control software necessary for a Pen Mac is still in the early stages of development, sources said. Over the past year, however, Apple has defined what such a system might look like.
> Hardware. The company reportedly has shown selected corporate sites a PowerBook Duo-like prototype with pen input.
In place of the familiar clam-shell design, with an LCD flipping up to reveal the keyboard and trackball, the Pen Duo prototype is a single slab with a combined screen and tablet on the outside.
The system uses the current Mac Duos' logic board with new plastics. A custom System Enabler extension adds support for the digitizing tablet via a second serial port, which normally is inaccessible on the Duos.
Using the Duo design would make a lot of sense for Apple, analysts said. For one thing, the company already is producing the logic board in quantity for the 210 and 230.
In addition, because a Duo-like system could slide into Apple's Duo Dock, it could be controlled with a pen while on the road but use a standard Mac display, mouse and keyboard when in the office. External tablets could provide pen control to users of docked Pen Duos or other desktop Macs.
> Software. Apple last year made a number of deals with companies providing pen-based software. Although some of the resulting technology transfers were intended primarily for the Newton personal digital assistants, the company may well incorporate some of the recognition algorithms it has licensed into pen-Mac system extensions.
In 1991, Apple acquired handwriting-recognition algorithms from Moscow-
based ParaGraph JV; the technology recognizes cursive as well as block lettering (see MacWEEK, Oct. 15, 1991). Apple also is developing its own cursive-recognition algorithms.
While a pen-based Mac would be able to run most, if not all, Mac applications, the initial systems are expected to be positioned primarily for corporate forms applications.
"Apple doesn't have the luxury of starting from scratch, the way GO (Corp.) did," said a developer currently publishing applications for the PenPoint OS. "But it does have the advantage that current Mac applications are, by and large, fairly usable under stylus control with relatively small changes to the system interface definitions."
Developers attending the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference last May 1992 got a preview of a pen-specific application, an equation editor that let users reformat and edit equations with pen gestures. Earlier last year, Apple showed a prototype system extension that maps pen gestures to commands in off-the-shelf applications (see MacWEEK, March 9, 1992).
Mainstream Mac applications can't be adapted to future pen-based Macs, however, until Apple releases the necessary application programming interfaces and specifications.
Apple's entry into pen-based systems will be relatively late; both GO 's PenPoint and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows for Pen Computing already are attracting hardware and software developers.
The market has yet to blossom, however. According to one pen-software developer, "Even if a hardware vendor said it had 100 percent market share today, that means it sold a dozen units.
"I think that the pen will be the dominant interface in the next half decade," he said, "but the boom really hasn't started yet."
Apple declined to comment.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
News Page 1
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News: Apple holding to Newton price, ship plans
By Stephen Howard
Las Vegas - Despite reports of delays and planned price hikes, Apple this month held to its line that it will deliver a Newton for less than $1,000 by this summer.
To prove it, the company and Sharp Corp. of Osaka, Japan, showed off at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show here what they said was an "alpha sample of a first generation of Newton products."
In a progress report, Gaston Bastiaens, vice president and general manager of Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division, reiterated the basics of the company's Newton announcement last May, while adding a few refinements.
Business users, rather than consumers, will be the likely customers for Apple's personal digital assistants (PDAs). People who run their own businesses or work for large corporations "will be the first to grasp the importance" of PDAs, Bastiaens said. He also said that third-party developers were writing "a lot of professional business-support" software for the device.
Steve Capps, chief software architect of the Newton, claimed Apple had added cursive handwriting recognition to the device, although his accompanying demonstration attempted only one word each of cursive and mixed cursive-printing styles.
Communications will be a cornerstone of the Newton family, although Apple was reluctant to name the specific features of the hardware to be shipped this year. During the demonstration, Michael Tchao, product-line manager for Newton products, transmitted a note via an unnamed wireless connection to a fax modem, which then connected over telephone lines to a fax machine; Tchao then transferred a restaurant address via infrared light to another Newton over a span of a few inches. He also attached but did not use a wireless paging add-on from Motorola Inc.
Bastiaens promised that Apple will develop, bundle and license Newton-
based client software for future Apple on-line services to be developed with America Online Inc. (see MacWEEK, Dec. 14, 1992).
"Telecommunications will be as important to the Newton as graphics are to the Macintosh," he said.
Other enhancements to Newton's capabilities were mentioned briefly. Sixteen-bit PCMCIA 2.0 slots will be supported in the first Newton, but the hardware also will support a 32-bit bus to credit-card-size devices. The expanded bus was submitted last year to the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association for inclusion in future versions of the standard, according to Susan Schuman, manager of communications products for the Newton group.
She also said Dylan, Apple's dynamic LISP-based programming language, would not be supported or used in the first Newton device. The company instead is creating a multilevel development environment that will allow users to modify the appearance of Newton software and provide an object-
oriented framework for programmers.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
News Page 1
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News: Developers to get AppleScript soon
By Raines Cohen
San Francisco - AppleScript, Apple's long-awaited user-scripting system for the Mac, is nearing release. The company last month shipped a beta version to developers. This month, it gave public demonstrations at Macworld Expo and revealed new details about how it will market the software: first, by May, to developers, then in a different form to in-
house programmers and only later to end users.
The AppleScript language and the larger Open Scripting Architecture encompassing it are designed to be flexible and extensible. Users worldwide will be able to write scripts in AppleScript dialects based on their native language and grammar; scripts are stored in a compiled, coded format, making it possible to edit them in any dialect.
Apple and third-party developers may supply extensions that let users create and edit scripts in forms resembling other programming languages, and third parties are planning to provide their own script-development tools as alternatives to Apple's. scriptable applications and system extensions add to the vocabulary of AppleScript, adding verbs for Apple events they support and new object types (classes) for their data structures.
Although Apple has been heavily evangelizing Apple events for more than a year, only a few developers have incorporated support for Apple events and the Object Model - a prerequisite to scriptability - into their applications. Even fewer have taken the additional step of making their applications recordable, which lets AppleScript write scripts based on user actions in the program.
According to Chuck Piercey, AppleScript product manager, Apple is considering distributing the software in three forms aimed at separate markets:
> Commercial developers. AppleScript first will be released in a developers kit that includes full technical documentation and information on how to make applications take full advantage of all aspects of AppleScript. The kit probably will be sold through APDA, Apple's developer-tools marketing group, but the company said it has not yet decided on distribution channels for the different packages.
> In-house developers. A package designed for consultants, programmers and administrators at corporate sites may be offered through retail channels. In addition to sample scripts for applications such as executive information systems, it might include third-party development tools, Piercey said.
> End users. Apple eventually may offer an AppleScript package aimed at nonprogramming power users. Instead of script-authoring tools, it may include scripts that perform system-management functions. "Imagine a title like '101 Scripts for Your Macintosh'," Piercey said. "It wouldn't be in the languages section of a store, but in the utility area."
MacWEEK 01.18.93
News Page 1
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News: Radius eight-Rocket box to run Mac code
By Carolyn Said
San Jose, Calif. - Radius Inc. reportedly is harnessing the multiprocessing and multitasking power of its Rocket accelerators to create a high-powered Mac-compatible server for pre-press and multimedia users.
Code-named SkyLab, the "media server" will consist of eight 50-MHz 68040 Rocket accelerators in a Radius-designed box, sources said. In all, the system is expected to deliver up to 300 mips of processing power.
The server will depend on Mac ROM code Radius licensed from Apple, sources said. It can be launched only from a Mac networked to it; once launched, it can run out-of-the-box Mac software over the network.
Radius declined to comment.
Because SkyLab was designed specifically to be a server, sources said, it won't be encumbered by elements of the Mac architecture that hinder server performance, such as a slow bus.
Users will be able to plug in high-performance storage systems from third parties, including RAIDs (redundant array of inexpensive disks) and optical drives. Client Macs will connect to the server over a high-
bandwidth network, reportedly based on fiber-optic media.
SkyLab is expected to be announced this spring; shipping will depend in part on when Motorola Inc. can deliver the 50-MHz '040 in volume.
The server will come with a new version of Radius' RocketShare system software. Under RocketShare, each Rocket acts as an additional CPU functioning independently of the Mac's processor. This allows for multitasking, such as rendering a 3-D image on one Rocket while simultaneously separating a four-color image on another. The software incorporates distributed-processing technology licensed from Ray Dream Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.
The new version reportedly will enable multiprocessing of system-level tasks, such as saving files, among different Rockets.
Radius reportedly also will offer an application programming interface that will let developers tailor their applications for parallel processing.
In a similar vein, Radius is working with Digital F/X Inc., also of Mountain View, to develop parallel-processing software that will accelerate Adobe Photoshop 2.5. The software, due this spring, will divide processor-intensive tasks among Rockets and their digital signal processing daughtercards.
Radius reportedly will not try to compete with Apple's forthcoming server, due later this quarter. The SkyLab server will be aimed at a specialized population: pre-press, graphics and multimedia professionals who need to transfer large files very quickly. The Apple server, in contrast, is aimed at sites with a large number of users doing transaction-intensive tasks.
"Macs make great workstations and lousy servers," said Chris Gulker, director of development at the San Francisco Examiner. "If there were such a product [as the Radius server], we would welcome it; it would fill a huge need for a robust, potent Mac server.
"AppleShare performance degrades quickly with multiple users, so we had to go to a Novell server," Gulker said, "but we would much prefer to use Mac hardware because of the ease of support and use."
Neil McManus contributed to this story.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
News Page 1
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News: NetWare 4 directories off limits till AOCE ships
Novell to supply Mac-access software
By Mitch Ratcliffe and April Streeter
Boston - The Mac won't benefit much in the short run when Novell Inc. ships NetWare 4.0 this March, but once Apple releases its Apple Open Collaboration Environment, Mac clients on the network operating system will be able to take full advantage of Version 4.0's new directory and security features.
The forthcoming NetWare update will provide distributed directory services for users of the popular network OS. The database directory or bindery, in NetWare 3.11 and previous versions forces users to separately log onto each server they wish to browse. With NetWare 4.0, just one log-on will obtain access to an entire network.
NetWare 4.0 will add automatic file compression on both server and client machines, along with extensive rules that let the network manager determine when, or if, server volumes should be compressed.
The Mac eventually will play an expanded role in NetWare 4.0 environments, Novell said. For example, for the first time network administrators will be able to configure and manage NetWare servers, which run on Intel-based machines, through the Mac.
But several additional pieces, beyond the initial 4.0 release, will have to fall into place before Macintosh clients become full NetWare citizens.
When it ships, the new NetWare will provide Macs exactly the same level of services available today under Version 3.11. A NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) will be needed to support Mac files on a server. Users will be able to access files stored on a server and print to NetWare queues by opening and selecting these services in their Choosers.
The Apple Open Collaboration Environment (AOCE) extensions for System 7 now reportedly are slated for midyear release. When used with service access modules (SAMs) developed by Novell, AOCE will let Mac users display NetWare's new hierarchical directories in the Finder. AOCE also will support new messaging-based capabilities in applications and let Mac clients use RSA Data Security Inc.'s public key encryption scheme to authenticate themselves on the network.
Novell said it still is considering how to implement its new Personal NetWare strategy for the Mac. Personal NetWare will be a bundle allowing users on each platform Novell supports, including its own DR DOS, Unix, and Microsoft Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS to access NetWare 4.0 directory and security features within their native interface.
Steven Nelson, Novell director of product marketing, said the company hopes to bundle its directory and messaging SAMs for AOCE with several different mail- and messaging-based applications for the Mac.
"We are working with vendors so users can have three or more choices of electronic-mail packages with Personal NetWare," Nelson said. "Apple's unbundling of some services is a great opportunity. Maybe people will buy Personal NetWare, since [unbundling] opens them to considering more options."
He also said the company is contemplating merging Personal NetWare with the virtual-server technology it acquired when it bought the Data Club file-sharing software from International Business Systems Inc. last year. Data Club displays all shared volumes as a single volume on the Mac desktop, a metaphor Nelson said easily could be extended to give Mac users a unified view of the distributed servers in NetWare.
Novell also will extend its support for remote Mac clients later this year with the addition of the AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA) protocol in its Asynchronous Communications Services NLM, Nelson said. This NLM controls a serial communications card installed in a NetWare server, allowing Macs running ARA client software to dial into NetWare and access file and print services remotely.
Novell Inc. is at 122 East 1700 South, Provo, Utah 84606. Phone (801) 429-7000; fax (801) 638-9273.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Gateways: Apple unveils AURP-savvy router
New Internet Router debuts at NetWorld
By April Streeter
Boston - Apple last week at NetWorld 93 Boston introduced the long-
awaited upgrade to its software router, which will be the first router to support the AppleTalk Update-based Routing Protocol.
The newly named Apple Internet Router, due next month, will cost $499 - $100 more than the AppleTalk Internet Router 2.0 it replaces. In addition to its basic task of routing AppleTalk traffic over multiple network cards or LocalTalk ports, the new version will support Apple's AppleTalk Update-based Routing Protocol (AURP) and a dial-up extension for connecting LANs over standard phone lines. Upgrades from Version 2.0 are $149.
Users will have to purchase a separate $499 AppleTalk/IP Wide Area Extension, also expected to ship next month, to get tunneling over TCP/IP links or an Internet Protocol backbone.
For X.25 connectivity, a $1,299 extension is expected to be ready in March and will include MacX25 server software. Programming interfaces have been added that will permit future third-party extensions to tunnel AppleTalk over other protocols.
Instead of its desk accessory status under System 6, the new software router is an application. The basic router also will have an agent for SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), which will report data but not allow remote reconfiguration.
Some user sites may be dismayed that while the software router's use of AURP should reduce routing-table chatter in extended networks, any Phase 1 islands that have lagged behind in switching to Phase 2 will not be supported.
"I think we've been telling people since '91 that Phase 1 support wouldn't last forever," said Garry Hornbuckle, Apple's AppleTalk evangelist. "This product demonstrates that people who want to enjoy AURP's new features will have to go to Phase 2."
Three vendors were on hand to announce AURP support in their existing products: Neon Software Inc. in its RouterCheck program, MultiAccess Computing Corp. in its Switched Multimegabit Data Service adapter and Cabletron Systems Inc. in its just-shipped Fiber Distributed Data Interface adapter.
Simultaneously with the product announcements, Apple pledged it soon will submit AURP for review and comment to a recently formed group of router vendors and network managers called the AppleTalk Networking Forum.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
Gateways Page 24
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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GA: Kodak makes ColorSense of hues
KEPS, Kodak systems hook into ColorSync
By Matthew Rothenberg
Rochester, N.Y. - Eastman Kodak Co. this month shipped ColorSense, its hardware and software color-management system.
ColorSense, available now for $499, comprises a photometer that measures luminance of monitors and corrects them to a specified white point and gamma curve; a target image for calibrating scanners; device profiles of color peripherals; and color-correction software.
The software includes a system extension that simulates printed output in all QuickDraw applications and lets users choose among a range of output simulations. ColorSense also adjusts the screen to simulate viewing conditions such as daylight, Kodak said. A batch feature converts multiple images from one color space to another.
ColorSense, which is based on CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) standards, supports RGB (red, green, blue), TIFF and PICT2 formats. It also reads Kodak Photo CD images at five resolutions, and it can rotate and mirror Photo CD graphics.
In addition, the ColorSense color-matching method works with ColorSync, Apple's new system extension for device-independent color.
In other ColorSync news, KEPS Inc. this month announced a new version of its KEPS Precision Color Management System that will support the Apple technology.
KEPS, a Kodak company, said DayStar Digital Inc. of Flowery Branch, Ga., will integrate KEPS Precision CMS with DayStar's line of accelerator boards to speed color matching and separation.
Aldus Corp. of Seattle also will integrate the KEPS software into a variety of applications, including PageMaker 5.0, PhotoStyler 2.0, Persuasion and FreeHand. KEPS Precision CMS-compatible upgrades will begin shipping from Aldus by the middle of this year, according to KEPS.
Eastman Kodak Co. is at 901 Elmgrove Road, Rochester, N.Y. 14653. Phone (716) 724-4000 or (800) 344-0006; fax (716) 726-3758.
KEPS Inc. is at 164 Lexington Road, Billerica, Mass. 01821-3984. Phone (508) 667-5550; fax (508) 670-6550.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
GA Page 30
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BusinessWatch: WordPerfect taking a new tack
Acquisitions, alliances highlight new openness
By Lisa Picarille
Orem, Utah - It would be hard not to notice the dramatic changes at WordPerfect Corp., the once secretive software giant.
Nearly 10 months after the tumultuous departure of Executive Vice President Pete Peterson - once considered the "face and voice" of WordPerfect - the $532.5 million company has adopted an openness it long resisted.
WordPerfect President Alan Ashton called 1992 "a year of planning and strategy" and said he expects 1993 to be "the year of delivering products."
Mary Conti-Lofreddo, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass., said: "They have their ear to the ground more than [before]. It's a big change for them just to talk to the outside world."
Indeed, the word processor company recently has done more than just talk. It has done several things, including:
> Acquired three companies, including this month's purchase of writing tools developer Reference Software International for $19 million. The other buyouts were of Beagle Bros. Inc., makers of BeagleWorks integrated software, and Magic Soft Inc., a developer of asynchronous-
communications technology.
> Formed strategic partnerships with Borland International Inc. and Novell Inc. With Novell, WordPerfect is jointly developing a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) version of WordPerfect Office. The companies are co-developing a technology that would make it easier for network users to log onto electronic mail.
> Beefed up its relations with Apple, which translates into more Mac product development and plans to double its 70-person Macintosh team this year, according to Roger Bell, director of Mac marketing. "Mac is one of our top priorities," he said.
For the first time, WordPerfect will be hiring sales representatives specifically for Mac products. Mac-related sales accounted for just 3 percent of the company's $532.5 million in revenues in 1991. Sales figures for fiscal 1992 were not available. By comparison, WordPerfect for DOS accounted for 58 percent of the company's 1991 revenues.
> Devised WordPerfect Information Systems Environment, the company's overall strategy for information sharing, information presentations and information processing.
But some observers think WordPerfect has its work cut out after a series of strategic gaffes in the past. "They are the last great amateur software company," said a source close to the company. "They are the only company not doing direct sales. Their tech-support organization is spinning out of control. Their product development process has been a catastrophe. And they are slow to change."
Added Conti-Lofreddo: "WordPerfect's challenge is to compete against suites of products from Lotus [Development Corp.] and Microsoft [Corp.]."
Like Lotus, WordPerfect has had difficulty making inroads in the Mac and Windows markets, but it is banking on information sharing to help chart its future business course.
"I think there is a huge opportunity with electronic mail, as there was in word processing," Ashton said.
However, a source close to the company said WordPerfect's core business remains "good old-fashioned word processing.
"All the rest of the interesting products or acquisitions typically have no effect on revenues. You can't screw up the cash cow. The bottom line is they have to be tremendously successful in word processing, and everything else is just an investment."
In fact, WordPerfect has yet to translate its DOS success to another platform. WordPerfect for Windows shipped a year late and received less-
than-stellar notices.
Meanwhile, company officials reportedly are considering an initial public offering in the spring. WordPerfect officials would not comment on an imminent IPO, but they admitted the appointment of ex-Price Waterhouse Inc. executive Dan Campbell as chief financial officer last June was a move to get their financial house in order.
A WordPerfect IPO has the potential to be the largest in the industry since Microsoft went public in 1986. The IPO is expected to raise $150 million to $250 million, according to sources.
"We have grown the company solely based on revenues," Ashton said. "We have to continually assure people we are a major player."
MacWEEK 01.18.93
BusinessWatch Page 40
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Review: Adobe takes 3-D design to new Dimensions
By Philip Bishop
Created for graphic designers and artists who rely on PostScript drawing tools, Adobe Dimensions 1.0 is a powerful utility from Adobe Systems Inc. that lets you create original 3-D objects, map 2-D artwork onto 3-D objects, and use existing 2-D artwork for extrusion or rotation into a 3-D shape.
Unlike standard 3-D modelers and renderers, the $199 Dimensions is fairly simple to use.
Basics. Dimensions has an interface that will be very familiar to users of Illustrator, Adobe's PostScript illustration program, and it is with this type of program that Dimensions is intended to be used.
Dimensions allows you to build objects based on simple 3-D shapes, called primitives, and it provides tools for creating cubes, spheres, cones and cylinders. However, a great deal of your time probably will be spent importing artwork from a drawing program to be manipulated in Dimensions. You can export the resulting rendering back to your illustration program for further manipulation. Dimensions renders 3-D artwork as editable Bezier curves; this means that you can edit the resulting 3-D files as you would any other PostScript illustration.
In addition to importing Illustrator files, Dimensions handles artwork from Aldus FreeHand and Macromedia Inc.'s Swivel 3D. Deneba Software's Canvas also belongs on this list, but because of a bug we were unable to test this (this should be corrected in the next revision of Dimensions).
There are two types of line art you cannot import into Dimensions: patterns and artwork that contain a compound path that include an intersecting path (such as interlocking rings). Also, text must be reduced to outlines before it is imported, and you cannot import Encapsulated PostScript files.
Like Illustrator, Dimensions requires you to work in a wireframe mode (a skeleton of lines and curves representing objects). However, Dimensions doesn't give you the option, as in Illustrator, of opening a second window to preview the finished piece, so you are forced to switch back and forth between modes. The company notes that while this feature may be added at a later date, it won't improve rendering speeds.
Dimensions' Toolbox includes four selection tools, tools for scaling and rotating objects (either by dragging or through dialog boxes), and tools for creating the aforementioned primitives.
Heady headlines. A popular use for Dimensions is sure to be creation of 3-D type effects, such as headlines, titles and logos. We were impressed by how easy it is to produce striking designs of this kind. You create 3-D type using the Extrude command, which adds depth to 2-D artwork. Dimensions applies this either as absolute depth (by measurement) or as a percentage of the object's height or width, whichever is larger.
Lights, camera, action. Once you build an object, you also need to apply lighting. The Lighting dialog box contains a drawing of a globe with your artwork represented by a black circle at its center. To change the lighting, you simply drag a white circle to a new location on the globe relative to the black one.
In the Surface Properties dialog you can set stroke and fill color using a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color model controlled by four sliders. You also can set the Reflectance, which refers to the way an object reflects light. The Diffuse setting, for example, spreads the light softly over a broad area, while the Plastic setting gives an object a hard, glossy appearance.
You can apply items from the Surface Properties window only when your object is selected in Artwork mode. When you are in one of the render modes, it's impossible to tell if an object is selected because you can't see the curve and line handles. The only cue you have is that the Surface Properties dialog doesn't apply the changes you attempt to make.
Rendering. When you click the Apply button, whether for lighting or surface properties, Dimensions renders the object (rendering is the process that calculates the final realistic image). Rendering is not fast when compared with many tasks, but it's not bad when compared with a standard preview of a very complex Illustrator document: Rendering a 28-character, 48-point headline using the Shaded Render command took between 45 and 85 seconds on a Quadra 900. Dimensions also offers Wireframe Render and Draft Render options, which are quicker but offer less detail.
Rendering this headline pushed the program to the limit of its default 2-Mbyte partition. Bumping the partition up to the recommended 4 Mbytes solved our problems, although rendering time remained the same. The rendered file weighed in at 320 Kbytes, while the original FreeHand outline was 20 Kbytes.
To complete a complex rendering of a silhouette rotated 360 degrees, Dimensions required a partition of 8 Mbytes and took more than 20 minutes each time we rendered it. Clearly, the simpler your object, the shorter your wait. Tales of terribly long rendering times are commonplace among users of high-end 3-D programs, and Dimensions' rendering times also could take on grotesque proportions with very complex objects. Your best bet is to render complex artwork as component parts where possible and reassemble them in a drawing program.
The rounded edge. You create a 3-D wireframe either by using the primitives tools or importing and extruding or lathing line art. You also can use Dimensions' nifty bevel function to do this. Bevels are simple 2-D lines such as rounded corners, which when combined with another shape and extruded can produce 3-D objects such as perfume bottles or boxes with soft corners.
Creators of package designs will appreciate Dimensions' capability to map 2-D designs onto a 3-D object. For example, this lets you take a wine label created in Illustrator and wrap it around a wine bottle.
To map a design, you first build an object then open a dialog box that shows various surfaces of your wireframe object onto which your 2-D artwork will be mapped. You then import your artwork and scale, rotate and place it as needed. Placing art is the tough part: It takes a while to figure out how much artwork will fit on a given surface. Adobe addresses this problem by letting you export surfaces to your drawing program as a set of guides. After aligning your artwork in these guides, you then reimport it into Dimensions. Beware that if you alter the guides in your drawing program, map and guides will no longer fit.
Mapping is fairly involved, but the results can be stunning.
Learning curves. Adobe does not claim that Dimensions is a high-end 3-D program that can simulate reflections and refraction and other elements of photo realism. Nor are models built in Dimensions available for import into other 3-D applications (except as 2-D art). On the other hand, you should not mistake Dimensions for a mere utility. The possible effects are outstanding when compared with those you can build in Illustrator or FreeHand alone. If you are new to 3-D, Dimensions involves learning new skills. Adobe has gone to great lengths to make 3-
D easily accessible to denizens of the world of two dimensions. When you draw a primitive, for example, not only does a rectangular bounding box indicate the size of the object, but the letters x, y and z appear on its sides to indicate the object's orientation.
The Dimensions manual, although slim, is generally thorough in its explanations and will help you become productive. The manual did leave us in the dark in one area: Once you have created a custom bevel, it doesn't explain that you then need to save it to Dimensions' Bevel Library folder to use it. Adobe's technical support proved both very informed and helpful.
Conclusions. Dimensions' interface could be smoother, feedback about selected objects needs to be added, and the Canvas import snafu will leave many users hanging. Otherwise, Adobe Dimensions is a truly innovative tool. Being able to create 3-D artwork from a 2-D original and then edit the resulting 3-D output as a regular PostScript file undoubtedly will introduce 3-D to a greatly expanded audience. Dimensions is sure to be a big hit.
Adobe Systems Inc. is at 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, Calif. 94039-7900. Phone (415) 961-0911; fax (415) 961-4810.
Score Card: Adobe Dimensions
Adobe Systems Inc.
Version tested: 1.0
List price: $199*
Overall value ***
Created for graphic designers and artists, Dimensions is a powerful utility that lets you build and render 3-D artwork as editable PostScript files. You can import 2-D artwork to extrude or rotate into 3-D shapes, and you can map 2-D artwork onto 3-D objects. The program's interface could be smoother, and a function to import artwork from Deneba Software's Canvas doesn't work with this version. However, Dimensions is nonetheless an innovative tool. With it you can create 3-D artwork easily and use the resulting output as a PostScript file in any application that can accept that format.
Performance ***
Features ***
Ease of use ***
Documentation/support ****
*$99 through March 1; Dimensions is also bundled free with Adobe Illustrator until that date.
System 7 Compatibility
Adobe Dimensions 1.0
Balloon help No
TrueType Yes
Publish and subscribe No
Apple events Yes
32-bit addressing* Yes
*According to vendor.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
Reviews Page 49
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Mac the Knife: Assault on battery-charge issue
Although he had strict orders to devote all his energies to proper preparation for attending the Clinton-Gore inauguration, the Knife was drawn last week to the Oracle, Ariz., home of Biosphere 2.
Technology does have a certain pull, and this multimillion-dollar experiment in oxygen-deprivation research proved the importance of serious, if somewhat ostentatious, scientific endeavors.
For the rest of us living out here in the unenclosed world, the issues are a little less important than figuring out why all the hummingbirds and bees are now toast. For example, rather than spring for a couple of extra PowerBook batteries, we invest hundreds of dollars in utilities and spend countless person-hours trying to conserve that last volt of precious charge.
If the Knife's sources are correct, the situation will only get more acute next month when Apple releases the PowerBook 165c. They tell the Knife that the new color passive-matrix screen, not surprisingly, will draw more juice than the current monochrome displays.
As a result, Apple will claim a battery-charge life of from one-and-a-
half to two hours. In real time, that means a fully charged 165c should be most appropriate for, say, a commuter flight between San Jose and Oakland. And since the 165c screen resolution will be 640 by 400 pixels, you might want to check out how those Persuasion presentations look before taking them on the road.
How green is my battery? The Newton team has been thinking a lot about batteries lately, too. The first Newton, a note taker that is now expected to ship midyear, is running in the lab on four AA alkaline batteries. These batteries last all day if the Newton is asleep. The problem arises when you actually start using it.
The ARM RISC chip inside this Newton is very intelligent, drawing power in direct proportion to the work it is required to do. Unfortunately, handwriting recognition is terrifically processor-intensive, and in tests those AAs last only about 45 minutes.
While these batteries are cheap and readily available, the prospect of several hundred thousand more dead alkaline batteries littering the landscape isn't particularly in sync with Apple's publicly avowed policy of environmental friendliness. Perhaps Apple will develop an alternative portable power source before the Newton note taker ships.
Less wire, more color. Adobe now plans to ship Illustrator 5.0 for the Mac in April. As previously reported, this version will leapfrog Version 4 on that other platform. Users probably will greatly appreciate the new default mode that allows you to work in preview mode rather than the decidedly nonintuitive artwork and template mode - in other words, a lot more like Aldus FreeHand.
Sources say it also will have Adobe Photoshop-style filters you can use to apply special effects to images. These filters also can be sped up with third-party acceleration boards.
Broadcast fax. Since fax is one of the most popular ways to spread the word, it is only a matter of time until fax broadcasting is married to the fax modem.
Recently the Knife and a few high-powered types were treated to a demonstration of precisely that. One of the major fax-modem vendors has hooked up with one of the major telephone long-distance carriers to bring major fax broadcasting to the Mac. You'll be able to send your fax and distribution list to the carrier, which then will deliver your fax to everyone on the list. It's pretty nifty technology, unless you are afflicted with a particularly acute case of FIS (fax-intolerance syndrome).
Don't let another peaceful transfer of power pass you by without earning your very own MacWEEK mug. If you've got what it takes and you think you can pass muster, contact Mac the Knife at (415) 243-3544, fax (415) 243-
3650, MCI (MactheKnife), AppleLink (MacWEEK) and CompuServe/ZiffNet/Mac.
MacWEEK 01.18.93
Mac the Knife Page 122
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