PRICING

* Shade Professional R5/E for Macintosh/US$1,499

* Shade Professional R5/E for Windows/US$1,499

* Shade Personal R5/E for Macintosh/US$499

* Shade Personal R5/E for Windows/US$499

System Requirements

Windows version

* OS: Windows 2000/XP

* CPU: Pentium-class or compatible

* Memory to launch Shade: 30MB min.

* Memory for simple operations: 64MB min.

* Disk space for standard installation: 60MB min.

* Internet access for license activation and updates

* CD-ROM drive

Macintosh version

* OS: MacOS 9.0/9.1/9.2

* CPU: Power Macintosh or compatible with a PowerPC CPU

* Memory to launch Shade: 30MB min.

* Memory for simple operations: 64MB min.

* Disk space for standard installation: 60MB min.

* Internet access for license activation and updates

* CD-ROM drive
Note: Shade is not currently guaranteed to work on MacOS X or Classic.

SHADE ARTISTS
A few of the artists sites taken from Expression Tools website

© Hiroshi Isayama

© Toru Kosaka
© Buichi Terasawa
 
 
 






EXPRESSION TOOLS SHADE
RELEASE 5
 REVIEW OF RELEASE 5 OF EXPRESSION TOOLS
FLAGSHIP 3D MODELING AND RENDERING PACKAGE

This review is based on Shade Professional R5/E for Windows

INTRODUCTION


So, what the heck is it? It's Japanese, I know that but I never saw it on the shelves next to Lightwave or Truespace? These may just be your first thoughts about this software or indeed my review.

First off, what is Expression Tools SHADE?

It is an advanced 3D modeling/rendering/animation package developed and sold by a Japanese company called ExpressionTools, Inc. It offers offers modeling capabilities that use Bezier curves, top speed, high-quality rendering and animation capabilites.

The reason I am reviewing it is that I had an opportunity last year (2001) to review and work with Version 4. I liked the product a great deal and gave it a good review for In-depth arts.

Version 5 is now available and I am reviewing the Professional version. A Personal version (Shade Personal R5/E) is available and is in essence a cut down version of the pro one.

I have a special liking for SHADE as they made me artist of the month on their website with a set of images that I created with version 4.
A LITTLE HISTORY


ETShade has been evolving since the dark ages it seems. Starting back in 1985 and introduced to the Japanese market in 1986. Computers in 1986 would have had processor speeds in single digits and memory measured in K`s rather than MB`s.

Over the decade and a half since then it has seen 10+ upgrades and has embedded itself in the Japanese 3D market. For my R4 review I was able to find numerous images created in ETS that lead me to the conclusion that it could be paralleled with perhaps Rhinoceros+Flamingo or maybe Truespace.

In recent months I reviewed a book called Digital Beauties and that contained hundreds of images of the female human form many of which had been created using ET SHADE.
WHAT FEATURES DOES IT HAVE


SHADE has most of the common features you would expect from a modern 3D package. A full set of modeling tools, texture mapping, lighting, surface editor, raytracing, radiosity, animation's etc.
It has unusual ways of working but the end results match the more common packages.

For example, most of the time you start creating something by right-clicking and choosing either 'Pen' or 'Part'. When I first started to learn SHADE I had no clue what I was doing or looking for but very quickly you discover that the different ways-of-working are actually quite intuitive.
As the package is based around bezier curves that make up curved surfaces it is possible to create very organic models with relative ease. SHADE is used in the Japanese motor industry and and the quality of the vehicle renders that I have seen has equaled the best in the business (example)

I took my time with version 5 and configured a full set of keyboard short cuts that speeded up the whole creation process. Without short cuts I was forever right-clicking and digging through the long menu lists for features.
Version 5 came with two spiral bound manuals (unlike my copy or SHADE R4 which had only PDF's on the CD) .

The first manual is a user guide and covers off every feature in the package from the basics of the interface to advanced motion settings. The second volume is a tutorial manual which has changed very little from the PDF from the last release.

I found both books easy to follow and clearly written. One challenge for a Japanese company trying to push into a western market is to ensure that the conversion to English from Japanese is successful. They achieved it, and did it well in my opinion.
WHAT'S IN THE UPGRADE?

One thing to mention is the Personal edition that I have already covered. Many graphic software developers are turning to cut-down editions of their software to help raise awareness of their products not least of which is Adobe with Photoshop LE. It seems that Expression Tools saw this as a mechanism to promote their product line and have gone ahead and released V5 Professional with a little brother V5 Personal edition at a very competitive $499.

The main improvements in V5 seem to be based around the animation features but the website does list all the major enhancements in this release including:

Ball Joints -rotate joints in every direction and follow a path
Bone & Skin functions -Allowing smooth deformation of objects without complicated settings for multiple objects support
Enhanced Polygon Mesh editing functions
Simultaneous editing of multiple objects
Adhering function for Curved Surfaces
Import function for Motion Capture
Dramatically enhanced surface attributes -Improved surface attributes in the surface panel
UV mapping and Native MetaRenderer for Polygon Meshes
Magnet Tool -Creates a magnet objects that can pull on a curved surface or mesh
a Mesh Tool -Work with mesh/polygon objects
3D modeling function called "Magical Sketch" -A way to use hand-drawn sketches
XVL converter -Which converts between ultralight XVL 3D data and Shade object data.This allows you to deliver high-quality 3D data created with Shade via the Internet, and to view 3D data with a web browser using the included browser plug-in, "XVL Viewer".

 
THE INTERFACE

The main interface, although very barren at first load, is not all that alien to the western 3D artists eye. It opens with a very familiar quad layout with top, front, side and perspective views. A few clicks into the VIEW menu gives us access to all the major panels and palettes and a right click anywhere gives you even quicker access to the main tools

One of the first things that stumped me with the earlier version was the way in which items were created in a PART in the the BROWSER hierarchy.

For example, To create a 'Tin Can' you would make a part called TINCAN and in that you would place three or four Bezier rings.

These would form your Can. Any ring placed outside the part would remain just that, a Bezier ring/circle.
The 'View' menu, as mentioned, gives you access to a whole host of tool panels. It is from here that you can call up any of the more commonly used panels and remove the unused ones from your screen.

It is very easy with SHADE to swamp your monitor with tool panels that aren't being used.

I keep the Browser, Surface, Camera and Toolbox open all the time.

CTRL+SHIFT+TAB hides them all.
One addition that I only noticed late in the review was the little bar across the top of the screen giving me access to things like 'snap' and 'grid'. Not a great paradigm shift but one more little feature that helps the user along. In release 4 these features were found in a yet another screen hogging panel called the 'figure panel'. Less panel= more screen.
MAGICALSKETCH - One of many plugins


Now this feature I like!. MagicalSketch is a plug-in that comes with SHADE. It looks like a kiddies version of Microsoft Paint and it some ways that is just what it is.

With the pen tool you simply draw squiggles onto the screen. What MagicalSketch then does is turn your sketch into a 3D mesh.
Within minutes of finding this plugin I was turning out organic shapes that could takes hours of modeling. You can even use a revolve object feature by holding down shift. To add to the mesh it is simply a case of drawing a circle on the mesh the tuning it 45 degrees and draw on more contour lines. It really is easy to use.
Once you are happy with your creation you return to the main application with the click of a button and your MagicalSketch mesh is placed into the scene.

I enjoyed playing with this plug-in so much that I even reinstalled my old copy of version 4 just to see if I had missed it first time around.
SHADE 5, like most 3D programs these days, comes with a great variety of plugins ranging from little utilities to extract alphas from your renders to full programs such as MagicalSketch.

The plug-ins are all covered in the manuals and are very easy to use on the whole. Some of them you simply would never use and others should be integrated into the main program in my opinion, the SHADE explorer for example.
ANIMATION

SHADE animation is done using differing joint types in your modeling (slider, rotator, scale, paths etc.) and then setting it all in motion in the motion window.

I have only had a limited amount of time working with animation in SHADE and I must admit it seems straight forward. But then I am not an animator and I don't always design my models with animation in mind.
I worked through all the tutorials which included how to create an animatable 'arm' and how to use the 'skin' feature.

Although I found the basic concepts easy to pick up I did find it quite time intensive getting all the joint properties correct and the thought of modeling an arm with mobile fingers felt daunting. As I said, it seems to have a packed range of features and I have seen some interesting small animation's created with SHADE.


CONCLUSIONS


I'm biased here. I love the program, but then again I am notorious for enjoying off-the-wall programs. SHADE isn't as alien as some people make out, indeed, a great deal of the layout and tool set is found in all major 3D rendering packages. The animation results don't match those of the high end packages, yet, but when you think that a large part of the version 5 upgrade is about making animation better things could change in the future.

I am more of an illustrator than an animator so this review is biased in that way. I find the program easy to use and I can create most of things that I want to with ease. An animator may tell a different story. I was a fan of R4 and R5 has made me want to support Expression Tools in getting SHADE established in the western hemisphere.

 
Shade Professional R5/E (Win/Mac) US$1,499

This flagship model of the Shade series is designed for professional use, providing maximum speed and productivity.
Shade Personal R5/E (Win/Mac) US$499
 
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