Working Model from Knowledge Revolution brings physically based modeling - the simulation of real-world events in your computer - to the Mac. Set up objects in a scene, describe their characteristics (mass, velocity, gravity, friction, and more), wind up the experiment, and let it rip. In each frame, object positions are recalculated according to the laws of physics, resulting in an animation, and a data set, that shows how objects actually behave.
Springs, pulleys, ropes and motors; electrostatics, magnetism, and custom forces; pin joints, hinges, keyed slots are all found here - the toolset is rich, rich, rich. Working Model is powerful but approachable; easy to learn.
Who needs it? Mechanical engineers can use it to build prototypes. Lawyers can use it to sway an audience; physics classes to visualize equations. And it's a godsend for animators: It writes Macromedia Three-D and Wavefront files, and data can be finagled into other programs or output as QuickTime movies. Fast, easy, and believable results.
Two caveats: Motion is limited to three degrees of freedom. The workaround is to ignore or fudge the other three degrees, or chain data from multiple experiments into full 3-D. Worse: It's very addictive... "Ah, what happens if I tweak it just a little bit more?" A major tool, and a major toy. - John Dowdell.
Working Model: US$995. Knowledge Revolution: +1 (415) 553 8153.
STREET CRED
Smut By Any Other Name, and Proud Of ItEinstein on the Beach Meets Eurydice
Addicted to the Real World
William Burroughs and The Net: Past, Present,
