I f movie moguls were to remake The Graduate now, Mr. Robinson would tell Dustin Hoffman, "Son, I have one word of advice for you. Datasets." Datasets are code for rendering 3-D computer models. In the new digital worlds of CD-ROM and Hollywood special effects, an object is first created as a 3-D model, and then maneuvered into a story, commercial, or game as an element of a complex environment or as an animated character.
Graphic artists are conjuring up the initial 3-D datasets for almost everything imaginable: a jeep, a dinosaur, a mouthwash bottle, an orange, the Empire State Building. Once the Empire State Building has been simulated, stone façade and all, why would you want to repeat all that work when you could reuse that dataset again and again?
That's where Viewpoint's Dataset Catalog and DataShop CD-ROM come in. Both are convenient albums that allow you to page through several thousand completed datasets for a mind-boggling variety of objects. Need an asteroid? They have five kinds. How about tanks? Take your pick from 20 different brands. They list four models of footballs, two forklifts, a kitchen sink (of course), and even a paper clip, should you need a virtual paper clip. It's 3-D clip art, only better, because you can amend and mutilate these clips, customizing them to your own kinky needs.
The datasets work with common 3-D rendering programs and cost between US$250 and $500 per object. Viewpoint not only sells its own sets, but also brokers the models of other artists. There might be a small cottage industry here. Got a good model of a flamingo you spent a month working on for a project that bit the dust? Here's a place to peddle it. I would expect a whole subculture to bloom around the swapping and reviewing of new models, complete with gossiping about whose dataset of Times Square is more authentic. Viewpoint DataLabs International: (800) 328 2738, +1 (801) 229 3000.
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