14 DAY TRIAL // When I look back a decade ago and think where was the 3D realm back then and then I look in the present, I get stunned. If the Second World War made the world go forward in a lot of domains, although some of the progresses were put to inhuman uses in the beginning (just think about Hiroshima), then I can say that the last ten years were a real war in the 3D rendering and modelling fields, and today a new update to a 3D program was released, so I have to tell you about it!
Cheetah3d.com launched Cheetah3D 3.6, a new version of their modelling, animation and rendering software that brings an entirely rewritten timeline, accompanied by additional features such as auto-keying or the timeline scroller. This latest version also includes more advanced keying masks than ever before, allowing users to key single parameters. The interface wasn't left behind, so Cheetah3D 3.6 features a new design with refreshed timeline icons.
The auto highlighting feature was also rewritten, and the selection of unconnected points, edges on mesh borders and points on mesh borders is much easier now. The OpenGL preview of complex meshes is now 40 percent faster, and the transform gadget capability alongside FBX animation export is another enhancement present here.
If you own a license to Cheetah3D 3.x, then you'll get free upgrade to version 4.0, which is already under development. The price of the application is 100$ for a single user license or 1,000$ for a school site license, while the upgrades cost 50$ for Cheetah 3D 1.x and 2.x users. The operating system required to run is Mac OS X 10.4 or later, and the hardware requirements are lower than I expected, since any G3/G4/G5 Mac with 256MB of RAM and 16MB VRAM should be enough!