The Bottom Line
Xara3D 5 is a fast and easy tool for creating professional-looking still and animated 3D logos, headings, and buttons for the Web or other on-screen projects.
Pros
- Fast and lean--only requires 2MB disk space
- Very easy to use and understand
- Includes Webster 2 drawing software
Cons
- Windows only
Description
- Xara3D creates still and animated 3D logos, headings and buttons from text or imported 2D outlines.
- Customizable effects include extrusion, bevel, shadow, texture, animation, and lighting.
- Exports still images as JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, Flash (SWF), icon (ICO), or cursor (CUR).
- Exports animations as GIF, AVI movies, Flash (SWF), animated cursor (ANI), or screensaver (SCR).
- Imports Metafiles (WMF/EMF), Webster/Xara X files (XAR), and Xara Web files (WEB).
- A free copy of Webster 2 drawing software is included for creating custom shapes and logos.
- CD also includes hundreds of textures, sample files, and 2D shapes, plus 50 TrueType fonts.
- Select background colors and textures to match your Web page.
- Full text control over alignment, line spacing, tracking, kerning, etc. Edit individual characters.
- Requires Windows 95/98/2000/Me/NT 4.0 or XP, Intel-compatible 486 or better, Min. 32 MB RAM
Guide Review - Xara3D 5
Xara3D 5 creates 3D headings and animations from text or imported shapes. The interface is simple and easy to understand. You start by entering your text; then you can experiment with the available effects and styles. When you're happy with the results, adjust the display window to the desired size, and export the finished image. That's all there is to it! Version 5 offers many enhancements including the ability to copy style and animation attributes and apply any attribute to single characters. There are new bevel and animation types, more export options, and thumbnail previews when opening, importing, or exporting. You also get a free copy of Webster 2, a basic drawing tool which you can use to create custom shapes for use in Xara3D.
