** 1 page review / 465 words **

Calc Cyber/Calc CAD


Sculpting anything, let alone fonts, in 3D programs isn't easy. 
Danny McAleer used Calc Cyber to create the ACC'98 text on the 
cover of this issue...

** CALCYBER.GIF overlap to suit
** CC_ABOUT.GIF overlap to suit
** CC_LETER.GIF overlap to suit

It takes an awful lot of patience to generate carefully-crafted 3D 
models in Cyber Sculpt and any help you can get is more welcome 
than a tax rebate. Calc Cyber, and its companion Calc CAD, are two 
small desktop accessories for generating templates from Calamus 
fonts, for use in Cyber Sculpt and CAD3D respectively.

Both accessories allow you to specify the detail of the final 
template, with settings from rough to extra fine. For the most 
part, the default "normal" setting is fine; coarser settings are 
more useful for smaller 3D objects although I've not found a use 
for the finer detailed templates as yet.

After choosing a font a dialog box appears, where the phrase to be 
converted is typed. Only up to 32 characters are permitted but 
this isn't limiting because Calc Cyber creates individual 
templates for each letter as opposed to the entire phrase, so you 
don't need to type in duplicated letters.

** CC_PHRSE.GIF here

The TMP files are then saved in the same directory as the font (an 
alternative path cannot be specified) using the font title as part 
of the filename, suffixed by the letter, with an additional "L" to 
denote lower-case. These templates can then be loaded into Cyber 
Sculpt's Extrude, Spin, or even Cross-sectional editor (the latter 
is useful for manually creating bevelled effects). Since Calc 
Cyber works as a desktop accessory, it can be called without 
having to leave Cyber Sculpt too, which is exceptionally useful.

The program is functional rather than aesthetically pleasing and 
doesn't seem to like NVDI - Calc Cyber hangs the system when you 
try to run another application (I get around this problem by using 
the Chameleon accessory loader to load it when I need it then 
unload it again). These caveats are forgivable considering how 
useful the program is. There's also a problem with some ornamental 
fonts which can result in self-intersecting templates - nasty! 
Nevertheless, even these can be edited within Cyber Sculpt itself, 
and it's still a far better solution to modelling text from 
scratch.

Calc Cyber is an invaluable tool for adding text to 3D objects and 
I've certainly never found a better alternative.

** product boxout **
CyberCalc

Author
Sol Guber

Where to get it
Floppyshop disk: ART.4542
http://www.ataricomputing.com/

Cost/Status
Freeware, donations invited

Required
Any Atari (ST high, preferably)

Pros
Superb idea, unrivalled on the ST, invaluable accessory for 
creating 3D templates in Cyber Sculpt

Cons
Some fonts produce unusable templates that need further editing, 
odd problem with NVDI.

79%
** /product boxout **