Has anyone tried 3dvia Shape?

[Johnk]

It's a free program along the lines of Google Sketchup. It's used on Microsoft's Virtual Earth in the same way Sketchup is used for Google Earth. It seems to be a lot easier to use than Sketchup but the results can be quite spectacular. here's a YouTube link to the demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO7QEAtor3o&feature=related

In reading what I can find on the subject, it seems that conversion to 3dsMax (plus gMax I assume) is relatively painless.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's successfully used it to model Trainz assets.

Here's the download link:

http://www.3dvia.com/software/3dvia-shape/

NOTE: On reading the pages of conditions attached to the software install package, it infers that you can only save your work to the Via web site archives and NOT to your hard disk. Therefore, treat this message as a warning rather than a suggestion to install it.

 

[amigacooke]

I did find this in the documentation though.

1. Click Publish. A message informs you whether or not you are successful. Note: If you close 3DVIA Shape without publishing your 3D model, you are prompted to save your 3D model to your computer. To save your 3D model to your computer, click Later. To edit the model again, you must open 3DVIA Shape from your desktop.