Realsoft 3D is a modeling and raytracing application created by Realsoft Graphics Oy. Originally called Real 3D, it was developed for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

computer and later also for

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

Irix IRIX (, ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS architecture, MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with Berkeley Software Distribution, BSD extensio ...

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It was initially written in 1983 on Commodore 64 by two Finnish brothers, Juha and Vesa Meskanen. The development of Real 3D was really started in 1985, as Juha Meskanen started his studies at the Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Finland. Juha's brother Vesa joined the development and abandoned his university career to start the Realsoft company in 1989.

Versions history

Real 3D v1

The first commercial Real 3D version was released on Amiga. It used ''

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (often shortened as "iff") is paraphrased by the biconditional, a logical connective between statements. The biconditional is true in two cases, where either both ...

REAL'' for its objects. It featured constructive solid geometry, support for smooth curved quadric surfaces and a ray-tracer for photo realistic rendering. 1.2 was released in 1990, was already distributed in several European countries. 1.3 was released early 1991. 1.4 was released in December 1991. It was the last version derived from the original Real3D design. Despite small version number increments, v1, v1.2 and v 1.3 were all major releases, with new manuals and packaging.

Real 3D v2

It was released in 1993. Version 2 was redesigned with a new

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

base. It introduced groundbreaking features - booleans, CSG primitives, b-spline curves,

physically based animation Physically based animation is an area of interest within computer graphics concerned with the simulation of physically plausible behaviors at interactive rates. Advances in physically based animation are often motivated by the need to include compl ...

simulation, morph-based animation techniques and phenomenal rendered output. It took full advantage of the multi-tasking abilities of the Amiga - allowing the user to continue editing a scene on another window while it rendered. Microsoft Windows version was released in 1994.

Real 3D v3

Version 3.5 was released in 1996. It was the last version based on v2 architecture. Realsoft had started a new major development project around 1994. The project involved a complete software rewrite, new object-oriented source code, platform independent design, modularity, and adoption of several other state-of–art development methods. Amiga version 3.5, which is also the last version for this system, is now freely available by AmiKit.

Realsoft 3D v4

Version 4 was released year 2000. Beginning with this release, Realsoft renamed the product to ''Realsoft 3D''. It was released on multiple platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Linux and SGI Irix. 4.1 trial version was released in 2001-02-21. Retail version was released in 2001-05-25. 4.2 upgrade was released in 2001-07-19. Linux (Intel, AMD) and SGI

(MIPS) versions were released in 2001-07-24. 4.5 was released in 2002-10-23, which introduced for example caustics and

global illumination Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aest ...

rendering features. Linux version was released in 2002-11-03. Irix version of 4.5/SP1 (build 26.41b) was released in 2003-06-03.

Realsoft 3D v5

Windows version was released in 2004-11-15. It expanded the feature set in all program areas. It was also an important visual leap forward supporting full-color 32 bit icons. Service pack 1 (5.1) for Windows was released in 2005-02-03. Service Pack 2 (5.2) for Windows was released in 2005-10-02. Service Pack 3 (5.3) for Windows was released in 2006-11-01. Mac OS X version was released in 2006-12-18. Service Pack 4 (5.4) was released in 2007-05-01. Irix version was released in 2007-12-16.

Realsoft 3D v6

Windows version was released in 2007-12-18. It introduced powerful parametric tools for plant modeling and building construction. 64-bit platforms were supported. Service pack 1 (6.1) for Windows was released in 2008-05-15. Linux version was released in 2008-07-01. Mac OS X version was released in 2008-11-11.

Realsoft 3D v7

It was announced in 2008-12-13, with projected release date between 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2009. It was released on December 7, 2009, for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows.

Realsoft 3D v8

It was released on 2018-12-06, for Linux, Windows and macOS in 2019-12-24 the upgrade was released.

Reception

Jeff Paries of Computer Graphics World claimed version 4 is an excellent addition to your toolbox at a reasonable price.Realsoft 3D Version 4
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References

External links

*{{Official website, www.realsoft.com
Render Daemon, additional resources Realsoft 3DForum, Image galleryinfo siteAminet Real3D tracesRealsoft 3D Wiki
3D graphics software Amiga raytracers 1990 software