Drawing Features
Strata Design 3D CX makes it easy for 2D designers to get started in 3D. You can import 2D elements from applications like Adobe Illustrator or you can draw 2D objects directly in Strata Design 3D CX.

• 2D/3D Text
• 3D Primitives
• 2D Drawing Tools
• Bezier Lines/Regions

Modeling Features
Strata Design 3D CX offers an incredible array of modeling options. You can model using familiar Bezier splines, but now in 3D: traditional polys- but now with Quad Polysplines; MetaSurfaces to meld objects together; Extrude and Lathe; Boolean to combine or subtract: Skin; Mirror and more!

• Polyspline SDS
• Meld MetaSurfaces
• Bezier Surfaces
• Extrude
• Lathe
• Boolean
• Skin
• Polygonal Modeling
• Path Extrude
• Construction Objects
• Shy Objects
• Shape Instancing
• Replicate / Duplicate
• Object Manipulation
• Drop a Curve
• Hide Objects
• Fillet
• Thickness
• Mirror
• Hull Surface
• Deformation Lattice
• Grids – World, Custom & View
• Guides – Custom and Default
• Smooth Mesh
• Decimation (v7.5)
• Segment Edge Command (v7.5)
• Show Face Normals (v7.5)
• Point Snap

View Features
Unlike your favorite 2D applications, Strata Design 3D CX gives you the opportunity to examine artwork from any angle. With the power of 3D perspective comes new challenges for control. Strata 3D rises to the occasion with split-able views, multiple views, depth cueing and even special views for cameras and light sources.

• Familiar Interface
• Split Views
• Camera View
• Multi-Views
• Depth Cueing
• Image/Movie Backdrop
• Spotlight Views

Environment Features
Sometimes great design is about the “negative space” – the area that surrounds your 3D model. Strata Design 3D CX gives you many options and an easy to use interface to control your “environment”.

• Ground Plane
• Air Refraction
• Visible Backgrounds
• Reflective Backgrounds
• Atmosphere
• Gravity
• Wind

Lighting Features
You’ve heard of “looks good in any light” – now you’ve found the tool that gives you that elusive “any light”. Strata Design 3D CX gives you point lights, spotlights, global sun-style lights, environment based lightdomes, High Dynamic Range Image lighting, glowing surfaces, gels – all unlimited and fully controllable.

• Point Lights
• Spot Lights
• Directional Lights
• Glowing Surfaces
• Lightdome HDRI
• Intensity
• Host Object
• Soft Edges
• Ambient Light
• Gels
• Animatable Lights
• Overflow Handling
• Spotlight Window View
• Effects Applied to Light
• Direct Manipulation Interface

Special Effects Features
Any image or animation can be spiced up with special effects like Lens Flare, Auras, Particles – and the new Script FX. Add multiple effects, place effects on any object, even animate the effects.

• Lens Flares
• Particle Collision Detection
• Script FX
• Auras
• Caustics
• Fountain Effects
• Global Gravity Control
• Global Wind Force Control
• Global Air Control
• Fire & Smoke
• Hair
• Hotspots
• Pixie Dust

File Import/Export Features
Being able to talk to other programs in your design studio is an important issue. Strata Design 3D CX offers a number of options in this area.

• U3D (in)
• Collada (in/out)
• Illustrator/EPS (in)
• Photoshop PSD (in/out)
• STL (in/out version 7.5 only)
• XMM (out)
• Quicktime (in/out)
• PICT (in/out)
• Quicktime VR (out)
• TGA (in/out)
• TIFF (in/out)
• BMP (in/out)
• JPEG (in/out)
• 3DS (in)
• PDF (in)
• DXF (in/out)
• AVI (in/out)
• MiniCAD (in)
• Amapi (in/out)
• OBJ (in/out)
• VRML 1 & 2 (in/out)
• Flash SWF (out)
• True Type Fonts (in)
• Postscript Type Fonts (in)

Rendering Features
The core of what makes Strata Design 3D CX so good – and what it’s famous for – is the high quality rendering. Rendering is the process of taking the design you worked to put together and creating the final image.

• Toon
• Photons
• Raytracing
• Raydiosity
• Render to Layers
• Flat Shaded
• Hidden Line
• Outline
• Pointcloud
• Smooth Shaded
• Wireframe
• Scanline
• Transparency
• Alpha Channel
• Anti-Aliasing
• Oversampling
• Glow
• Reflectivity
• Blurry Transparency and Reflectivity
• Instance Rendering
• Anti-Matter Effect
• Field Rendering
• Atmospheric Effects
• Shadows
• MIP Mapping
• Soft Shadows
• Stereoscopic
• Custom Environments
• Specular Highlights
• Suspend Rendering
• Marquee Select Rendering

Animation Features
Strata Design 3D CX takes a simple approach to animation: Everything can be animated. And it takes a simple approach to controlling animation: keyframes, a timeline, and scripting. Even if you’ve never booted it up, you already know how to use it.

• Scripting
• Hierarchial
• Visible Paths
• Everything Time Variable
• Animation Preview
• Shatter
• Explode
• Jiggle
• Convert to Path Event-Based
• Cycle Back & Forth
• Key Frames
• Velocity Graphs
• Life Checkbox
• Align to Path
• IK (Inverse Kinematics)
• FK (Forward Kinematics)
• TCB, Spline & Natural Paths
• Proportional Event Scaling

Texturing Features
“What if” is as simple as drag-and-drop in Strata Design 3D CX. Select from the palette of hundreds of pre-made surface textures or make your own using features like live-linking to native Photoshop files – make a change in Photoshop and Strata Design 3D CX automatically updates the model surface. Older CX Version Photoshop plug ins require Adobe CS 4 or CS 5.x. Design 3D CX no longer includes Photoshop plug-ins, but maintains tight integration with Adobe Photoshop.

• Native UV Mapping
• Scripting
• Hierarchical
• Visible Paths
• Photoshop Linking
• Displacement
• Box Wrapper
• Normal Maps
• Mist
• Image Textures
• Corrosion
• Starfield
• Rainbow Reflection
• Mock Tile
• Shadow Catcher
• Ripples
• Solid Brick
• Silk
• Solid Candy
• Solid Concrete
• Solid Marble
• Solid Moonscape
• Solid Rock
• Solid Stone
• Solid Terrain
• Solid Wood
• Wildlife
• Mock Plank
• Surface, Solid & Volume
• Layer & Mix
• Fog
• Haze
• Clouds
• Burn UV
• New Conform to Mesh option; using Least Squares Conformal Maps technology (v7.5)
• LSCM unwrap (Conform, Conform Connected) Unwrap entire objects, single UV island or just selected polygons (v7.5)
• Pin UVs (Toggle pinned vertices on or off) (v7.5)
• Fit (to UV, U or V) (v7.5)
• Fit Each (to UV, U or V) (v7.5)
• Rotate Connected (to Grid, U or V) (v7.5)
• Move (to U, V; Center to U, V) (v7.5)
• Select Perimeter (v7.5)
• Select Pinned UVs (v7.5)
• UV Edge Seam Assignment (v7.5)
• Select UV Seam Edge (v7.5)

Camera Features
A great camera can make even the novice photographer look good. Just think of what Strata Design 3D CX will do for you with all these imaging options at your finger tips.

• Scripting
• Hierarchial
• Visible Paths
• QTVR
• Motion Blur
• Depth of Field
• Boom
• Pan
• Dolly
• Arc
• Pitch
• Yaw
• Roll
• Host Object
• Target Object
• Focal Distance
• View Angle
• Panorama Camera
• Spherical Camera
• Cubic Camera
• Shutter Speed
• Stereoscopic
• Live Window Updates