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Hollywood, California, USA — Walkinside would not be
the 3D-visualization tool it is today without its star character. Similar to iconic stars — like
Mr. T, Cher, Madonna and Sting — he only needs one name to express the magnitude of his fame: Tony.
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| The Bee Gees would say, "You could tell by the way he uses his walk, he's a
woman's man. No time to talk." But fortunately Walkinside's Tony had the time to sit down for an interview
with Chris Borales. |
A long time ago, on a model of an offshore oil platform far, far away Tony stands tall and triumphant.
He has roamed the platform for hours, looking for ways to save an oil company time and money before the
platform is actually built. He has tested to see if all of the emergency exits are easily accessible.
He ensured that all building codes were being enforced. He saved the princess locked in the dungeon below.
With your help, he has done all this within a Walkinside model. Join Tony again as he walks you through
what is new in Walkinside 4.5.
Walkinside creates interactive 3D environments quickly and easily from your MicroStation design files.
You can, using Tony, inspect an entire facility and correct any design errors before breaking ground,
preventing costly change orders during construction. Civil design teams, with Tony as their spokesperson,
can present a proposed development project to the public without having to rely on single-vantage-point
videos. With Walkinside, they are able to present the project from every possible angle. I have heard
that Tony just loves this part of his job. He's such a people person.
Walkinside dramatically cuts down your time spent rendering complex 3D design files and ultimately speeds
up your project review workflow. For example, a file that would take 500 or more hours to render using
MicroStation alone, takes only seven minutes with Walkinside!
While walking through a Walkinside model, you can control Tony using your mouse and the arrow keys on
your keyboard. What Tony sees, you see. You can enjoy a first-person (through Tony's eyes) or
third-person (seeing Tony via a movable "camera" placed behind him) view of the 3D model.
I was lucky enough recently to get a chance to sit down and talk with Tony, the star of Walkinside,
and ask him about the latest developments and what he will be doing this summer.
Chris: The last few months have been very exciting for Walkinside. Can you tell me some of
the details?
Tony: Yes, the last few months have been crazy! With the release of Walkinside 4.5, my life
has consisted of interviews, press junkets, television appearances and awards shows. I even did
the commencement address for a small liberal arts college in rural Idaho.
Chris: It seems the release of Walkinside 4.5 has caused quite a commotion. Since MicroStation
Today readers are always begging for details, tell me a little bit about the release.
Tony: There are some pretty impressive features with this release. To start with, while creating movies,
the user can define a path for the camera to follow. In previous versions of Walkinside, users had to
rely on a very steady hand to create a smooth looking movie, as movies were created simply with the mouse
and arrow keys. Now, with this feature, users can define every step of the path before the movie is
created. The result is a perfectly smooth movie, every time.
Chris: That's great! What else?
Tony: There's just so much. Um, the "Spawn" command definitely deserves some attention.
Chris: I saw that movie, wasn't my favorite, although John Leguizamo's clown character was excellent.
Tony: No, not like the movie. What the "Spawn" feature does is allow users to take previously converted
3D Walkinside models and spawn, or place them inside their active model. Spawning is a bit like creating
something that grows inside something else, in this case, a design. As a result of this feature, creating
a model of a city would be very easy. Each building could be converted from MicroStation into Walkinside
separately and at a later time be spawned into a complete city!
Chris: This must be great for guys with complex models. They can break down the complex model into
several components. This cuts down on long conversion times for large models as well, right?
Tony: Absolutely! With Walkinside 4.5, models can also be clipped.
Chris: Clipped? Please explain.
Tony: Imagine slicing a model in half with an imaginary knife and creating a cross section of a 3D model.
This feature goes over really well with plant designers who want to see a cross section of their plants.
Civil engineers also benefit from being able to see cross sections of bridges and roadways.
Chris: That's exciting! What else? Our readers want to know!
Tony: There is one other feature that is very exciting, but it puts me in an awkward position as the
"star". Since the beginning of Walkinside I have been the star of the show, but in
Walkinside 4.5, I now have a supporting cast, so to speak.
Chris: A supporting cast?
Tony: With Walkinside 4.5, users have the ability to substitute me with other objects.
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| The newest release of Walkinside allows you to replace Tony with a car or other mobile object. |
Chris: Impressive! How are you dealing with the other cast members?
Tony: It took a little getting used to, but now I've come to terms with it. This is a great feature
for all Walkinside users. Imagine that instead of walking through a model with me, they can
drive a car or fly a plane! Users can drive through a model of a city or a proposed roadway. They
can fly into an airport and taxi the plane to the terminal. This feature gives users an increased
level of reality that was previously unavailable to them. Driving a boat through water is possible!
You can roll a shopping cart through a model of a grocery store! The possibilities are endless! I'm
willing to forego my starring role for a feature like this. This is something truly exciting!
Chris: I can't wait to try it! Tony, thank you so much for talking to us about the latest
release of Walkinside. Wow, this is an impressive release! What are you planning to do this summer?
Tony: After all of the buzz dies down with Walkinside 4.5, I'm going to take a trip to Orlando
with the wife and kids. It's going to be a much needed vacation.
Call now!
For more information on Walkinside
contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9745 or e-mail 9745@AxiomInt.com.
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