Aladdin 4d review
Last updated on may 23, 2008.
aladdin 5.0 by novadesign, the latest available version.
Even though aladdin 5 was released a long time ago, it is still the latest version available.
The most noticeable improvement, is the new interface, it gives aladdin a new look.
Aladdin now looks like a completely different program, but under the hood it is still the same.
All the familiar tools from the oldest aladdin versions, they are all still there.
The new aladdin version, it does not include a dongle/hardware lock, so is not copy protected.
Something good about the new aladdin: You can install and run a4d (v5)
on the pc under emulation (I used amiga forever). I used a p 2gh + 1gig ram.
I loaded the spacescene (from the newsletters) and was able to render in 24 bit as fast as a few seconds per frame.
I found a few glitches with a4d on emulation:some scenes do not load the textures when opening a drawing.
However, aladdin is able to load every project from the newsletters, fine and including the textures.
A way to work around this error, is to make the drawing in amiga using an older version of a4d.
Then load the project on the pc/a4d/emulation, it should be able to load the drawing with the textures.
Also, the scale tool seems not to work. Maybe Discreet will optimize a4d for emulation to make it run better.
The best things about a4d on emulation: render a complex drawing in just a couple seconds, save as 24 bit, preview really fast, and a fast editor for working/modeling.
You could forever use your amiga, to make beautiful aladdin drawings, then transfer to pc/a4d/emu to render at incredible speed.
Something I would like to see in future aladdin versions: tools for character animation.
Something like the 'bones'in lightwave.
Now that Discreet is at the helm of aladdin development, let's show our support for them.
Let's build the aladdin community, and share our projects with each other.
Aladdin 4d rating: excellent
Team Apollo/Amiga is: rednova
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