I purchased trueSpace 1.0 when it was released . I knew of it’s existence as an Amiga user but didn’t purchase it until it was released for MS Windows. I started using trueSpace for Trade Show Displays on a part time basis with my personal business in 1992.

Five years ago I left my day job and went into my business full time. I do contract work for various clients. My main jobs include trade show displays, identity creation, and concept visualization.

Originally, I chose trueSpace as my main 3D application because of the unique interface. I relate

Stephen showing character rigging in 7.5

A real-time abstract object by Stephen

Another thing that is fun & rewarding is the direct communication with the Caligari Developers. Having a question answered, concerns addressed or suggestion acknowledged is great!

The hard work part for me is sometimes a beta release happens when I’m swamped with my own work. Since I have my own business there’s no one to crack the whip (except my clients of course). So there have been times when I’ve had to choose between finishing a job, or checking out a new beta (I usually chose the latter!). But luckily, being an insomniac helps in that department.

Stephen: I think (in no particular order), the Workspace modeling tools, the UV editor, character posing & animation, displacement mapping, hair/plants/trees, V-Ray rendering in the Workspace, the new library system, floating/docked windows, improved real-time DX9 appearance & alpha, and the general workflow and speed improvements.

Stephen applies two layers of hair to a model

trueSpace7.5's ease of use for skeletons is
not limited to bipeds as Stephen shows here!

Stephen: In earlier versions of trueSpace I had tried character posing and animation to learn the workflow and to be honest the results were less than satisfying. When I purchased an upgrade offered inclusion of Motion Studio I found it easier to use than the native bones, but without any real purpose in mind I gave up fairly quickly.

Working with the current betas I've found it very easy to do the initial setup that had stopped me in previous attempts. The process is very intuitive, and I can now rig a simple character in 10 to 15 minutes!

Stephen: I have already incorporated the real-time display of trueSpace & truePlay into my work. Now my clients can view a 3D scene instead of just a static image.

This gives them a better understanding of complex concepts & structures. Also the use of the shared space is very interesting to me, and has many possiblities to explore.

I plan to expand on this with motion and interaction

A real-time forest scene by Stephen

Tom: Was beta testing more fun or hard work for you?

David: It can actually be both, fun when new features pop up that are awesome leading to lots of experimentation and sometimes the imagination just goes wild. Hard work also catching any problems from the revisions, sometimes things just don't go right.

Tom: What did you enjoy most about being on the beta team?

David: There are too many to list! First and foremost are the outstanding people there, from Roman and all the Caligari staff

David's real-time metal and glass shaders

David's video of the real-time shaders in action

Tom: Any favorite things to test?

David: On this round it has to be shaders, DX9 shaders to be exact. I really believe the trueSpace7 series has a very accessible and powerful DX shader system, which I am finding easy to work with.

The real-time renderer gives you instant feedback which allows rapid progression of a scene. I also found I can render to large resolutions including HDRI file output which I can edit externally and get spectacular results.

Tom: Anything surprising about how the beta testing went?

David: The utterly rapid progression from one beta to the next, bug fixes and advancements - all I can say is frantic pace!

Tom: What is your favorite improvement from this round of development?

David: Animation abilities that keep on getting more and more powerful, OUTSTANDING!

Tom: When the users get the software, what do you think will be their favorite?

Bump and normal maps work with David's reflectance
shaders too

Heidi demos soft shadows

Tom: Was beta testing fun for you, or hard work?

Heidi: Oh, definitely fun! Getting to try out all the new features is really great.

Tom: What was the most enjoyable part of being on the the beta team?

Heidi: Watching the product evolve as feedback comes in regarding workflow and ease of use. Having a beta-testing forum is really nice. There's open discussion between beta testers and with Roman and the programmers on features and preferences. The result is that there's no question about the status of the beta or what issues are at the forefront.

Tom: What is your favorite thing that you've made using the beta software?

Heidi: The glass shoes. I think that was beta 10 or 11.

Tom: What was the biggest surprise for you in beta testing?

Heidi: I was really surprised at how quickly the programmers respond when bugs or concerns are posted. That and there's a new build to test every week. It's a very fluid process and much more responsive than I expected it would be.

Heidi achieves amazing results from V-Ray

Heidi's render looks good enough to eat

Heidi: I think they're going to be really surprised at how user-friendly trueSpace7.5 is. It's got more features and a lot of improvements over the original 7.1, but it's a lot 'friendlier' to work with.

I know my reaction when I first fired up trueSpace7.5 was that it had a completely different feel to it than 7.1 - it was FUN! Feature-wise, I think people are going to go for the soft brush and the upgraded animation tools as their favorites.

Tom: What was your least favorite beta testing moment?

Heidi: When I found a little bug that not only closed the application, but also shut down my computer. That was scary. The programmers' response was that I'd had a 'good' crash (hehehe).

Tom: Would you beta test for Caligari in the future?

Heidi: Absolutely. Everyone involved has been friendly and supportive of one another. I've really learned a lot from being able to participate and see how the software evolves. I really
appreciate Roman inviting me to join in :)

Heidi adds hair to the Millenium edition horse

Real-time capture from Marcel's scene

Tom: Is beta testing fun, or hard work?

Marcel: Definitely fun! To test out new features, and to see how bugs are solved, makes working a pleasure.

Tom: What has been most enjoyable about being part of the beta team?

Marcel: The friendly working atmosphere with other testers and with the developers - receiving help with problems, the understanding shown when we make feature requests , etc.

Marcel: First it was rendering and the V-Ray functions, but with the time the new real-time DirectX possibilities and the Link Editor has become a fantastic thing. The new real-time view is much more accurate and the textures look sharp and clean, there are no distortions anymore like in the earlier versions of trueSpace.

This means you can create real-time worlds where you can walk in and watch, and build the world just as if you were living in it. Building - modeling and placing objects - with real-time shadows is also a great help.

Real-time walkthrough of Marcel's house scene

Marcel's real-time shader on his imported model

Tom: What was the biggest surprise for you in beta testing?

Marcel: Working with the Link Editor Shader system. It was amazing to find that you can create things of your own, or extend and build upon items made by others (or just work with them if you don't want to build upon them), and to see it all work in the end.

It was a great emotional moment, at least for someone who has no feel for scripting and coding :D

Tom: Would you beta test for Caligari again?

Marcel: Of course! It's fun to torture Developers with feature requests and bug reports :D Just kidding ;)

The answer is most definitely 'Yes', at any time. The developers did a great job and from my point of view were always open to any suggestion.

Marcel's real-time garden scene