TOKYO (MacHouse) – I used to use Maxon‘s Cinema 4D just in order to turn application screenshots into nice pictures so that I could post them at Mac App Store. Cinema 4D is a great application. It’s quite expensive and difficult to learn how to use, though. I don’t think I even know how to use it any more. Well, I have a better idea. How about developing a new application like it? Maybe not… It could take me years to develop something like it. Yet, I’ve managed to submit a new desktop application similar to Cinema 4D at the slightest level to Mac App Store a few hours ago. This new release is called Showcase 123D.

Tom Bluewater

Tom Bluewater

Showcase 123D lets you easily turn a simple picture into a box with the image at front. Drag and drop one or more pictures directly onto the scene canvas. Give a picture in the list a depth. Then rotate the picture box about the X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis. A 3D application can be any easier than Showcase 123D. Use the light source effectively to shed a light on picture objects. Use or not use the floor to show reflections of picture objects. These features are all made possible by the SceneKit framework.  

Available at Mac App Store

Features

1. Drag and drop multiple images directly onto the scene canvas.
2. There is no limitation as to how many pictures you can add to the canvas except that each of them must be at least 64 px x 64 px in dimensions.
3. Change the colors of the back of the picture and the rest.
4. Adjust chamfer (joints between sides) roundness.
5. Save the entire scene as a picture with a graphic format of your choice (BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, TIFF).
6. Use the On check to hide the corresponding picture box.
7. Use the light source effectively to give picture boxes a dramatic light effect.
8. Lay a floor to show reflections of picture boxes.
9. Save current progress as a document file for this application. Double-click on a document file to recover progress.
10. The application supports the hit test, which means that the user can select a picture box with their mouse pointer and move it freely around the X-axis and Y-axis.
11. The application supports the fullScreen mode.
12. The application supports the retina screen. (tested with 2014 2.6 GHz 13″ MacBook Pro)
13. Languages: English only.
14. Application file size: 14.9 MB.

System requirements

1. 10.9 (not tested), 10.10 (tested with 10.10.5), 10.11 (tested with 10.11.1), 10.12 (tested with 10.12.5)
2. 64-bit system

Limitations

1. The size of the scene canvas directly depends on the size of user’s computer screen, and the application does not put the scene canvas in a scroll view.
2. A picture that the user imports to the scene must have at least 64 px x 64 px in dimensions.

Version history

Version 1.0.6 (Released on August 12, 2017)

1. Fix: When the user changed the chamfer value manually, the corresponding object rotated around the z-axis instead.

Version 1.0.5 (Released on August 7, 2017)

1. Fix: The application saved a blank image to disk under macOS 10.12 Sierra.

Version 1.0.4 (Released on February 21, 2016)

1. Fix: When the user opened a document file for this application, it did not restore the on/off checkbox button state correctly in the list under the lower pane.
2. If the on/off checkbox is turned off, the application disables the change colors tab for the corresponding picture.
3. After the user chose to change box colors, some menu commands became disabled.
4. Fix: The minimum image size that the user could import was set to 128 px x 128 px.

Trial/Demo version

Click here to download a trial version. This trial version will remain fully functional for 7 days, starting from the very moment you first launch it.






Video tutorial

There is no video tutorial at this time.






Showcase 123D is a product of Tom Bluewater.
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