VistaPro explained

Developer:Hypercube Engineering, Monkey Byte Development
Latest Release Version:4.2
Latest Release Date:2005
Operating System:AmigaOS, MS-DOS, Windows, MacOS
Platform:Amiga, IBM PC, Macintosh
Genre:Scenery generator
License:Proprietary

VistaPro is 3D scenery generator for the Amiga, Macintosh, MS-DOS, and Microsoft Windows. It was written by John Hinkley as the follow-up to the initial version, Vista.[1] The about box describes it as "a 3-D landscape generator and projector capable of accurately displaying real-world and fractal landscapes." It was published by Virtual Reality Labs and developed by Hypercube Engineering.[2] [3] The latest versions were published and developed by Monkey Byte Development.[4]

Graphics Generation

Vista operates similarly to a ray tracer in that light paths are generated. The user specifies light sources, and camera angles. The ground may be colored to create different ground styles. Vista has water, tree and cloud effects, making some images almost photorealistic. The ground itself may either be generated from a random (or user inputted) number, or it may use DEM landscape files for real-world views, the software having come with a number of maps of Mars and Earth.[5] [6]

Vista can load and save output images in PCX, BMP, JPG and Targa file formats. PCX files can also be imported as elevations and ground colors to allow third-party creation of landscapes in other image editors.

Trees can be placed on landscapes as either 2D or 3D objects. In 2D, the trees always face the camera and are fast to generate. 3D trees are created using fractals and can be given a variable bending of the branches to make them look more complicated.

Releases

For Amiga:

For MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows:

For Macintosh:

Compatibility

The Amiga version of Vista works on all models of Amiga, however due to the low processor speeds generation of landscapes take a long time to complete. It was not unusual for a landscape generation to take several hours on a stock 68000 based computer. Later versions, for 32-bit Amigas, support the MC68881/68882 FPU, speeding up rendering considerably when such a chip is present.

The PC version runs in MS-DOS for the earlier versions, and from 4.00 onwards it runs on all versions of 32-bit Microsoft Windows.

Popular culture

Its most famous use was for the landscape used in the opening credits of The Chart Show. This sequence involved a silver spaceship flying through a series of valleys that had been generated using VistaPro (Vista did not support generating animations until the Pro version was released). Vista was also used (both PC and Amiga versions) for the book by Arthur C. Clarke called The Snows of Olympus, a picture book about terraforming Mars.[25] [26] [27] The 1994 album Landscapes by Susumu Hirasawa's experimental group Shun was inspired by and used images created in the software.[28]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: April 1992 . Coverdisk 33a (Amiga Format Collection no. 1) . Amiga Format . 33 .
  2. News: Broomfield . Mat . July 1991 . Topographic Oceans and Fractal Phantasies . 30–31, 33 . CU Amiga .
  3. Web site: Williams . Will . 2017 . Counting Virtual Sheep – Stepping Into Other Worlds . 2022-12-16 . countingvirtualsheep.com . en-US.
  4. News: October 4, 2001 . VistaPro For Mac Released . The Mac Observer .
  5. Web site: Vista Pro 1 rendered image of Olympus Mons caldera . Facebook.
  6. Web site: Tharsis region, render by John Hinkley using Vista .
  7. Web site: Tucker . Richard . digital landscapes . 2023-03-21 . Richard Tucker FRPS.
  8. News: van Hove . Karel . July 1992 . Vista Pro 2.0 . 21–22 . Amiga Magazine . 16 .
  9. Web site: Vista Pro 3.0 . The Centre for Computing History.
  10. News: September 1997 . Coverdisk: Vista Pro 3.0 Full Program . Amiga Magazine .
  11. Web site: Brunet . David . 2021 . Dossier : Histoire de l'Amiga - année 1993 . Obligement.
  12. News: Moreu . Gonzalo . July 1994 . VISTA PRO: Tutorial . Amiga World España . 56 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110128/http://encanta.avalonsoftware.org/idgaw/56/vistaprotut.php . 2016-03-04 .
  13. Web site: Latest Vistapro for Amiga. forum.amiga.org.
  14. Web site: Vistapro 1.x (DOS) . 2022-12-09 . WinWorld.
  15. Web site: Vistapro 3.x (DOS) . 2022-12-09 . WinWorld.
  16. Web site: Saint-Moulin . Benoît . September 24, 2016 . 3D landscapes and natural environments softwares . https://web.archive.org/web/20160924021338/http://www.tdt3d.com/articles_viewer.php?art_id=25 . 2016-09-24 . TDT3D - 3D Design, Visualization & Realtime.
  17. Web site: Vistapro 3.x (Win) . 2022-12-09 . WinWorld.
  18. Web site: Vistapro 4.x (Win) . 2022-12-09 . WinWorld.
  19. Web site: 2004 . VistaPro 4.11 Review . https://web.archive.org/web/20070406061235/http://www.creative-3d.net/vistapro.cfm . 2007-04-06 . Creative 3D.
  20. Web site: Vistapro 4.2 Create your own stunning, realistic 3D landscapes . 2022-12-09 . Software Informer . en-US.
  21. Web site: roninthetall . VistaPro Renderer 4.2 . Renderosity. https://web.archive.org/web/20220830115409/https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/vistapro-renderer-4-2/32145 . 2022-08-30 .
  22. Web site: VendorNation.com . 2004 . New VistaPro Renderer 4.2 Released! . https://web.archive.org/web/20220830120907/https://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/08/prweb149992.htm. dead. August 30, 2022.
  23. News: Cohen . Peter . August 22, 2001 . MonkeyByte.com releases Mac version of VistaPro . Macworld .
  24. 1990-01-01 . Landscape Generator Shootout Vista Pro 3.0 vs Bryce 1.0 . Shadis Magazine . 23 . 90.
  25. The Snows of Olympus - A garden on Mars, Gollancz, 1994
  26. Web site: 2017 . Arthur C. Clarke Book on the Terraforming of Mars - Vista rendered image of what Eos Chasma might look like in 2500 AD . Beastrabban\'s Weblog.
  27. Web site: 2008 . Sir Arthur C Clarke - Amiga User - Sci Fi Giant: RIP . 2022-12-16 . SPOnG . en.
  28. Web site: Olivas . Diego . Syun (旬): Landscapes (1994) . Found Sound . 31 July 2021.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "VistaPro".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.