Case Study Link: http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/

Which Electric Rain product did you use for this case study?

Swift 3D V3 Standalone 

What "real world use" led you to consider 3D as a solution?

For the Virtual Knee Surgery project, I needed to quickly represent a number of surgical tools from multiple angles. Being able to make the tools in 3D, and the ability to change angles/lighting and perspective quickly is what sold me on using Swift 3D for this project.

How did Swift 3D help you to meet your project goals?

I do everything in Flash...print design, graphics, animations, interactive, etc. So the ability to also design and lay out every single part of every single 3D tool (without having to rely on a complex 3d program) made me a very happy person. I'd just export each flash file as an .eps, import it into Swift 3D, and in minutes I'd have a finished, 3D illustration, which I could then import back into Flash to incorporate in the surgery.

What feature of Swift 3D did you find to be the most beneficial?

It's fast. I think the learning curve was something like 2 days or so. I just get lost when it comes to large 3D programs such as maya/3d studio and lightwave. The best part about Swift 3D is in its simplicity. It covers the basics, and it does what I need it to do.

What other software did you use to complete your project?

Flash MX 2004 Professional

What is the overall benefit of Swift 3D to your company?

My clients love visual simulations... When I can take a text script and turn it into a 3D interactive visual, it really nails down the experience for everyone involved on the project. For this specific project, the work I was able to do with Swift 3D helps thousands of high school students understand what it's like to operate on a knee. They can pick up the tools, slice away, and learn about knee surgery before viewing a live surgery.

What types of projects do you plan on using Swift 3D for in the future?

This project has already spurred a chain reaction. I have at least one more virtual surgery project in the next 2 months and possibly 3 more on the way for the rest of the year.

Any additional comments?

Thanks to Swift 3D in part for helping on the Virtual Knee surgery project, as it won the Flash Forward 2004 'Educational' category.

Note from Electric Rain: Voting begins soon...go to www.flashforward2007.com and vote for Living Children in the Flash Film Festival.