© 1999-2015 by Peter Eastman

Table of Contents

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User Manual

This is a comprehensive guide to Art of Illusion, covering every aspect of the program. It is quite large (over 10 MB), but if you plan to do any serious work with Art of Illusion, you will definitely want to download a copy.

Manual for version 3.2.1 by Lucas S. et al based on work by Julian MacDonald
last updated 2023/11/14 Original document
This is a comprehensive guide to Art of Illusion, covering every aspect of the program. It is quite large (about 14 MB), but if you plan to do any serious work with Art of Illusion, you will definitely want to download a copy. Primarily still based on the 2.4/3.0 manual by Julian MacDonald but updated by Lucas S, Petri Ihalainen, and Peter Eastman
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Tutorials

These tutorials focus on various aspects of Art of Illusion, walking you through simple projects or covering them in more depth than the user manual. If you are interested in writing some more tutorials, please let me know!

Modelling an Hourglass by Rick van der Meiden
last updated 12/26/11 Original document
This tutorial walks you through the process of modelling, texturing, and rendering a basic scene. This is a good place to start if you are new to Art of Illusion.
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Tutorial Videos by Thijs Bruins Slot
last updated 4/4/13 Original document
This collection of videos introduces many different features of Art of Illusion and demonstrates how to use them. This is another good place to start for new users.
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Working With Triangle Meshes by Peter Eastman
last updated 12/14/06 Original document
A description of triangle meshes in Art of Illusion: what they are, what you can do with them, and some of the tools available for creating and editing them.
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The Procedural Texture and Material Editors by Peter Eastman
last updated 12/22/13 Original document
A detailed tutorial on how to create procedural Textures and Materials using the Procedure Editor.
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The Boolean Modelling Tool by Duncan Hawes
last updated 2/12/02 Original document
This tutorial gives an overview of the Boolean Modelling tool, and walks you through the process of creating a simple object with it.
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The Array Tool by Rick van der Meiden
last updated 2/12/02 Original document
A detailed description of the Array Tool.
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Creating a Human Figure by Julian MacDonald
last updated 8/20/02 Original document
This tutorial describes how to create a human figure. It makes a good practical introduction to modelling with subdivision surfaces, and some of the techniques that work best with them.
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Modelling, Texturing and Animating a Hand by Julian MacDonald
last updated 8/20/02 Original document
This is an advanced tutorial which walks you through the process of modelling, texturing, and animating a human hand.
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Modelling a Screwdriver by Julian MacDonald
last updated 9/27/03 Original document
This tutorial shows you how to make a photorealistic model of a screwdriver. It demonstrates how much detail needs to go into even a simple object if you want it to look truly realistic.
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Animating a Walk Cycle by Julian MacDonald
last updated 6/30/02 Original document
This advanced tutorial describes how to accomplish a particularly important type of animation: a walking person.
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Animating Vehicles by Julian MacDonald
last updated 9/30/02 Original document
This tutorial describes how to create another common type of animation: a moving car.
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Scripting

Art of Illusion includes a built in scripting language. It offers nearly infinite power to extend the program or define new types of objects.

Introduction to Scripting by Peter Eastman
last updated 12/7/13 Original document
This is an introduction to scripting in Art of Illusion. It teaches you how to use the Groovy scripting language to create "intelligent" objects and to add new commands to the program.
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API Documentation by Peter Eastman
last updated 11/25/13 Original document
Javadoc style documentation for the classes contained in ArtOfIllusion.jar. This is an essential resource for anyone writing scripts.
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Programming documentation

These tutorials are only relevant for people who want to write plugins to add new features to Art of Illusion.

Writing Plugins for Art of Illusion by Peter Eastman
last updated 1/18/14 Original document
An overview of the API for writing Plugins.
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Writing Procedural Texture and Material Plugins by Peter Eastman
last updated 1/15/01 Original document
A detailed tutorial on how to create procedural Textures and Materials using the Plugin API.
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