Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1992 - 37

Although these windows present an
impressive amounr of dataconstanrly updated as a model is
constructed-the user need not pay
roo much arrention ro the data
displayed. (At least, I don'r.)
2. The View Window, where objects are
drawn in one of six possible views
(top, left, right, ftont, back, bottom),
all accessible by keyboard shorrcuts.
3. The Walk View Window, which
shows a three-dimensional rendering
of objects as they are created. When
work on any of the drawing windows
is accomplished, the Walk View
immediately-almost-updates the
changes. When this window is
selected (Figure 7-and only one
window can be active at one time) a
different palene appears at the left of
the screen that gives new options
both for viewing and for modifying
what has been consrructed. When
this window is active, the user can
move in and around the model with
the cursor alone; no key srrokes are
necessary.

Walk Through models are consrrucred as
composites using primary forms known
as primitives: cubes, cones, cylinders,
pyramids, prisms, spheres, hemispheres.
After a basic form is consrructed, it can
be modified in several ways: by grouping
primitives inro complex units, by
changing the nature of the object's
surface (from opaque ro rransparent or
rranslucent), by placing openings of any
shape and size in an objen's surface so
that inrerior spaces of the object are
revealed, or by using a knife rool ro slice
off sections of an object ro create new
asymmerrical ones.
Virrus includes with the basic
program a number of librariescommon objects such as tables, chairs,
lamps, etc., which are nothing more than
various primitives grouped inro
recognizable forms. In addition, Virrus
regularly sends ro registered users
additional libraries of new objects.
Designers can also create and save their
own composite objects as library items.
Models can be viewed as monochrome-shaded images (Figures 1 and 2),
or can be displayed in color. It is also
possible ro view and print screen images
as line drawings (Figures 3-5). (Selecting
rhis larrer option speeds up the screen
refresh; that is, when the screen redraws
its image after additions or changes ro
objects are made.)
In the normal mode of view (shaded
objects), lighting of WalkThrough models
can be either ambient or focused. At the

\TIRT S

'VALKTHROUGH
In a time when the cost of services,
materials, and equipmenr rises
constanrly, it is a refreshing change
to have a producr that continuously
drops in price. Walk Through began
in the first months of 1991 close ro
$1000. Despite winning a
prestigious award from MacUser
magazine for "Breakthrough
Product of the Year," by September
of the same year the cost had
dropped significantly; the street
price-thar which discount mailorder houses charge-is presently
$289 (Educational groups, in fact,
can buy the program for as lime as
$189.) Virtus ships a demonstration disk to prospective buyers
for $15.
Inq uiries concerning WalkThrough should be addressed to:
Virtus Corporations
117 Edinburgh South, Suite 204
Cary, NC 27511
919-467-9700

-DRP
present time, however, cast shadowssuch as those available in other threedimensional programs-are not possible,
although Virtus has plans for extended
lighting features in future releases of the
program. Even now, ~'(Ialk Through has
the ability ro interact with other
programs-in particular Specular's
/nfini-D-which do allow cast shadows
and more advanced lighting possibilities.
In future releases Virtus and Specular
plan closer interface exchanges making it
advisable for designers ro consider
adopting both programs.
Random selection of Walk Through
views is apt ro be a designer's choice
when working interactively with
direcrors or technicians. WalkThrough
has, however, built inro its program the
option ro save a sequence of views as a
form of animation. This possibility
allows the designer ro give programmed
rours of projects in progress and ro point
out advantages or shortcomings of a
proposed design.
For instance, all possible sighrline
conflicts can be recorded, shown ro a
direcror or a technical sraff, and resolved
before final working plans are drawn. An
important feature of WalkThrough's
animation program is that it roo is
interactive: Even while a saved sequence

of views is running, the actlon can be
sropped and changes made, after which
the run of the sequence resumes. All
changes become part of the saved
sequence; when replayed, the changes are
incorporated into the sequence.
Whereas Walk Through's capabili ties
are more evident in architectural or
scenographic design, they are applicable
ro other mediums. For instance, cinema
or television camera positions-as well as
rracking sequences-can be ploned on
exact floor plans, allowing direcrors or
technical staff ro study the consequences
of selected camera angles or traffic
patterns before actual equipmenr is
placed. Changes of camera angle or rrack
routes can be made on the computer
screen thus avoiding cosrly timeconsuming delays in shooting schedules.
While WalkThrough models can be
viewed in color on color monirors, color
printing remains an expensive option for
most. It is more likely that most
designers will print their work in the
default shaded view; shading can,
however, be turned off to provide black
and white line drawings. (These also
print our more quickly since shaded fills
take significantly more time on 300-dotper-inch printers.)
Although this program is not a
substitution for traditional model
making or scenographic rendering, it is
valuable at every step of the design
process. Most important of all,
WalkThrough allows designers and
direcrors ro participate in that ideal
relationship Peter Brook effectively
describes in his book, The Empt), Stage:
... a true theatre designer will
think of his designs as being all
the time in motion, in action ...
In other words, unlike the easel
painter, in twO dimensions, or
the sculptor in three, the designer
thinks in terms of the fourth
dimension, the passage of timenot the stage picture, but the
stage moving picture. A film
ediror shapes his material after
the event: the stage designer is
often like the ediror of an AliceThrough-the-Looking-Glass film,
curring dynamic material in
shapes, before this material has
yet come into being. The later he
makes his decisions, the bener.

Darwin Reid Payne is an adjunct
professor of scenograph)' at Wake Forest
Universit), Ilnd the Iluthor of The
Scenographic Imagination Ilnd Theory
and Craft of the Scenographic Model.
TD&T

1992 SUMMER

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1992