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Bastion Studios is giving its toy soldiers marching orders into the digital world.

The year-old company, which is based in Quebec City, makes historically accurate figurines for playing war games. But Bastion also creates digital replicas of the soldiers so video game designers can integrate them into their products — allowing, for example, remote play using Apple iPhones.

Such figures were traditionally hand-sculpted, generally in clay. Then a mould would be made from the clay original. To create digital equivalents, workers would have had to scan the physical models, says Frederick Forest, Bastion Studio's president.

Better to create them on a computer.

The company turned to three-dimensional modelling software. Using FreeForm, from Woburn, Mass.-based SensAble Technologies Inc., a Bastion designer can sculpt a model in virtual clay by manipulating an electronic stylus. The company then sends the resulting data file directly to a mould maker.

Just as manipulating a computer mouse moves an onscreen cursor, the stylus produces actions on a computer screen. But in this case the movement is three dimensional, and thanks to technology known as haptic touch, the designer actually "feels" the clay being worked on. Haptic technology can give a user feedback such as resistance or vibration, making the sculpting process feel more natural. SensAble grew out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

The FreeForm software and input device costs between $6,000 to $28,000 (U.S.) depending on features, says Joan Lockhart, SensAble's vice-president of sales and marketing.

Mr. Forest says Bastion's setup, including a high-powered Windows PC, cost around $40,000. "It's quite an investment," he says, "but like any investment we have to look at the return we get from it."

Three-dimensional design tools that simulate physical sculpting are an emerging genre, says Kathleen Maher, an analyst specializing in digital content creation and computer-aided design at Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, Calif.

Other tools that were designed for video animation, such as Pixologic Inc.'s ZBrush and Autodesk Inc.'s Mudbox, may also be used in industrial design, Ms. Maher says.

One limitation, however, is that the complex calculations required to turn hand movements into changes in a digital model can cause a slight lag between the user's action and the result. This makes the process feel less natural, Ms. Maher says.

Mr. Forest says that as with any development software, it takes time to get used to FreeForm and learn to use it effectively.

Three-dimensional modelling without such innovative interfaces is increasingly accessible to smaller businesses.

Sport Systems Corp., based in Waterloo, Ont., uses SolidWorks to design boards that surround hockey rinks. The 35-employee company previously used Autodesk's AutoCAD, which produced traditional two-dimensional drawings, says Chris Henhoeffer, senior design engineer at Sport Systems. With SolidWorks, which comes from SolidWorks Corp. in Concord, Mass., designers can see exactly what their designs will look like.

By feeding data directly from SolidWorks to an industrial robot that machines the parts, Sport Systems has streamlined its manufacturing process. The new technology has helped reduce the time from drawings to a finished order to 450 hours from 1,200, the company says.