Speaking of home renovations, I had the idea that I would do a 3D mockup of what we’re planning to do with our bathroom, you know, to get an better feel for what would fit where etc.  The first problem I ran into is that most 3D applications don’t use feet or inches (or meters and centimeters), they use “units”.  That sounds okay on the face of it, but when you get to the details, it just didn’t work well for me.

For instance, say I have a wall that is 72 inches long, or 6 feet.  Do I use 6 units, or 72 of them?  I end up with either a huge construct, or a tiny one.  I didn’t spend a lot of time worrying over this, since I knew that Google Sketchup used conventional measurements, so I went and grabbed a copy of it.

Sketchup, like all software, has a slight learning curve, but nothing horrid.  That said, there are some glaringly obvious problems with it.  Let’s say I’m drawing a wall, so I make a cube right?  I then want that cube to be 6 feet wide, sounds simple doesn’t it?  It isn’t.  When you insert the length you want the wall, Sketchup marks where that would be in your 3D space, instead of just making the wall 6 feet long.  Stupid.

Anyway, it’s still a great tool to use for home renovation or construction, but if any of you know of an easier way to do this, please please let me know!

Check out the trailer here.  The Creature Creator, where you can create and upload (and presumably play) your own Spore Creature is a free download for a restricted version.  It’s fun!  I took a video of mine (and you can automatically upload to YouTube in game).

I got distracted today with the morph++ injections for Victoria 4.2.  I didn’t work on the skin at all, so the tint isn’t what I would have chosen.  I did change the eyes from the default to the ones I made for the Pictsy.

Pictsy

Done in AC3D, Daz Studio, and Photoshop.

Check out Otoy, hopefully something that we’ll be seeing in the mainstream virtual graphics world soon.

OTOY is an 800k web plug-in that enables cinematic quality 3D rendering in a browser with compressed content streams that load in seconds. OTOY web browser applications include next generation games, 3D virtual communities, instant messaging and social networking applets, and application and desktop sharing tools. OTOY can seamlessly mix HTML, Flash, Java and other rich media content within its core rendering and script engines - enabling unique and powerful web applications that can be built around existing web sites and services.

I’m not sure what all these tools do, but I have to say, what I’m seeing is very impressive.

This has me waiting anxiously for my beta testing account:

Aviary is a suite of web-based applications (RIAs) for people who create. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for artists of all genres.

Sign up to beta test our tools, read more about the tools on our product blog or get to know us on our idea blog.

I want in! UPDATE: Aviary is also going to be using digital camera fingerprinting! (more…)

What the heck is UV Mapping, and why do you need to know?  UV Mapping is a precise way for you to apply a texture to a 3D object.   You can spend hours getting a model exactly as you want it, but without textures it loses its impact.  I’ll be using UV Mapper Pro for this, which also has a wonderful free version for download here (you want the Classic version).  Let’s start with a simple example. (more…)

Avatar Databank

I’m not all that familiar with trueSpace, but from my quick look it’s pretty slick. Get your free download here (registration required).

The workspace looks good, fairly intuitive, I’ve managed to manipulate my test object, change the texture, morph it a bit. So far so good, and it’s FREE!

It looks like it has a pretty extensive UV Editor, which is certainly worth taking a look at.

trueSpace