3D NEWs, Home Office Furniture
Download the free set of Utilities plugins from Craft Animations.
Craft CogWheels will allow you to rotate one wheel with the help of another. Anything can drive the cogs.
We also have five amazing new utilities for hooking things together. One of them is a plug-in for springs called Craft Suspension
The other three are
Pencil allows you to create 2D animations in a traditional handrawing style. Well it would be most useful to sketch you storyboard in 2D and then try and achieve the quality for your 3D animations. Pencil is an easy to use 2D animation Software.
Brazil based company ZQuatro has finally proved that Blender is capable of delivering high quality 3D TV Commercials. The artist responsible for the use of Blender on these productions is Lucio Cavalcanti. The post production of the commercials is made in After Effects and with the Blender Node system. You can check out Lucio`s Demo reel too, where he created a model of himself in Blender.
Speech Animator Pro is a Standalone Application which enables you to quickly convert your sound files into Speaking Characters. This is the 3rd new improved version of the Speech Animator Pro which have added functions such as
- 3DS MAX and MAYA import and user models animation.
- Speech mimicry automatic creation for one selected sound file.
- NONVERBAL animation generation
- Manual editing of a mimicry convenient mechanism
- Models personal settings
- MAX and MAYA export
Quest3D version 3.6 released
November 17, Leiden, The Netherlands, version 3.6 of Quest3D™ is now available from Quest3D resellers and the Quest3D website.
With the new version Act-3D™, the creators of Quest3D, introduce exciting features such as HDR rendering, water simulation, improved support for VR equipment, a better web plug-in and native export from 3D Studio MAX®
The new version is an exciting release for existing users or new users that are looking for a high quality real-time 3D solution. The new software further expands the possibilities for development of real-time 3D visualization, real-time 3D web pages, entertainment, architecture visualization, serious gaming and high end VR applications.
At a glance
“It’s safe to say this is the most stable release to date.” – says Remko Jacobs, Quest3D director and product manager. “We really took every effort to get as much information from the user community as we could and incorporated it in this new release.”
High dynamic range rendering allows for visual effects similar to a photograph or film. A post process effect simulates the effect of bright light sources interacting with the lens.
The water rendering system enables effects ranging from wild oceans to calm shallow puddles. The algorithms run almost entirely on the GPU which ensures optimal performance.
The 3D Studio MAX® plug-in provides a complete platform to export 3D scenes directly to Quest3D. Special effort has been taken to ensure smooth exporting of light maps and animations. For other applications users can use 3rd party export plug-ins but one of the goals of the platform is a future port to other applications like Maya®, AutoCAD®, MicroStation®, Sketchup® and other content creation tools.
The Quest3D web plug-in was redesigned from scratch to solve any issues with previous versions. The result is a rock solid system for running real-time 3D applications inside a browser.
The VR edition of Quest3D was enhanced to offer better support for stereo displays and it now includes native support for the most frequently used motion trackers and cyber gloves.
Availability
The new version is available for free for users that purchased 3.0 or above. New users will get the new version directly if they purchase it through the Quest3D web shop or through the Quest3D reseller network. Both web shop and a list of resellers is available on www.quest3d.com. Existing users can download the update here: http://www.quest3d.com/index.php?id=103
Abstract
Quest3D Version 3.6 is now available from the Quest3D website and reseller network. The new version is a major improvement because of exciting new features such as HDR rendering, water simulation, improved support for VR equipment, a better web plug-in and native export from 3D Studio MAX®. This news should be interesting for both existing and new users since it enhances the real-time 3D applications they can create.
About Quest3D™
Quest3D is a tool for real-time 3D application development. It is widely used for broadcasting, project visualization, entertainment, web, training, and virtual reality.
Recent projects include the broadcast of 2006 Italian elections, the ground breaking VR center of the Offshore Simulation Center in Norway and the Cult horror movie “Trapped Ashes” where Matrix special effects specialist and Academy Award winner John Gaeta used Quest3D for real-time 3D special effects.
More information available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061017/mcmaster_01.shtml
Quest3D is unique because it has extensive and deep functionality packaged in a graphically user interface. Quest3D provides a usable, flexible development environment for users that aren’t necessarily programmers but still want to create high-end real-time 3D applications.
Quest3D is compatible for any computer with a 3D card and Microsoft DirectX 9. It is available from local distributors or from the Quest3D.com web shop.
About ACT-3D™
Officially registered in January 2000, Act-3D is the company behind Quest3D. The company is completely devoted to development of Quest3D.
Source : http://quest3d.com/index.php?id=201
We are pleased to announce that a major new version of DX Studio™ is now available for download.
New features in this version include…
Download the new version 1.30 from here!
Many thanks for using DX Studio – please let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see in future versions.
DX Studio Team
The statement may sound a bit awkward at first, but afer watching 3 mins 21 seconds of this video you’ll be convinced, too. According to the team at Soul Pix studio, producing the latest video clip for ‘Die kleine Kuh von Malibu’ temporarily changed the production house into Animal Farm. “The four-week production of this 3D-animated music video dealing with a funny animal football team was quite a lot of fun and a real challenge, for we all know even coping with 2 legs can drive some kickers insane, Â let alone having 4.” Modeled and animated with Max, rendered with VRay.
Source : http://www.soulpix.de/muh
Technorati Tags: 3D Studio Max, Vray Render, 3D Animation
Check out the Latest Trailer from the award winning 3D animated movie Ice Age now Melting Down.
Source : http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/040/040605/vids_1.html
Having worked at DreamWorks Animation and currently Disney Feature Animation, Aaron Holly draws on this production experience to bring you the ideas, tools & techniques necessary to provide animators with the flexibility and control they absolutely require.
ABOUT RIGGING FOR FEATURE ANIMATION
Short rigging tutorials only showing you bits & pieces but not the complete process? We’re visual people, so wouldn’t you rather SEE how it’s done? Would you like to learn the tools & techniques to create a production-ready character typical of the major feature animation studios? If so, this tutorial was made just for you!
Rigging for Feature Animation is the first of a 3-part tutorial series covering every aspect of rigging a character for feature animation production. Using out-of-the-box Maya tools & techniques, these lessons walk you through a thorough and complete character rigging process in the fullest detail.
You will learn various unique, production-caliber techniques in these lessons. And because there is no one way to skin a cat (that’s a whole ‘nother set of tutorials!), more than one solution is often covered. For example, you are not only shown the steps in building a Stretchy Spline IK but also learn how to build a Stretchy "Ribbon" Spine, which gives animators greater control over their spine animation. Or you’ll learn how to build a Scapula with Conditional Rotations and then, having fully understood the process, learn procedural rig building through a thoroughly documented MEL script that will teach you how to automate this same rigging process.
Our goal is to provide you with the solutions & fundamental understanding to be able to build rigs to meet your own needs today and empower you to continue building your skills well into the future. Since no two pipelines are the same we believe it is best to roll up your sleeves and LEARN how to build and troubleshoot rigs in production. This tutorial was designed to do just that.
Rigging for Feature Animation will be available in early March. Two more tutorials in this series will follow shortly; Skinning for Feature Animation and Facial Rigging for Feature Animation.
Fahrenheit Digital is also working to bring additional tutorials with up to date & unique information, including a Mechanical Rigging tutorial and a 2-part Visual Effects Creature Rigging tutorial. Others will follow throughout the year.
For more detailed information about this and other upcoming tutorials visit:
SHOOTING THE MAYAN PYRAMIDS OF TIKAL FOR UNESCO
HDRI and laserscanning the pyramids of Tikal.
by Michelle Bienias
In the forests of Guatemala’s El Petén region lie the ruined cities of one of the world’s great ancient cultures, the Maya. Tikal was the largest and one of the most important urban centers of Mayan culture during its time, around 500AD. The massive ruins are concentrated at the center of the Tikal National Park (222 square miles), 40 miles from the city of Flores. Tikal is part of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve and is the only region of the world that has been declared both Cultural and Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO.
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| Chaka | Acropolis mid-sunset |
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| Temple 1 Top South | Temple 2 Top Corner |
Today, visitors to the largest excavated ancient Mayan city can begin to imagine what it was like at its peak, when it sustained some 200,000 people within its 30 square miles. Around 870AD construction slowed, likely due to overpopulation and the resulting destruction of forests, soil and other resources, and by the 10th century Tikal was completely deserted.
The ruins were officially discovered in 1848 and restoration began in the 1950s. The Ruins area is about 10 square miles, a small percentage of the site. The fraction of Tikal’s estimated 3,000 buildings that have been excavated reveal temples, shrines, ceremonial platforms, small and mid-sized dwellings, ball courts, terraces, religious monuments with hieroglyphic inscriptions, causeways and plazas, most interconnected with aqueducts. Only about a dozen have been reconstructed or excavated to any degree while the vast majority is high mounds covered with lush vegetation.
Tikal is also a nature lovers paradise boasting 285 species of recorded birds, hundreds of orchid species and more than 30 hardwood species. Wildlife abounds: howling monkeys, toucans, hawks and parrots are home in the subtropical jungle, amidst trees measuring up to 150 feet in height and endless hanging vines known as lianas; Jaguar, puma, Occidental turkeys, ocelot and snakes can also be found.
Greg Downing, an expert in panoramic and HDR photography, had just finished work on the movie Narnia when he was approached to work in Tikal, primarily to shoot HDRIs that will be used in conjunction with a laserscanning project for UNESCO. In our interview Downing discusses the nature of and his involvement with the project, how 3D modeling and laserscanning were used, and the obstacles unique to jungle photography.
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Read More : http://vrm.vrway.com/issue24/SHOOTING_THE_MAYAN_PYRAMIDS_OF_TIKAL_FOR_UNESCO.html
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