Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Here is a web3d presentation of a concept shoe by Francisco J. Ramirez. If it does not start up, restart your browser. Tested in Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Exploder Explorer 8 – all work.

Controls:
Hold down right click and drag forward or backward to zoom
Hold down left click to rotate
Use arrow keys to pan the camera

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Hi everyone! It has been awhile since I last posted. Lately I have been doing freelance work, helping out small businesses with some graphics (2D & 3D), web design and marketing. I am doing a presentation for the San Diego Siggraph Chapter. Come join if you can! Here are the details:

The popularization of the 3D art form, made possible by the entertainment industry, has spawned a new generation of artists. Thriving in movies, animated feature films and video games, 3D artists have succeeded in pushing the limits of 3D visualization with the aid of engineers and programmers. Today, this symbiotic relationship between visual and logical artistry now has a new frontier to explore: interactive visualization on the web (a.k.a Web3D).

Join us as Jonathan Agoot presents his vision on how 3D artists will become part of the web development community.

6:30 – 7:30 PM Social Hour
7:30 – 9:00 Meeting

Admission

Nonmembers $5
Members free

Address:

2nd floor conference room,
Beckman Center for Chemical Sciences,
The Scripps Research Institute
10550 Torrey Pines Rd.
San Diego, CA 92037

View Larger Map

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

December is tough but my outlook will remain positive.

My other company, Visualiz3d, is getting some contracting jobs ranging from advertising to web development and from 2D to 3D artwork. I am very excited to help out small and medium size businesses! If cash flow proves consistent for three months, I can re-engage part time work on my primary startup, SynergistCG.

Know anyone who is looking for affordable design work? Let me know!

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Alltop has it!

http://3d.alltop.com/

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

For you non-twitter users out there, this presentation by Guy Kawasaki will educate you on why you should use it.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

It is FIGHT or flight time!

My startup cash is running out soon. Instead of getting a job, I decided to stay hardcore entrepreneurial and form another startup company with a former co-worker (bootstrapping of course) doing:

• Graphic Design
• Motion Graphics
• Some web dev stuff
• 2D and 3D animation
• 3D modeling and texturing
• Marketing and consulting

I have setup a Wordpress blog called Visualiz3d that will be my portfolio page for 2D and 3D design work in addition to doing web3d stuff (which is what I would love to do). Now I gotta fill up with some content.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Damon’s talk on the subject of web3d is very precise. He details on the state of 3d + web and its emergence on the internet as an immersive media. I was also surprised that there are “web3d students” and this is very good thing (academia adopts new technologies quick).

3D education (present day)  generally teaches conventional applications such as video games, animation and movies (but 20+ years ago that was considered new). However when it comes to mentioning 3D and the web, most professionals and students are not really interested in the topic.

One thing I disliked greatly was his presentation. I grade hard on live presentations in PowerPoint or Keynote. Anyways, he goes into examples but his visuals are not engaging. I really wanted to see them in detail but they were just too small and there is too much going on in that particular slide. Death by PowerPoint.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Here is a bottle I had modeled. It uses Java as the engine but is excellent for customized products or items where 2D images don’t do justice.

I have my soccer team’s logo that I want to put on a bottle (like Sigg’s aluminum bottles). Before I commit to an order of 100, I wanted to test out some designs and get a consensus from the team, friends and family on what looks nice. So I emailed everyone the link, then observed the responses. They loved how easy and interactive it was. It made the visualization process much easier and less time consuming.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

A new 3D chat program for you Windoze users is out there. Club Cooee (from Germany) provides flexible instant messaging that can interact with other chat programs like AIM or Meebo. They also provide users to buy virtual goods in 3D (my favorite acronym).

There are a limited amount of invites at TechCrunch for a PRIVATE BETA.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Since I began my venture in web3d, I have noticed that I am no longer in the company of others. All that surrounds me now is a quietness I cannot explain in a sentence.

It feels like I am in field of tall green grass. A slight cool breeze brushes my face. The scene is calm and crisp in the ambiance of evening twilight. It is a refreshing feeling.

No sight of anything man made but the mountians and some trees that lay ahead of my journey. Although miles ahead, I venture willingly in hopes I can provide opportunity for others. Sometimes being lonely on this journey drives me to retreat into my mind. In doing so, my creativity is hindered and I feel powerless the moment I do.

In hindsight, I have discovered that solitude has two faces. It grants clarity from chaos but takes away healthy interaction.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

A company from Austrailia called Boffswana, is utilizing the Papervision3D web3d technology in a very interactive way.

Using a webcam and flash, we’ve taken our Papervision character from the desktop to the desk.  A new and exciting way to interact with your flash content.  The possibilities are wide open.

Papervision - Augmented Reality (extended) from Boffswana on Vimeo.

Source: TechCrunch

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

This app rocks!

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

I have this Maxtor Shared Storage 500gb nas. Last night it stopped working. So I dissected the dam thing and found the drive in operable condition. Not a complete loss.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Today I have started testing Unity3D and their IDE (integrated development environment) or “authoring software” of 3D content. Unity3D can import from Maya, Max, Blender and other major platforms. The production pipeline is not entirely compromised so far, a plus in my book! Unity3D has posted on their site a demo called Tropical Paradise. Download their web3d viewer plugin for Windows (Mac is also available). first before viewing, the demo is worth it. The plugin also works on Internet Exploder, Mozzarella FireBadger 3 and Surfari.

However upon importing content from Maya into Unity, texturing is a bit of a problem. The model will import successfully but the textures are not linked properly.

Unity will attempt to hook up materials to your imported scenes automatically.

This was mentioned in their online instruction manual by a community member on the forum boards.

As with animation, simple object animation has been a success. However with character animation, this has yet to be seen. I attempted to import a character donated by Alan O’Brien (a veteran game developer) but Unity3D had crashed upon import. I submitted a crash report to the developers, so we’ll see what happens. Till tomorrow!

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Here is a textured model of a water tank by Frank Ramirez. Although textured and lit in the original MAX file, the lights did not show and thus the scene is dark! One other annoyance I just found out - Quicktime only allows one instance of a player to display the embedded content and so I had to display it as a link. Doh!

Verdict: 5/10

Although free, FBX + QuickTime is not a robust solution.

1. Animation is not fully supported.
2. Lights are not working correctly.
3. Installation on my PC is easy.
4. Implementation on a website is easy however only one instance of an embedded player is allowed.
5. Good for showing simple objects ONLY.

I will be posting other reviews of web3D technology later this week.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

This has got to be one of the most ubiquitous setups to view 3D artwork in interactive 3D space on the web, but its worth it. I’m going to try and make this simple for you guys and gals.

A description from Apple’s website:

Autodesk’s FBX for QuickTime enables QuickTime as a 3D viewing solution that supports content from any professional 3D package. With FBX for QuickTime, digital artists can share, view, and interact with 3D content seamlessly, efficiently, and at no cost. Now available for both Mac OS X and Windows.

Download the following:

1. Go to Autodesk’s website and download the corresponding plugin(s) for Max or Maya
2. Get QuickTime
3. Get FBX Plugin for QuickTime for Windows or Mac

After downloading and installing FBX/Quicktime, do the following:

1. Open an object in Maya or Max
2. Export your creation via FBX
3. Open FBX file in QuickTime and save as a “Self Contained Movie“
4. Upload your file to your server
5. Embed source code into you html file/blog/Myspace/Facebook/etc. and modify the “filename.mov” section. You can input the whole file path such as http://mywebsite.com/files/sample.mov. Also, height and width can be changed as well.
   

   <embed src=”filename.mov” width=”905″ height=”480″ autoplay=”false” type=”video/quicktime”</embed>

Example 1: Spheres

I tested the FBX plugin + QuickTime with an animated character and it does not look pretty. I am going to bed (its 4:09am). However I will post tests for textured objects soon. If you need more help, consult the help file.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

I posted the manifesto also on CG Society, it has reached 29 views since this morning. No replies just yet. While I was reading the forums, I “stumbled upon” forum posts about the job market of the CG industry. I feel the pain of these artists, especially during a recession period and economic downturn.

My experience with the recession in 2001 (the dotcom bubble) has taught me a lot. Recession has taught me how to handle myself and how to come out on top. Back then, I had just graduated and was ignorant of the word recession while I was running a promotions company with some DJ’s and rap artists at the time. I struggled to find a job and could not find one. Then I moved down to Los Angeles (from Seattle) to live with one of my best friends, got a job and was laid off the day before my birthday! I remained jobless for 6 months, spending my money very cautiously. At my low point, I had become severely disgruntled, defeated and developed insomnia from doing freelance jobs late night. In the end of it all, I was glad that I had gone through it and survived. The recession had forever changed my outlook in life and reminded me what I was capable of doing when I was at my best. But I could not have done it without my best friends who have supported me through those rough times. I had changed and became battle hardened.

Today’s recession, although much worse, will pass. We may not recover within 6 months to 5 years, but as long as we find ways to not only survive, but to become successful in these hard times, just imagine what we can do when the economy is back on its feet.

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

Although not entirely true 3D, Google Earth and 360 Cities have teamed up to produce a panorama (or sphererical) represenation of certain locations around the world.

A collection of the panoramas just became visible automatically to every user of the free 3D earth visualization software, and the rest of the 360cities database, which is nearly 10,000 spherical images strong, has been added to the Gallery in Google Earth as well.

Source:TechCrunch

Here is a sample:

a corner cafe 2 from 360cities.net

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

The world of selling virtual goods, especially in China, has been a very hot commodity. It is so hot that China is enacting taxation on virtual goods. Dave Rosenberg at cnet explains:

Thanks to a new attempt at taxing virtual assets, in-game goods and currencies are experiencing the first signs of inflation.

To give some scope…

Estimates put Facebook revenue between $300 million and $350 million in 2008, meaning that virtual-good sales would account for a shockingly high 10 percent of revenue.

source: cnet

Originally published at The Virtualiz3d Movement. You can comment here or there.

This game uses the Papervision 3D game engine and the game itself is pretty entertaining. Made by Precocion Productions. Here is a small summary:

Welcome to the FLASH GEAR SOLID VR Trainer. Your mission is simple. Use your remote control NIKITA missiles to destroy all of the targets in each level. Use a variety of techniques to get the fastest time and claim first place. Set in a 3D environment, you can use the First Person View to better explore your environment.

The only thing cheesy about this game is that you control a cardboard box rather than a character.