3DVIA® - 3DVIA

It’s really great when you toss something out there and people start using it the way they think it should be used! One just never knows what people will come up with.

mvcomputers has provided us with a great example of thinking ‘Inside the box’.

Some of you may have skipped right over an odd little box all by itself that looks like this in big mix of things:

Not only is it kinda’ boring, it has the title “Battle Cruiser”, which makes one cringe to think of trying to speed across the galaxy in a black, speckled brick.

However, for the curious there is much to be found! A closer look will reveal some instructions…

…and if one dutifully zooms inside the box…

…the reward is huge! How truly excellent - to use the INSIDE of the box to create one’s own finite galaxy. That is SMART. As long as you stay ‘Inside the box’, you can have a blast checking out this cool cruiser.

For the really, really observant folks (which I was not until I went to write this post and was grabbing some images), this cruiser is not singular. As you press in for the attack, you’ll also have to deal with several companion cruisers ready to minutely particulate anything you might be riding in…

There are several hanging around, so do be careful! My mousing is not precise enough to get super close, but the hangers on look like this when increased in size (the use of the term blown up might be confusing in this context).

So, today’s lesson to be learned is: have fun! try crazy things! make everybody wonder how you did that! make everybody wonder WHY you did that!

For my first 3DVIA Shape tutorial, I thought I would go back to basics and pull out one of the starter tutorials from the 3DVIA Shape documentation files. 

We have tried very hard to ensure that 3DVIA Shape is a product that is simple enough for the average consumer to express their ideas in 3D.  However, as an experienced Solidworks modeler, I have to remind myself that even the longest journey sometimes starts with a single step.  In this case…it’s creating your first shape (no pun intended).  These simple steps will also show you how easy it is to get started in 3D. 

Creating the Main (or Your First) Shape

First open 3DVIA Shape on your desktop.  In this tutorial, we are going to draw the very simple shape of a house.

Let’s get started by using the application’s navigation features.  To rotate your point of view to look down at the ground, press and hold down the left mouse button over the Rotate area then drag the mouse around in the desired direction.  (For more information, see Change Viewpoints using the Pan, Rotate and Zoom Tool).

Select the vertical axis and drag up to create a triangular roof.

 

Enjoy!

 

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Marc is our resident expert on Microsoft Virtual Earth, online mapping applications and 3D modeling applications.

Visit:   mdigregorio Profile on 3DVIA   |   mdigregorio Website

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Technorati Tags: 3D,Free 3D Models,Free 3D Modeler,3DVIA

If you are a frequent visitor to 3DVIA.com, you may notice some changes to the site today.  We have just released the first in a series of updates to the site that you will see throughout the year.  Many of today’s updates are back-end changes that could easily be filed under "under the hood" changes that include performance and code modifications designed to make the upcoming "bigger-and-better" updates possible. However, we took the opportunity to release changes that we hope you will enjoy.

In fact, this is one of the key changes that you will notice this year on 3DVIA.com. Instead of having several big releases, we plan on updating the site frequently to allow you the user to help shape the future of our service…so let us know how we are doing and what we can add for you.  We plan on monthly updates to the site so the suggestions you provide today could be included in the future site.

Here are some of the key updates released today on 3DVIA.com.

Simplified and Improved 3D Content Search
We’ve introduced an updated search feature that allows you to enter a keyword once and then search through our 3D models, people and groups with just a few clicks.

Search by 3D Model Format and Software
We’ve created an easy way to search the model library by format and the software used to produce it right on the search page.  For example, here are the free 3DS models available on the site right now.

3DVIA User Activity Feeds 
To highlight the user activity on the site we’ve begun to introduce Facebook style activity feeds to the site that will keep you up to date on the hottest 3D models and content on the site right now.  The first activity feeds can now be seen on the homepage.

Simple, Simple, Simple…We’re a 3D Content Sharing Site! 
I could have used the passé buzzword K.I.S.S. to describe this update but the sentiment applies.  Simple is our new theme. We’ve made very simple UI and messaging updates to highlight, particularly to  our new members, what you can do on the site.  That is…SEARCH, UPLOAD & SHARE 3D models and your latest ideas in 3D!  So go…search, upload and share!

Stay tuned, we should have an update to the site at least once every month!