The best models uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the week of Saturday, February 7th through Friday, February 13th are highlighted here. This is the 15th post with the purpose of bringing models to your attention that we all may have missed during the week.

Easy links to the previous Top 10 lists: 001 – 002 – 003 – 004 – 005 – 006 – 007 – 008 – 009 – 010 – 011 – 012 – 013 – 014

Just so everyone knows, the order that the Top 10 are displayed is based on color, type of model and how I’m feeling, not any particular ranking. I just rearrange them until I like the way it looks. It’s as simple as that!

Be sure to check out the models that received Honorable Mentions too!

Our users live all over the world, so I include in my comments where each modeler is from. It’s great that language and distance are not barriers when we’re all sharing in 3D! (Modelers may choose not to share where they are from, so some countries of origin will remain a mystery.)

The Top 10:

Cyberpunk by Necronom is a great model to push our perception of I/O (input/output) devices. As Necronom explains about the eye areas: “Its made with a plug-in called ‘greeble’ its quick to set up and generates hundreds of little cyber boxes.” Necronom’s web site is definitely worth a visit too. Here’s a link to the 3ds Max plug-in Greeble.

What is a Personal Ekranoplan 7? dbonner’s model led modeler billybobsue to find out: ““Ekranoplan is a Russian word. It means ‘screen craft’ or ‘skimmer’. It is not a plane nor is it a ship, moreover it’s a mixture of both. The craft moves along on a dynamic cushion of air that is generated by its forward movement. It has similar characteristics of the common hovercraft in that it flies just above the surface as it moves. It will not however, hover while stationary but sits in the water.” This once again proves the value of 3D models to expand our world and help us satisfy our curiosity (this link is billybobsue’s source: http://www.vincelewis.net/ekranoplan.html ). dbonner used CATIA V5 to model this intriguing craft. [dbonner is from France]

1988 Vision Mark “Gator” Rogowski Gator version2 model skateboard (phew, that’s a long title) was created by sandman14. Great color and graphics combined with just the right amount of details captured my attention. Mark “Gator” Rokowski is a real person and the also real sandman14 used Google SketchUp to immortalize this particular ride. [sandman14 is from the US]

Black and Red Room was modeled by ATN78 using 3DVIA Shape. Color, graphic presentation and elegance were what drew me to explore this model further. Nicely done details make it work. Don’t be fooled by the poor thumbnail – the good stuff is in there. [ATN78 is from France]

Like most people, I’m drawn to see what other people are doing and these guys look like they’re having fun (even if their car is rather limited in having useful bits). Product 1 is a fun exploration of shape modeled by dbonner in CATIA V5 that wisely includes the human form at the beginning to help development. [dbonner is still from France]

This is a fantasy “Mobile Weapon Unit”, called the mwu-ul-raptor-a1, by alfredix, that I really like. It has a great combination of imagination, plenty of details and even hydraulic cylinders to make it all believable. I would not like to be on the receiving end of something like this!

This model also highlights the fact that you can now upload your models to 3DVIA in IGES and STEP formats (preferably STEP 214 in order to include colors). That means that other CAD users can download and build with your models (if you allow download) and we can all share more! They’ll be a blog post about just this subject soon.

OK, he’s creepy looking, but My Face by Matku is very well modeled using an OBJ generator. The features and skull forms are very believable. [Matku is from India]

This is one dangerous-looking guitar! sandman14 has added another gem to his guitar collection here on 3DVIA. This one is called My own designed “Inferno” guitar. It looks like playing anything more riotous than a lullaby would require stitches for someone on stage! Great concept and execution in Google SketchUp. [sandman14 is from the US]

Think it was easy to come up with the elegant, flowing lines of this Perfume Bottle? Think again, Vahid_h did a great job on a difficult model. The wire frame image is included to show you some of the tricky modeling required and to remind you that you can use the Wireframe or Vertex modes any time when viewing models to learn more about how a model was constructed. [Vahid_h is from Spain]

What the heck is a Cthulu? Omind made sure I was scared enough to go find out. Wikipedia helped with this: Cthulhu is a cosmic being character created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the “The Call of Cthulhu” when it was published in “Weird Tales” in 1928. Icky, gooey, organic shapes are hard to model and even harder to texture, so check out the image on the right to get an idea of how a single texture can be really be used to cover a lot of…ahh…umm…gooey bits.

Due to the continuous challenge of narrowing the number of great models uploaded each week down to just 10, I’ve included five Honorable Mentions to spotlight even more modelers!

Honorable Mentions:

A simple scene with a minimum of modeling and a maximum of 3DVIA Shape use can still really grab your eye. riTA04 did just that with this beauty. [RiT04 is from Portugal]

Kitchen shows how simple clean modeling can be combined quickly with creative texturing to make a useful model. Xhanje used 3DVIA Shape.

This one cracks me up! The tiny house is easy to miss, but points out how easy it is in Shape to build on what you’ve already done to make it even better. Rico_dominic13 did a great job with this one! (Yes, I did zoom in to make sure that there wasn’t yet another tiny house in there too.)

All right everyone – humor and satire help us all deal with our differences and this model fills the bill. It’s timely (well, sort of) and takes full advantage of the Squirrel as a surrogate here on 3DVIA. Laugh and reload! asta la vista, baby is the creation of Sady2. [Sady2 is from Romania]

Simple House, simple car just says it all. I like the fact that this is so normal and yet still manages to make me smile every time I see it. Great job kobij007! [kobij007 is from the US]

Here’s a brief recap of what I look for when I select the “Top 10″ and “Honorable Mentions”:

Variety – One of the most important factors. I try to show models created using lots of different software products and showing lots of different ways of using 3D. I include brief comments on why I chose each model.

Creativity, unusual subject matter and humor – These are big factors. We should all be having fun and feel free to model our passions!

Models must be uploaded by the original modeler – Many times I find models that I think will add to the community and will upload them with credit given to the modeler. These and other models that I can’t be reasonably sure who modeled them (for example – commercial models) are a welcome addition to the 3DVIA community, but the goal of the “Top 10″ is to encourage individual modelers and reward their special creativity.

Models entered in the 3DVIA Challenge contests will not be considered – They’re already getting plenty of attention and I want to spotlight models we may have missed.

There is no reward given – Other than the satisfaction of being noticed, spotlighted and being brought to the attention of more modelers. In my personal experience, the pleasure of having my work appreciated is the ultimate reward anyway.

Your comments are always welcomed and encouraged! Your responses will help the modelers and the 3DVIA community as a whole. Feel free to bring other models to my attention and let me know why they attracted you. (PLEASE NOTE: In order to make it easier to explore, all photos are linked directly to the model’s page.)

One final note of caution: these are my choices (dswavely) and my choices alone. So, aim the tomatoes appropriately.