3DVIA®

The best models uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the week of Saturday, February 14th through Friday, February 20th are highlighted here. This is the 16th 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 – 015

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:

When it comes to this interesting model, Study Of Bendo Physics, homebray himself says it best:

“I am having a little fun with Abaqus/Explict and modeling a gelatin Bendo being hit by a speeding steel ball. This one is an attempt to show an animation in 3DVIA. I composed several frames from the animation. The animation can be seen here“. It’s quick and funny in a slapstick way.

I applaud homebray for having fun and exploring how 3D helps us understand better what is really going on in the physical world. My understanding is that Bendo was not harmed during the experiments and is doing quite well. homebray uses Blender V2.45. [homebray is from the US]

Car Ninad by vaibhavmmm is a gorgeous concept car that is wonderful to explore from many angles. Zoom right in and check out the details too. I included Vertex mode shots of each angle because they reveal some of the inner complexity and help us to understand the forms. [vaibhavmmm is from India]

Miku is a popular Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series Manga character which is very nicely created and detailed by JackRED. [JackRED is from Morocco]

Smike continues his series of excellent U.S. Coast Guard ships and aircraft with this combination of the 270 foot Medium Endurance (WMEC) – Famous Class Cutter – Sereneca. On deck is smike’s excellent model of the U.S. Coast Guard HH 65A Dolphin Rescue Helicopter and also two of his 19 foot MK2 OTH Fast Response boats. Smike models his incredible collection using Google SketchUp. [smike is from Denmark]

This wonderfully detailed model House – Living Room interior was modeled by trigram_dou using 3DVIA Shape and nicely shows the level of reality that can be included in both interior and exterior spaces. Great job!

FB11 fighter bomber was designed and created in SketchUp 7 by emag. There are a lot of nice details in a very believable design. Check out the cockpit in particular. [emag is from the US]

My proposed home looks like a great place to go to after a long day at work or for a nice relaxing weekend! SachinMasutage used 3DVIA Shape to model this nice retreat.

I included this model, CPanel, to once again illustrate the power of textures to easily and quickly convey a lot of useful information. Take a look at the wiring detail provided by the textures on the left with the simplicity of the actual modeling on the right. LoneWolf_CGI did a great job to get the most information out of this model!

You all know I love fast cars and rugged trucks. This is a great example of making the most of what you have in a 3D modeling tool to distill the essence of a fast car.  GTR 1 has all the right elements to immediately get the designer’s intent across! The creator, wasser, has done a fantastic job using 3DVIA Shape! It is harder to get results like this with a simple tool than to create a masterpiece with phenomenal tools. Bravo!

3D modeling is all about story-telling; the better we are, the more easily the viewer understands the story. I FOUND IT THAT WAY 2 by toymaker, is a great story-telling model. It’s funny and it illustrates well a situation that we’ve all found ourselves in, whether it was a whiskey bottle or a broken toy, we immediately know what’s going on here. Great job using SketchUp toymaker! [toymaker is from the US]

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:

Chair, by aniket4catia, is funny and wonderful at the same time. It looks so inviting and so natural at the same time. It seems to be saying “Come rest in my lap and relax!” CATIA V5 was aniket4catia’s modeling tool. [aniket4catia is from India]

User implementation shows with his HP Photosmart C5000 Series Vorlage that early design studies including size, function and placement can be accomplished using quick 3D modeling tools like 3DVIA Shape. Very nice.

All right, I just really like this one because pandalove106 was obviously having fun and likes to use lots of bright colors! That’s great! 3DVIA Shape was the modeling tool. [pandalove106 is from the US]

Who wouldn’t want to go to a gym like this one? GYM AA1 has lots of interesting visitors and lots to do. You can even go wading in the fountain if you want to! Nice job in 3DVIA Shape by alim_atar!

I’m not sure what is happening here in evento01, but dani1111 is doing a good job of conveying a lot of information about a big geographic area using 3DVIA Shape.

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.