3DVIA®

The best models uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the week of Saturday, May 23rd through Friday, May 29th are highlighted here. This is the 30th post with the purpose of bringing models to your attention that we all may have missed during the week. Be sure to read the comments on each model as you visit them and add your own thoughts and a rating too!

Easy links to the previous Top 10 lists:   001 – 002 – 003 – 004 – 005 – 006 – 007 – 008 – 009 – 010 – 011 – 012 – 013 – 014 – 015 – 016 – 017 -018 – 019 – 020 – 021 – 022 – 023 – 024 – 025 – 026 – 027 – 028 - 029

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:

Araneus Angulatus is a really scary model by actraiser! Getting in close and looking at the great detail and textures could raise the hair on the back of your neck if you’re not fond of spiders. I’d much rather see it here than in my real world. It’s a great model created using an OBJ generator [actraiser is from Spain]

Cerberus is just one of several finely detailed spaceships designed and modeled by Marian using Google SketchUp. Marian explains the name and the ship’s function: “The Cerberus of myth had 3 heads, and was the guardian to the underworld, this ship can separate into 3 ships and has 3 bridges so, 3 heads.” Great modeling job and a wonderful connection to mythology! [Marian is from Romania]

The Dream Home, by Tmiller, is beautifully built and then detailed using 3DVIA Shape 3.0 and the models freely available to make a truly luxurious home.

Take your time exploring each room and enjoying the thoughtful use of colors and textures to bring each room to life.

BMW Z4 Coupe is not only a wonderful model of a car with seriously difficult surfacing – it is also a great example of creative collaborative teamwork using Google SketchUp. 

Wacov, Mr_Planet, Rogue, JaViXP all worked together to create this beauty and I applaud their approach to creating this model. In the real world, design and engineering is almost always a collabortive process by neccessity. This is an example of the same process working  in an environment that usually celebrates the work of an individual.

Great job guys!

I just plain love Khraan Shark MDL by actraiser! I took my screenshots with the Fresnel environment mapping shader active so that the fabulous textures and colors would be highlighted. There is a ton of detail and all of it contributes to the truly menacing look of this warcraft. Fantastic job!! [actraiser is from Spain]

HLP-TRU06T-500-KPL thoroughly demonstrates how alfredix exhaustively details his models! They appear ready to drive away and with this one in particular, I wish it was in my driveway right now! (Of course, we all know that I love BIG trucks and am biased towards those with lots of detail.)

alfredix creates his models using Pro/E and then uploads them to 3DVIA using the STEP format. [alfredix is from Germany]

Enfant by squale is a wonderully lively and fun character that just brims with the enthusiasm of a young boy! I can easily imagine him being a rambunctious handful in any animation that he’s part of! [squale is from France]

I included Nissan Skyline R-34 GT-R by jesterv2 and congratulate him for his willingness to put a work in progress up on 3DVIA where we can all see how much hard work he has already accomplished. We can learn more from seeing the process of creation than we can from the finished model!

Thank you jesterv2 for uploading this and for your brutal honesty about your own model – “This took time, about 3 months,and I didnt even finish the back side yet, so don’t bother looking at it.” [jesterv2 is from The Netherlands]

Using 3DVIA Shape 3.0,  abu_roadking has created another wonderful story, Courtesy Call. He is excellent at telling complex and inspiring stories – check out the rest of his models too!

I’ll let him set the scene for this one – “Harry and friends drop by to say ‘Welcome to 3DVIA’ to actraiser’s “Araneus Angulatus” Oh yes!!! Ron has a new car.” This just makes me laugh so hard! [abu_roadking is from India]

This vintage Sikorsky S-38 Flying Boat – New Version is beautifully modeled and detailed by smike using Google SketchUp. smike’s research is exhaustive and he includes details most of us would never notice.

You have to go to http://www.smikesworld.dk/smworld/my_models/s38_flying_boat/s38_views.html to see his fantastic presentation of this model! If you don’t go, you’ll be missing a real treat and some great ideas on how to present your own models more effectively. Thanks smike!! [smike is from Denmark]

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

Honorable Mentions:

Alpha 02 by lingling is filled with imaginative new ways of thinking about combining 2D and 3D modeling. [lingling is from Belgium]

perecat1 didn’t name this model, so I call it Fun Park. I love the colors and exhuberent imagination used to create such a fun model using 3DVIA Shape 3.0.

 Bell-222 Airwolf by Mr_Planet is included for the beauty of the surface development done using Google SketchUp. View it carefully and notice how the surfaces blend smoothly – that’s tough to do!

My First Birthday Present by mynameisoscarjo just plain cracks me up! What a great present. I’d like to have one too! mynameisoscarjo used Blender V2.48 and great imagination! [mynameisoscarjo is from Sweden]

Zusammenbau KPL by rimbold is a great example of a student proving out the mathamatical design of this complex gearbox by building the geometry for real using CATIA V5. Fine engineering is an art to be appreciated just like any other! [rimbold is from Austria]

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.