3DVIA®

The best models uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the week of Saturday, August 8th through Friday, August 14th are highlighted here. There is quite a bit of variety this week with a lot of great subjects! Enjoy the remaining summer days and weeks!

In case your attention span is extremely limited, you can watch the following video in 34 seconds and see all the included models before you forget what you’re doing. :)

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 – 030 – 031 – 032 – 033 – 034 – 035 – 036 – 037 – 038 – 039 – 040

The Top 10:

Most people will easily recognize the Star Trek Bridge in this nicely done 3D creation by PinkSkink using Google SketchUp.

Bugs by toymaker just makes me laugh every time I see it. It reminds me of all those great cartoons and here Michael has captured the essence of Bugs so well using Google SketchUp. [toymaker is from the US]

If you ever need to know how to operate a Bundeswehr 105mm Feldhaubitze, you could probably figure it out using these detailed models by alfredix. He uses Pro/E to model with and then translates the models into STEP format for uploading to 3DVIA. [alfredix is from Germany]

Walkthrough – Amazing 8s by XQH_XXX is a great teaching tool for how to use 3DVIA Shape and all without words. The turntable concept is a wonderful way to easily guide the viewer through the steps.

The original Amazing 8s model caught folks’ attention with its great curves and textures and Parth has shown us how to do it ourselves. [XQH_XXX is from India]

Mechanical Engineer’s Creativity V2 – So Lonely by XQH_XXX proves that engineers are real people too! :) Using 3DVIA Shape, he has created a touching story of love, jealously and loneliness using a hammer and nails, demonstrating his fanatastic imagination! [XQH_XXX is from India]

I really like the details of this small, nicely done house called Casamazate by maunciopauna. He has used 3DVIA Shape very effectively to create an inviting environment.

The Perfect Chain, by alfredix, illustrates his attention to detail and the ability to help us understand why geometry is so important in all of our modeling, particularly his meticulous method of depicting his subjects. He uses Pro/E to model with and then translates the files/assemblies into STEP format for upload to 3DVIA.

Check out the rest of his Picasa Web Album to better understand the problem and his solution. [alfredix is from Germany]

Mutombo City was built by christianmut using 3DVIA Shape and is filled with other 3DVIA Shape models and lots of interesting details. I never did find all of the included models!

Pipecaster Guitar by sandman14 amazes me with Shannon’s ability to keep coming up with new concepts and then beautifully modeling them using Google SketchUp. Just imagine this with some wild anodized colors! [sandman14 is from the US]

abu_roadking takes the love story into new dimensions with Pirated Love!!!. 3DVIA Shape is a powerful story-telling tool in his hands. [abu_roadking is from India]

Honorable Mentions:

This is a great model of a Suzuki Motorcycle complete with two helmets created by ilusi86 using SolidWorks 2009.

Metalcloak Armor System, TJ was very nicely done and detailed by DougPowell using SolidWorks 2009.

shodiq38 didn’t win Challenge 14, but with his Congratulation model he certainly shows his great spirit of friendly competition. He has been using 3DVIA Shape in some absolutely amazing ways. [shodiq38 is from Indonesia]

Tall Thing by perecat1 is another example of his exceptional creativity using 3DVIA Shape. [perecat1 is from Spain]

A Lada 110 may not be on everyone’s list of great cars, but Mr_Planet still did a great model using Google SketchUp.

Just so everyone knows, the order that the Top 10 and Honorable Mentions 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!

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 modelour 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.