3DVIA®

The best models uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the week of Saturday, September 26th through Friday, October 2nd are highlighted here. Get ready to have your eyes snapped open at breakfast, learn how hydroplanes are moved, see some motorcycle bits, a gruesome pumpkin and lots more. Have fun checking them all out! In response to your excellent feedback about last week’s design changes there are more changes! Hopefully, I’m closer to what you enjoy, but feel free (please) to tell me what you think. :)

In case your attention span is extremely limited, you can watch the following video in 28 seconds and see all of the included models before you forget what you were trying to remember to do. :)

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 – 041 – 042 – 043 – 044 – 045 – 046 – 047

The Top 10:

The first cup of wake-me-up is scary enough already. Imagine if Tasse by Bachoul is what you saw on your table through your barely open eyes! It is wonderfully creative and was modeled in 3DS format.

The panel design is gorgeous on  Minikit-J8 by jbebin. It is an excellent combination of current technology with the beauty of nature. Excellent job using a VRML generator.

M1 by jbb10 is quite simply a nice simple house modeled in 3DS format. I like the included detail and how believable it is.

This 48 Tilt Trailer by nissin is really cool. I love hydroplanes and really like seeing how they are moved from races to the shop and back. Some suspension, wheels and tires would probably make it a smoother ride. :) nissin used SolidWorks 2009.

This highly detailed Skull was modeled by conn250 in 3DS format. It seems like it would be quite useful as reference in many 3D applications involved in modeling humans and for the just plain curious folks amongst us.

Workstation was added by scubagarth, who used 3DVIA Composer to create it. Composer is among the 3D tools that allow 3D geometry created by the engineering department to be used much more easily throughout the rest of the company.  [scubagarth is from the US]

Ornament was created by vtor67 using Blender and I really enjoy opening it in the 3DVIA Player, zooming in and getting lost inside of it! [vtor67 is from the US]

This beautiful Alfa was modeled by anloncar in 3DS format. Alfa Romeo has been recapturing the hearts of drivers all over the world with some of their recent gorgeous cars.

Just over a year ago toymaker joined 3DVIA and uploaded his first model here. That pair of pumpkins was included in the very first Top 10 too! toymaker created a new gruesome pumpkin called Anniversary to celebrate! toymaker uses Google SketchUp. [toymaker is from the US]

Underneath all the fancy bits of almost any product are lots of critical sub-assemblies like Fairing Bracket by DrSlumper. They are beautiful in their own right and are just as difficult to design as the sculptural parts that they firmly hold and precisely locate. Dr_Slumper used SolidWorks 2008. [Dr_Slumper is from Spain]

Honorable Mentions:

This Sofa by jbebin may not look great in your living room, but it is the perfect sofa for someone! jbebin used a VRML generator.

Water Splash by XQH_XXX was created using 3DVIA Shape. The combination of action, imported models, water modeling and great textures make it really enjoyable. [Parth is from India]

You can almost hear the big cat growl in Jaguar XK8 by Phong. I’m ready for a ride down a nice twisty road. Phong used Google SketchUp.

Surface Drive Propeller – 5 Blade was modeled by nissin using SolidWorks 2009. It captures the sculptural beauty of a highly function-driven manufactured product.

So You “Still” Think You Can 3Dance? by jackRED (in 3DS format) moves two of his dancers into a position that makes it look like they are in love rather than in a dancing class. :) And – yay!! they have hair!! [jackRED is from Morocco]

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 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.