This latest update contains stability, quality and performance improvements.  Also, be sure to check out the latest 3DVIA Shape Tips and Tricks layout.  We’ve made it easier to navigate through our 30+ short and informative videos. 

One of my favorites is the “How to build an Umbrella” video (Tip #34).  This video is more like a 5 minute tutorial demonstrating many of 3DVIA Shape 3.1’s great features like freeform deform, revolve, and many others.

Let us know if you would like to see specific “How To” videos on 3DVIA Shape!

First up, Alistar Dean has posted several articles on both DEVCON 2009 and the upcoming 3DVIA Mobile application (did I mention that we are launching an iPhone version of the site already?).  He was gracious enough to post the first public demonstration of said application.

Josh Mings also has several posts lined up over at SolidSmack including his own post on the, I’ll say it again, upcoming 3DVIA Mobile application.

And then of course, is our own Kate Bourdet and the intrepid team at the 3D Perspectives blog. Kate posted a YouTube video showing what appears to be a 3DVIA Mobile application being used in its native habitat.

I’m not sure if you have heard yet but it appears that the team here is planning on launching a version of 3DVIA.com as an iPhone Application?

Kate…I promise to start contributing to the blog soon!

Update:  Just after I published this post, Duann over at the Ponoko blog posted an article about a certain upcoming iPhone application.

ON ANOTHER UNRELATED NOTE

We are pleased to announce that plans are in the works to release a version of the 3DVIA.com site formatted as a Apple iPhone application.  Please keep tuned to the 3DVIA site and blog for specific details on how and when you can get your hands on a copy for your phone.

…

Make  sure you watch the video to the end!

Keep up to date with all of our 3DVIA-TV videos by subscribing to the 3DVIA Channel on YouTube.

As you all know, 3DVIA Virtools 5, the newest version of our 3D engine for rapid game and 3D application development, has been released. It debuted at this year’s Game Developers Conference and was well received.

The video above was produced for the show to demonstrate 3DVIA Virtool 5’s key new features, including:

• New 3D Asset Libraries
• Easy Object Manipulation: Smart Drag and Drop
• Lua Support
• Project Source Code Protection
• Blend Shape Support
• New Wii™ & Xbox 360™ Libraries
• New Virtual Reality Displays Support

3DVIA is proud to announce the launch of our new blog! We know it looks way different, but don’t be scared—it’s a good thing. The design, functionality, content, searchability, EVERYTHING in the new blog has been improved to cater to your needs.

Key Improvements

Based on your feedback, we’ve taken steps to improve the 3DVIA blog, paying special attention to the home page. In fact…it’s all about the home page. On the new Blog home page you can get all news 3DVIA community related without having to click, click, click your way to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Please, let the paragraphs below help introduce you to the new 3DVIA Blog.

Hot Topics

Stay up-to-date with the important article of the day/week.

Scroll through and read your choice of featured articles.

Are you obsessed with staying on top of breaking news? Well, “Recent Stories” is your place to be. Find it either at the top of the home page, or the bottom of the blog site.

Searchability

Categorized, drop-down tabs from the secondary nav bar help get you to the articles you’re most interested in.

Search popular categories such as contests, software, tutorials and Top Tens and quickly scan the most recent article posted under each.

Pull up articles based on popular search tags with this nifty (and addicting) “3DVIA 3D Tag Cloud.”

If you still aren’t getting the information you need, explain it in your own words with the 3DVIA Blog Search field located at the bottom of the page.

Videos

View the featured videos of the site in one place.

Getting the Buzz

Keep tabs on what 3DVIA users are saying when they’re saying it.

See what the rest of the Web is saying on 3DVIA’s Twitter account.

Enjoy and please feel free to leave comments on this post letting us know what you think.

3DVIA.com is much more than a warehouse of 3D models, but a thriving community of users, and tools for all 3D enthusiasts.  Watch this short video to see what we’re all about.

I will have Cliff’s Clips every Tuesday concentrating on all things 3D!

Add your feedback/comments below…

3DVIA Shape 3.0 has more freeform modeling tools, and makes creating non-square objects much easier.  New features include: revolve, mirroring, drawing on curved surfaces, deform, and offset.  Watch this 1.5 minute overview of what’s new in 3DVIA Shape 3.0.

For a free download of 3DVIA Shape, click here.

Be sure to check out the library of new tips for 3DVIA Shape 3.0 here.

I will have more Cliff’s Clips every Tuesday concentrating on all things 3D!

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2009 Game Developers Conference and stopped by the 3DVIA booth. We had an excellent show: great in-booth attendance and a lot of interest in our products and services.

If you weren’t able to make the show, don’t worry, I’ll be recapping the highlights below.

The 3DVIA Lineup

We demonstrated four key technologies in the booth:

- 3DVIA Virtools 5: the latest release of our game engine for rapid prototyping and game development
- 3DVIA MP: NextGen visualization engine for creating online and standalone games
- 3DVIA.com: a thriving community and resource for 3D artists and enthusiasts
- 3DVIA Shape: a free, online modeling application perfect for the beginner, yet powerful enough for the expert

Show Stealers

As proud as we are of our products, we’re even prouder of the amazing, interactive 3D games and other applications our customers create using them. We had several terrific customer presentations of games and other applications currently in development/use built on 3DVIA Virtools, including Subsurface, the first game ever built on 3DVIA Virtools 5.

Subsurface

“Subsurface gameplay”

“Ian McClusky: bad guy from Subsurface”

The first game built on 3DVIA Virtools 5, Subsurface was developed to put 3DVIA Virtools 5’s design principle of “speed without sacrificing quality” to the test. We collaborated with long time 3DVIA Virtools partner, Little Chicken Game Company, and gave them what would normally be seen as an impossible challenge: develop a game in 60 days with 6 people. Subsurface was the result.

“Little Chicken demoing Subsurface”

“GDC attendees play Subsurface for the chance to win a Wii”

You can play Subsurface online here.

UPDATE: Our servers are temporarily offline, which means Subsurface is also temporarily offline. We’re working out the kinks right now and should be back up and running soon. My appologies to those who have tried to play and got error messages. I will post an update as soon as we’re back in business. 

You can also visit the official Subsurface website here.

Liight

“Studio Walljump demoing Liight”

Think of the most addicting game you’ve ever played and then multiply it by…well…a lot of lights. This game, currently in development by Studio Walljump, is totally awesome, and is another example of a game being built on 3DVIA Virtools for the Wii. Liight asks players to use color theory, strategy and brain power to solve some unique puzzles. Users can even use Liight to create their own puzzles and publish them online for others to solve.

Avatar: Legends of the Arena

“Sarbakan demoing Avatar: Legends of the Arena”

Developed by Sarbakan, and available for download on Nickelodeon’s website, Avatar: Legends of the Arena is action packed. Users can create their own characters, enter the arena and compete with players online from all over the world. This game is very, very cool and really fun.

“Show attendees watch Sarbakan present”

Virtools for Dummies

“Jim Kiggens giving a tech intro to 3DVIA Virtools“

Jim Kiggens, director of the Serious Game Design Institute at Santa Barbara City College, gave a fantastic tech introduction to using 3DVIA Virtools for game development. He and his students currently use 3DVIA Virtools to learn the technology behind making games.

For an artist, non-programmer, type (like myself), this lecture was very helpful. I especially enjoyed the discussion on how to make a realistic water shader using animated textures. Thank you Mr. Kiggens!

New Booth Design

If you’ve looked at 3DVIA.com in the past couple of weeks, my bet is you’ve seen at least one (sarcasm alert) render of our new tradeshow booth. It’s in banner ads all over the site, featured on our “3DVIA at GDC 09” page and even posted as a model so our community can visit it virtually. If you’re thinking we’re obsessed with this booth…you’re right.

The new booth debuted at GDC (I’m talking the real thing, not the model), and it was very well received. One GDC attendee even sent us an e-mail after the show commenting, “Your company rocks! You probably had one of the funnest and most interactive booths at GDC this year.” Thanks buddy!

OK. I’m done talking about the booth now…maybe. Check out the pics below.

“That’s one nice booth!”

“And from the other side”

The 3DVIA GDC Team

Here’s a picture of the 3DVIA team that staffed the booth at GDC.

“Team 3DVIA GDC”

Back Row (left to right): Pierre Emmanuel Chaut, Virgile Delporte, Arnaud Muthelet, Martin St. Germain, Romain Sididris, Derek Lane, Yours Truly
Front Row (left to right): Cyril Cohen, Gerald Nacache, Juan del Rio, Christine Moses

“A more casual shot”

Special shout out to David Laubner who took both photos!

Again, thank you to everyone who came to the show and visited us and thank you to everyone who visited us online!

Those of you who went to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and stopped by the 3DVIA booth may have seen us demo a game called Subsurface. Many of you played this game (three players won a Wii) and asked whether there were plans to post a playable version online. After hearing the overwhelming requests for a playable online version, we decided it was a must.

As of this week, you can now play Subsurface online.

UPDATE: Our servers are temporarily offline, which means Subsurface is also temporarily offline. We’re working out the kinks right now and should be back up and running soon. My appologies to those who have tried to play and got error messages. I will post an update as soon as we’re back in business. 

For those of you who weren’t at show, but want to learn about Subsurface, don’t feel left out! The next couple of paragraphs in this post are devoted to summarizing the game and its importance to 3DVIA. If you want even more details, you can always visit the official Subsurface website.

The Story Behind the Game

Subsurface is the first game built on 3DVIA Virtools 5, the latest version of our game engine devoted to rapid prototyping and game development. Designed with the idea of drastically decreasing development time without sacrificing quality in mind, we put 3DVIA Virtools 5 to the test with the development of Subsurface. We collaborated with long time 3DVIA Virtools partner Little Chicken Game Company and gave them what would normally be seen as an impossible challenge: develop a game in 60 days with 6 people that’s not only engaging, but serves as a learning tool for other 3D application developers. The result was Subsurface.

The Subsurface Narrative and Gameplay

The year is 2041 and the world is in peril. With our natural resources nearly depleted, world powers are frantic to find new forms of energy. In the midst of this tension, a deep sea species capable of generating massive amounts of inexhaustible energy, known as the “Glowspheres,” is been discovered. Theoretically, this unharnessed power could be used to solve the world’s energy crisis or, if discovered by the wrong people, could generate a weapon far greater than any ever before conceived.

You are Dr. Valerie Toulè, a marine biologist specializing in deep sea ecosystems and aquatic species. The G20 has brought you back from sabbatical to investigate and retrieve the Glowspheres before Ian McClusky, the world’s most wanted narco-terrorist, uses them for evil purposes.

Enjoy!

GDC 2009 is Now History! We had an excellent show and thank you for taking the time to watch 3DVIA live. You can catch many of the pictures from the show on Flickr.

Not going to GDC? 
Check out the daily blog post here, our live booth video or you can follow us live on Twitter!

Check out the interactive 3D render of our spiffy new trade show booth!  Click the "Play 3D" button.

See you at the show!

3DVIA Shape 3.0: Tip #4 - How To Revolve Geometry

The following techniques for 3DVIA Shape 2.0 are still quite valuable to help improve your 3D modeling skills:

Dhiraj Patil is well known to 3DVIA visitors as DPV1. His models have been in Top 10 – 005, – 007 and – 008 with a second model as an Honorable Mention in – 008.

Dhiraj also knows his way around 3DVIA Shape like few other modelers. The Honorable Mention model happened to be of a volleyball and I included an image of his wire frame because so many 3DVIA Shape users had been asking how to make a sphere using Shape.

Dhiraj has even kindly sent us the following illustrated tutorial that will easily step you through the process to create various spherical objects using 3DVIA Shape 2.0.

These are his own words and images with just minor edits. You did a great job Dhiraj!

“This tutorial is aimed at letting users of 3DVIa shape 2.0 create spherical objects which cannot be created using a direct command. The example taken is that of a volleyball which eventually can be applied to any other object spherical in nature.

1 – Create a rectangle using the rectangle tool.

2 – Extrude it to create a block by using the push-n-pull tool.

3 – Create a circular surface on one of the vertical faces.

4 – As we need only half the surface, delete the unwanted part.

5 – On the top surface, create a triangle by drawing lines exactly from the center to the two opposite vertices.

6 – Remove all the surfaces except the triangle on top and the semi-circular surface on the side.

7 – Using the push-n-pull command, extrude the two surfaces so that they intersect totally.

8 – Now remove all the unnecessary surfaces to keep only the semi-circular wedge created after the intersection. The faces of the wedge also should be deleted.

9 – Provide a Texture or color. Doing this at this step will save adding it to the individual circular faces later as there would be a larger number of them (depending on how many wedge segments you use).

10 – Select the object and click on the manipulate command.

11 – Drag the vertex of the manipulator axis to the corner of the wedge. This shall be the point of rotation.

12 – Now we need to rotate the wedge around this point, simultaneously making a copy. Click on the CTRL button and drag the horizontal rotation arc of the manipulator axis.

13 – The wedge gets copied with a rotation around the selected point. Repeat this step until the whole spherical object is formed.

Your completed sphere will look something like this.

14 - Since (after rotation) the left edge will not snap exactly on the right edge, there might be intersection between them. To remove the intersected elements, join the edges of the intersecting surfaces by drawing a line to connect them. This will create distinct intersection surfaces.

15 – Now delete the unwanted surfaces.

The object that is created is very much spherical in nature. The number of discrete wedge elements determine the smoothness and the smaller the angle of the wedge the smoother the object will be. However, with more discrete elements there would be more triangles and the file size would eventually be greater.

I have followed a similar method to create flowers and plants in 3DVIA Shape 2.0.”

Thank you Dhiraj for sharing your techniques with us! I’m always amazed that each user will find a way around a problem that so many others have not thought of. We can all apply this set of tools and the inspiration of your example to make sure we bring our imagination to our own modeling.

The best models you upload every week are spotlighted with their own Top 10 post, including an additional 5 Honorable Mentions.

You even have the chance to win valuable prizes in our frequent 3DVIA Challenges!

So, thanks to everyone; hard-core gamers, down-to-the-tenths CAD folks and anyone who just plain enjoys 3D modeling for becoming part of the fun here at 3DVIA!

Publish to 3DVIA from SolidWorks from SolidWorks: Heard!

Check out Lou Gallo’s SolidWorks: Heard! blog post covering the latest update to SolidWorks making it easy to publish content directly to 3DVIA.com.  I could be a tiny bit biased but I love how Lou opens the post (flattery will get you everywhere in this world).

“3dvia is a place where social media meets 3D modeling, allowing its users to upload, share and find 3d models. With over 6000 models and almost 75,000 users, 3dvia is the place to be when it comes to sharing 3d models.”

Lou also touches upon one of the keys to 3DVIA at the end of the post. “I hope this new addition will encourage SolidWorks users to share their models and help reduce the barrier of entry for the SolidWorks masses.”  Here at 3DVIA.com, it’s all about connecting different communities of 3D users together in the hope of expressing ideas in 3D easier.

In addition to SolidWorks: Heard!, you can follow Lou on Twitter and 3DVIA (maybe we can get Lou to publish a few more models!)

Documenting and Viewing via 3DVIA Composer from Desktop Engineering

We also had another great post from SolidSmack blogger and Desktop Engineering contributor, Josh Mings on his test drive of 3DVIA Composer.  Garth over at our 3DMOJO blog already has a post on the article but I wanted to republish a quote from Josh to continue our theme of making communication through 3D more accessible to everyone.

“It’s marketed as a tool enabling non-CAD people to take 3D CAD data and create rich deliverables — but in the hands of an engineer it becomes much more.”

You can follow Josh on his SolidSmack blog and Twitter.

Thank you Lou and Josh.

You’ve added a lot of great models too - almost 5000! And that doesn’t even include the thousands more private models that have also been uploaded.

You’re also creating Groups at a growing rate – 88 special collections of models with related discussions! There’s something for everyone and anyone can start their own group.

There’s also a new weekly post recognizing the Top 10 models from the previous week. So, there’s always something new to find and get involved in at 3DVIA.com. Come on in, the water’s fine!

Check out the winning entry below!

Congratulations Balgin!! 
Everyone get ready for the next challenge!

I have not been able to confirm the report with media tracking service comScore yet but our traffic has been growing steady this according to our latest chart on compete.com.

Is your company on the list?

1 MYSPACE.COM*
2 Blogger
3 FACEBOOK.COM
4 WORDPRESS.COM*
5 FLICKR.COM
6 Classmates.com Sites
7 Six Apart Sites
8 REUNION.COM
9 Yahoo! Geocities
10 Lycos Tripod
11 AIM Profiles (w/ history)
12 FREEWEBS.COM (w/ history)
13 imeem
14 Buzznet
15 DIGG.COM
16 WEBSHOTS.COM (w/ history)
17 Yahoo! Groups
18 Yahoo! Buzz
19 BEBO.COM (w/ history)
20 LINKEDIN.COM
21 AOL Hometown (w/ history)
22 TAGGED.COM
23 DEVIANTART.COM
24 KABOODLE.COM (w/ history)
25 AOL Community (w/ history)
26 HI5.COM
27 XANGA.COM
28 PROPELLER.COM (w/ history)
29 SCRIBD.COM
30 MSN Groups
31 eCrush Network (w/ history)
32 GAIAONLINE.COM
33 CAFEMOM.COM (w/ history)
34 BLACKPLANET.COM* (w/ history)
35 CARINGBRIDGE.ORG
36 FRIENDSTER.COM
37 TECHNORATI.COM (w/ history)
38 Yahoo! 360°
39 DADA.NET
40 43THINGS.COM
41 Youku
42 MEETUP.COM
43 PICZO.COM
44 ZIMBIO.COM
45 WeeWorld
46 Orkut
47 ADDTHIS.COM
48 WEBLO.COM
49 BOOMJ.COM
50 SODAHEAD.COM
51 YUKU.COM
52 MULTIPLY.COM
53 XOMBA.COM
54 AOL Journals (w/ history)
55 Curse, Inc.
56 FUNADVICE.COM
57 GROUPRECIPES.COM
58 THISNEXT.COM
59 FANPOP.COM (w/ history)
60 HELIUM.COM
61 EXPERIENCEPROJECT.COM
62 DORMITORY.COM
63 CARE2.COM (w/ history)
64 Stickam
65 SLASHDOT.ORG
66 MOLI.COM
67 ROIWORLD.COM
68 STYLEM.COM
69 ROBLOX.COM
70 CREATEBLOG.COM
71 DELICIOUS.COM
72 IHIPHOP.COM
73 Virb Inc.
74 FUBAR.COM
75 BLOGTHINGS.COM
76 Tribe Networks, Inc.
77 METROFLOG.COM
78 FEARNET.COM
79 MIXERCAST.COM
80 FUNFORMOBILE.COM
81 MOCOSPACE.COM
82 SezWho
83 INVOLVER.COM
84 DOGSTER.COM (w/ history)
85 WEBKINZINSIDER.COM
86 TEAMSUGAR.COM
87 FOTKI.COM
88 SONICO.COM (w/ history)
89 DISABOOM.COM
90 HOVERSPOT.COM
91 56.COM
92 FOTOLOG.COM (w/ history)
93 ZORPIA.COM
94 3DVIA.COM
95 ALUMNICLASS.COM
96 TAGWORLD.COM
97 WAYN.COM (w/ history)
98 STEAMCOMMUNITY.COM
99 CHAT-AVENUE.COM
100 MIGENTE.COM* (w/ history)

Source

Although I am probably biased, there is a great article on TIME.com today featuring a certain 3D content site that you may have visited recently. Please check out the Thomas Grose 3D Comes to Web 2.0 article that is all about your very own 3DVIA.com.

“The hosted services and communities of Web 2.0 already amount to an entirely new form of communication. But now a new site called 3DVIA.com is taking the social-networking concept to another dimension — both literally and, well, virtually.” [ Read the Full Article ]

If you are not familiar with TIME.com, it is the online version of Time Magazine which has over 3,250,000 subscribers and is read by nearly 10 million people each week.

Do you have Digg account?
Please Digg the TIME article above.

In short, Photoshop Extended allows graphic designers to incorporate 3D content directly into their 2D designs.  This gives you the ability to optimize the position and lighting of an element in your design on the fly.  Photoshop accepts .3ds, .obj and .dae files among other formats readily available for free right here on 3DVIA.com. 

If you do not have Photoshop, why not try a similar functionality in our own free 3Dcollage?  All you need is a Facebook account and the 3Dcollage app.  You can read all about it here.

View original post on Templamatic.

As Bertrand Duplat, Virtools founder and CTO for 3DVIA puts it, “3DVIA has taken into consideration studios’ needs when designing and developing games, especially those that work with large development teams in multiple locations.  Our new development engine encompasses the entire development cycle – from importing content to testing and debugging – maximizing publishers’ investments by allowing them to create content once, optimize it, and publish it across multiple platforms.”

If you are in the game development space, you should check out the 3DVIA MP site for all of the details.  Or you can watch this early trailer for the product below. 

The official announcement for 3DVIA MP was released yesterday at this years Game Developers Conference and the reaction has been excellent.

The survey should take less than two minutes. Thank you again for your support.

 Click Here to Launch the 3DVIA Site Improvement Survey

If you would like to be notified about upcoming changes to the site, please register for a free 3DVIA 3D model hosting account or leave a comment below.

Search bar: you will now find a Search bar at the top right corner of the website.

You have the choice to search in models, users or groups.

3D Models listing: you can now view and sort models by most viewed, most rated, most downloaded

Users listing:  view and sort users by name, most active, last updated or created ; sort contributors by number of models uploaded, comments received, best ratings …

- Rotate around and zoom on a focused point

- Change and save model position (save is only available for model owner)

- Change 3D models shaders (Direct X 9C or higher installed)

All these features are avaible from the new context menu

To see the context menu and define the focused point (the blue cone) on the model, click and hold the middle mouse button.

Depending on the functionality selected, the blue cone will be used as the center of rotation, the focused point to zoom on or the new face to place on the ground.

Context menu gives you access to zoom, rotate and pan options. These options are also accessible more rapidly with mouse or keyboard.

New Mouse control

- Activate the context menu and define the focused point: Middle button down (or left button down + Shift)
- Activate the function picked in the context menu: Midlle button up (or left button up + Shift)

- Activate Pan: Left button down + Ctrl

- Zoom: Use the scroll-wheel button

- Rotate: Midlle + Left buttons

New Keyboard control

Go to the 3D Experiences page to discover them.

Showroom

Visit and navigate inside our virtual showroom.
You will find a camera inside it. Clic and play with all its features. You will be able to use the zoom, take pictures and movie then replay all.

3swym – see what you mean

Discover how the 3D web can change the way brands listen to consumers. See how YOU can, just by clicking, explain how you would reorganize your supermarket. Be creative, pick a brand logo, select a shape and a material to design your first yogurt ! Then store it in your fridge or imagine it on the road… And tell us what you mean !

This easy-to-use application gives you the ability to save 3D scenes in 3DXML format from both OpenGL and Direct3D rendering API. Everyone can now save and share 3D models, it is as simple as classical print screen usage.

Go to the 3DVIA Printscreen page to download the application.

How does it works?

1. Launch 3DVIA Printscreen application first.

2. Open your application based on OpenGL, Direct3D 8 or Direct3D 9.

3. Grab the 3D scenes. Give focus to the application, then press the 3DVIA Printscreen hotkey (F10 by default). A 3D XML file is saved in your output folder.

4. Upload the result to 3dvia.com.

Enjoy !

Rafale 3D model captured with 3DVIA Printscreen

3dvia.com will be the meeting point for all communities wishing to improve everyday life with 3D. It will provide both 3D content and 3D services, either very generic or more dedicated to specific goals. It leverages real-time display and behavioral 3D technologies, and provides services for everyone to imagine, create, share, experience or play in 3D.

To keep your old Teapotters profile and activate your account on 3dvia, simply accept the new Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Welcome to 3dvia.com! 

• Ajax in alerts: automatic refresh when queuing and / or processing.
• In context sign in: now you can sign in before posting comments or rating a model in context.
• Sign in: you can now sign in by enter your username or your email.
• Texture:”allow download” attribute inherited for textures.
• Zip Download: Download 3D models and materials via a ZIP file.