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!

The 3DVIA team proudly presents the latest version of our free 3D modeling software 3DVIA Shape (Version 3.0)! It is the most feature rich release to date!  This new version extends powerful “freeform” modeling to everyone, allowing users to create smooth curved surfaces for boats, planes, rockets, or anything within a user’s imagination.

Here’s a rundown of some of the key features in 3DVIA Shape 3.0:

	Deform: Easily bend a flat surface to create wavy, swoopy, and curved objects.
	Draw on curved surfaces: Users have better control over deformed surfaces by having the ability to add control lines where needed.
	Revolve: Quickly creates cylindric solids to make cones, spheres, cups, vases, etc.
	Offset: With ease, users can create windows, doors, picture frames by having the ability to thicken, curve and manipulate facets to create depth in an object.
	Mirror: Creates a mirror based duplicate in order to design objects in perfect symmetry.
	Improved Distance Snapping: Snap to specific increments while pushing, pulling or rotating geometry.

3DVIA Shape 3.0 in Action

Check out the following video to get a peek at the above features in action.

NEW 3DVIA Shape Tips and Tricks Videos

We’ve also introduced a new series of recorded Tips and Tricks for 3DVIA Shape 3.0.  These videos range in length from 15 seconds to 2 minutes and are a great way to  quickly get up to speed with new and existing features.  For example, take a look at both Tips #17 and Tip #19 for a more in-depth look at the new deform feature.  I also recommend looking at Tip #4 to quickly learn how the new revolve feature works.  Click here to see all Tips and Tricks videos.  We’ll be adding to this library so please be sure to comments here if you would like to see something specific.

Try 3DVIA Shape today and let us know what you think!

As mentioned in our first Tips & Tricks post, DCC stands for Digital Content Creation.  It is the industry term defining the use of 3D applications like 3DVIA Shape, Maya, 3D Studio Max and XSI  and the creation of 3D content for use in films and real time interactive applications like games and virtual training. In this blog, I’ll cover the best file format to upload to 3DVIA, as well as some of the processes you can use to get the best results.

File Format

A small industry by comparison, 3D is still not without its industry standard format disputes.  There are well over a dozen established 3D file formats.  Recently however there has been a push to develop an industry-wide format that would work for all DCC applications.  The most widely used are also the oldest formats, often dropping support for newer functions due to their age.  Formats like OBJ and 3DS format, were created long ago (in a galaxy far away)  and cannot possibly contain some of the newer and now standard information in a 3D file.

The OBJ and 3DS File formats are the old work horses of the industry. Unfortunately, sometimes they don’t handle transparencies and smoothing groups that well, which makes their use a bit random in quality consistency.

The DAE File format is an open source format, in use by or supported by all the major DCC applications and fully supported here at 3DVIA.  If possible, this is the format we recommend you use when uploading your models to the website.  You can find information about the Collida DAE exporter from Feeling Software’s website.

Textures

The best practices for creating textures for use on 3DVIA can be found here.

Processing and Set up

Our player has basic lighting, so in order to showcase your model at its best, add as much lighting information as possible into the textures.  Using hand-painted highlights and shadows, all the way to baking the lighting and occlusion information into a file and layering it on top of your texture is the best way to show off your model on 3DVIA.

Most DCC applications will let you bake the lighting information onto a texture file, but if you can’t, you can simply add some highlights and shadows to your models texture.  Just grab a color,  make it a little darker or lighter and paint!  Its very similar to hand painting miniatures for table top games like Games-Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000.

A model always looks better in its environment.   Something as simple as adding a ground plane to showcase the shadows will add much realism and weight to your model.   If you go further, you can create a small diorama or piece of terrain for your model to sit on.  Always remember not to overdo it, the focus of your attention should be on your model not your setting!

Shaders

The standard staples are the best when it comes to displaying your work online. Lambert and Blinn shaders can handle a large variety of options. The 3DVIA Web Player currently picks up on Diffuse, Ambient, Transparency, and Specularity with more support for advance features currently in the works. Only the diffuse channel can have a texture map. As a general tip, however, go through your shaders before exporting and if you see your ambient value is set to 0 (or ambient color set to black), change it or move the slider up to 40% of the way. This will ensure your textures show up with rich color under the default lighting. Kind of like TV star needing make up to be on stage!

Construction

As I’ve discussed in this post, there are two types of rendering, Pre-Rendering and Real-Time Rendering. 3DVIA’s web player falls into the Real-Time Rendering category, just like the games we all play everyday. It’s optimally rendering the view on the screen 30 times every second (also called the frame rate).

As artists, we do everything we can to maintain a good frame rate when we are working on a model for use in a Real-Time Rendering application. Along with the tips I’ve covered in “Staying on your Polygon Diet” blog post, pay attention to your texture file sizes as these are the largest contributors to your overall model file size.  Anything you can do to reduce the size of your uploaded file will help the player display your model more fluidly.

Lastly, remember that the 3DVIA Player has the option to view your models in wireframe.  There are many DCC artists out there, and we have a tendency to judge not just by looks but also by quality of construction. Always check the poly flow of a model, and give it a final pass over before you upload.  If you want to learn more as to why polyflow is important, check out one of my previous posts on the subject here.

That’s all I have for DCC tips for now,
This is Juan, Signing Off.

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!

There are well over two dozen different 3D applications with a variety of tools and complexity in use by 3D artists around the world today. Our website, 3DVIA supports the majority of these programs through a few key file formats and texture formats.  In this series of articles we will discover the best ways to upload and show off your work, and discuss individual tips and best practices for 3DVIA Shape, DCC and CAD users.  In this first blog, we will cover the general tips that work for any user.

Vocabulary:
DCC- Digital Content Creation- A term describing 3D animation tools like Maya and 3D Max.
CAD- Computer Aided Design- drafting, engineering and architecture tools like CATIA.

General Tips
I’ve spoken before about the different requirements of Real Time Rending vs. Pre-rendering in this post “Not All 3D is created Equal” and along those lines you can see how a more complex model would take up more resources when being displayed over an online medium in Real Time.  The following are a few ways you can help keep your model file size down:

Model Construction
There are a few techniques that I have covered in this previous post “Staying on your Polygon Diet” that will help greatly with file size and complexity. 

Textures
- The majority of a model’s file size may come from your textures. Using a compressed format like JPG or PNG is the key.

- Keep your texture sizes at or below 1024 x 1024 pixels. The size and resolution of a texture greatly affect the file size of the texture.  3DVIA.com automatically reduces in size and quality any texture greater than 1024 x 1024 during the upload process.

- If you are using Photoshop, a good tip is to use the “Save for Web & Devices..” save option and use 60% quality.  This will reduce the file size greatly, while maintaining quality.

- When using repeatable textures, crop the texture down to a single iteration. all 3D programs tile textures across an unlimited spectrum, so you only need the smallest building block for a repeatable pattern.

General Tricks
There are a few less well known tricks that will allow you to get the most out of 3DVIA. Most of these involve the use of 3DVIA Shape Remix and the 3DVIA Player.

3DVIA Shape Remix- This is one of those unique things that put 3DVIA above the rest. We’ve talked about Remix and about the requirements to allow your models to be used in a Remix before but the main ones are:      
                                   -File size after upload to 3dvia.com is less than 2mb
                                   -Model is public.

NOTE: If you think you’ve done everything right to allow the model to be usable in shape but are still getting the message in the model information window “Not Usable in Shape(?)” click on the question mark for more information on the reason its not usable.

Lets say your model is too big and you can’t or don’t have time to change the textures.  What you can do is upload the model in smaller parts, and then “assemble it” online with 3DVIA Shape Remix!

3DVIA Player- Very few people know that the player has some powerful built-in capabilities, and we’ve made all these tools available from the radial menu:

•  Adding a shader- You can can cycle through a selection of shader included in the 3dvia player by pressing and holding the middle mouse button and moving the mouse to the Shader button.  Repeated use of the button will cycle through all these shaders:                                  
                                    -Cartoon Shader
                                    -Sparkling Shader
                                    -Fresnel Environment Shader
                                    -Double Sided directional Shader

Changing the models position-  Sometimes your model displays at a weird angle or position.  You can fix this!  When you middle mouse click, you not only open the radial menu but you also set a marker for were you want the camera to focus on and rotate around.  Using this same marker, you can select a point on the model indicating this is the direction you want to face downwards and select reposition model from the radial menu.  The player will automatically reorient the model using your market as its new “ground level”

Saving your Settings-  All of this would be for naught if you couldn’t share it with your friends.  As long as you are logged and you own the model you can save the shader and position settings by selecting “Save the current settings” from the radial menu.

NOTE: As of this moment the ability to update / change the thumbnail is not possible, but it is something we are all looking forward too, as soon as I have an update I’ll let you guys know.

Next up we will look at Tips & Tricks for Shape, DCC and CAD Applications, so stay tuned!

-Juan

Delving into the software that power our 3D interactive environments or Game Engines can get very technical and daunting.  Considering the number of solutions out there, and the different terminology used to describe them, it can also get very confusing.  In this article we will define what a Game Engine is, a few different types of engines and some of the most popular engines out today, along with what they can do.  I’ve also linked the images in the blog to either their source material or movies showcasing the subject of the image, so there is alot more information directly available in this post than it would first seem. 

What are they, and what do they do?

Don’t be misled by the name, a Game Engine is a software package designed for the creation and development of real-time interactive applications.  Games are just the fun, colorful, entertaining and more visible slice of the pie. Game Engines are used in marketing demos, architectural visualizations, military and medical training simulations, modeling environments, weather forecasts, accident reconstruction, material stress testing and so much more. They also serve as the proving field for new visual technologies and procedures that enhance products to their next generation.

Modern Game Engines are some of the most complex applications you’ll find anywhere.  Balancing a multitude of internal and third party systems, they create a seamless interactive staging for any content and context that feels real and  alive.  A few of the more common systems you’ll find in a Game Engine include a physics engine, artificial intelligence (AI), rendering engine, networking code, and a scripting system for controling in-game events.

Think of it as the ultimate technology in visualization and simulation, with games blazing the trail and blurring the lines of what is real and what is fiction.

In games, 3D guided tours, games, environmental demos, games, architectural presentations, games; no matter the scene, the purpose is always to make the user feel like he’s actually in your demo.   To create the illusion of being part of the world, developers use various techniques to maintain the illusion throughout the experience. In this article we will explore some of them, starting from the inside towards the outside boundary.

Naturally Blocking Line of Sight (LOS)

Almost every 3D environment starts out as a cube, or box shape.  Our job is to make you feel like you are in a fully realized world with no boundaries.   The first step in this process is to limit where the user can go while making it seem like the area stretches on for miles.  Whenever we constrain the player by blocking his progress, the player needs to feel like it’s a natural obstacle that he can go around, not the “end of the level” wall.  The realism of the scene comes in the illusion of vastness, of a complete world, not a shoe box.

Depending on your environment, there are many natural ways to block both line of sight and movement of the player.  In a city scene, you can use a car pile-up, construction, ending the lane in a large building like a library or museum,  police road block due to accident or robbery, the list goes on as far as your imagination.  All of these will make the player feel like he’s in a real environment and serves the purpose of hiding the level border and adding realism.

Perspective Range

The 3D version of “Smoke and Mirrors”.  Think of a level as having 3 stages of distance in order to provide the perspective of range and distance.   The inner level is the playable field, with natural boundaries to constrain the player within it.  The mid-level contains simplified geometry to provide ambience and a sense of scale.  The outer level provides a sense of place or location in the world.  This is mostly in part because of our perspective. As it changes, objects that are closer appear to move faster than objects that are far away.

Another great tool is distance fog. Representing the aspect of visual range, its a rolling fog that increases in strength the further away an object is.  Its also a great way to represent heat haze and smog.

Skydome vs. Skybox

The cherry on top, you can’t have a world without atmosphere, sky and clouds.  There are two popular ways to add this, Skydome and Skybox.

A Skydome is a sphere or half sphere that goes around your entire level.  Effects like lens flare and animated clouds can add dynamic realism to the scene.  It’s very easy and quick to make, but it adds more geometry to your scene and the slight spherical skewing may be noticeable.

A Skybox gives the  sense of limitless sky and distance.  It achieves this through a camera trick. In the development environment or game engine you create a cube outside of your box shaped level. To this you apply 6 seamless skyline images to each of the internal walls of the cube.  With the cube as a reference, you tell the walls of your main level to “look through” the cube walls.  Its almost better to describe it as a portal to a wall in the small cube, but since you can never reach the walls, its a visual illusion.  And as it encompasses the entire level, it feels like a seamless sky.

God rays, or light cones and light bloom effects really add realism to the entire environment. Crisp shadows take care of all the rest.

Keeping all these techniques in mind when you create a level along with game play elements or directional flow of the tour/action will give you a very professional end product.  And the entire reason we do all this work is so that no one notices that we DID do all this work, it has to feel natural.  Mother Nature is a hard task master. ;)

-Juan

Making 3DVIA Shape even easier!

The latest upgrade for 3DVIA Shape, 3DVIA’s free, online 3D modeling software, is now available for download.  Developed to specifically address user feedback, the new upgrade features several key product enhancements, including improved UI for object manipulation.
Now 3DVIA Shape users will be able to more easily scale, position, and rotate imported models thanks to simple drag handles found on the outer edges of the bounding box that surrounds imported models.

To download 3DVIA Shape 2.1, click here.

Also, be sure to try out our new 3DVIA Starter Set.  With over 100 furniture models to choose from, you can build your dream room in minutes!

To start:

1. Launch 3DVIA Shape.

2. Type “3dviastarterset” in the search box on the lower left panel of the 3DVIA Shape interface.

3. Insert, position, scale, and rotate any item in the search results.

Why do things more than once? Whatever your passion is in 3DVIA Shape 2.0 modeling, you can create template files like gsmith has and save enormous amounts of time. He shows us how valuable it is to create a single model containing a bunch of common elements that we can then select, copy, re-position and re-texture to make a new model. Then we just delete the leftovers and publish it as our own custom model.

It’s like having a 3D catalog of housing choices that we can use to build just what we want. His Colonial House Template file is complete with instructions too!

The yellow highlighted “Secret tip for aligning extensions” is very valuable, so I’ll add some images here to hopefully help make it even easier. Please pardon so much scrolling to see the images, but it’s important to see the difference between one action and another and what it is that you should be looking for.

First, an important note about selecting:

If you just select a face or line, as in the left hand picture above, you won’t be able to move or change anything except what is highlighted with a blue dashed outline. If you select the box inside the blue circle, then you select the whole item, as shown in the right hand picture above. Once you’ve selected the whole object then you can copy and paste it and use the “Secret tip”.

I’ve rotated the model a little, but if you select the whole object, then copy and paste it ( ctrl-c / ctrl-v ) it will look like it does above.

This is the “Secret” – after you paste the selected object ( ctrl-v ) and before you do anything else, PRESS THE SPACE BAR. Now your object has the measles – oh, I mean it’s covered with orange spots that you can now choose as anchor points. The anchor point that I want to use is circled in green.

Now that I’ve left clicked to select an anchor point, as I move the copy closer to the original, the original gets blue spots all over it (some of which are highlighted with green circles). This shows potential points that my selected anchor point can be latched onto. The one that I want to match up with is circled in red.

The yellow dashed line shows that the copy is aligned horizontally with the original using the center of both objects – just like I want it to be.

As I move the copy closer to the original, it will snap into place and indicate with a blue square that the alignment is complete.

* It is important to note that once you have joined one object to another (like we just did), you cannot disconnect it as a unit later. If you are lucky and realize it soon enough, you can use the undo button. You can also delete it face by face if you have to, but it can be time-consuming.

So, now you know the secret and can start making custom houses that are all yours without having to do all of the work from scratch. Thank you gsmith!

NEXT – we explore the “texture as desired” part of his instructions. It’s kind of like a recipe where the instructions say “salt and pepper to taste”. Adding textures can be a lot of fun and make all the difference in how your house tastes – I mean looks!

mvcomputers (Matthew Viets in the non-virtual world) is a regular 3DVIA contributor that many 3DVIA vistors will immediately recognize from his profile thumbnail.

Matthew always has something positive to say about other models while uploading a steady stream of his own excellent 3D contributions. He has been our 3DVIA Challenge winner three times! His 3D cell phone, Pontiac dragster and Tank were chosen as Challenge winners.

Take a look at his 55 models (probably more by now) and you’ll see two other important parts of why Matthew is such a excellent 3D modeler; he has a great sense of humor and he’ll model just about anything! He’s always trying new things.

Q1: How did you first become interested in 3D modeling?

I had seen how Disney Pixar made all their wonderful animations with 3DS Max and other 3D modeling programs. I became interested in in it, so I bought 3DS Max and began making simple shapes. Soon after playing around and reading lots of tutorials I was making much more complex models.

Q2: What types of 3D modeling do you do?

I play around with many types of modeling. I have recently been making animations and posting them on YouTube. My favorite form of modeling is what you see on 3DVIA, still models. I have also done a lot of modeling for Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004 maps. I have published many maps for the game and it has been quite rewarding to see people from around the world enjoying playing them.

Q3: What role do your models play in the work you do?

For me, modeling is just a hobby. I would never sell my models for profit because if people get a kick out of them then they can have them. My reward is just to make people happy.

Q4: How much time do you spend, on average, on one particular model?

I will spend anywhere from 10 minutes to several days depending on how much free time I have – mostly at night, when everyone is sleeping. lol

Q5: What additional software do you use to create your images?

Photoshop has been key in making textures for my models. 3DS Max is my 3D program of choice.

Q6: What is your work day like?

I run a small computer business designing custom built computer systems part time. Full time, I am a steel worker in a steel mill here in Ohio.

Q7: What are your tips for staying focused on a large project?

For me, key to keeping myself interested throughout a large project is to take lots of breaks. I always make sure I am modeling something that excites me and something that I have interest in; such as robotics, sci-fi vehicles, guns and architecture.

Q8: where do you go (websites, museums, race tracks, anywhere) for help, tips and inspiration?

I don’t have to go anywhere for inspiration; wherever I am at any given time there are always things around that inspire me. All one has to do is just look around and use your imagination. As far as tips and help, I usually like to find good tutorials on the web.

Q9: What part of 3D modeling do you find most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing for me about modeling is the fact of knowing that “I made that!”. Another rewarding aspect of modeling is being able to help others, whether it is with positive support or with advice.

Q10: What is your favorite game? Movie? Comic Book?

My favorite game is Unreal Tournament 2003, 2004 and 2007. My favorite movie is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was never into comic books. lol

Q11: What is your favorite subject other than 3D modeling?

Other than modeling, my best time is spent raising my son and spending as much time as possible with him and with my wife.

Thank you Matthew for answering our questions and for being such a valuable part of the 3DVIA community. Keep up the great models, comments and excellent humor!

In my previous blog we talked about individual vehicle design.  In this blog we will explore vehicle design for games. There are a few considerations you must keep in mind when designing vehicles for games, today we’ll cover 3: Mobbing up, Flavor, and Balance.

Mobbing up

No man is an island, in games, no one vehicle can win a game. Sure there are mega/epic units but by themselves they will get over powered and destroyed. Build vehicles that can accomplish their one particular role well.  Don’t add weapons and abilities “just in case”.  You want the player to build all the wonderful units you made and use them all as one cohesive swarm. Each vehicle performs one role well, and all others badly, but in a group, it can’t be defeated.  The best real world examples are Navy Battle Groups. Large formations of ships supporting one another with specific combat roles. 

Flavor

Here is where we get creative.  All games have factions or races, each one with a particular flavor.   You can’t give a vehicle with laser gatling guns to a nomadic faction that cobbles together their technology from various junk piles.  When building for a particular faction, write down their strengths, weaknesses and what makes them unique from the other factions.  Keep this in mind when you create a new vehicle.  That laser gatling gun vehicle could be an excellent anti infantry unit for a techie cyborg based race.

Balance

Here is where we make sure the game play remains fair for each faction.  The main point of balance is to keep the game fun but challenging.  No one likes a game they can’t win, and no one really enjoyes a $50 game they can beat in 15 minutes with 2 units.

Vehicles for each of the armies in the game usually have a direct corresponding vehicle in each of the other armies and a suitable counter vehicle.  In this respect, you see many armies have an anti aircraft vehicle. You use the flavor to make them really different from each other, but they perform the same function, thereby creating balance.
 
A popular balance method is the old Paper-Rock-Scissors. Where class A vehicle defeats class B vehicle – class B defeats class C vehicle – class C defeats class A.  

You’ll find some games that don’t follow these general rules, and go so far as to create units that one faction will have more trouble defeating than another, attempting to create a 3 way faction balance. These games usually give you other alternatives like super weapons/units, or the ability to pair up with another player using diplomacy rules to defeat a stronger army.

Recently some games have allowed you to customize special modular vehicles, allowing you to alter the role of the vehicle to meet your needs. These tend to be a unique vehicle, and allow you to create some real power houses adding an element of unbalance in to gameplay but creating a really fun (albeit unfair) experience as a trade off.

No mater the method you chose for balance, always keep in mind that each vehicle you create has a role within its flavor/faction/race, and it is best supported be an army of specialist vehicles covering each others’ weaknesses.  All working together to defeat the latest evil nasty nameless army that has threatened your people with ever lasting elevator music!

Till next time,
Fight well, honorably and often
-Juan

-Models in the Tittle Image where created for a GI-Joe mod by Brendan Fennimore, Chris McCune, Jonathan Millman, and Juan M. Del Rio.

 Often once you build a vehicle, you want it to do everything well, to handle any obstacle and take on entire countries by itself!  What started out as a troop transport, is now an amphibious Monster Truck with 8 gun turrets, 18 missiles, 40 rocket launchers and 2 miles per gallon that has the seating capacity of a small stadium!  We get carried away in our excitement and lose focus on what the vehicle’s role is.  In this blog we’ll look at some of the things we usually forget when creating a new vehicle, and talk about the design.

Whats Missing?

 Each vehicle is designed and created to play a particular role or fulfill a tactical need: Recon/Scout, Anti Personnel, Anti Armor, Troop Transport, Main Tank, Long range support, Infantry Support, Bombers, Assault.  Keep in mind that your vehicle is not all of these at the same time, but it can be a hybrid of two.  For example a Fighter-Bomber or an Assault-Tank.

Another thing we usually forget are the things that our vehicle needs:  Engines, weapon power sources, ammo drums or compartments, crew space, emergency escapes, armor panels.  Sometimes we stack so many things in a vehicle and then realize we only left space for a AA battery or 2 sleeping quarters in a space ship with a crew of 30.

You may think I’m crazy but all of these details matter.   These are things you may not notice, but you feel something is missing on the model.   Models that are functional, are more exciting than models that make you guess at how many chickens are powering the 2 square foot engine.

Design

Who’s driving the vehicle?  What environment is the vehicle most likely to be in? Whats the daily routine of the vehicle?   The more you know and figure out about your vehicle the more detailed and alive it becomes.  For example, a large cammoflauged tractor with a mini gun might do great against that alien bovine invasion but do nothing for the wheat field the farmer is supposed to be using it in.  Change it to a bright red tractor with an air conditioned cab, a cooler in the back, a shotgun in a golf bag and a large radio antennae on the top and its the farmers dream vehicle.   

Combat vehicles follow the same line of thinking.  You figure out its combat role and give it 2-3 weapon systems that will help it fulfill its role.  Don’t add things “just in case” you run into an aircraft carrier!  If its a troop transport, its main role is to carry infantry safely to  where they can be best used.  Its main armament is actually armor, second would be a machine gun to provide cover fire,  and third maybe smoke launchers to protect itself and its passengers as they disembark.   Another great addition would be to allow the infantry to shoot through gun ports adding to the fire power of the transport.   Its definitely vulnerable to heavy weapons but it has the tools to fulfill its role.

 Look back over some of the vehicle’s you’ve created so far, and see if there is anything you can add to make it more life like and functional.  Use them as a stepping stone and make the next vehicles you make that much better.   In my next blog, we’ll talk about creating units for a game, faction influence and game balancing.

-Juan

This is not only exciting news for Shape users but for every 3D artist looking to promote their work online. Now there is no telling how far your 3D artwork and name will reach. Especially because every remix on 3DVIA provides credit back to you the artist. Just look under each model for the “Models used in this remix” panel for your 3D models.

However, not all 3D models can be used in a 3DVIA Shape remix. Here are some guidelines to ensure that your model will be available (or not available if you prefer) for other 3DIVA Shape users.

Keep Your File Size Under 2MB:
Regardless of the application that you used to create your content, make sure the “3DXML” file size of your model does not exceed 2MB. We automatically convert all content to our 3DXML format and use this to import content into Shape.

You can find this information on the right-hand side panel when you view your model.

Use the correct Texture Image Format:
Use JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG or DDS formats for your textures.  Avoid using TGA and TIFF image formats.

Make Your 3D Models Public:
The 3d model must be a public model; private models will not show up in the 3DVIA search functionality. All YOUR own models, private or public, will show up for YOU when you are using 3DVIA Shape.

Use the Commons Attribution:
When you upload a model, you must use Creative Commons Attribution (Default) license from the license pull down menu for your content to show up in Shape.

Shape Users, Turn the Remix Tag to TRUE:
When you publish a model from 3DVIA Shape to 3DVIA.com, the Remix Tag must be set to True.

Older Versions of 3DXML
Older version of certain applications that publish 3DXML will not show up in Shape today. We are in the process of providing a patch that will allow both of these types of files to be found by 3DVIA users.

Still need help? You can always leave a comment here or join the 3DVIA Shape group to ask your question.

3DVIA is proud to announce 3DVIA Shape version 2.0! With this latest version of our popular free, 3D modeling tool, it is now easier and faster to create, edit and publish any 3D object or scene in minutes. This is made possible with the newly revamped Remix feature! With Remix you can create 3D content using models pulled from the 3DVIA.com Content Library. With a new interface, faster productivity, ability to use content from our vast 3D community in new and creative ways, upgrade now or install and become a true believer in fast and easy 3D.

Whats new with 3DVIA Shape 2.0?

Modeling:
We’ve cleaned up the interface, streamlined controls and added new functionality, keeping Shape simple to use and at the same time making it a full-feature application.

Remix:
This new feature is amazing! For example, you could create the floor plan of your home, and using the search function, quickly fill it up with a wide variety of furniture in seconds! It’s community 3D modeling at its best! Watch remix at work here!

Publishing:
You can publish and share your work directly on 3DVIA.com, making your work available anywhere! You don’t have to worry about file sizes, formats, options or extensions. We even have the code readily available for you to embed or include our 3D model viewer anywhere you want!

Take the Shape Tour!

How can I start using 3DVIA Shape 2.0?

This is the coolest tool for anyone whether you’re a 3D Artist or a novice looking to put a presentation or model together in 3D.  It’s so simple to use it’s addictive!  Here’s how you can get right down to it and experience it yourself.  You’ll need your 3DVIA.com account info, so keep it handy:

Download and install or upgrade to Shape 2.0
 It’s a mighty program in a small package!  Downloads fast and installs before you can get a drink! Upgrade or install from this link. Download 3DVIA Shape!

Launch 3DVIA Shape 2.0
Here’s where you’ll need your account info. Logging into the program gets you connected to the Content Library and allows you to publish your models immediately to your 3DVIA.com account. You can also save your unfinished session to open at a later time.

Search for Content!
Besides the spiffy new interface, you’ll notice a new search box on the bottom, left corner of the user interface. Search any key word and you’ll immediately get a list of matching results from the Content Library! Add as many models as you want into your scene.

That’s all it takes. Within minutes you can be up and running, compiling content to make your visions a reality!

Download and try it for yourself

Model not showing up in 3DVIA Shape version 2.0 search?  

So you just finished a model or found a really good model that fits into your Shape project but when you search for it, you can’t see it in the search results?  The information in this post will help you get your model into Shape quickly and easily. Check out “Can Your Model Be Used in a 3DVIA Shape Remix? post.

You can also join the 3DVIA Shape Group and ask other users questions.

Most of us realize that 3D is an abbreviation for three-dimensional— a concept we apply to everyday life and understand. We live in a 3D world where we can walk around objects, pick them up and see them from all sides. But how does this relate to computers, movies, brochures and all the media we see everyday claiming to use 3D? Perhaps the best way to understand 3D is to start with 2D.

Below we see a 2D image of a bowl of water with floating tea lights. In this image, the artist has given the illusion of depth through shading techniques. It looks as though the bowl is three dimensional, but it in fact is not. The bowl and its surrounding environment are flat, and for eternity will only be viewed from the perspective they were painted (unless the artist sketches from another angle).

Here we see several images of a house created using 3D software. Next to the house is the 2D image described above. As we move around the house we can see that it has depth, whereas the 2D image is flat. Unlike 2D, 3D objects can be viewed from infinite angles, as well as moved from place to place, just like objects in the real world. The images we see below are merely “photographs” (known as renders in the 3D industry) where a 3D artist has navigated around the house on the computer and taken snapshots from interesting angles.

Hopefully, the above example better defines what 3D is, but perhaps you’re now wondering why even bother. Why spend the time to build a 3D object and render it when you can take two seconds to snap a photo of its real-world counterpart and get the same result? The reason is control. It’s true, 3D can produce the same photorealistic effects a digital camera can; however, with 3D every variable can be controlled and manipulated. Imagine a photographer who could control the weather, add more branches to a tree, change the color of the sky, etc., and you would have a 3D artist. In addition to realistic objects, 3D software has the ability to create believable, non-realistic objects as we see often in movies (e.g., the fantasy characters in The Lord of the Ring movies, the cities in the latest Star Wars movies, etc.).

When trying to understand 3D, it is best to think about it in the context of real life. While 3D objects and their 3D environments may not exist outside of computer confines, they behave in the same way real-world objects do, and for all intents and purposes, can be thought of as such.

Next, we need to be sure that we really know what we’re seeing. If you are drawing an object on a piece of paper, you always know where your lines are – on the paper. You’ll never be surprised that one of the lines you just drew is actually on the back side of the paper, or on its edge, or has just plain disappeared. In 3D space there are all kinds of such surprises.

That’s why being able to confidently move around in 3D space is so important. If I draw a simple rectangle, a line from corner to corner, and then a vertical line without changing my viewpoint – I can end up not knowing where it went. The first image below demonstrates this confusing state of affairs. I can change my model color, as I’ve done in the second image, but that takes time. If I simply change my viewpoint, as in the third image, it’s easy to see where the line is and that it went where I wanted it to go.

If I have a more complicated model, it is even more important to be able to zoom around and in and out to check up on what I’m really creating. In the first image, I think that I’m drawing a line across the gray face of the model. Once I move my viewpoint, I see that my line is heading somewhere else entirely. If I had continued to model without checking, I would have been really surprised later.

The value of knowing where you are is even more apparent when you see the whole crazy asteroid that this is part of:

“What?”; you say, “Of course it’s hard to see – where did all the lines go?” That brings up the importance of knowing about the “Environment” button (or just use F4 and be done with it) to be able to see all of the edges to help guide your modeling.

“Enough already! You’ve convinced me. Now, how do I do all of this amazing rotating and zooming and everything?” I’m glad you asked.  Depending on which part of your brain you like to use, we have multiple tools to help you.

For those who love video presentations with avatars; there are video tutorials created using TVnima.com. (The “Navigation” tutorial is, oddly, at the end of the list, rather than at the beginning.)

If you prefer more traditional tutorials, we’ve got a bunch of those too. (The “Viewing in 3D” section is the first item under the “Using 3DVIA Shape Tools” heading.)

And we have a quick synopsis right here from an excellent and more complete blog post on the subject done by Rodd back in November.

By now, I hope you are ready to find your way around your model in 3D space and avoid some of the more likely surprises. Then again, there is always my favorite button on the screen:

Undo!

P.S. If you have specific questions about this blog post or previous ones, you can ask me directly, now that we have Messaging!

Go to Episode 2!

Go to Episode 1!

As in any endeavor, he had to start at the beginning and learn how to exploit the strengths and work around the foibles of Shape. The available online video tutorials are a start and also a good place to return when you’re frustrated/confused or if you just want to know more about a particular tool. The online documentation is another good place to look.

One very valuable source of help for the Shape modeler is that the program itself is eager to help you as you work. Shape is constantly providing you with onscreen choices to help you quickly get your ideas down. Most things that we want to make as humans have square corners and flat or vertical surfaces. We want our walls to stand up straight and our rooms to have flat floors and doors that work. Shape knows this and tries to help.

The most basic thing we can create in Shape is a line. Seems simple enough, right? Well, sort of…because one simple thing can take away the help that Shape is so eager to give.

In the earliest version of Shape, a line was drawn by selecting the line tool and then left-clicking where you wanted the line to start and then holding the button down while you dragged the line to where you wanted it to end. Then you released the button and you had your line. Shape helped you make sure that your line was flat and square to other parts of your model by providing feedback. The line would change color and show angles as you moved the mouse.

Unfortunately, usability studies showed that that is not the way that most people intuitively used their mouse to draw a line. So, it was changed.

The black line was drawn using the old method and looks parallel with the grid and good to build off, but when you draw your next line, you’ll find that you’re off by 1 degree, which will cause no end of problems throughout the rest of your model.

Now, the method is to select the line tool, then left-click at the start of the line AND THEN RELEASE THE MOUSE BUTTON before you drag your line to where you want it to end – then left-click again to finish the line.

As you move your mouse, you will see the clues that Shape provides. The line turns yellow when it is parallel or perpendicular to surfaces and other parts of your model as well as giving angular measurements and showing you which plane you’re drawing on. If you hold the left button down while dragging, you’ll lose all of those helpful clues.

If you use the new method, Shape will help you by showing the line in yellow when it really is parallel with the grid. So, when you put your next line in it will be a true 90 degree angle and you can continue modelling with confidence that everything will be square.

So, remember to click and release to start and end a line and you’ll be square (in a good way, I mean).

Go to Episode 1!

Go to Episode 3!

Without trying, he has exemplified what 3DVIA is all about – trying to help 3D become an enjoyable part of people’s lives – in the way that they want it to be.

He has employed his substantial creativity and imagination to use Shape in ways that few users have. In particular, his use of curves as a central part of his models is very sophisticated.

BBD Class Star Fighter                                         TD Class Star Fighter

 And it’s not just a couple of starships…it’s a whole slew of them!

Now we get to the humble pie part. I tried to recreate just one of his models in order to encourage more curvy modeling in a post – and I couldn’t figure it out. Wah! So, rather than crying in the corner, I flat-out asked him how he did it and he most generously provided over 100 pages of how-to tutorials (with lots of pictures for slow learners like me).

This whole series of blog posts will be based on that mega-doc from m2morgan64, with his permission and consultation as needed. I’ll also be adding in some other basic tips that I find from experience, learn from other users (feel free to send additions, corrections, and improvements) and from re-visiting the available online tutorials. We’ll also follow his game development process as it evolves.

m2morgan64 realizes that his game is quite an endeavor for one person, so he’s hoping others will check out his blog about his plans and contribute models if you want to. There’s a group discussion thread where he outlines what he’s looking for.

So, fasten your zero-gravity belts and stay tuned as we head for piracy in the heavens!

Go to Episode 2!

Go to Episode 3!

I recently posted a 3D Model on 3DVIA that asked you to spot the fake crate from the “real” crate.  I am going to go through the process of how I made it in this blog.

Modeling the full detail Crate

This was fun to make! A nice simple crate that everyone can make at home.  I started with a cube in Maya.  Made a few cuts around the sides and pushed the faces in.  I then did a similar step to the top and bottom by selecting the face, extruding, shrinking it a little and pushing it in.

Next I made a long cube . Make it just the same length as the pushed in sides.  I then used the bevel tool to smooth the corners of the this cube along with the corners of the crate. I then duplicated the long cube and scaled it so that it became thinner, and used it as the wood paneling on the sides, top and bottom.  Crate Complete.

 Texturing
This is where all the work happens.  In order to make the simple box look like the real box, I used an occlusion and a normal map.  I’ve spoken about occlusion before.  Its a process by which you create realistic shading based on distance to other object, giving everything a real weight. 
A Normal map, is a process that records the surface normals of an object as a texture, so when light passes over a bumpy object, it changes accordingly. Now because this object is the same on each of its sides we can either render the occlusion and normal maps to a texture (this process is called “baking”) or we can do an occlusion and normal render of one side of the crate and repeat the texture on each side by stacking the uv shells.  I chose to stack my uv shells for this demo.

Layer the occlusion with the wood texture in Photoshop and then apply to both the simple crate and the real crate.  They should look pretty much the same now except for one thing.  You can still tell the box is flat compared to the real crate.  This is where the normal map makes its magic. After I apply it to the box, the light will react to the flat surface as if it had all the groves and bumps of the real crate, making them really difficult to distinguish.

These techniques are the foundations of great game modeling, able to keep the quality of a high polygon model with the speed of the low polygon version.  Go ahead, try to Spot the Fake!

http://www.3dvia.com/jdelrio/media/9159758799ABBD8F

UV’s

UV’s are 2D representations of vertices on your 3D Mesh.  It’s best to think of your 3D model as wearing a skin tight wrap, and in order to put a flat texture on a 3D wrap, you are going to have to make some cuts and flatten it out evenly. After you apply the texture to the 3D model, any wrinkles or overlaps on your UV’s will show up as distortions on your texture. Luckily you have some tools to help you in this process.  In the image above you can see the UV’s on the cylinder on the left, and the UV’s in the editor on the right.  3D in a 2D space.   Notice also how I’ve moved some of the UV’s and it hasn’t affected the shape of the cylinder. UV’s only affect the texture space on the model.  Great UV’s mean great textures.

UV Editor/Unwrap UV Modifier

The UV Editor is your first tool for sorting out the unique problem presented by a 3D object in a 2D space. Your first step to a great texture is to apply a checked material to the model as you fix the UV’s.  This way you can get rid of the big distortions and make sure each shell (sections of uv meshes) is relative in size to the rest of the model. Next up you want to make sure there are no overlapping UV’s.  In the image above you can see the top set of UV’s has overlapping, and the checkered texture comes out garbled and stretched.  The lower set of UV’s removed the overlap by setting the top and bottom caps separately, and by having the vertical faces all laid out flat and uniform. UV’s are normally a longer process than actually creating your 3D Model so make sure you give yourself the time to do it correctly.

Pelting

Like the hunters of old, pelting is a process by which you can take your mesh and flatten it out almost automatically, by selecting seams along your UV mesh.   If you had a 3D model of a bear, and you used a pelting tool, your UV’s  would looks like a bear rug after the process.  Seams are UV shell borders.  Pelting works by taking the seams you marked and unfolding the UV’s through a mathematical process. This images are from the pelting tool from Hydralab.  There are other pelting/UV unwrap programs out there to make your job easier.  Another great one is the Headus UV Layout.

 After all this, the good news is you get to paint canvas like a traditional artist and wrap it on a 3D Model, like the modern artist that you are.

-Juan

D is for Dimension.

You may notice after you start creating in your favorite 3D Application, that you start encountering odd behavior or pinching when you smooth, bevel, or even while still modeling! This is due to the way the vertice’s and edges are arranged to create the model. The following images show a pair of letter D’s.  One is created automatically by Maya and the other is a duplicate of the first, but I’ve redone the Polygonal Flow.

You can see how the interior edges on the right D follow along the curve of the geometry in a natural motion.  The left D, has the same shape when rendered but as you continue editing, you will find that its poly flow will cause a lot of problems.  Also notice how the top left corner is held up by one edge on the right D, this will be come important in the next image, the Bevel.

Beveling.

It is said that in nature there are no hard edges, when looked closely enough even a sharp pin’s tip looks like a ball point pen.  You don’t go around life constantly worrying if you are going to cut yourself on that ridiculously sharp counter edge.  When reproducing real objects in 3D, it becomes necessary to bevel the edges to create a realistic feel and reflection of light.  The Bevel Function takes the selected edges and replaces them with  number of edges in a 90 degree arc, creating a smooth edge look.

Here we start seeing the benefits of a good poly flow.  You notice the pinching and bad corners on the left D,  while the right D looks nice and smooth.  The pinching is created by multiple edges converging on the same point, or multiple vertices too close together.  The bad corners are created when the corner vertex is not “anchored” by an edge. The benefits become more pronounced on the next step: Poly Smooth.

Smoothing.

Smoothing is something we 3D guys love to do, no matter how many polygons it creates.  Its a function by which the 3D application exponentially increases the polygon count, interpolating the distances between vertices and edges.   It usually takes a low poly object and makes it look really refined and smoothed if you have good poly flow.

Ach!  It looks like someone hit the left D with an ugly stick!  The uneven poly flow becomes difficult to smooth because of the uneven distances of the vertices.  This creates bunching, flat surfaces and pinching.  The right D smoothed nicely into a cylinder shape.  Notice how evenly the edges are on the right D.   Its sooo pretty!  You can find some nicely done models through our model search on 3DVIA.

Keep this in mind when you model, or create something from an image and extrude.  Take a few minutes to go back and fix the poly flow of your models;  make sure there aren’t multiple edges coming into one point. Remove any edges that don’t affect the shape of the model and you’ll end up with professional and efficient models.

-Juan

We have a wide variety of content on the site now, and I wanted to go through and detail what these models that we are all making could be used for. This is so in the near future we can start sections dedicated to each discipline. 3D Models are used in 3 main mediums; Real time render, Offline render/Batch rendering, and still images.

Real Time Rendering

In real time rendering, the computer has to render everything on the screen 30 times per second, including all AI computations, special effects and in-game cinematic. For this medium, efficiency and loading speed is the key for these 3D Models. Conservative polygon use and smaller texture sizes all contribute to a smooth running application, be it a game or Virtual Earth. As an example, a GI-Joe Skyhawk, a game model I made under 2000 triangles. Thanks to increasing technology, today’s game models range in the 2,000-10,000 polygon neighborhood. Another good example of a game ready model is this Boat. For more game ready models in this polygon range visit this 3DVIA page.

Game Model of a GI-Joe Skyhawk, occlusion render.

Pre-Rendering

Pre-Rendering is the opposite, this is used in commercials, movies or animations. All the rendering is done beforehand and then compiled into a compressed movie format. For this medium, the sky’s the limit on polygon count and textures, the main rule it to make it look GREAT. This is the movie version of the same Skyhawk seen above. Its 25 times more complex than the game model, at 55,000 triangles. Any computer would have a hard time rendering this vehicle, 30 times per second, but it would look fantastic in a movie. Another good model like this would be this Spaceship. For more movie models in the 100,000 range visit this 3DVIA page.

Movie Model of the GI-Joe Skyhawk, occlusion render.

Digital Art
Lastly there are still images. These are models you start in a 3d application and complete in sculpting or image editing programs to create a final image. For example, you can start a simple horse in 3Dmax, add all the vein and hair details in Zbrush or Mudbox, add the eyes, nose and other details in Photoshop, then paint in the grass and composite all the different layers to create a beautiful piece of digital art.

So when modeling for a particular use, a game, a 3d world or a movie, keep in mind their medium, and find out any polygon and texture limits beforehand. Then as you make the model you can optimize it for any medium. Not only will this save you work later on, but it will be easier for others to work with you and your models and create fantastic worlds and movies.

-Juan

How will this speed up and simplify your workflow?  Typically, we have found that users will take their textures into an external application like Photoshop to manually adjust the perspective to fit a surface on their model.  This new feature eliminates this time-consuming step (and you know how long it can take Photoshop to load) and automates part of the effort.  You simply apply the texture to your model, identify the corners that make up the portion of the image that you need and 3DVIA Shape will automatically transform the image to fit correctly!

This is a feature that is best demonstrated visually. Take a look at the following video (very short – just over a minute).

Here’s is a link to the model in the video on 3dvia.com.  Click the “PLAY 3D” button to render view and examine the model in the browser.

Other Key Updates?

In addition to the Advanced Texture Skewing tool, there are many other improvements in 3DVIA Shape including better tutorials, help and better geometry manipulation.  The following video demonstrates one of the abilities of the geometry manipulation set of enhancements. The video shows how to change the anchor point of a piece of geometry while performing a simple cut/paste action.

Interested? Try 3DVIA Shape now…it’s free!

Just a few detail shots (while Remixing in Shape) give a better idea of how far he went to create the details. Since I was already in Shape, I could use his model to see new possibilities and start modifying his model and learning from that as well. He put a LOT of work into this tractor trailer (articulated lorry)(camion).

The first thing I did was to replace the detailed textures with something that was visually easier to work with. I then selectively deleted bits and pieces, big and small, so that I had just the cab and just the trailer to work with. As I worked I incrementally published the results so that I could always go back and head in a new direction if needed.

Then I took the cab by itself and started playing with that to make a shorter wheelbase cab that I can use with lots of different trailers. (Rguyen already has a new log hauling trailer that he put up today!). Here I’ve removed the sleeper/living quarters section and then shortened the side tanks and reduced the number of lights.

Then the hardest part was ‘box selecting’ the rear axles, tires and other goodies so that I could shorten the whole wheelbase. Not everything moved the way I expected, but with a little fussing I got it to look pretty good.

Then I started to make some changes to simplify and just make it into a 3DVIA cab. Less dressy and more like a fleet vehicle (although the six headlights are pretty odd). Adding some different textures to the grille, stacks and air cleaners made it different very quickly. Shortening the bumper and adding some holes and, of course, dishing the wheels and adding some interesting (although certainly not traditional) wheel textures also helped change the overall look.

From start to finish I had a great time. I started with the best I could find, learned a lot from Rguyen’s modeling techniques and now I have a few different models to start with the next time I want to use the power of Remixing.

Have fun! Make more cool stuff!

We also passed 2,000 public 3D models at the same time (there are an additional 4,000+ private models being hosted on 3DVIA).  Check out new user smike, who has an amazing collection of spaceship 3D models, and the Earth Alliance “Ivanovas” SA-23E 3D model that he uploaded recently. 

Click the play button to examine the model up close.

You can find out more from smike on his website…Smikes World!

Let’s keep it going! Search for free 3D models now.

mvcomputers has provided us with a great example of thinking ‘Inside the box’.

Some of you may have skipped right over an odd little box all by itself that looks like this in big mix of things:

Not only is it kinda’ boring, it has the title “Battle Cruiser”, which makes one cringe to think of trying to speed across the galaxy in a black, speckled brick.

However, for the curious there is much to be found! A closer look will reveal some instructions…

…and if one dutifully zooms inside the box…

…the reward is huge! How truly excellent – to use the INSIDE of the box to create one’s own finite galaxy. That is SMART. As long as you stay ‘Inside the box’, you can have a blast checking out this cool cruiser.

For the really, really observant folks (which I was not until I went to write this post and was grabbing some images), this cruiser is not singular. As you press in for the attack, you’ll also have to deal with several companion cruisers ready to minutely particulate anything you might be riding in…

There are several hanging around, so do be careful! My mousing is not precise enough to get super close, but the hangers on look like this when increased in size (the use of the term blown up might be confusing in this context).

So, today’s lesson to be learned is: have fun! try crazy things! make everybody wonder how you did that! make everybody wonder WHY you did that!

We have tried very hard to ensure that 3DVIA Shape is a product that is simple enough for the average consumer to express their ideas in 3D.  However, as an experienced Solidworks modeler, I have to remind myself that even the longest journey sometimes starts with a single step.  In this case…it’s creating your first shape (no pun intended).  These simple steps will also show you how easy it is to get started in 3D. 

Creating the Main (or Your First) Shape

First open 3DVIA Shape on your desktop.  In this tutorial, we are going to draw the very simple shape of a house.

Let’s get started by using the application’s navigation features.  To rotate your point of view to look down at the ground, press and hold down the left mouse button over the Rotate area then drag the mouse around in the desired direction.  (For more information, see Change Viewpoints using the Pan, Rotate and Zoom Tool).

Click Rectangle

To draw the bottom face or foundation of the house, click to define the first corner “A” then drag diagonally to the opposite corner “B”. A face is automatically created.Note: If the rectangle is not drawn on the ground, change your point of view to do that.

Click Push 'n Pull

To create the house walls, grab the face and drag upwards in the direction of the arrow.

Click Draw

Draw a break line from midpoint A to midpoint B on the top face. This line will serve to create the roof.

Click Manipulate

Select the break line.Manipulation axes appear to help you.

Select the vertical axis and drag up to create a triangular roof.

 Enjoy! 

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Marc is our resident expert on Microsoft Virtual Earth, online mapping applications and 3D modeling applications.Visit:   mdigregorio Profile on 3DVIA   |   mdigregorio Website

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Technorati Tags: 3D,Free 3D Models,Free 3D Modeler,3DVIA

A basic mistake we see many first time Shape users make, is trying to create a model, before they even know how to view that model. We call this mistake “Running before you can walk”. If you do this, you can still learn 3D modeling, but you are going to “fall down”, many (many!) times.

A better approach to 3D (and to learning any 3D application) is to “learn to walk” before trying out more complex functionality. In 3DVIA Shape, “learning to walk” is called “Changing Viewpoints”, and basic instructions can be found on this page.

Viewing objects in 3D is more complicated than 2D. If you have extensively used 3D (in games, or CAD applications), you will already know this. If you haven’t used 3D before, it will take some time to understand and master the basic concepts that allow you to “move around” in 3D space. I thought I would give you a quick overview of 3DVIA Shape object navigation, explaining 3D navigational concepts and providing tips on how and when to use them. This should get you going quickly.

There are 4 basic navigational functions in 3DVIA Shape:

1. Center (“center” the viewpoint on an object)
2. Pan (move an object up, down, left or right)
3. Rotate (rotate around an object)
4. Zoom (move viewpoint closer or further away)

3DVIA Shape has 2 ways of using the mouse to control the viewpoint navigation functions.

One way is to use the Pan, Rotate and Zoom Tool, which is located at the bottom of the window.

The other way is to the middle mouse button, which on most pointing devices is the scroll wheel. [Yes the scroll wheel can be clicked, and when clicked is called the “middle mouse button”.] This blog entry provides detailed instructions on how to use the middle mouse button to navigate Shape 3D models. While this technique is harder to learn, it is the best technique to learn if you want to learn how to build models.

Centering

Of these functions, the most important concept is “Centering.” Centering is hard to understand, because it doesn’t have an exact 2D equivalent. Centering allows the user to reset (and relocate) the exact of part of a model that they want to work with and look at more closely.

To learn to use Center, it’s a good idea to practice on an existing model. You can do this by going to a model page and using the Remix link to bring that model up into Shape for viewing and editing. I have setup a model for you to use here.

After you have logged in, click the “Remix” link right next to the model on that page.

To Center the view point, you point to an object and click and release the middle mouse button. Try this now, first on the Pyramid and then on the Cylinder.

Centering on the pyramid places the pyramid at the center of the window and centering on the cylinder places the cylinder at the center of the Shape window.

If this didn’t work as expected, you should try again. This time be careful to depress the middle mouse button without moving the position of the mouse on the desk. This should work now. If you press the middle mouse button, but move the mouse (even slightly), then the centering action doesn’t happen. This is because the combination of holding down MMB and moving the mouse causes viewpoint panning (horizontal or vertical displacement).

Pan

To pan means to move objects on the screen horizontally or vertically, following movements of the mouse. The easiest way to Pan in 3DVIA Shape is to click and hold down the middle mouse button and “drag”. This is identical to click and drag in 2D (like Google Maps) and should be easy to learn. One point to keep in mind is that Pan does not change the Center location, so you are moving the Center when you Pan the viewpoint. Please try panning the test model now. Move the viewpoint so that the Brick is near the center of the window.

Rotate

Rotation changes the angle from which the 3D model is being viewed. The viewing angle can be changed in either the horizontal plane, or the vertical plane (or both at the same time).

You rotate by holding down the middle and left mouse buttons at the same time. The order in which you depress the buttons is important. First click and hold the middle mouse button. Then click and hold the left mouse button. Now drag the mouse. Vertical rotation happens when you drag the mouse forward and backward. Horizontal rotation is controlled by dragging the mouse to the left and right.

Zoom

Zooming allows you change your distance from an object. Activate the Zoom function by clicking and holding down the middle mouse button, and then, clicking and releasing the left mouse button. Now when you drag the mouse forward and backward, you will get closer and further away from objects on the screen.

Zoom with Scroll Wheel

You can also access Zoom at any time, by rotating the scroll wheel. Zooming in using the scroll wheel works a little differently than zooming out. If you position the pointer at the top edge of the cube and scroll the wheel forward, the zoom in motion keeps the pointer location in the same place. Note how you end up with the edge of the cube at the center of the window.

I hope you find this overview of Shape Viewpoint Navigation helpful. If you have any questions please feel free to post comments in the blog.

We are proud to announce the availability of 3DVIA Shape Beta, our new and easy to use 3D modeling application that is free to install and use!

With just a few clicks, anyone can easily Shape & Share their ideas in 3D.

Shape Your Ideas!

3DVIA Shape will bring your ideas to life thanks to a very intuitive user interface that was designed to allow anyone to easily create realistic 3D models.

Share Your Ideas – Online!

Once you complete your model, you can share it online with just a click of a button. 3DVIA Shape is designed to publish directly to your 3DVIA.com profile where it can be shared with the community, remixed and even posted to your blog.

To get started with 3DVIA Shape:

1. Join 3dvia.com

3DVIA Shape requires you have a 3DVIA account. If you have not yet registered on 3DVIA.com yet, click here to create your account now.

2. Install 3DVIA Shape

Downloading 3DVIA Shape is free and only takes a few minutes! The application is available through the ShapeIt tab located on the site. Run the setup application and follow the instructions provided.

When you have completed the installation, you will be asked to login with your 3DVIA account.

3. Create & Share Your First 3D Model

To get you started, we have created a set of video tutorials that will walk you through your first 3D model. You can also read the 3DVIA Shape documentation. The application is simple to use and you should have your first creation started quickly.

When you have completed your first model, make sure the world can find it. Click the publish button to post your model to 3DVIA. You will find your newly minted model under your “My 3DVIA” tab.

Please note – all models are published as “private” by default. If you would like other people to find your model, please set your model to “public” under the “edit attributes” link on the model page.

4. Feel Free to Remix

You don’t want to create a model from scratch? Take a look at the 3DVIA Shape Models collection and feel free to remix any model of your choice.

Remixing a model allows you to modify an existing model of another user and publish it in your own collection (remix rights must be allowed for the 3D model). You can also remix your own model to create alternative designs.

Still have questions?  Please read our FAQ section and don’t forget to send us your feedback through our Support form.

Enjoy and check back here often. We will be publishing tips and tricks on how to get the most out of 3DVIA Shape soon.