Tag: 3D

Ice Age, The Meltdown: Afterthoughts

http://www.iceagemovie.com/

The Ice Age is coming to an end, and the animals are delighting in their new world: a melting paradise of water parks, geysers and tar pits.

I liked Ice Age, the first movie, very much. That’s why I was a bit worried when I watched Ice Age: The Meltdown‘s trailer for the first time. There was Scratch, the squirrel, searching again for the unattainable seed, there were the same ol’ chaps from the first movie escaping again from an imminent danger… I feared that the upcoming movie would just aim to make cash by using and abusing all the things that made the original famous. Now I that I finally saw the movie, I’m happy to Continue reading Ice Age, The Meltdown: Afterthoughts

The BioWall

http://www.loop.ph/twiki/bin/view/Loop/BioWall

A Synetic building is an airy and lace-like basketry of thin arcs patterned in curvilinear triangulation.

What?

The structure is based on the principle of self-similarity enabling it to work from the nano to the macro scale.

oh… that must be the wall… but, where’s the Bio?

(…) reactive surfaces inspired by botanical life that reflect and Continue reading The BioWall

We love kung-fu!

I hate fighting games. My first contact with them was the Street Fighter 2 coin-op, and already then I thought it was a ridiculous game. That’s strange, because I could finish the first Double Dragon without blinking, but there was no chemistry. It was a game without power-ups, where in order to get the control dynamics you had to Continue reading We love kung-fu!

Glest 2.0-rc4 released

http://www.glest.org/

Since rc3 and rc4 were released very close to each other, I’ll include here both versions’ features:

rc3:

– Final icons for the new units (you will not be able to see that until the data rc3 is uploaded, which should be soon).

– Shared vision for allies: This has a very nice side effect, CPU controlled factions will support each other, this will not always happen though, only when they have enough soldiers on their bases.

– Now you can play in every start location even with 2 or 3 factions in 4 player maps.

– Improved results screen, now it has a score and the team of each faction.

rc4:

This version includes increased projectile accuracy, ranged units now hit moving slow or close enemy units.

DonĀ“t forget to share your thoughts on Glest in the Forum šŸ™‚

Video Games design: First Contact

So far I have dedicated many hours to create a good fistful of tools to develop 3D multimedia applications in real time, that is: video games. After erecting structures for Finite State Machines, scripts, messages and (soon soon) triggers, I decided to merge the whole thing into a single concept, and try to bring out errors, bugs, etc. I thought it would be quick and easy to make “a small game”. I was wrong. Continue reading Video Games design: First Contact

Slice that Polytope!

http://dogfeathers.com/java/hyperstar.html

A 4-dimensional convex polyhedron (properly called a “polytope” or “polychoron”) is a volume of 4-dimensional space that is bounded by a number of hyperplanes. (…) These 4-dimensional star polytopes cannot be viewed directly in 3 dimensions. What we have to do is slice the 4-dimensional object with a 3-dimensional hyperplane. The part that intersects the slicing hyperplane forms a 3-dimensional star polyhedron, which is displayed by the applet in stereoscopic 3D.

I recognize that these explanations can be intimidating if you are not familiarized with polyhedra. ThatĀ“s why the site above is invaluable: it will let you intuitively tinker with those abstruse geometries through a java applet with an easy to use interface. ThereĀ“s a huge amount of 3D shapes to explore (you can click on the shape and drag the mouse to rotate it), and with several different rendering options, a Stereo Mode for 3D visualization and automatic rotation and animation features, this little applet could keep you entertained for ages (plus it is highly inspirational for designers and modular origami enthusiasts). A must see!

ps. You can also visit this page and download another very easy to use program that allows you to manipulate and transform different polyhedra. For general information on polyhedra, this page looks like the place to go.

The Universe fits in a glass

http://www.bathsheba.com/crystal/largescale/

The cosmological model for this piece is tuned to match the Sloan Survey, an investigation of all galaxies we can see in one quadrant of the sky. It takes us out to within 1000 megaparsecs of Earth. The survey isn’t finished yet, so you are looking at current research.

Bathsheba Grossman is an artist at ease with the convergence between sculpture and science. The subjects of her work, whether mathematical shapes, proteins or galaxies, are by their complex nature impossible to render by means of traditional techniques, which has led her to Continue reading The Universe fits in a glass

Julian Beever paints in 3D

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Anamorphic illusions drawn in a special distortion in order to create an impression of 3 dimensions when seen from one particular viewpoint.

Julian Beever is a very special painter. He has mastered the technique of anamorphic painting, which he applies to pavement paintings to render awesome, stunning images that pop out of the floor. Anamorphic painting has been used since the Renaissance; great examples are the ceiling and cuppola of St. Ignatius, by Andrea Pozzo, in Rome, or “The ambassadors“, by Holbein. However, what I like of Julian Beever is not only that he literally brings the technique to the streets, but also the sense of humour that he shows when he poses with his paintings.

More on Anamorphosis: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/artofanamorphosis/

Related Article: Kurt Wenner paints in 3D

LetĀ“s make a mini-me! now, in 3-D

http://www.haptek.com/products/peopleputty/tour/

People Putty is a tool (and also, a toy!) that allows you to make your very own interactive 3-D character, then use it to play dress up or act as a tour guide for your own web page.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, in fact itĀ“s true and, even more, itĀ“s fairly easy to accomplish. Right after you start People Putty (try to read the funny descriptions while loading), you face… no, well, actually a 3D character faces you, a nice girl who quietly stares at you while behaving in a very realistic manner. (actually only the face is represented, though it is possible to get full bodied characters from the company) . This is already quite impressive, but itĀ“s only the tip of the iceberg. The interface to the program is self explanatory, intuitive and very well documented, comprising all the stages which take part in the creation of a character in a single row, from top to bottom: skin, shapes, emotions, accesories and theatre. Continue reading LetĀ“s make a mini-me! now, in 3-D