Help And Be Helped In Virtual Worlds With Koinup (Read more...)

Koinup has recently created a new Crossworld Support group for people that start to use other virtual worlds, and also wants to promote the continuous migration from one virtual world to another.

Photo by Andoni Merlin

For example, there are threads to help you to take your first steps in virtual worlds that you don't know so well. If you like to welcome people to your virtual world and helping newbies, this is also your group.

Many people enjoy welcoming new residents, and many may need some guidance on their start, so this is the place to meet together and maybe plant the seed for great friendships.

Shapeways' 3D Parts Database: Download And Use Free 3D Mechanical Parts (Read more...)

Shapeways introduces the first ever 3D print-ready gadget offerings. In an effort to offer easy and accessible 3D design and printing to their users and community members, Shapeways is happy to announce the opening of its 3D parts database, all of which can be downloaded and used for free. 

The database consists of easily adaptable shapes and parts such as gears, hinges, springs and axles all of which speeds up the process of 3D design and printing. All of the parts found in the 3D parts database have met the stamp of approval by the Shapeways team, guaranteeing that all parts of have been tested for tolerance, accuracy, orientation and appearance.

In keeping with the spirit of community that Shapeways continues to do with their products, the 3D parts database will not only see parts developed by the Shapeways team but also from the community of artists and designers that continually design and print 3D objects via Shapeways’ 3D printing.

"We are always looking for new ways to make 3D design and printing more accessible for everyone.

We found that especially mechanical parts are sometimes difficult to design right. By offering what are essentially the building blocks for 3D design to users through our new database, it will now be easier than ever for users to create and print their own custom designs that work to their exact specifications."

- Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen.

Check out the 3D database here:
ttp://www.shapeways.com/3d_parts_database

About Shapeways:

Shapeways, the world's first 3D co-creation community, brings design to life with cost effective, high quality 3D printing. For seasoned 3D designers advanced upload-to-print tools are available. Shapeways encompasses a diverse community of artists and enthusiasts they engage in for instance collaborative creation and selling their 3D designs as products through the unique Shapeways Shops, an international marketplace for consumer created 3D printed products. For all creative consumers Shapeways is redefining Do-It-Yourself by connecting them to the latest in micro production with easy to use click-and-drag product customization. This software is called Creators, easily allowing you to personalize for instance the Lightpoem, Ringpoem, Stampmaker, Fruitconfession and Photoshaper. Shapeways is spinning out from the Lifestyle Incubator of Royal Philips Electronics, located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Second Life Celebrates Its Birthday Today 23 Through 30 (Read more...)

Today, June 23, 2009, begins the celebration of the 6 years of Second Life. The party runs through June 30.

There's a party in 20 regions on SL, themed "The Future of Virtual Worlds", and will start after 10 am SLT (Second Life Time).

Philip Linden will start the event at 10 with a talk at the main stage, and there are more than 400 events planned.  Just check the Second Life blog, in this article, to access the list of events and activities.

Vivaty Integrates Twitter (Read more...)

Vivaty has announced in their blog that a new twitter object has been added to the builder application.

So you can add it to your walls, configure it to display the tweets of someone and see them displayed there. You can use your own messages or other's.

In the future, you will be able to post from your scene, and visual styles will also be added.

The Twitter object can be bought in the Vivaty Shop, which you can reach from inside the Vivaty app clicking the button "Shop".

DAZ Studio 3 Advanced & DAZ Studio 3 Free Are Out (Read more...)

DAZ Studio Advanced is out. As always, you also have a FREE edition of DAZ Studio 3, but now there's also a PRO option available.

If you don't know what DAZ Studio is, check this article. It will tell you about what are DAZ, DAZ Studio, Carrara and other things that have to do with creating 3D art with your computer.

Packed with must-have features for the serious 3D artist, this brand-new edition of DAZ Studio provides high-end tools and features with extended export capabilities and greater compatibility with its big brother, Carrara.

In the page of DAZ Studio you can check the many new features added, just checking the "New Features" section in the menu on the left, that includes videos. Also, on "Feature List" you can view each edition compared (the old version 2, the new free version 3, and the PRO 3 version).

For developers, the SDK is free for both versions, which is great if you want to code your own plugins.

There are many new features, most of them about rendering improvements, like light gels, caustics, shader mixers... they will be valued by the pros, but there's also great features for users of all levels, like the Figure Mixer, that allows you to mix the features of different figures.

Visit DAZ Studio and DAZ Studio Advanced web pages.

DAZ Studio Advanced is only $97.47 until the 15th of July. Its normal price is $ 149.95. But Platinum Members can get it for just $52.49.

3D Printed QR Code Stamps With Shapeways (Read more...)

Shapeways can now print in 3D (see this article about 3D printing) QR code stamps, that are those weird signs in black and white that you can scan with your mobile, and then visit a website or reveal some coded text.

Visit this article and see how you can do it. Also watch this video to know how it looks.

Scale Your 3D Models For Poser Or DAZ Studio (Read more...)

Download these reference models for any 3D application (OBJ) and for Anim8or. They will help you to model for DAZ and Poser with the right scale.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Some of the models as seen inside Anim8or

When modeling objects for Poser or DAZ Studio, you may need some reference to scale your model to the human figures used in those applications. Better than scaling down your models, model them from the beginning at the right scale, using the files of this package.

Open them in your favorite 3D application. They are provided in OBJ file format and also for Anim8or modeler. They are very simplified meshes, with relatively low polygon count. They are not valid at all for any use, they are made thinking in using the minimal resources so you can add them to your project while you model or scale without slowing down your computer.

OBJ Files:

These are for use in any 3D application that supports OBJ (most of 3D apps do).

Anim8or File:

Open this file in Anim8or, and go to the "Object" menu. There you will find the figure sets, for M3, V3, M4, V4, an Elephant and a horse. They are colored in weird colors so you can distinguish them well from the figure that you're modeling.

Terms Of Use

This product is free. You are allowed to:

- Pass this product to your friends
- Distribute it
- Upload it to any web page, public file hosting service or repository
- Include it inside a CD, DVD, repository or anyhting

You are NOT allowed to:

- Say that you're the author
- Remove this note
- Sell it as a standalone product

Koinup And Twinity Host Rock The Metaverse Show: Concert Twomorrow June 16! (Read more...)

Koinup now supports Twinity, and they've joined to offer you the best concerts with the "Rock The Metaverse" festival and other community events.

Don't miss it if you're on Twinity and Koinup. And if you aren't, what are you waiting for? Go and join! There's a new channel of Twinity in Koinup, and you may also want to join.

The event is organized by Koinup and co-hosted in Twinity. Now you can go and watch live the performances of Dizzy Banjo, Slim Warrior, Grace Mcdunnough, and Doubledown Tandino.

Date: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Time: 22:00 CET (1pm SLT or Pacific Time)
Place: Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

Check the entries in Koinup Blog and in Twinity.

Alongside with this concert, there's a competition. Take a screenshot of the live concert using Twinity's handy SEND POSTCARD button and send it to your Koinup email address or andreasw.159dc1@post.koinup.com to be uploaded to the Twinity group on Koinup.com - and for you to have a chance to win 250 globals.

Life On Line: Features New AI Technology - Milo (Read more...)

The new episode of Life On Line is out.

"Life On Line is proud to support two very worthy causes. The Friends Fighting Cancer who have tirelessly worked to raise money for the Relay For Life, a global cancer research fundraiser staged in the virtual world Second Life.
And Amnesty International has recently appointed the extremely hard-working Amy Cross as their global Online Coordinator to campaign in support of Amnesty International through the internet.

Both are featured in the current edition of Life On Line.

We also take a closer look at remarkable new virtual technology – a digital artificial intelligence called Milo, created by Lionhead Studios.

Musically, Shakti Cianci of SpaceJunky introduces the victor of the recent Sony Remix contest. We showcase the music video by Metaphysics from Germany." (PR of the new episode)

As you know, Life On Line partnered with us. So if you look in our sidebar, you'll find the Life On Line latest episode. When a new episode is launched, it will be automatically updated and you'll be able to watch it here in your favorite 3D site, Hiperia3D News.

Anim8or: Free 3D Modeler And Animator (Read more...)

Anim8or is the free 3D modeler for Windows created by R. Steven Glanville. Its main virtues: simplicity and control.

Anim8or is a great 3D modeler. It is very easy to learn to use it. There are thousands of pages with tutorials, and gives you a complete control of points, edges and faces.

It can create models, articulate them with bones, and create animations.

Building with box modeling technique or making faces one by one becomes very fast with it.

Produces smooth surfaces, creating materials is easy, exports to obj and 3ds... All operations can be locked to the x,z, and y axis just clicking a button, so you don't perform that action in a direction that you don't like.

While the author says "is far from a complete professional level application like 3DStudio MAX or Lightwave", (or Blender, that is free) I think that is a big virtue of Anim8or. This depends on your choice.
If you're gonna build computer films, complete games with physics and all that, then choose Blender or the other commercial alternatives.

But if you want to build 3D models for games and internet, that must be low-poly but with a nice appearance, then Anim8or may be for you.

Just have a look at what things people created in the Gallery.

http://www.anim8or.com/

A Book For Creative People (Read more...)

A new book by Daniel James may be valuable for every user with a creative side. It will tell you how to build digital media with Blender, the GIMP, Scribus, Audacity and other apps.

Although the book is focused to Linux users, all the applications described there are also available for Windows and Mac.

See that some of them are specially valuable for worldbuilders, as with Blender you can build 3D models, with GIMP you can build textures and backgrounds, and Audacity is an audio editor for sound in your 3D worlds.

This new book will be out on June 22, 2009, and you can preorder it and save 34% ($13.60), being only $26.39.

Free Software for Creative People: Building Digital Media with Blender, GIMP, Scribus, Audacity, and More

Product Description
Linux is the only free creative platform with world–class free creative applications.

You can be an artist without paying an entrance fee, but you have to learn how to use your tools.

Free Software for Creative People is your university of 2D and 3D graphics, and of video–based art and web presentation.

Everything is possible on Linux, but this book shows that all these applications work on Windows and Mac OS X.

So if you are a creative type who happens to use Linux, or if you are a Linux user who wants to learn how to be creative in your Linux space, this is the book for you! Find your multimedia creativity with the tools at your fingertips.

Download 3D Models Of Old Computers (From The Museum of Computing Of Spain) (Read more...)

You can now download the 3D models of the Museum of Computing (of Computer History) of the School of Computer Science of the University of Castilla-La Mancha offers a walk through the history of computers. Go there and get free 3D models of classic computers.

The exhibition shows some hardware equipment donated by different people (mainly university professors) and institutions and grouped to offer the visitor an homogeneous view of every aspect related with the evolution of computers.

In addition, there is a collection of 3D models of old computers that can be downloaded, in Blender format. You can use the free Blender to load them and save it in another file format if you need it for another application.

All are low polygon models, perfect for internet use. Lovers of retro-computing will love it, and just everyone that's curious. Some have also textures mapped.

You'll find 3D models of computers like Commodore64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, the Saturn console, the first apple computer...

The license of these free 3D models is Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution license, that just means that you can use it for anything, commercial or not, but you MUST link somewhere to the Museum or mention it.

This is a video that you can watch if you think in going to Spain, and will give you an idea of what's the Museum.

The 3D Glass Paintings Of Xia Xiaowan (Read more...)

Xia Xiaowan is a Chinese painter that paints in 3D using layers of glass.

Xiaowan paints in a series of glass layers his works of art, that he carefully plans and distributes as sliced sheets of crystal, so when looked from the front side, they create the illusion of depth.

Here's an example of what he does:

This is an example of how painting techniques can be mixed with modern technologies for manipulating materials and create something really innovative.

You can view more stunning works of Xia Xiaowan in his gallery.

Eden 0.1.1 Screenshots (Read more...)

You can now check some screenshots of Eden 0.1.1 and the sample games developed with that. See the new screenshots here:

http://blog.funtrench.com/?p=55

Build Games And Sceneries With DeleD 3D Editor (Read more...)

DeleD 3D Editor is a complete solution to create 3D sceneries and game levels that includes all kinds of tools for this: modeler, level designer, materials editor...

It has a LITE free version that lacks of the big library of the paid versions (that are quite affordable) but may give you an idea on how it is. Also, there are downloadable resources, and anything you create with DeleD 3D Editor can be used for commercial or personal things, no matter if you use the LITE or the PRO version.

Go there and check the examples:

http://www.delgine.com/index.php?filename=product_deled

Life On Line New Episode: Zain Naboulsi Talks About The Future Of Internet (Read more...)

The new episode of Life On Line is out.

"Microsoft Evangelist Zain Naboulsi shares his vision of the future of the internet.  And Shakti introduces a great music video by Hughie called 'Slap That Ass'.  It's seriously cool."

As you know, Life On Line partnered with us. So if you look in our sidebar, you'll find the Life On Line latest episode. When a new episode is launched, it will be automatically updated and you'll be able to watch it here in your favorite 3D site, Hiperia3D News.

Guide To Protect Your VRML Content With ExitReality (Read more...)

Update 3/10/2010 - IGNORE THIS ARTICLE AND STAY TUNED!

This protection is not so easy. Seems you have to embed the proto in every file you make, unless you use robots.txt. This is a big disturbance for authors. In ER's website there's a form to submit content, what makes me think that the crawler no longer adds content without permission. I am in conversation with ER to know if this has changed, and what we must do.

You can decide if ExitReality will index your worlds in their search engine or not, and if you want to allow all people embed your works in their pages or not.
This way, ExitReality offers a good set of tools to decide and control the use of your VRML worlds.

The following tutorial is presented for educational purposes only, and no warranties are made as to its accuracy or reliability.

Authorship

The first thing you must do is to fill the WorldInfo node of your files. For example:

WorldInfo {
title "Michael's World!"
info [ "Copyright (c) by Michael Myers",
"iwillkillyou@halloween.kll",
"World is best viewed with the headlight turned on..."
]

Search Engine Rights

If you choose to not allow anything being indexed by ExitReality, then do the following.
Just create a file in your main url that is called robots.txt, with these contents (or if you already have that file, add these lines):

User-agent: ExitRealitySearchAgent
Disallow: /

Embedding (Distribution) Rights

Now, to avoid people from other websites to embed your worlds, add a VRML file named EmbeddingManager.wrl

#VRML V2.0 utf8

# EmbeddingManager
#
# Enables the content author to restrict embedding of or deep linking to their content
# (via Inline or createVrmlFromURL) to one or more allowed/authorised URLs.

PROTO EmbeddingManager [
field MFString allowedUrls []
field MFNode allowedContent []
field MFNode deniedContent []
]
{
DEF contentSwitch Switch {
whichChoice 0
choice [
Group {
children IS deniedContent
}
Group {
children IS allowedContent
}
]
}

Script {
field MFString allowedUrls IS allowedUrls
field SFNode contentSwitch USE contentSwitch

directOutput TRUE
mustEvaluate TRUE

url "javascript:

function initialize() {

var worldUrl = Browser.getWorldURL();

var allowed = false;
for (var i = 0; i < allowedUrls.length; i++) {
if (worldUrl == allowedUrls[i]) {
allowed = true;
break;
}
}

contentSwitch.whichChoice = allowed ? 1 : 0;
}
"
}
}

And the best is that you don't have to allow everything to be embedded or not, you can allow only some files. Read:
http://kb.exitreality.com/questions/29/Restricting+embedding+of+your+content
For example, let's say that you want to allow embedding your main scene file, but not the models in inlined files. You can do that using this PROTO.