http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/rss.aspx The Luxology Community Blog (c) 2007, Luxology, LLC. All rights reserved. en-US 60 Fri, 16 May 2008 08:21:08 GMT
modcasty goodness

I'm happy because I'm going camping! And modo is selling white hot! I recommend you order in bulk to avoid a widely feared "modo shortage"!

Check out these works of art.

Khalids latest

Coolest CAD flyby ever

And a link for you.

SKUUMA

Gotta run...

BP]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=65 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=65 Thu, 15 May 2008 15:07:44 GMT modcast

This week I forgot to introduce myself on the modcast. Can you ever forgive me? Rather, can you ever forget me?

Here are a couple links mentioned on the modcast.

Iron Man modo Embassy Joy

I didn't mention this but I should have.

Seneca modo scripts

Dang that dude is prolific.

News from fmx conference

Cheers.

BP

Shake and bake.]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=64 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=64 Fri, 09 May 2008 11:18:49 GMT


Deutsche Telecom Awards for Best New Technology in Effects and Animation




modo Toolpipe Demonstration

I think the coolest thing I saw at the show was some brand new software called CityEngine. I didn't pick up the literature but let me share what I remember. It is a software application for generating large urban environments including buildings of many styles and also vegetation and streets. It is driven by a scripting language which while not particularly accessible, gives the user tremendous control over the parameters for the artificial city that is created. For example you can specify how tall buildings should be and also what type of street pattern (e.g. medieval, radial, grid etc.). There are many building types possible from futuristic towers to contemporary architecture. I am sure game developers will love this software as well as the viz-sim community. It was the "launch" of the software and it is always a treat to see new CG software and we wish them well. I asked them to send me a file for rendering (I am not sure if they have a renderer but if they did it was not their focus).

I also really enjoyed a session about the future of mobile computing delivered by Neil Trevett of NVIDIA who was actually representing the Khronos Group in the talk. He noted that the # of mobile phones is huge compared to PCs of televisions and as cell phones get more powerful they are going to become the predominant computing devices in the world. Think about that. Maybe some day we will network render on cel phones? The most successful applications on them will likely be apps that take advantage of their mobility, plus their ability to take pictures, record sounds and location. One killer application that is surely coming is the ability to snap a picture of a building and then be presented with an identification and a map of where you are (an no doubt the nearest Starbucks). Mobile gaming has not taken off as expected.



Tom Schlander and Andy show how 'immobilien' gaming has taken off

Stuttgart itself is a wonderful city and the weather has been great. The city is a perfect size for walking or taking the excellent public transit that seems to be everywhere. The stonework on the streets is amazing to me. I took a shot of some cobblestone at night I will post it if it looks OK.




Stone pavement patterns in Stuttgart


I wish I had shot more pix of the intricate stonework seen on curbs, pathways and the numerous public plazas. Stuttgart is probably more famous for its automobiles as it is the home of both Porsche and Mercedes Benz. Believe me, the city is a little car crazy and I saw many exotic automobiles and motorcycles too. With tulips and lilac trees in bloom it is a great time to be in this part of Germany.]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=63 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=63 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:23:33 GMT

We are at the fmx/08 event in Stuttgart, Germany and we have been having a fine time. The event is Europe's largest CG event and it is held in a beautifully renovated old building right in the heart of the city. Attendance this year looks to me as if it is even better than last year. Mostly the show is about presentations and I think there are something like six tracks available to attend at any given time. The tradeshow portion the event is actually quite small with perhaps 12 stands emphasis on the talks. Of course there is a lot of personal networking and business meetings, with many people just talking and renewing old acquaintances. I am posting a few pictures for you to get a feel for the event.




Andy Brown sighted on the stairs



Photo of Bob prior to use of the new Flex tool

Andy Brown and Tom Schlander showed off modo on Monday around 6pm in an fmx session. The demo was not really a demo – it was Andy building a concept car, complete with wheels and treads on the tires in 50 minutes flat. This was no "PowerPoint" session; it was pretty hardcore modeling. I am guessing there were 40 people in attendance and I think 3 people left at some point (maybe they thought creating high quality 3D content was easy – I am not sure). The rest of us just sat there watching Andy drive modo like the master he is. I liked the session because it showed the real experience of working in modo.



Andy Brown at the controls



Bob says 'Take it away, Andy'


See Part 2 for the Awards ceremony.

]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=62 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=62 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:20:26 GMT
See link below.]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=61 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=61 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:10:54 GMT
Andycast

Enjoy!

BP]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=59 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=59 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:38:21 GMT The Cartoon Kid". Here is a crop from one of the sketches he provided:



I love that look. Anyway....Andy started with great sketches like this, cranked up modo and created what I believe may be Andy's greatest tutorial to date. You will see the master at work in this series!

To tell you the truth, I thought Andy was working on one of MY ideas for training. But NO. He and Brad were doing THIS behind my back. Hey Guys, don't you know there will be CONSEQUENCES? Oh, never mind. The album turned out great, and we hope you all like it too.

We believe the best indicator of great training is when people post their own variations and riffs on the original subject material. Let 'em fly.


Cartoon Kid]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=56 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=56 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:04:34 GMT
ANYWAY, I have been reading a comprehensive new book on PhotoShop that will be of interest to the modo community. You may have seen Gary Bouton on the modo forums as he is an active contributor. Turns out he is quite the writer with over 20 books to his credit!

This latest is called Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended Retouching Motion Pictures. I think the title is misleading because it makes me think of film and the book is actually a very pragmatic look at using CS3 for animated sequences of all kinds. I think it would also be useful for After Effects people who want to leverage the image enhancement features of CS3 too.

The book is hefty and is truly comprehensive on the subject of working with image sequences. There is some modo love in there too. The (paperback) book is very nicely printed and chock full of color images - almost one per page. This is not about high end film editing as much as a practical look at using CS3 to achieve the "Ken Burns" effect and adding 3D to video.





]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=58 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=58 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:00:20 GMT
Learn about it here: http://www.mars-inc.net/index.html

I like the cute froggy on their web page too.

The 3D terrain tutorial developed by Ohura-san from Gamma, Inc. in Fukuoka looks very useful as well. It explains how to sculpt terrain using aerial photos as reference. Check it out here: http://www.mars-inc.net/press/gamma02/index.html

]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=57 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=57 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:52:13 GMT Gallery - Furniture to our Image Gallery to show off your modo furniture creations and there are already some nice images there.

Beginning today, Luxology is a sponsor of a new design competition that is from Skuuma (and their partner Formtastic). These are the same folks who did the Adidas shoe design contest a while back. Anyway, the winners will be announced the Dutch Design Week in October and the winning 5 designs will be manufactured and displayed. The grand prize winner gets $8K USD too. The contest is just ramping up, check the link below (which has some images, links to Skuuma, some training videos and the modo trial software).

To get things rolling, we are pleased to make available some new videos on the topic of furniture creation in modo from Andy Brown. These 5 videos are free during the Skuuma contest submission period (up to July 23rd). Andy really enjoyed making these and he came up with some nice designs which really show off a range of furniture design approaches using modo.

Andy will be setting up a support thread on the new videos and I will post a link here once it is up. I hope the modo pros here on the Forum can also help out any newbies who come to our site to get the modo trial software to build their Skuuma design contest entries.

Thanks,
Bob
P.S. You do NOT need to use modo to create your Skuuma contest entry. Anyone is welcome to enter!

Skuuma Furniture Design Competition

Furniture Tutorials Support Topic]]> http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=55 http://www.luxology.com/community/blog/entry.aspx?id=55 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:02:36 GMT