Planet Blender v2 beta4 - 'Turning Pages'

blender note: 26234
digital janitor - 2010-01-04 21:44:00

Notes to myself (and perhaps others).

Remember that you should create a text document inside blender (2.49) called pydrivers.py
And inside that document you can create python code which you can use for your "drivers".

ex:
```
def simpleClamp(value):
    if value < 0:
        myVal = 0
    else:
        myVal = value
    return myVal
```
driver: pydrivers.simpleClamp(ob("control").LocX)

Also remember that you can copy shapes just by chosing one shape and press "add shape key".
Rigging an Alien
Blender Cookie - 2010-01-04 20:00:43

In this tutorial, I go over a basic-to-intermediate rig for the alien character. The rig covers only the body; I went over the facial rig in a previous tutorial. I show how to do the full setup on the left half (creating and placing bones, and also applying constraints), and copy it over to [...]

http://blendercookie.com
Architectural Modeling: Creating a bathroom with details for visualization
Blender 3D Architect - 2010-01-04 18:43:20

A few days ago I published here on the blog an article recommending a great tutorial about architectural modeling for a building, designed to be used in interactive visualization projects like games. This tutorial shows techniques and tools to create the external environment of a building in 3ds Max, and could be used to create [...] Related posts:
1. Four hour length tutorial on how to model a building for 3d interactive visualization Among all the techniques used to create 3d models for...
2. Free tutorials about 3d modeling for architectural visualization The modeling process for architectural visualization is very different from...
3. Free download of furniture models for architectural visualization If there is one thing that we really need to...
Stickness patch and volumetric bugs corrections are now in trunk!
Tinker Code - 2010-01-04 14:57:08

Hi all thanks to Matt Ebb and Janne Kahru the volumetric Multiple Ligth scattering bugs and the particle stickness patch are now committed [...]
Unusual control structures cause us all to slow down a little.
goplexian.com - 2010-01-04 11:12:00

Maybe I'm tired, but I had one of those moments today where something seemed to make a lot of sense and I just had to tell someone about it. So here you go.

As you may know I'm in the process of cutting my teeth on the Go language, but Go isn't the only language I'm looking at in my spare time although in honesty it is the one that's been getting the lions share of my available hours.

Another language I'm looking into is C++ and recently I've come across a a great introductory video series from Stanford University. The name of the video series is called "Programming Abstractions" if you'd like to google it.

Actually it was something said by the teacher in one of these videos which inspired the topic of this post. The instructor was going through a programming exercise and one of the students asked why she did not use a Do-While loop and her answer was that the "Do-While loop is so rarely seen in code that it often causes just about everyone who looks at it to slow down a little".

That really caught me off guard, I thought "Why would a structures rareness matter?"

So I paused the video and sat back in my recliner, tucked away snugly in its velvety embrace and had a good long think on the matter and, I think, I have become a better person for it.

Lets face it, all languages have dark corners where the ancient magic of esoteric functions gather dust. Most languages are absolutely huge when you consider the libraries as well, I'd wager that most programmers don't even know half the library's of their favorite langauges.

This fact presents an interesting question regarding writing code, is it better to design simple solutions using familiar methods or is it better to strive for beautiful and perfect solution even if that means employing unfamiliar methods.

As a side note I think this is one area where Go certainly leans to one side of the debate, its designers are trying hard to keep the language simple and small, similar to C in many ways, this may sound easy but if you've spent any time on the mailing list you'll know that it is a near constant barrage of feature requests. One example of Go's simplicity is that it doesn't have the Do-While structure or even While structure for that matter.

But getting back to the topic, I imagine that there are many who believe that it is always best practise to find that perfect library for the ultimate solution to any particular problem, and that they believe that the extra time taken for researching these solutions is well spent.

I certainly see the merits to that approach in certain situations.

However I think that the more pragmatic view also holds merit in certain cases, and that while a beautiful solution is certainly something to be proud of I think that most people ought to stop before embarking on that quest and simply ask themselves if it is justified given the problem at hand.

Without question the extra time spent doing research will certainly be of benefit, but if generating the solution requires a great deal of research on the writers part, then so also will understanding the solution require a great deal of research on the part of those who come later and try to read the code.

I do not want to give the impression that I am advocating one approach over another, I am only saying that it is good not to be dogmatic about methods. Some problems can be quickly and easily solved using basic tools and for those that can be solved in that way is may often be best to do just that and no more.

Yet here is the shocking and sad conclusion to this discussion, thinking back on my own behavior I can see that at times I have actually done the opposite, which is why I found this teachers classroom comment such a breath of fresh air and so enlightening.

Since simple problems are so easy to wrap ones mind around it is easy to waste a lot of time looking for an impressive solution even when a strait forward approach would work just as well, but on the other hand when confronted with something deeply involved it is so tempting to look for an easy way out using the tools which are most familiar instead of dedicating the time and effort which the problem likely deserves.

This is just basic human nature I guess, yet it is also human nature to analyze ourselves and to try to improve on our natures, so this is one area where I believe I have discovered an important lesson and I will strive to implement it in the days ahead.

As a side note I've joined Project52, if you'd like to know more click the button in the right column.

Goodnight!
Unusual control structures cause us all to slow down a little.
goplexian.com - 2010-01-04 11:12:00

Maybe I'm tired, but I had one of those moments today where something seemed to make a lot of sense and I just had to tell someone about it. So here you go. As you may know I'm in the process of cutting my teeth on the Go language, but Go isn't the only language I'm looking at in my spare time although in honesty it is the one that's been getting the lions share of my available hours. Another language I'm looking into is C++ and recently I've come across a a great introductory... ...
pengenalan new UI blender 2.5 part3
inblender.blogspot.com - 2010-01-04 10:13:00

lanjutan pengenalan new UI blender 2.5 yang saya buat sederhana ini adalah bagian ketiga dan juga sebagai penutup untuk pengenalan UI blender 2.5 alpha0,
yang berarti saya akan lanjutkan dengan tutorial yang lebih spesifik membahas tool atau memamfaatkan beberapa tool untuk membuat sesuatu yang semoga lebih menarik : )

download UI part3 ----> UI part3 blender 2.5

,
Runner
Vimeo / Blender3D [Animation/Videos] - 2010-01-04 09:39:03

A quick test on the Blender 2.5 animation features! Works nice, but feature-wise not up to par with 2.49 yet.
Cast: Mats Holmberg
Merry Christmas 2009
Vimeo / Blender3D [Animation/Videos] - 2010-01-04 09:34:37

Credits of Candy Cane Animation :

All 3d Elements By Mike Belanger.
Licensed under Creative Commons Canada, Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Wood Texture Courtesy of:

"knittl" from blender-materials.org

Audio :

Samples used from Freesound

December 24, 2009
By scarbelly25 (freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=298165)
Breathing.wav (freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33939)
---------------------------------------
November 20, 2009
By Rondomat (freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=10354)
knocking_3.wav (freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=6501)
By HardPCM (freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=205819)
Wood019.wav (freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=35978)
Cast: mikejamesbelanger
Tip: Cleaning Up Imported Models
Vimeo / Blender3D [Tutorial] - 2010-01-04 09:32:30

It is quite common for imported models to come into Blender with duplicate vertices and triangulated faces.. This quick tip demonstrates how to very easily fix these two issues, leaving you with a model that is ready to go.
Cast: Wes Burke, Jonathan Williamson
Creating an Urban Stairway Scene - part 4
Vimeo / Blender3D [Tutorial] - 2010-01-04 09:32:04

In this 4th part of the Urban Stairway Scene tutorial we'll review some of the most common techniques and tools used while modeling the scene.

Topics covered include:
- Snapping Basics
- Creating New Objects by Separating Geometry
- Bevel Basics
- Linking Object Data
- Aligning Objects using "Copy Attributes"
- Using Spin Duplication (or Spin) to Create Pipe Elbows
- Creating Custom Transform Widget Orientations
- Using Edge Loops to Control Hard Surface Edges
- Using the 3D Cursor as a Rotation Pivot
- Using the Array Modifier to Create Steps
- Using Tapered Extrusions and Imperfect Alignments for Increased Construction Realism
Cast: Wes Burke
Modeling a Porsche 911 GT3 RS - part 03
Vimeo / Blender3D [Tutorial] - 2010-01-04 09:31:05

In this multi-part tutorial we are going to be taking a close look at how to model a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Due to the nature of the car the tutorial encompasses a lot of techniques from both organic modeling and hard-body modeling styles. A particular emphasis is placed on creating good topology that will enable you to easily modify the shape but also to accurately create the details.

Part 03 of the this tutorial focuses on the back bumper and side of the car. This part also deals with tweaking some of the shape and proportions from the previous section.
Cast: Wes Burke, Jonathan Williamson
Modeling a Porsche 911 GT3 RS - part 02
Vimeo / Blender3D [Tutorial] - 2010-01-04 09:30:56

In this multi-part tutorial we are going to be taking a close look at how to model a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Due to the nature of the car the tutorial encompasses a lot of techniques from both organic modeling and hard-body modeling styles. A particular emphasis is placed on creating good topology that will enable you to easily modify the shape but also to accurately create the details.

Part 02 of the this tutorial details how to basic door, side panel and roof.
Cast: Wes Burke, Jonathan Williamson
Modeling a Porsche 911 GT3 RS - part 01
Vimeo / Blender3D [Tutorial] - 2010-01-04 09:30:37

In this multi-part tutorial we are going to be taking a close look at how to model a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Due to the nature of the car the tutorial encompasses a lot of techniques from both organic modeling and hard-body modeling styles. A particular emphasis is placed on creating good topology that will enable you to easily modify the shape but also to accurately create the details.

Part 01 of the this tutorial details how to create the base of the front end.
Cast: Wes Burke, Jonathan Williamson
MLS with english subtitles
Vimeo / Blender3D [Animation/Videos] - 2010-01-04 09:27:58

An animation of the Metrology Light Source with subtitles. The original clip can be found there: vimeo.com/6830808
Since english is not my native language and this translation is just a quick and dirty one, any proposals for improved grammar are appreciated :)
Cast: Simon Schneegans
Community Contributions
Blender Cookie - 2010-01-04 02:33:31

Over the past few months we have received a generous number of contributions from the community via our Contribute page. Rather than releasing a contribution each time we receive it we have decided to package up a collection of the ones that stood out over the last few months. We will try to release a [...]

http://blendercookie.com