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Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
 
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Aaron and Croqueteers, I read with interest the mention of "authoring tool" in the included e-mail below. I was disappointed to see the intention was an external authoring tool and not something ala the oft-discussed 'Wicket' because the existing external content creation tool (Blender) has a prohibitive learning curve. Although Blender is about on-par with some of the commercial authoring suites, its lack of wizards and other tools that simplify the 3D authoring process are a huge detractor. Don't get me wrong - I'm not arguing that Blender is technically infeasible. Rather, from a user perspective, I believe relying on Blender for content creation is untenable. I've been working on building avatars and other model meshes in Blender. Is it possible? Yes. Is it user-friendly? No. By no means. I spoke with Peter at Univ. of Minn. about their experiences using Blender and they were also disappointed with the results. It is my understanding that they are using 3DS Max and/or Maya. My project is woefully under-funded, so I do not have the luxury of expensive commercial apps. ASE import and export with Blender is iffy at best. OBJ is fairly well supported. I have not yet begun my experiments with OGRE/XML... that is next on the agenda. I believe that for most users, Blender will be a frustrating and unrewarding experience, and may do more harm than good when trying to attract users and developers. I base this conclusion on the assumption that most of the people who investigate the Croquet bundle will neither be open source hackers nor understand the difference between app and sdk. Although Blender is free-as-in-beer and free-as-in-freedom, I believe that including it in a bundle will frankly be a detractor to Croquet adoption. Think about it from a management perspective - Smalltalk, Squeak, possibly Tweak, and top it off with Blender... I have a weekly argument with people who want to "just use Second Life" for this very reason. On another note, I also did some experimenting with Google's "Sketchup" software. Sketchup is an excellent tool for authoring simple meshes such as buildings and furniture. It's very fast to learn and use. Unfortunately, the free version does not export in OBJ format. The licensed version exports OBJ, but requires some hacking in Croquet to actually parse the mesh. It is not open-source, but it is gratis. There's one big problem with this software. The free version of Sketchup saves natively in KMZ format and does not save to any other format. Croquet does not currently have support for KMZ. However, the Qwaq Forums folks have a KMZ parser that works quite nicely (I tested it last summer). It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. Particularly impressive was the ability to simply drag and drop a KMZ file. If we could convince (beg/grovel?) the Qwaq folks to release their KMZ parser into open source Croquet, we would have an ideal solution for creating content and importing it into Croquet, at least for the interim while an internal content creator is being developed. In addition to that, Croquet would then be able to leverage _all_ of the models in Google's 3D Warehouse. Those models are free for non-commercial use. Further, Sketchup is very well documented, with tons of tutorials, how-tos, and getting started guides. Compare that to Croquet's or Blender's documentation, which is woefully lacking. I believe that Sketchup and KMZ import would be an absolute *SLAM DUNK* as far as attracting users and developers. You've got simple content creation with a free-as-in-beer tool, good documentation, and boat loads of existing content with which to populate worlds. And there are always bragging rights like "models compatible with Google Earth" for whatever that's worth. I'm not sure how one would approach the Qwaq folks to discuss something like this though. To summarize, I believe that, ultimately, Croquet will need an internal content creation mechanism. But thinking realistically, that could be years away. I do not believe that Blender is something we can rely on as a primary authoring tool solution. At best, I am considering it an intermediary until something (anything?) better comes along. Sketchup could also be an intermediary, but would likely be better perceived and received; yet it utilizes a format that Croquet does not understand. Which means that, currently, there are no feasible free-of-cost 3D authoring tools that I can recommend for the bundle. And that's an Achille's heel if I ever saw one. Hope this helps. -Matt Schmidt
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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As a prospective user of Croquet in an instructional context, I would
appreciate having content creation tools with an intuitive GUI control system. I am not a coder, and the prospect of having to learn squeak just to create content that is not highly technical in nature, is an obstacle. If Croquet could provide content creation management in a fashion similar to website CMS's (a la moodle, Joomla, SimpleCMS, etc), where a complete infrastructure can be built without having to resort to hand-editing code, the user base would take a huge jump. I have seen the videos on youtube, and that has lead me to investigate Croquet for teaching distance ed. courses. I am also test-driving 2ndLife, but find the graphic processing required would immediately exclude many potential students in remote communities due to bandwidth requirements, as well as needing up-to-date PCs. I know this question may have been asked before, but please bear with me. Has anyone considered some of the map creation tools from 3D game vendors? The are already huge online communities building incredible worlds using Unreal and quake editors, and I even watched for short while a co-operative map building in a game called Sauerbraten http://www.sauerbraten.org -no affiliation >From the home page: "Much like the original Cube, the aim of this game is not necessarily to produce the most features & eyecandy possible, but rather to allow map/geometry editing to be done dynamically in-game, to create fun gameplay and an elegant engine" I should point out that it is more than just maps, all the boxes, chairs, tables, and other widgets are created with these built-in tools. Many of the widgets can be animated, and made interactive. Thanks and regards Ken On Tue, 2008-02-26 at 06:41 +1000, Eric Eisaman wrote: > >What would be ideal is a in-world content creator. Then you'd also be > >able to take advantage of the natural benefits of Croquet. > > I wholeheartedly agree with this assertion. There is no sense in > developers/users slinking off to an isolated application corner on > their own boxes to create content when a sufficiently capable > alternative can be developed within Croquet itself. Isn't > collaboration at the core of Croquet's mission? Wouldn't it be great > for a consortium of 3D designers and clients to convene communicate > and design in all within Croquet? > > Regards, > Eric Eisaman > > > On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 6:22 AM, Jeffrey McGrew > <[hidden email]> wrote: > > On Feb 24, 2008, at 8:19 AM, Aaron E. Walsh wrote: > > > With this in mind I'd welcome your thoughts on Blender as a > content > > authoring tool for Croquet. If you've used it, or currently > do use > > it, could you reply with some notes on how well (or not!) > Blender > > works for you when creating Croquet content (3D objects, > avatars, > > scenes/worlds, etc)? > > > We use Blender in our CNC production company. While it has > some > strengths, and is impressively gaining new features all the > time, it's > really not meant for 'lay people'. Anyone with little prior 3D > knowledge will find it very hard to use and learn. > > And honestly, many things Blender focuses on are useless for > Croquet. > For example, there is a lot of focus lately in the development > of > Blender on making impressive simulation tools. Like fluids, > smoke, and > even advanced cloth simulation is in the beta currently. Or in > the > multi-res subdivision modeling and sculpting. These tools > aren't for > low-poly avatar and scene modeling honestly, and will probably > just > confuse folks trying to use Blender, yet are becoming a pretty > core > element within it. > > What would be ideal is a in-world content creator. Then you'd > also be > able to take advantage of the natural benefits of Croquet. For > example, having more than one person working on the same thing > at the > same time in Blender is complex-to-impossible depending on > what you're > trying to do. An in-world content creator would be a very > impressive > draw for Croquet in general IMHO. > > Jeffrey McGrew > www.becausewecan.org > |
Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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In reply to this post by Matthew Schmidt-2
hello all,
I'm still trying to navigate the world of Croquet: I'm a Blender Head and have been for about a year(on and off) so I guess I talk from a somewhat priveledged (and selfish) position. Is Blender difficult to learn? Yes. But why? and can this be overcome? First: I think that the average user does not(I didn't) fully appreciate the scale of an animate package or better put: how much goes into making 3d content. Regardless of what you use there are very basics that create the complexity in authoring tool. Modeling, material and texture settings,animatingadding interaction to the object are un-avoidables. these are concepts and skills that are application independent. If your learning about these concepts (which was my case) in addition to learning an interface or tool with which to do something with them then your learning twice as much[twice as hard...twice as confusing}. As you delve deeper into the process the load thickens. For instance modeling deals with manipulation of meshes:(booleans or just joining, rotation, scale, duplication, selection [edge, vertices, face] etc.) Materials: (unwrapping, material indices, dealing with shaders ) Textures: ( procedural, animation, applying multiple textures) Animating: (Bones, armatures, parenting, vertex groups, constraints). Aain I'll restate that this is not a Blender thing it's a learning about the 3D creation process thing. if your a programer and your suddenly overwhelmed by how much time your investing learning how to create content for 3d environments then you feel the same when I did when I decided to move from painting to learning to create digital content;from creating digital content to 3D content; from creating 3d content to placing in an evironment in which others can interact with it(which is where I am now). in essence about moving from a place where your mind is fluid to one where the are obstacles between concept and object. Croquet is a beautiful thing and since it is still the relatively early development stages some realities have to be faced. the creation of rich emersive environments is conmposed of separate entities,two of which are programmers and designers. As a 3d designer I want to spend as little time as possible hacking into Croquet and as much time as possible making things to place inside it...things my imagination needs a place for.(he alternative is to have electricians fixing your roof.) Regardless of which package is chosen,the key is that in its selection you should not limit the power of designers. Croquet worlds will be very dismal environments if its design tool is catered to minds whose enjoyment is writing code (though some coders would obviously be capable of beautiful content and vice verse). further, I believe time will show that some of the things that Blender can do now will not be outside the bounds of 3d world creation. in fact what I find particularly appealing and promising about Croquet is that its design places processing on each individuals machine a limitation of Blenders game engine for immersive content creation. Blender is -the- open source alternative to otherwise expensive authoring tools. It has a very large, active user community and a developement team that is in a constant effort to add features and make improvements to the existing package. Meaning that by adopting it the Croquet community will attract members of the Blender community (e.g. attract designers). To develope a Croquet based creation package exclusively will stunt the growth of the community both in numbers and infusion of ideas. The idea part is the big issue because its not only the potential content that goes but its the features that Blender coders haven't invented yet that go too (remeber Blender isn't going anywhere). As far as learning the interface and basic modeling technique I would suggest a Croquet based Blender tutorial series housed in proximity to Croquet proper ducumentation. that way people can enter into the Blender Croquet relationship with knowledge of what to disregard when using Blender for Croquet specifically. I'm frankly still unclear about the import process (me not much of a programmer) for use with the skeletal animation package. any words on this would be greatly appreciated. I should also mention that I'm in the process of creating video tutorials to compliment the DMU tutorial "holy trinity" series I've been following(posted most likely by the end of next weekend.) Blender specific. But really, I've OGRE exported xml files sitting on my desktop just waiting to be imported into Croquet...help help help := I'm a bit of a dreamer and I think we are all inspired at least in part by notions of a holodeck. I would hate to spoil the imagination of the future by the limitations of now. ciao, waufrepi |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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Well spoken, Waufreqpi. I believe that one of the drawbacks to
immersive technologies is the interface. An engineer should be able to spec a part as he would on paper, a sculptor as he would sculpt, and a 3d designer as he would chose as well. It might be good to design an editing tool inside of Croquet, but that should not relieve the need to import models, and environments already created using existing tools. Blender has a large library of people, skills, environments and environments already on line. It would be a shame not to plumb the depths of available material. Kind of a recycling of knowledge and skill that helps us build more powerful tools, and enhance the porting skills as well. Regards, Les H On Mon, 2008-02-25 at 18:25 -0500, [hidden email] wrote: > hello all, > > I'm still trying to navigate the world of Croquet: > I'm a Blender Head and have been for about a year(on and off) so I guess I > talk from a somewhat priveledged (and selfish) position. Is Blender difficult > to learn? Yes. But why? and can this be overcome? > First: I think that the average user does not(I didn't) fully appreciate > the scale of an animate package or better put: how much goes into making 3d > content. Regardless of what you use there are very basics that create the > complexity in authoring tool. Modeling, material and texture > settings,animatingadding interaction to the object are un-avoidables. these are > concepts and skills that are application independent. If your learning about > these concepts (which was my case) in addition to learning an interface or tool > with which to do something with them then your learning twice as much[twice as > hard...twice as confusing}. > As you delve deeper into the process the load thickens. For instance > modeling deals with manipulation of meshes:(booleans or just joining, rotation, > scale, duplication, selection [edge, vertices, face] etc.) Materials: > (unwrapping, material indices, dealing with shaders ) Textures: ( procedural, > animation, applying multiple textures) Animating: (Bones, armatures, parenting, > vertex groups, constraints). > Aain I'll restate that this is not a Blender thing it's a learning about the > 3D creation process thing. if your a programer and your suddenly overwhelmed by > how much time your investing learning how to create content for 3d environments > then you feel the same when I did when I decided to move from painting to > learning to create digital content;from creating digital content to 3D content; > from creating 3d content to placing in an evironment in which others can > interact with it(which is where I am now). in essence about moving from a > place where your mind is fluid to one where the are obstacles between concept > and object. > Croquet is a beautiful thing and since it is still the relatively early > development stages some realities have to be faced. the creation of rich > emersive environments is conmposed of separate entities,two of which are > programmers and designers. As a 3d designer I want to spend as little time as > possible hacking into Croquet and as much time as possible making things to > place inside it...things my imagination needs a place for.(he alternative is to > have electricians fixing your roof.) > Regardless of which package is chosen,the key is that in its selection you > should not limit the power of designers. Croquet worlds will be very dismal > environments if its design tool is catered to minds whose enjoyment is writing > code (though some coders would obviously be capable of beautiful content and > vice verse). further, I believe time will show that some of the things that > Blender can do now will not be outside the bounds of 3d world creation. in fact > what I find particularly appealing and promising about Croquet is that its > design places processing on each individuals machine a limitation of Blenders > game engine for immersive content creation. > Blender is -the- open source alternative to otherwise expensive authoring > tools. It has a very large, active user community and a developement team that > is in a constant effort to add features and make improvements to the existing > package. Meaning that by adopting it the Croquet community will attract members > of the Blender community (e.g. attract designers). To develope a Croquet based > creation package exclusively will stunt the growth of the community both in > numbers and infusion of ideas. The idea part is the big issue because its not > only the potential content that goes but its the features that Blender coders > haven't invented yet that go too (remeber Blender isn't going anywhere). > As far as learning the interface and basic modeling technique I would > suggest a Croquet based Blender tutorial series housed in proximity to Croquet > proper ducumentation. that way people can enter into the Blender Croquet > relationship with knowledge of what to disregard when using Blender for Croquet > specifically. I'm frankly still unclear about the import process (me not much > of a programmer) for use with the skeletal animation package. any words on this > would be greatly appreciated. I should also mention that I'm in the process of > creating video tutorials to compliment the DMU tutorial "holy trinity" series > I've been following(posted most likely by the end of next weekend.) Blender > specific. > But really, I've OGRE exported xml files sitting on my desktop just > waiting to be imported into Croquet...help help help := > > I'm a bit of a dreamer and I think we are all inspired at least in part by > notions of a holodeck. I would hate to spoil the imagination of the future by > the limitations of now. > ciao, waufrepi |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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In reply to this post by waufrepi III
Hi
> Blender is -the- open source alternative to otherwise > expensive authoring > tools. It has a very large, active user community and a > developement team that > is in a constant effort to add features and make improvements to > the existing > package. Meaning that by adopting it the Croquet community will > attract members > of the Blender community (e.g. attract designers). To develope a > Croquet based > creation package exclusively will stunt the growth of the community > both in > numbers and infusion of ideas. The idea part is the big issue > because its not > only the potential content that goes but its the features that > Blender coders > haven't invented yet that go too (remeber Blender isn't going > anywhere). > As far as learning the interface and basic modeling technique > I would > suggest a Croquet based Blender tutorial series housed in proximity > to Croquet > proper ducumentation. that way people can enter into the Blender > Croquet > relationship with knowledge of what to disregard when using Blender > for Croquet > specifically. I'm frankly still unclear about the import process > (me not much > of a programmer) for use with the skeletal animation package. any > words on this > would be greatly appreciated. I should also mention that I'm in the > process of > creating video tutorials to compliment the DMU tutorial "holy > trinity" series > I've been following(posted most likely by the end of next weekend.) > Blender > specific. Dont forget the verse-protocol. It seems to fit perfect here. You can create content in realtime and there exist already several example clients e.g. Gimp, Maya, Blender. Adding croquet would be a great step ahead. http://www.uni-verse.org/ I am not familiar with ffi. Sorry. :( Enno |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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I checked out the Uni-verse website, but couldn't find the license
information anywhere. Moreover it appears that the consortium has modified blender, but did not post the updated license. I would be wary of being involved in this project until a license is actually posted. But that is just me. Regards, Les H On Tue, 2008-02-26 at 13:07 +0100, Enno Schwass wrote: > Hi > > > Blender is -the- open source alternative to otherwise > > expensive authoring > > tools. It has a very large, active user community and a > > developement team that > > is in a constant effort to add features and make improvements to > > the existing > > package. Meaning that by adopting it the Croquet community will > > attract members > > of the Blender community (e.g. attract designers). To develope a > > Croquet based > > creation package exclusively will stunt the growth of the community > > both in > > numbers and infusion of ideas. The idea part is the big issue > > because its not > > only the potential content that goes but its the features that > > Blender coders > > haven't invented yet that go too (remeber Blender isn't going > > anywhere). > > As far as learning the interface and basic modeling technique > > I would > > suggest a Croquet based Blender tutorial series housed in proximity > > to Croquet > > proper ducumentation. that way people can enter into the Blender > > Croquet > > relationship with knowledge of what to disregard when using Blender > > for Croquet > > specifically. I'm frankly still unclear about the import process > > (me not much > > of a programmer) for use with the skeletal animation package. any > > words on this > > would be greatly appreciated. I should also mention that I'm in the > > process of > > creating video tutorials to compliment the DMU tutorial "holy > > trinity" series > > I've been following(posted most likely by the end of next weekend.) > > Blender > > specific. > > Dont forget the verse-protocol. It seems to fit perfect here. You can > create content > in realtime and there exist already several example clients e.g. > Gimp, Maya, Blender. > Adding croquet would be a great step ahead. > > http://www.uni-verse.org/ > > I am not familiar with ffi. Sorry. :( > > Enno |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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Hi
Please have a look at http://verse.blender.org there is a FAQ and if you have more questions about the license check the mailing list. ----------------------------------this is from the FAQ-------------------------------- What license is the Verse protocol implementation under? A BSD-type free license. (Yes, you can make commercial components) Can I implement my own Verse implementation using the spec? Yes, go right ahead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------- > I checked out the Uni-verse website, but couldn't find the license > information anywhere. Moreover it appears that the consortium has > modified blender, but did not post the updated license. I would be > wary > of being involved in this project until a license is actually posted. > But that is just me. The server is heavy optimized c code and uses the udp protocol to spread the data. But if you use it just for content creation, you dont need to implement all parts. There is a modeller as example client, python bindings and much more. You can also check #verse on irc.freenode.net Have a nice day Enno |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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In reply to this post by Les Howell
Hi
Please have a look at http://verse.blender.org there is a FAQ and if you have more questions about the license check the mailing list. ----------------------------------this is from the FAQ-------------------------------- What license is the Verse protocol implementation under? A BSD-type free license. (Yes, you can make commercial components) Can I implement my own Verse implementation using the spec? Yes, go right ahead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------- > I checked out the Uni-verse website, but couldn't find the license > information anywhere. Moreover it appears that the consortium has > modified blender, but did not post the updated license. I would be > wary > of being involved in this project until a license is actually posted. > But that is just me. The server is heavy optimized c code and uses the udp protocol to spread the data. But if you use it just for content creation, you dont need to implement all parts. There is a modeller as example client, python bindings and much more. You can also check #verse on irc.freenode.net Have a nice day Enno |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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In reply to this post by Enno Schwass
This looks interesting. I'm imagining Croquet and Blender (or Maya,
3DSMAX, etc) running side-by-side on my computer with a 3D model in the space connected via Verse to the same model inside of Blender. When I modify the model in Blender the change is reflected within the Croquet space in real-time. Is that the idea? -Peter On Feb 26, 2008, at 11:26 AM, Enno Schwass wrote: > Hi > > Please have a look at > > http://verse.blender.org > > there is a FAQ and if you have more questions about the license > check the mailing list. > > > ----------------------------------this is from the > FAQ-------------------------------- > > What license is the Verse protocol implementation under? > > A BSD-type free license. (Yes, you can make commercial components) > > Can I implement my own Verse implementation using the spec? > > Yes, go right ahead. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------------ > >> I checked out the Uni-verse website, but couldn't find the license >> information anywhere. Moreover it appears that the consortium has >> modified blender, but did not post the updated license. I would >> be wary >> of being involved in this project until a license is actually posted. >> But that is just me. > > The server is heavy optimized c code and uses the udp protocol to > spread the data. But if you use it just for > content creation, you dont need to implement all parts. There is a > modeller as example client, python bindings and > much more. You can also check #verse on irc.freenode.net > > Have a nice day > Enno |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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Hi
> This looks interesting. I'm imagining Croquet and Blender (or Maya, > 3DSMAX, etc) running side-by-side on my computer with a 3D model in > the space connected via Verse to the same model inside of Blender. > When I modify the model in Blender the change is reflected within > the Croquet space in real-time. Is that the idea? Thats it. And I would love to model this way. Enno |
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Hi
Been lurking this list since some years as I turned to X3D while my application includes haptic devices and surround sound. IMHO Blender are a great application in making and transforming 3D models, uses it for converting 3Dmax, DXF a.s.o. to VRML and X3D models and to create models. You can install or create plug-ins in python to import/export most 3D model formats and even animation ( timeline editing ). A bit alternative interface, but as soon as you understand the princip of it it's very usefull. Would be nice to share models between croquet and X3D, or have I missed that it's possible since ages. Sven-Erik Tiberg Lulea Univ. of Technology / Sweden. ________________________________ From: Enno Schwass [mailto:[hidden email]] Sent: Tue 2/26/2008 8:07 PM To: [hidden email]; Peter Moore Subject: Re: [croquet-user] Blender for Croquet? Other or better options? Hi > This looks interesting. I'm imagining Croquet and Blender (or Maya, > 3DSMAX, etc) running side-by-side on my computer with a 3D model in > the space connected via Verse to the same model inside of Blender. > When I modify the model in Blender the change is reflected within > the Croquet space in real-time. Is that the idea? Thats it. And I would love to model this way. Enno |
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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As soon as you have to say "as soon as", the utility has been
relegated to those who have the time and mental power to devote to learning it. That's rather the point of this entire thread. I don't think that importation of models would be going away any time soon, even if model-creation tools were built into Croquet -- but by the same token, I'd rather see model-creation tools built into Croquet. (And I do very much like the idea of Verse integration, by the way: every interface offers a different way to do things. By definition, some things that are easier in one interface are going to be more difficult in another, and vice-versa. Blender wouldn't have to be reimplemented in Smalltalk to be able to use the Blender interface to interact with things already in-world... which means that those who know and understand Blender could continue to use it, while others could learn and understand the Croquet interface, and still others could use both to do what each one is good at doing. Since Verse changes the state of the model across all instances of the model, both Blender and Croquet could be open at the same time, and changes made in one would instantly reflect in the other. This extends to all Verse-capable software, too.) -Kyle H On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 1:01 PM, Sven-Erik Tiberg <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi > Been lurking this list since some years as I turned to X3D while my application includes haptic devices and surround sound. > IMHO Blender are a great application in making and transforming 3D models, uses it for converting 3Dmax, DXF a.s.o. to VRML and X3D models and to create models. > You can install or create plug-ins in python to import/export most 3D model formats and even animation ( timeline editing ). > A bit alternative interface, but as soon as you understand the princip of it it's very usefull. > > Would be nice to share models between croquet and X3D, or have I missed that it's possible since ages. > > Sven-Erik Tiberg > Lulea Univ. of Technology / Sweden. > > > ________________________________ > > From: Enno Schwass [mailto:[hidden email]] > Sent: Tue 2/26/2008 8:07 PM > To: [hidden email]; Peter Moore > Subject: Re: [croquet-user] Blender for Croquet? Other or better options? > > > > > > Hi > > > This looks interesting. I'm imagining Croquet and Blender (or Maya, > > 3DSMAX, etc) running side-by-side on my computer with a 3D model in > > the space connected via Verse to the same model inside of Blender. > > When I modify the model in Blender the change is reflected within > > the Croquet space in real-time. Is that the idea? > > Thats it. And I would love to model this way. > > Enno > > > |
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In reply to this post by Enno Schwass
Enno Schwass wrote:
> > Please have a look at > > http://verse.blender.org It is a good idea. The bloke behind Verse, Eskil Steenberg, came up in the news today for this: http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/index.html On the other hand, what's happening with Wicket ? |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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On Feb 27, 2008, at 1:37 AM, matthew chadwick wrote: > Enno Schwass wrote: > >> >> Please have a look at >> >> http://verse.blender.org > > It is a good idea. The bloke behind Verse, Eskil Steenberg, came up > in the news today for this: http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/index.html The still screenshots are gorgeous, hopefully it looks as good when animated (always a problem with painterly rendering). Josh > > On the other hand, what's happening with Wicket ? |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?(support blender, rah video, wiki definition OGRE)
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In reply to this post by waufrepi III
--- [hidden email] wrote: > hello all, > > I'm still trying to navigate the world of > Croquet: > I'm a Blender Head ... Like I wrote this is free and with maya $9000 for cloth. The fellow that did the fluids for maya had hydrodynamics on a handheld and I want to gingerly step into his mind. Maybe the blender guys have. > As far as learning the interface and basic > modeling technique I would > suggest a Croquet based Blender tutorial series > ... And you are backing this up by encouraging Americo as below! > I should also mention > that I'm in the process of > creating video tutorials to compliment the DMU > tutorial "holy trinity" series > I've been following(posted most likely by the end of > next weekend.) Blender > specific. I shall look forward to watching the videos perhaps on utube? Otherwise, I'll download and convert them to my iPhone when at library wifi. > But really, I've OGRE exported xml files > sitting on my desktop just > waiting to be imported into Croquet...help help help > := googling : OGRE "xml files" wiki got definitive leads for me : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Game_Engine > > I'm a bit of a dreamer and I think we are all > inspired at least in part by > notions of a holodeck. As the effective little red hen with bald head said : "Make it so!" |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?(verse side by side)
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In reply to this post by Enno Schwass
--- Enno Schwass <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi > > > This looks interesting. I'm imagining Croquet and > Blender (or Maya, > > 3DSMAX, etc) running side-by-side on my computer > with a 3D model in > > the space connected via Verse to the same model > inside of Blender. > > When I modify the model in Blender the change is > reflected within > > the Croquet space in real-time. Is that the idea? > > Thats it. And I would love to model this way. So, one guy buys the $9000 maya or whatever it is reduced to today and another guy is going about understanding blender by hook and crook without documentation of maya and another guy is coding smalltalk and they all see the same virtual world they are building parts of in real time. They might even swap stories of their separate experience and ---- not only collaborate, but integrate! Pretty dang cool, holodeck for sure! |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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In reply to this post by Matthew Schmidt-2
I really like Blender and use it for all sorts of stuff, plus it is a
useful tool for getting objects into Croquet while there isn't a decent in-house tool. However it is not a serious long-term solution by any means. Blender is a coder/geek toy and requires having either an excellent memory or a printout of the key shortcuts on hand to use it efficiently. That said, I have yet to see a truly intuitive piece of 3d modelling and animation sofware, most things that claim to be are simple, yet imprecise and clunky (sketchup and aoi definitely spring to mind). The best commercial software for throwing stuff together that I have used is maya and lightwave, but they are also overly technical for the basic user and work on an RTFM perspective almost as much as Blender does. A friend of mine swears by zbrush, although I cannot comment as I haven't got around to trying that yet. Given that there seems to be a blatant hole in the market just waiting to be filled, Croquet might be just the thing to write such an application in, which would also help with promoting the platform itself. Just a thought... |
Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?
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Nobody mentions qavimator here. It is a tool for designing .bvh animations. These are the avatar animations used by SL avs.
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?(support blender, rah video, wiki definition OGRE)
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In reply to this post by Paul Sheldon-2
Hey all,
I've been deathly ill with the flu. I'll be delayed with the Blender tutorials I promised. sorry ;( waufrepi |
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