Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

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Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Matthew Schmidt-2
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




Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:19:47 -0500
From: Aaron E. Walsh <[hidden email]>
Subject: [croquet-user] Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

** Warning: Message part originally used character set utf-8
   Some characters may be lost or incorrect **

Hello everyone, in January Croquet was selected as a foundation technology on
top of which the next generation (3rd generation) of Immersive Education will
be built. You can read more by clicking on the "POST SUMMIT SUMMARY
ANNOUNCEMENT" link (or button) that's on the Immersive Education Initiative
site at

  http://ImmersiveEducation.org

We are now preparing an Immersive Education "Croquet bundle" that includes the
runtime, documentation and tutorials, and authoring tools. The learning bundle
will be provided both to the Immersive Education K12 pilot schools and higher
eduction. A key part of the bundle is the authoring tool, which must be free
(ideally open source, but that's a preference and not a requirement -- as long
as the authoring tool is free, and not a for-fee product, we can bundle it for
educators and students).

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)?

If you don't use Blender but use another authoring tool your thoughts about
that would be a great help as well -- do you recommend a different free
authoring tool, and if not what commercial (for-fee) tool do you use when
creating content for Blender (Maya, for example)?

With thanks in advance for sharing your Croquet content creating experience as
we prepare the Immersive Education learning bundle (which, when it's available,
you're more than welcome to use or share with others, of course).

Regards,
Aaron



--
Boston College: http://bc.edu
Media Grid: http://MediaGrid.org
Immersive Education: http://ImmersiveEducation.org
Personal page: http://gridinstitute.com/people/aew/


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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Ken Hawkins-2
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
>

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Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

waufrepi III
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
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Les Howell
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

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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Enno Schwass
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
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Les Howell
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

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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Enno Schwass
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
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Enno Schwass
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
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Peter Moore-5
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

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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Enno Schwass
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?

tibbe
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



winmail.dat (6K) Download Attachment
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Kyle Hamilton
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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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

hendikon
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 ?
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Joshua Gargus-2

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 ?

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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?(support blender, rah video, wiki definition OGRE)

Paul Sheldon-2
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!"


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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?(verse side by side)

Paul Sheldon-2
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.
Wow.

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!
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

deadgenome -.,.-*`*-.,.-*`*-
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...
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Re: Blender for Croquet? Other or better options?

Søren Renner
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)

waufrepi III
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