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Archive for February, 2010

Friday Smackdown: Recoiler Osteroth

26 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in SMACKDOWN
3D Human CAD Models

The rock rippers crept up on us near the east end that night. Fortunately, we had the outer hull covered in mangle moss and flame lemmings the likes had not been seen since these links attacked up.

Matt Tkocz – Matt give you a heaping eyeful of great sketch technique, sea creatures and ships.
Fastest Birds – what you would see if you were a peregrine falcon or strapped to the back of one. amazing.
DIY Garage Photo Studio – With a few bucks, a few storage racks, seamless paper and work lights you too can be a ‘pro’ product photographer.
Embrace Life – This advertisement… is freaking awesome. elegant. beautiful.
Wolf Spider Babies – Is it creepier that he’s holding it or that this could crawl in your mouth while your sleeping. both.
iPhone street photography – Just what I see is just what Greg sees. All shot through the tiny lens of his iPhone.
Chocomize – Create and customize your very own chocolate. Nuts, Fruits, Herbs, even gold flakes.

Ask the Reader: How Do You Make Versions of Your 3D Assemblies?

25 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in CAD

It’s happened to all of us. You’re bakin’ up sweet 3D assemblies in SolidWorks when all of sudden your supervisor walks over, scratches their dry chin skin over your keyboard and challenges you to 1) not vomit and 2) create 5 other version of the same assembly.

All psoriasis and skin flaking antics aside, creating usable assembly versions in SolidWorks is challenging, especially in a design environment where ideas float around like immunological diseases in need of a heavy dose of anti-inflammatories.

However, there are ways to do it, and probably a few things you’ve tried yourself. Here, we look at the question that prompted a look into three options and get your take on which works the best or if there are other ways to prove you are a design iteration master. It’s ON.

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One Big Eyeful of 3D Exploded Gadget Photography… and Also a Frog

22 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in ROCKIN'

Oh great. You fell asleep last night watching “The fine art of family root farming” and completely forgot to plug in your exploding gadget and frog apparatus. How embarrassing.

Someone who didn’t forget and, as you’ll see, wouldn’t matter if he did, is Adam Voorhes. I think you’ll agree he’s mastered exactly what it takes to make visuals pop off the screen. Some of these should inspire those of you who spend way too much time making detailed exploded views on drawings… inspire you to go even further in exploded view insanity! YES!!

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Luxology modo Gets Photo-Freakin-Realistic Studio Lighting with SLIK

19 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in NEWS

Jaw. Dropping. I’m slapping myself over and over. Actually, this is the second time I’ve slapped myself to the point my jaw is hanging by a few strands. I saw a preview of the new Luxology Studio Lighting & Illumination Kit (“SLIK”) for modo at SolidWorks World last week and have been having dreams of being washed in the most serene studio lighting imaginable.

Yazan Malkosh of 9b Studios spent a wee two months putting together a lighting kit that completely destroys the amount of time creating rigs and adjusting lighting.

Best thing of all, it’s complete extendible and customizable. Check out the workflow here. Fast. Simple. Presets.

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Friday Smackdown: Mooter Goots

19 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in SMACKDOWN

He had a steady hand. Could charge a blast arm with the fastest of’em too, but eventually he absorbed to many burp nodules and all but melted away laughing into these links.

Dragos Jieanu – 3D, video, matte, and sketch. Amazing composition and making of rich environments by Dragos Jieanu.
Childrens Books and Designers – Why are they good? We’re disconnected and it’s making us look old and hairy. Apply this article to smooth the wrinkles.
Mariana Trench – How deep? This deep… Let’s just say, the Mariana trench would hold a lot of jello and socks.
Venmo – Coolest concept in cash since I kicked an ATM. Pay from your phone, but you can request an invite on the site and here.
Jobs… of the future -and what you can do with a pile of labor statistics. Management and Software are still there in the future.
40 single page mini templates – Need a quick, easy and very slick looking online Resume? Website launch page? Business card? Portfolio? Yes!
Worlds largest light saber fight – Not a single person on a Tauntaun. Lame. You always, ALWAYS bring a Tauntaun to a lightsaber fight.

5 Reasons Why Werewolves Will Take Over 3D Product Design

18 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in DESIGN

Seriously, no bullets are gonna help, no alliance with the undead or any sort of blunt object or girly scream. The end… is near…. and where ever you run, the werewolf hordes are approaching.

Fortunately, you’ve already been bitten and eventually you’ll feel a a sharp bone shifting jab as technological morphotypes wrap their corpuscular DNA around your innate engineering ability and suave design sense, whereby transforming you into a new breed of something to be FEARED. Really, I wouldn’t lie to you.

So, I’ve gathered what’s making it happen and 5 reasons why. Time to feast.

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Sweet Eye Stabbing 3D Using Generative Music Visualization

17 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in TECH

Ok, we’re about to raise this 3D thing a notch. Scratch that. We’re about to raise it 5,000 notches and 10 sequential pokes to the eye to say, this is how you will create 3D geometry in the future.

Yes, not only will you be a concert violinist, you’ll also be a 3D modeling GENIUS. KER-BAAAM. Jonas Friedemann Heuer developed the Clavilux 2000 to visualize how musical notes are being played by the musician and to remind you of when your clavicle shot out your chest skin at that New Year Eves party in 1999. Par-tay!

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Wrap Your Pasty Fingers Around These Gear Rings From Kinekt Design

17 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in DESIGN

I know you enjoy the magnificence of your hairy knuckles as much as the next guy, but after you take a look at this ring, you may be reaching for razor.

Ben Hopson and entrepreneur Glen Liberman of Kinekt Design are collaborating together on a series of kinetic jewelry pieces. This Gear Ring is the first to come out of production and onto your fashion sensitive fingers. It was designed in SolidWorks, but you know there’s always more to the process. Glen Liberman had a few gems to tell us about the design challenges they faced.

Oh, and you know we’ve got the hi-res images and video you all love.

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How To Show Molting Yaks How to Update Custom SolidWorks Materials

16 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in CAD

Go ask a molting yak this single question, “Are you using SolidWorks materials??!!” If it does anything other than say yes, you have total freedom to boot the fur right off his confused face.

However, if he is using SolidWorks materials, pull a stump up to the waterin’ hole and prepare to show him how to solve a little problem he may be having. A problem where the appearances don’t update when a material is changes. There’s a simple fix and if your flaking yak friend uses templates, he’ll want to update those right away. Here’s how.

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SolidWorks 2011 Preview: PV360, Assembly Features and More Shocks To Your Gnoggin’

15 Feb, 2010 by Josh Mings in NEWS

It’s been nearly two weeks since I fell down a flight of stairs at the Anaheim convention center after some new features for SolidWorks 2011 were previewed at SolidWorks World, but that’s not gonna stop me from spitting up blood to tell you about them.

Last week, we talked possible enhancements, but this is different. These are real features you’ll see in the next version of SolidWorks. Yeah, you haven’t even upgraded to SolidWorks 2010, but come on, SolidWorks 2010… so last decade.

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