Open Source
June 30th, 2009 | by Simon |I’ve been playing around with open source 3D software, namely the Blender modeling and animation suite, to see what I can squeeze out of it for possible use in school projects and beyond. Here are some of my first experiments:
These two are the slightly jazzed up products of Blender tutorials, the latter involving a “parametrically” generated corkscrew (no, I haven’t gone over to the dark side, in case you’re worried). By the way, Blender’s internal rendering engine is pretty fabulous – every bit an equal of Maya’s, raytracing options and all.
This next one is my first foray into the external Yafaray renderer:
BTW, the texture on the wall is Margo’s fantastico spaghetti sauce:
So far I’m getting really grainy images from Yafaray, though I know it’s possible to make it produce baby-smooth stuff like this, too (take a look at the linked file):
Not that baby-smooth is something I would necessarily strive for, but it does show the impressive capability of this free software package.
And there’s a kicker too: In addition to being a world-class visualization tool, Blender also includes a game engine that can be used to build self-contained, fully interactive three-dimensional “walk-through” presentations. I’ll definitely play around with it at some point, but there’s a lot of other territory to cover before that. Stay tuned.
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One Response to “Open Source”
By Manu on Jul 1, 2009 | Reply
Man, you’re a few steps ahead always! Seems I’m following you: now I’m into PHP, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment to dive in 3D – tried a few times, then got busy and left it as this demands more effort and attention than I usually have to put for computer stuff.
I keep your blog. You’re watched!