263 - Made with Neon

Day 263. This odd shape was created using the iOS app Forge of Neon. It's a strange app that draws symmetrical, radial 3D shapes out of stray lines. Odd but captivating.

260 - Forgeries

Day 260. This pattern was made by first modelling a 3D shape using an app called Forge of Neon, which is pretty interesting in its own right. But then I took the 3D shape into MegaPhoto+ and passed it through the kaleidoscope filter to mirror it and split it up, then applied another couple of filters to explore a number of different effects. I liked the diversity of them so I used Diptic to create this grid of my four favourites.ts fascinating that these were all created from the same original 3D image.

 

 

165 - Only 200 More days

Day 165. Although some posts in this project have been a day or two late (including this one) so far I haven't actually missed a day. At day 165 it means that I only have 200 more days to go. As predicted, this is starting to get much harder to keep coming up with ideas, but a promise is a promise.

This little graphic was made in Adobe Illustrator using the 3D Extrude tool, as well as a bit of free transform to really mess around with the natural perspective. Even on a fast computer, it's amazing how much processor grunt it takes to render simple vector text in 3D like this once you start twisting it around a bit.

159 - Marsupial

Day 159. Today's create has been appsmashed together in a way I haven't tried before. First, I created a 3D model of a creature, based loosely on a kangaroo, in Autodesk's incredible 123D Creature app for the iPad. Unfortunately this app cannot export the finished creature as a complete video clip so it's hard to appreciate the 3D nature of the model in still images.

To get around this problem, once it was constructed, modelled and lit, I then exported a series of images of the model in slightly different positions to the Camera Roll. These were then imported into an app called 5 Second GIF, which the App Store assured me could turn a series of still images into an animation. Sure enough, this was the final result. I think it works pretty well.

100 - Sketched Up

Day 100. I was just messing around in Sketchup Pro and made this doodle, a sort of stage/walkway/minigolf object. No idea really what it's supposed to be, but it used a few extrusion and curving techniques in Sketchup. Sketchup used to be owned by Google and free, but they sold it to Trimble and now the full version costs about $700. It's still free for educators but you have to write to them with proof of your teacher status in order to get a licence code.

081 - Below the Fold

Day 81. Today I discovered a really interesting app called Foldify that lets you design foldable 3D shapes out of paper, cut them out with scissors, and glue them together to assemble the 3D shape for real. This was just a simple example (bit short on time today) but I plan to play with this tool a bit more to see what else I can create with it.

This would be a really fun way to teach about 3D shapes with younger students.

059 - Little Creatures 2

Day 59. Some of these creative tools require time and experimentation to figure out what you can do with them. I made a 3D model a few weeks ago using a very cool iPad app called 123D Creature from AutoDesk. It's amazing software, and really shows just how powerful the graphics hardware is on the latest iPads. I wanted to push this idea a bit further, so this creature is a little more sophisticated than the last one, with a more complex skeleton and more detailed modelling, lighting and rendering.

Once I made the model I snapped shots of it in different positions (just to show that it really is made in 3D!) I then dropped those images into Diptic and arranged them into this grid design. One thing this daily create project is really forcing me to do is "app smashing", where content is passed from app to app to come up with interesting things that the combination of those apps can offer.

041 - Little Creatures

Day 41. After playing with Autodesk's 123D Catch the other day I discovered that Autodesk actually make quite a few different (and amazing!) virtual 3D modelling tools for the iPad. Today's create is my first attempt at using 123D Creatures, an incredible 3Dmodelling tool for making imaginary creatures.

On the iPad it's actually a full 3D model that can be fairly easily sculpted and modelled in 3D space. Very cool.

039 - Flower Power

Day 39. I was given a bunch of flowers yesterday, so I used an iPad app from Autodesk called 123Dcatch to turn them into a 3D model. By taking 20-30 images from all angles, the app will stitch the model of the object together in 3D space.

This first attempt is not perfect by a long stretch, but I'll play some more and see what I can come up with. Certainly is an interesting idea though! 3D printer anyone?

If you go to this address, http://www.123dapp.com/obj-Catch/Bunch-of-flowers/2106817, you can download that actual 3D model and play with it, see some of the original photos that generated it, and even have a go at making one yourself.

038 - Throwing Virtual Pottery

Day 38. Today's create is a piece of virtual pottery created in an iPad app called Pottery HD. It lets you create virtual pottery on a virtual wheel and decorate it with virtual glaze. You need to earn points to have access to better brushes and colours, and it gradually gives you more tools as you use it. It's surprisingly engaging.

This pot was made on a (virtual) wheel using (virtual) white clay and decorated with (virtual) Egyptian brush designs. Despite what you might imagine, if you keep playing this app you end up pushing your design ideas further and further in an attempt to keep coming up with different pot designs.

034 - Wineframes or Wireglasses

Day 34. For today's daily create I thought I'd try dabbling in a piece of software that I don't use very much, so I fired up Adobe Illustrator. While I know Photoshop pretty well I've never really felt like I've got to grips with Illustrator. I just started playing around in it and worked out that I could draw a vector shape and then revolve it around its edge to turn it into a 3D object. So I drew a half profile of a wine glass, then rotated it to make a 3D wineglass. I tidied up the 2D profile a bit using the bezier tools to give it a nicer shape, and the final 3D object looked pretty good.

Then I tried to make a bottle shape the same way. Finally, I duplicated the original glass profile to make the second glass, and here you see the result.

I originally rendered them as solid shapes but as I played with the different angles I found I could render them as wireframe objects. Not only did I quite like the look of the wireframe renders, but I also liked the play on words "wire" and "wine", so went with that idea.

The bottom line is that while Illustrator is a incredibly powerful piece of software for graphics professionals, it has a pretty steep learning curve. But even just messing around in it you can come uop with some interesting ideas. I like using it but I need to play around in it more to get to a point where I feel I'm controlling it and not the other way around.