Earlier quoted context omitted.
And most of the links no longer exist.
archive.org is your friend.
For however much longer archive.org exists. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/26/1166101459/internet-archive-l...
Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
21–30 of 34 posts
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
And most of the links no longer exist.
archive.org is your friend.
https://web.archive.org/web/20010223104840/https://www.qrg.n...
All but the first link work in this snapshot.
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#23I might agree with the argument when it comes to plastic modelling, but I would disagree when it comes to wooden ship modelling. I've been building a wooden ship model kit that I got many years ago, and have utterly enjoyed the process of trying to create something that is both historically accurate, as well as aesthetically pleasing. The selection, preparation, and treatment of the materials used is a huge factor in…
> Let's just say I find more value over taking a few weeks to experiment with various wood aging and staining techniques to get just the right look for the weathered decks than I would tweaking a shader.
In my opinion beyond a certain level this is also happening with plastic models - the kit gluing is a small part, reshaping the odd parts, adding historical accurate details and finish are the main parts. And funnily, most people doing this also build parts of the detail on the computer nowadays.
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#24I might agree with the argument when it comes to plastic modelling, but I would disagree when it comes to wooden ship modelling. I've been building a wooden ship model kit that I got many years ago, and have utterly enjoyed the process of trying to create something that is both historically accurate, as well as aesthetically pleasing. The selection, preparation, and treatment of the materials used is a huge factor in…
> Let's just say I find more value over taking a few weeks to experiment with various wood aging and staining techniques to get just the right look for the weathered decks than I would tweaking a shader. In my opinion beyond a certain level this is also happening with plastic models - the kit gluing is a small part, reshaping the odd parts, adding historical accurate details and finish are the main parts. And funnily…
True enough - not meaning to dis the plastic ones. I've seen some amazing craftsmanship by some people that just goes so far beyond those kits I built as a kid (or ever could build as an adult).
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#25Another hobby soon to be taken away by Transformer Models.
Hobbies don't go away because there's a more efficient way of doing something, because they don't have to be profitable.
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#26There's just not enough uniformity of content. There are museum collections and specialist websites, but there's no "WikiSimulate" that aims to be a universal compendium of different objects and their functions. The deepest modeling resources are behind paywalls because it simply isn't practical to gamify every object in the world for free. For example, I can purchase World of Guns or Car Mechanic Simulator, but I do…
> There's just not enough uniformity of content.
There's much more uniformity than there used to be. Creation tools now import and export glTF. That's a neutral format and is becoming the industry standard. Until recently, people were trying to move content around in proprietary formats such as .obj and .fbx.
There's NVidia Omniverse, which is a way to link together multiple tools on the same model in real time.
Portable behavior is tougher, although the USD people are working on that. The coming thing there is Unreal Engine's "verse", but it's too soon to see how that will work out.
A big problem now is importing some high-detail model and getting terrible performance. Level of detail generation needs more automation.
3D creation tools are hard to use. It's a really hard user interface problem.
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#27I might agree with the argument when it comes to plastic modelling, but I would disagree when it comes to wooden ship modelling. I've been building a wooden ship model kit that I got many years ago, and have utterly enjoyed the process of trying to create something that is both historically accurate, as well as aesthetically pleasing. The selection, preparation, and treatment of the materials used is a huge factor in…
There's plenty of repos on Github dealing with ship hull optimization/generation. Not sure it would be benificial to your usecase, however if you manage to build a tractor beam, you could be the king of the RC boat pond:
https://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/biggest-ever-tractor-beam...
> trebuchet-magazine.com.
hehehe.
Edit: the link above is about laser tractor beam but the Australian National University also built a water tractor beam, and this is what I wanter to show you:
Re: Why computer modeling should become a popular hobby (1996)
#28It's good to have the occasional reminder that the letterboxing modern websites use is not, in fact, a total waste of screen real estate.
I suspect displays were a good deal narrower in 1996, ha ha.
My display is less than 3” wide. That’s far smaller than my first 10” crt let alone the 17” I had in 1996