Happy Halloween

Related posts:

• "Happy Halloween!"
  (October 31, 2011)
• "Halloween Candy: What to Do With It"
  (November 3, 2009)
• "Bats in Space! Cassini Team Sends 'Bats Wishes' "
  (October 31, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: Autumn Holiday Graphics"
  (August 27, 2009)
• "Idea for Next Halloween: Chicken-Wire Ghost"
  (February 3, 2008)

From the Mind of the Lemming

"Paint what you see" is one of those recurring bits of advice to budding artists. It's also pretty much what the Lemming did for today's post:



Have a good weekend: the Lemming will be back Monday.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Thanksgiving, Cartoons, and a Look at the Lemming"
  (November 23, 2011)
• "Five Strange Video Games"
  (September 8, 2010)
• "Valentine's Day, 2010"
  (February 14, 2010)
• "Santa's Workshop, Pip, and a Disturbing - or Disturbed - Image"
  (December 28, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: Autumn Holiday Graphics"
  (August 27, 2009)

The Super Bowl, Google, and a 3D Virtual Tour

"Google"
Erik Malinowski, Playbook, Wired (February 4, 2011)

"For those of you who can't make it out to Dallas for this Sunday's Super Bowl — and, quite frankly, that's probably all of you — the search wizards of Mountain View, California, have been kind enough to offer us the chance to virtually tour Cowboys Stadium via Google Earth.

"It couldn't be simpler. Download the latest version of Google Earth, and type 'Cowboys Stadium' into the 'Find Businesses' field at the top. (Also, make sure you have the '3D Buildings' layer turned on.) It might take a minute or two to get the hang of it, but once you do, you can get a complete 3-D perspective of this $1.2 billion behemoth, decked out in its complete Super Bowl-themed exterior...."

Super Bowl. Football. Google. And, what else? A YouTube video demo:

"Cowboys Stadium in 3D

YourWorldIn3D, YouTube (February 3, 2011)
video, 1:37

Impressive - and fairly cool music, too. In the Lemming's opinion.

The video's been scaled down to fit this blog's format - if it doesn't display well, you're free to follow the link to the YouTube page.

DAZ 3D Studio: Pretty Good for 3D Art

Yesterday, I installed the new version of DAZ 3D Studio (daz3d.com) on my new computer. I've used earlier versions of this (almost) free software for several years now - and thankfully, I've still got the computer that the older version is installed on.

The new version works fine, for the most part. I plan to use it to create a 'Christmas' graphic: that's a sort of first draft, on the right.

The Lemming probably should have put off getting started with this nifty new system, until after #2 daughter and her husband had gone. My getting about four hours sleep last night didn't raise my mental efficiency any - and that's another topic.

The Lemming said that 3D Studio is (almost) free. There is a condition to using it: the company asks that anyone using the software tell two other folks about it.

Over the life of this blog, the Lemming figures more than two people will read this post - which takes care of my obligation.

The Lemming is pretty sure that I'll figure out why the new version is giving me fits right now: Late last night, I took my son's advice and looked for an answer to one issue on the company's website.

He was right: The answer was there.

Maybe, after the Lemming is caught up on sleep - but like I said, that's another topic.

3-D Printer in Space: Seems to Make Sense

"Print Your Own Space Station — in Orbit"
Mike Wall, Space.com (November 11, 2010)

"Why build space station parts in factories here on Earth when they're ultimately going to end up in space? And why use a factory at all when you can just crank those parts out with a 3-D printer?

"A new company called Made In Space is posing these questions to the aerospace industry — as well as to potential investors. Made in Space wants to launch 3-D printers into orbit and use them to make parts for spacecraft and space stations, which would be assembled in zero gravity.

"Three-dimensional printers make objects by sequentially depositing thin layers of 'feedstock,' which can be metal, plastic or a variety of other materials.

"Printing out parts in space would save a great deal of time and money, according to Made in Space. And the technology could eventually be transplanted to other worlds such as the moon, where it could help human colonies gain a foothold by printing out robot parts or buildings, piece by piece...."

If this idea - 'printing' complex objects on-site instead of lifting them off Earth - seems familiar, you're either a regular Space.com reader. Or check out the Lemming fairly often. I posted a micro-review of 3-D printing off-Earth, back in April, 2010.

This sort of technology has been around for quite a while: I can't remember when I first ran into coverage of it, but RP (Rapid Prototyping) goes back a fair way. There's an interesting piece about the history of prototyping on the Cornell University website:

• "3-D Printing the History of Mechanisms" (PDF)
  Hod Lipson, Francis C. Moon, Jimmy Hai, Carlo Paventi,
  School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York,
  Journal of Mechanical Design (September, 2005)

Prototype Zone's history of RP puts the start of this technology in the sixties - which agrees with my memory.

The Lemming's guess is that people will be manufacturing some things on Earth for quite a while - but the idea of making large, relatively simple components like pressure vessels on site seems to make very good sense.

Of course, there has to be some sort of material 'on site' to work with. Looks like we'll be using the surface of planets and moons for quite a while.

Related posts, on 'space' business and new technology:

• "Bigelow Aerospace, Private Space Station, International Enterprise"
  (October 20, 2010)
• "Spaceships Launched on Rails: Not-So-New Idea Proposed"
  (September 15, 2010)
• "3-D Printer Making Moon Huts? Same Principle as Log Cabins"
  (April 18, 2010)
• "Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC): One Terabyte of Data in a Little Package"
  (June 20, 2008)

---

More:

• "Humanity in Space: The Next Few Decades"

Bose Television: Sounds Good

"A Bose TV? Sounds Good - Literally"
Robert S. Anthony, PCWorld (September 29, 2010)

"If Bose built TVs, you'd expect them to have exceptional bass and superb midrange sounds in keeping with its little Wave radios, right? Well Bose has done just that with the $5349 VideoWave entertainment system, which is a complete home-theater packed into a 46-inch LCD TV.

"A Bose TV? Sounds Good - Literally Using a proprietary internal design which includes 16 speakers and wide and narrow plastic audio-channeling conduits, the TV delivers impressive audio that's projected in such a way that it sounds as if it's emanating not from the TV, but from a wall of sound coming from multiple directions.

"During a theatrical press event in New York, members of the media got a chance to listen to the system in a room that seemed to have shrouded speakers mounted on the front and side walls. During a surround-sound demonstration which included audio of an approaching thunderstorm, the 'speakers' were covered with black cloths, leading attendees to assume that Bose was about to roll out a new series of tiny home theater speakers. Then, in a dramatic moment David Copperfield would have been proud of, the cloths were removed-revealing absolutely nothing. All of the sound that seemed to be firing from behind the cloths had actually come straight from the sole TV...."

There may be a fine line between good marketing and good showmanship, but it's mighty thin in spots.

The PCWorld article includes this video:

"Bose click pad remote control demo"

pcwnews, YouTube (September 29, 2010)

Which won't be displayed in Bose-level great sound - unless you've using a really good sound system with your computer.

The price tag ensures that my household won't be using one of those things - but the Lemming can see why folks with the disposable income might decide to buy the Bose television system.

The company sends a technician to set the TV up - and calibrate the sound system to the room its in. You'll need to be around for that, to so the tech sets it up for your preferences. Nice touch.

This paragraph in the review is particularly interesting to the Lemming:

"...Despite the high level of internal engineering, the 1080p HDTV supports a refresh rate of 120Hz, not 240Hz, which means that it's not capable of showing 3D content. At 97 pounds, the unit is not exactly light, but is still light enough to be wall mounted...."

Good heavens - a refresh rate of a mere 120 Hz? Back in my 'good old days,' which I don't miss all that much, television images came at a rate of about 30 Hertz: 30 frames a second. And "not capable of showing 3D content?" I remember when color television was new.

So: it's new, a tad on the pricey side, and apparently as good as a Bose television might be expected to be.

Evil Masterminds! Colossal Thefts! Minions and a Photocopier!

"Despicable Me"
IMDB.com (Universal Pictures, 2010)

"...When a criminal mastermind uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds himself profoundly changed by the growing love between them...."

" 'Despicable Me' turns Universal into a digital animation film player"
MiamiHerald.com (July 23, 2010)

"For Universal Pictures, all it took was some puny yellow minions to tackle the giants of animation.

"The studio's movie 'Despicable Me,' about a villain who enlists an army of yapping subordinates to assist in his nefarious deeds, racked up $118.4 million in its first 10 days at the box office, granting Universal something that has long eluded it: a family-friendly animated blockbuster.

"Such a windfall represents a turning point for the General Electric Co.-owned studio, which has lagged behind rivals Pixar Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox's Blue Sky Studios in establishing a foothold in the increasingly popular genre of digitally animated movies...."

I saw "Despicable Me" over the weekend. IMDB.com shows the film's rating as "Rated PG for rude humor and mild action." Fair enough. The humor is rather rude, and the action is mild - although that roller-coaster ride, wearing 3D glasses, was just short of gastrologically unsettling. Moving along.

I agree with the Miami Herald's assessment, that it's "family-friendly" - but that's me, and my family. With well upwards of 6,000,000,000 people around, there's probably someone, somewhere, who's offended, appalled, affronted, or insulted by the movie. What off-duty Minions were doing with the photocopier, for example, will almost certainly set somebody off.

The rest of us, I think, can sit back and enjoy the show. I'd call it "heartwarming:" but first, the term's been overused; and second, with all those flammable chemicals in Gru's lab, somebody might get the wrong idea.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: Reset"
  (June 25, 2010)
• "Killer Tomatoes: How Could I Have Missed This Classic?"
  (May 3, 2010)
• " 'The A-Team' is Back - With Pretty Good Casting"
  (February 8, 2010)
• "The Neutrinos are Coming! 2012 and Hollywood Science"
  (November 16, 2009)
• "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella: What's the Big Idea?"
  (July 28, 2009)

3-D Printer Making Moon Huts? Same Principle as Log Cabins

"3-D Printing Device Could Build Moon Base from Lunar Dust"
Space.com (April 16, 2010)

"Future astronauts might end up living in a moon base created largely from lunar dust and regolith, if a giant 3-D printing device can work on the lunar surface.

"The print-on-demand technology, known as D-Shape, could save on launch and transportation costs for manned missions to the moon. But the concept must first prove itself in exploratory tests funded by the European Space Agency (ESA)

" 'We will make very basic printing trials in a vacuum environment to verify if this is possible,' said Enrico Dini, chairman of Monolite UK Ltd and creator of D-Shape.

"Dini's D-Shape has created full-size sandstone buildings on Earth by using a 3-D printing process similar to how inkjet printers work...."

"This 6-foot-tall (2 meter) gazebo was built with D-shape 3-D printing technology. The monolithic sandstone structure was made of about 200 thin layers and is shown unfinished (left) and after a week of finishing by hand. It was designed to look like a micro-organism called Radiolaria. The structure in the background, overhead, is the printing device. Credit: D-Shape"

Making shelters out of local materials (mostly) is a really old idea. Euro-Americans, including my ancestors, who moved into central North America didn't haul lumber and roofing material with them. The first shelter one of my forebears built was a sod hut, cut into the ground. The insulation was great: but he upgraded to a log cabin pretty quickly.

I don't know if the phrase, 'log cabin on the moon' will catch on, but that's what this article is discussing, essentially.

Technologies for building 3D models through a sort of printing process is new - or not, depending on your point of view:

• "Rapid Prototyping Primer"
  William Palm (May 1998), revised 30 July 2002, Penn State Learning Factory

For me, 1998 is fairly 'recent.' But I think that the upper Pleistocene is 'recent,' too: so you may not want to go by what I say.

D-Shape looks like a fine technology, if you want to make a six-foot gazebo shaped like a Radiolaria. It's probably got other uses, too.

If it works in a vacuum, I'd say that it could make a lot more sense to ship one of those things, with a power supply and the binding material, than it some other methods. That's a big 'if,' of course: which is why the thing's being tested.

Interesting times, these that we live in.

Santa's Workshop, Pip, and a Disturbing - or Disturbed - Image

Santa's Warehouse, 2009 by ~Norski on deviantART

" 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop
Nothing was stirring, you could hear a pin drop.'

"When I created this scene, I wasn't sure how to use it. The poem, "Pip" - that's the first two lines - tells the picture's story. Normally, I wouldn't do a cheap parody of a beloved poem like Clement Clarke Moore's: but I was facing a deadline, had no better ideas, and was getting desperate.

"The poem, and a (much) smaller version of this picture is on one of my blogs: 'Not Your Usual Fluffy Christmas Rhyme', Loonfoot Falls Chronicle-Gazette."

On Deviant Art's website, and a few other places online, I'm Norski. Yep: I'm plugging one of my prints.

Yes! You, too, can have "Santa's Workshop, 2009" as a handsome 8 x 10 to hang on your wall! Or, as a fine 4 x 5 print. Just follow the links.

You'll never forget that image. No matter how hard you try, I suspect.

The Lemming will be back, a little later, with a post about fine art, or gerbils, or magnetohydrodynamics, or something.

Lemming Tracks: Two 3D Companies Merge (Well, It Matters To Me)

"AZ 3D & Gizmoz MERGE TO BECOME LEADING PUBLISHER OF Personalized 3D Characters, Software and Accessories"
DAZ 3D/gizmoz publicity page, with links

"DAZ 3D, developers of renowned 3D software and highly supported 3D content, and Gizmoz, the leader in 3D face detection, mapping, and manipulation technology, have merged to form a new company that will deliver the highest-quality personalized 3D digital characters, accessories...."

If you're not 'into' 3D art and modeling, or are connected with those companies, you probably couldn't care less about this merger.

I've been teaching myself how to use 3D software for a little over three years now, and use quite a few DAZ products: so I am interested. And, hope that the merged entity maintains the quality that I've come to expect from DAZ 3D.

the "official" press release:

"DAZ 3D and Gizmoz Merge to Become Premier Publisher of Personalized 3D Characters, Software and Accessories"
"Fuels Growth of Virtual Goods Market for Improved Gaming, Virtual Worlds, and 3D Modeling and Animation; Benchmark Capital, Highway 12 Ventures and Columbia Capital Lead Funding"

"Draper, Utah and Tel Aviv, Israel – Dec. 16, 2009 – Seizing the opportunity to meet the increasing and diversified expectations of the virtual goods market, DAZ 3D and Gizmoz today announced a merger that will create the foremost online marketplace for high-quality and inter-compatible digital characters and accessories....

"...'We are excited to announce the formation of a company dedicated to delivering digital goods with unprecedented life-like characteristics ideal for social networks, cross-platform gaming, 3D animation and development,' said Eyal Gever, president of the merged company and CEO and founder of Gizmoz...."

With my biases, I'm worried that the merged corporation will be run by bean counters and control freaks: but I have no reason to think this will happen. DAZ 3D has a very good product line, and sane CEOs don't sabotage winning teams.

Related(?) post:

• "Flight 188, Distracted Pilots, and Dangerously Impractical Software?"
  (November 27, 2009)
  • "...From the looks of it, the new Delta-Northwest merger may be run by the sort of clueless executives and managers who infest the Dilbert comic strip. ... Granted, the pilots should not have been wrestling with some Kafkaesque 'new and improved' crew-scheduling program...."

Crazy Frog, Trapped Santa, Daft Factory: the Video

"Merry Christmas- Crazy frog"

floral123, YouTube (December 25, 2007)
video, 3:09

"Crazy frog"

That's it, in the "info" section. I've no idea who created this animation, the music, and merged the two. A Wikipedia article credits Erik Wernquist with creating Crazy Frog, AKA The Annoying Thing.

This animation has quite a few iterations on YouTube - and elsewhere. This appears to be more complete than most, and has pretty good video and sound quality.

The story line - I'll let you figure that out. Very briefly, Crazy Frog drops in (literally) to a sort of tech noir Santa's workshop: where the jolly old elf is inexplicably locked in some sort of cell. No other elves are obviously present: the whole place seems to be automated and under the control of an AI that really needs to be debugged. My opinion.

I thought it was funny, but your experience may vary.

More:

• "- - - Videos of Christmas Lights, Holiday Lights, and Music"

And Now, for Something Completely Different: Animated Octopuses - Octopods - Octopi - More Than One Animated Octopus

"Octopus Dance"

adnamameww, YouTube (May 16, 2007)
video, 0:46

"My final project for my electronic imaging 4 class, as well as my first 3D animation."

It's not likely to win an Emmy or an Oscar - but it's a fun way to spend 46 seconds.

"Awesome Octopus Animation"

TheBestVideos2227, YouTube (September 29, 2008)
video, 2:26

"that is some talent... after the video please visit http://www.tylergram.com to send real mail to loved ones and friends Thanks!"

I know: With the word "awesome" in the title, I was prepared to see something that was anything-but.

But, as #1 daughter said, "that is seriously cool!" There's pretty high-quality 3D animation here, a well-paced story - and fairly decent character development, considering the tight time constraints.

Larry and the Gated Community: a VegieTales Video

"Gated Community"

MegannLuvsJonnny, YouTube (March 20, 2009)
video, 2:32

"Its dodgy but kewl"

I'm not sure which of the many meanings of "dodgy" MegannLuvsJonny had in mind - this video quite definitely has an identifiable attitude about gated communities and the sort of people who presumably live in them.

I mean to say, Larry the Cucumber's reasonable request for the return of his ball met with this sort of thing? -

"...everything's so lovely
Oh! Our Hearts are filled with glee
And when you visit
You can stand outside and see
What a lovely bunch we are
In our gated unity!..."

As usual with VegieTale videos, the music's fun and (I think) so are the lyrics.

This video isn't posted on YouTube by BigIdeaInc - I looked, but they don't seem to have put this one online themselves.

I could go on (and on) about the light this video sheds on the fragmentation of society; apathy of the affluent; and whether the performances is done a trio, a quartet, or a quintet of singing produce. But, as I've seen it written, that can be left as "an exercise for the reader."

There's rather definitely a message in the mirth.

Related posts:

• "Relevance, Thy Name is Produce! 'Endangered Love' from 'King George and the Ducky'' "
  (September 30, 2009)
• "Minnesota Cuke and "The Yodeling Veterinarian" - Now That Would be a Title!"
  (September 29, 2009)
• "The BellyButton Video: Sheer Artistry!"
  (September 28, 2009)
• "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella: What's the Big Idea?"
  (July 28, 2009)

The BellyButton Video: Sheer Artistry!

"BellyButton Silly Song"

BigIdeaInc, YouTube (May 1, 2009)
video, 4:10

"A VeggieTales Hit! It's the Boyz in the Sink singing their classic, 'BellyButton' from the VeggieTales DVD 'The Ballad of Little Joe' "

The artistry! The special effects! The videography! The singing vegetables!

Words fail me.

A tip of the hat to #3 daughter, for drawing my attention to this video, and BigIdeas' YouTube account.

Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella: What's the Big Idea?

Coming soon from Big Idea: "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella Veggietales DVD."

"Larry the Cucumber is Minnesota Cuke, a children's museum curator and part-time detective hired to find the famous Noah's Ark. But his search gets complicated when he learns of Noah's mysterious and powerful umbrella ... and a clever villain who wants it for his own selfish gain! Will Minnesota find the confidence to continue the search, face the villain and protect the umbrella -- or will all hope of finding the Ark be washed away for good?..."

Veggietales aren't, I suppose for everybody: I mean to say, talking vegetables? That said, I like these stories, acted out by Larry the Cucumber, Bob The Tomato, and the rest of the Veggietales cast.

This one should be special - if for no other reason than my state being mentioned in the title.

If Minnesota Cuke is like the tale of Rack, Shack & Benny, and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and Jonah, I'm in for a treat when I get the DVD - most likely on loan from the public library.

Google Earth Gets Wet

"Dive into the new Google Earth"
Official Google Blog (February 2, 2009)

"As you read this, I am at the beautiful California Academy of Sciences, announcing the launch of the newest version of Google Earth. This launch is particularly special to me because it marks the moment when Google Earth becomes much more complete — it now has an ocean.

"Didn't Google Earth always have an ocean? Technically, yes, well, sort of. We have always had a big blue expanse and some low-resolution shading to suggest depth. But starting today we have a much more detailed bathymetric map (the ocean floor), so you can actually drop below the surface and explore the nooks and crannies of the seafloor in 3D. While you're there you can explore thousands of data points including videos and...."

This is a little more exciting for me than it may be for you: I remember when the first detailed maps of the seafloor started coming out, four decades ago. Being able to Google "the nooks and crannies of the seafloor in 3D" lets me re-live a bit of my youth. This time, interactively and in 3D.

3D Modelers' Tool: Looks GoodI

"UVMapper"

"UVMapper Professional is a stand-alone texture mapping utility for the creation and modification of UV coordinates for n-sided polygonal 3D models. UVMapper Professional offers multiple, fully configurable viewports with completely interactive 2D and 3D views. It includes planar, box, cylindrical, spherical and polar mapping modes, all of which are available in a realtime, interactive mapping environment. Also included are many other tools such as Relax UVs and Subdivision Surfaces that will allow you to bring your texture mapping skills to the next level. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional 3D artist, UVMapper Professional will provide you with everything you need to texture map the most demanding models."

I do some 3D image work, and this was recommended to me. It's supposed to 'unwrap' the surface of an existing model, allowing someone to 'paint' new colors and patterns on the model.

Pretty neat, for modelers. Utterly irrelevant to everyone else.

Next step, for me, will be to see how (and if) it works.

Make Your Monitor Into a 3D VR Display

"Turning any monitor in to a 3D VR display" (January 25, 2008)

This video seems to be serious.

"Johnny Lee is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University who took a standard Nintendo Wii remote and turned a monitor in to something special. You can check out the video above and actually find a sample program here on his website."

Street Paintings With Unreal Depth

"3D street paintings"

I think I've seen some of these photos before, and heard who did the artwork. And, forgotten the details.

Does someone know who created these, and where they were done?