VizWorld.com

If you works lots with Point Clouds (Volume Rendering, Laser Scans, fluid simulations, etc) but have been thwarted by 3dsMax’s lightweight (nonexistant?) support for them, previously you had to go look elsewhere for tools like Krakatoa.  Autodesk has released a new “Labs” product called “Project Helix” that boosts this lacking area significantly.

Bring your visualizations into context with Project Helix, a powerful technology prototype enabling display and rendering of 3D laser scanning/LiDAR data sets with Autodesk® 3ds Max® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design software. With the 3ds Max Point Cloud Tools you can more quickly import as-built site references to help evaluate and visualize your designs in the context of their surrounding elements. Point cloud data sets are often created by 3D scanners and represent a set of measured vertices in a three-dimensional coordinate system. Using an automatic process, these devices measure a large number of points on the surface of an object and output a point cloud as a data file.

It’s only available until December 20th, but hopefully they’ll integrate it into the next version of 3dsMax.

via Autodesk Labs Utilities Point Cloud Tool for 3ds Max/3ds Max Design.

Graphics 3dsmax, point cloud, software

So, Friday’s here, and we end up this week of car related infographics with some important reminders on DUY and texting while driving. Probably not the happiest way of closing the week, but, if we look at the facts presented here, we couldn’t finish this topic without mentinonig it. The folks at Car Insurance Comparison, GOOD, McIntyre Law, P.C., Accuconference and Christensen Law Firm, PLLC. made these infographics, and it’s definetively worth spending some time reading them.

Read more…

Graphics, Science design, infographic, infoviz, Visual Loop, visualizations

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At the upcoming SIGGRAPH2011 in Vancouver, Southpaw Technology will be onhand showing off the new features in the latest version of TACTIC.  The biggest new workflow feature is aimed at costing, budgeting, and reporting, important stuff for folks doing more freelance VFX work.

“We’re extremely excited to be showing these new features at this year’s Siggraph,” said Gary Mundell, CEO of Southpaw Technology. ”Many studios can create fantastic content. But few studios have a clear, real-time indication of how much that content costs to create, where inefficiencies are occurring in their studios, and where processes can be streamlined. With TACTIC, now they can not only create content faster, they can see how much that content costs to create, down to the penny.”

In addition, they’ve got some new workflow features that add things like individual “dashboards” for individual users, and lots of event triggers to make data management workflow stuff happen automatically.

Read the full press release after the break.

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Graphics siggraph, southpaw, tactic

If you’ve been amazed by Photoshop’s Smart Erase (they call “Content Aware Fill”) feature that removes unwanted objects or blemishes from photos and magically restores the background around them, then you may want to check out this little app called “Inpaint” that offers the same feature at a fraction of Photoshop’s price.

Inpaint reconstructs the selected image area from the pixel near the area boundary. Delete any unwanted object from your photo, such as extra power-line, people, text, or anything else. The program will automatically “inpaint” the selected area to erase it. If some unexpected object spoils an otherwise good photograph, Inpaint may be used to easily remove it.

via MacUpdate Promo – Inpaint 3.0 for $20.99 – 30% off.

Graphics sale, software

Visualizing.org has a neat twitter visualization online of 1645 twitter accounts related to information visualization.  Taking a short list of seed accounts and then finding all their followers and friends, the result is an impressive (if not a bit crowded) graph visualization.  Some edge bundling would have been nice, but you can get a rough idea of the connectivity just from the sheer number of connections.

I’m proud to see @VizWorld on the map as a rather prominent bubble near the upper-right area.

Visualizing.org Player | visualizing.org.

Science graph, twitter, visualization

Unfortunately, driving a car it’s not only “fun and freedom”. It’s also one of the top causes of death in the world. So, today we bring some of those sad numbers and facts, with a help from Auto Insurance UK, Motorcycle Insurance, Drive Steady and iMingle. This selection includes a timeline of car accidents, some worldwide statistics and several tips on how to improve your chances of survival, among others.

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Graphics, Science design, infographic, infoviz, Visual Loop, visualizations

Recently we brought you an article that made headlines around the internet supposedly confirming the damage that 3D Movies can do to your vision.  I was just contacted by some of the folks involved in the study wanting to bring out some information that shows the dangers of reporting on nothing but the abstract.  If you read the article abstract, it confirms basically what people were saying:

 In one experiment, we examined the effect of viewing distance on discomfort and fatigue. We found that conflicts of a given dioptric value were slightly less comfortable at far than at near distance. In a second experiment, we examined the effect of the sign of the vergence–accommodation conflict on discomfort and fatigue. We found that negative conflicts (stereo content behind the screen) are less comfortable at far distances and that positive conflicts (content in front of screen) are less comfortable at near distances. In a third experiment, we measured phoria and the zone of clear single binocular vision, which are clinical measurements commonly associated with correcting refractive error. Those measurements predicted susceptibility to discomfort in the first two experiments.

However, if you read the full paper (Available online & in PDF at the link below), you’ll see the actual paper is a bit different that reported.  In the conclusions they compare their recorded data on discomfort to cinematographer guidelines on working with 3D stereo to see how they match up.

Our data imply a larger range for comfortable viewing than the percentage rule implies, but this difference is undoubtedly due to criterion differences, i.e.,
in the magnitude of discomfort that is assumed to be allowable in the two cases. However, our data also imply greater tolerance for near disparities relative to the
percentage rule than for far disparities. We suggest that the percentage rule be modified to incorporate this asymmetry, i.e., that 3–4% be allowed for near disparities
and 1–2% for far disparities. We conclude that the percentage rule, coupled with reasonable assumptions about viewing distance, is a fairly reasonable guideline
for creating comfortable viewing, but it may require some modification.

So that’s the true value of the study.  Coming up with more accurate & experimentally proven figures for 3D Stereo parameters will only improve things in the long-run, hopefully eliminating nausea and headaches that so many people complain of.

The zone of comfort: Predicting visual discomfort with stereo displays.

Science 3d, human vision, stereo

Luxology has just released a new product that’s a must-have for folks working on Science Fiction or Industrial design renderings.  Their new “Model Bashing Kit” offers up 230 mesh presets and imagemaps to quickly add all the little details that make surfaces feel more real.

“We love spaceships and wanted to make it possible for any modo user to quickly create super technically detailed exteriors or interiors that are absolutely unique,” said Brad Peebler, president and co-founder of Luxology. “This is a must-have collection of modo building blocks that you can tear apart and join together to create intricate futuristic surfaces, and have a blast while doing it.”

Developed by Andy Brown, check out the amazing animation he made with the Model Bashing Kit below.

via Luxology.com :: Luxology Ships Model Bashing Kit for modo 501.

Graphics luxology, modo

After yesterday’s take on some of the myths and facts about drivers, today’s selection starts with a couple of infographics focused on the speeding ticket situation in America, from The Auto Insurance and Carinsurance.org. After that, some great tips on defensive driving, provided by iMingle, and Drive Steady and Bank Ratex show us what to consider when driving during the winter time.

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Graphics, Science design, infographic, infoviz, Visual Loop, visualizations

Plane Travel The Healthy Way

Graphics, Science digest, infographics, list