Phantascene

2012 Happy New Year!

Last night I stayed up way too late, not getting to sleep until after 5 this morning. I would like to say it was because of a wild party, but in truth the only party animals at my house were rather indifferent to the whole change of the year thing, even if there is a lot of talk that the world is going to be ending (or at least majorly changing) on the 21st of December.

Bebe, Wookie, Bear, Shy Girl

These are my babies. Bebe (taken in when her owners could not keep her), Wookie (My mom’s dog, anniversary gift to her from my dad), Bear (My dad’s assistance dog), and Cheyenne (my baby girl) also known as Shy Girl. Shy and Bear are actually brother and sister, and are Bebe’s puppies.

2012 is off to a rather rough start for me. Which I guess is about right since it is supposed to be the end of the world. I have a determination to keep a daily update this year of what is going on in my life. That will go over at Freelancer’s Office, www.freelancersoffice.com. I am also determined to start uploading some 3D creations here at Phantascene. I want to make and upload at least one 3D object a month here in addition to sharing information about what I am learning and making. A lot of what I am going to upload will be free, but I am hoping to get good enough at the stuff that I can start offering some more complex and detailed creations for sale to help pay the bills. We’ll see about that, for now I’ll be sorting out how to offer them for free and contemplate charging for some later on.

Aside from that, I am just hopping that as December 21st arrives I am still living in my home and have not been kicked out. At the moment it is still uncertain just what is going on there. After a year of thinking I had what the bank needed me to get them, I am still in a hurry up and wait mode on getting what they said they need to sell me the place now that they can talk to me about it. We’ll see how the year progresses, and if anyone wants to follow that insanity I update about it over at Save My Parents’ House www.savemyparentshouse.com when I have something to report or remember to update the site and not just my datebook with stuff.

So, rather the world ends on December 21, 2012 or not, I just hope that I can get through the year without losing my home, and able to pay all of the bills that come my way.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

What is 3D?

A three dimensional object is defined as something that gives the perception of depth. IN a standard drawing of a stick figure only two dimensions are used. Side to side and up and down. Referred to as the X axis and Y axis. In three dimension (3D) a third axis is added to the image, the Z axis, that indicates the depth of the object.

Using the X, Y and Z axis you can map an item in three dimensional space.

Suppose you are standing at a point and looking at a line that stretched directly ahead of you into the distance. We will tag this the X axis. The horizon ahead of you is the y axis, which runs parallel to the X axis. These two lines define two dimensions. To add the third dimension we need a third line that runs directly up and down at the point that the X axis and the Y axis meet.

We will tag the point that all three axis meet as 0.0 in our example. We will also use a measurement of one step to measure distances. If you stand at 0.0 and take one step forward you will have moved one step forward on the X axis. This will place you one step along the X axis, but at the same level on the Z axis, and at the same position side to side on the Y axis. Your new position is: X = 1.0, Y = 0.0, Z = 0.0

If you take steps to the left or right, then your position on the Y axis will change. Let’s take three steps to the right.

Now we are at: X = 1.0, Y = 3.0, Z = 0.0

We are one step forward and three steps to the right. Go two steps up a ladder and we have: X = 1.0, Y = 3.0, Z = 2.0

If we had stepped backward, or to the left, or gone down a ladder instead of up one, then the coordinates would be counted in negative numbers. So if we start back at 0.0 and take one step back, three steps to the left, and climb down two rungs on a ladder we are at:

X = -1.0, Y = -3.0, Z = -2.0

These are the measurements that are used in 3D to create objects rendered in three dimensions. I will explain how that works in another post.

New FCC Rules Restrict Loud Commercials

85 years after John Logie Baird demonstrated televised moving pictures, nearly 50 years after my dad stood in front of a television at the World’s Fair and marveled at the sight of himself on TV in color and twenty years after the introduction of Magnavox Smart Sound that would regulate the sound and help dampen the loud commercials – the FCC has finally decided that it is time to regulate the volume in commercials.

According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the FCC has taken a major step in eliminating loud commercials. The new rules seek to bring an end to the screaming salesmen era of commercials that are loud enough to still be heard by someone that has stepped away from the television during a commercial break. Under the new rules commercials would be required to have a volume that is the same as the average volume of the programs they accompany.

Known as the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (the CALM act) it will go into effect on December 13, 2012, which gives time for stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVDP) to reach full compliance with the new rulings.

It can only be hoped that stations and MVPDs will start earlier rather than later to come into compliance with the new rulings that are long overdue.

Well in Daz Studio Freebies

Daz 3D has a well in their freebies section.

The Garden Escape well comes with everything you see in this image, including the nice grassy ground section.

Settings are included to allow you to rotate the well handle and to raise and lower the bucket. There is even a “water” layer inside the well.

Perfect for any town square scene, or for lovers and dreamers to toss a coin into to make a wish.

Patchwork and white objects in Daz Studio – Problem Solved!

In my last post I wrote about how I was having a hard time with some of the items in my scenes showing up as either in weird patchwork pattern or showing up white.

This problem was driving me crazy for a few days and I was starting to get really depressed, since I had purchased the items from the Daz store with the intention of using them in Daz Studio for making a short animated film to test making films for my Mars Station One project.

I primarily made my first post last night because I needed images to go with a request on the Daz forum regarding what the issue might be. One of the kind persons at that forum, a Mr. Haseltine, was very quick to respond and let me know what the issue is.

Both the patch-work look and the white are some kind of issue caused by using Daz Studio to render items that were made using Poser. Poser handles things such as specularity differently than Daz handles them, so the reflection needs to be lowered or removed when using the items in Daz Studio.

This is the second image with the reflection on all items turned down to zero.

So, how do you change the reflection in Daz Studio?

1. In the “Actors, Wardrobe & Props” tab select the “Surfaces (Color)” tab.

2. Select the item in the scene that you want to modify, then click on it’s title in the list in the gray area. This will bring up the adjusters.

3. Scroll down about halfway to find the two adjustments titled: “Reflection Color” and “Reflection Strength”.

4. Move the “Reflection Strength” from 100% down to 0% and try to render your image again. Your weird patchwork or white effect should be corrected and your image will render properly now.

(Click image for larger view)

You can play with the settings, see what they do and pick what is best for your needs. For example, if you need to have the surface reflecting other things in the scene, then rather than turning the reflection down you might remove the map and adjust the strength.

In step four above you would click on the small square in the left of “Reflection Color” and in the drop-down menu select “None”. Then toy with the reflection strength setting until you get the desired result.

These show the same room with the reflection color image removed and the reflection strength set to different levels (100%, 25%, and 8.5%)