Erain Weblog

Swiftdev Relaunch

Swiftdev recently relaunched their Swift 3D resource site and it's better than ever! If you're a Swift 3D User, this is a resource you really need to check out.

Swiftdev - The largest Swift 3D Resource on the PLANET www.swiftdev.com

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Neil McGarry, a.k.a. ArtzFX)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Neil McGarry, a.k.a. ArtzFX.

Neil McGarry of http://www.artzfx.com/ is a great contributor to the Swift 3D society (Check out his website for Swift 3D video training and additional creations).

As you can see from his Tavern renderings Neil puts a lot of character into his models. A good, hunched frame and nice use of colors really gives this tavern a class of its own (makes me want to go get a pint of beer!)

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Raymond Moonen, a.k.a. Rainman)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Raymond Moonen, a.k.a. Rainman.

Rainman has created an amazing model of Spiderman's head/mask. If there is anyone that wants to push the limits and raise the bar of Swift 3D's Advanced Modeler, it would definetly be Rainman. Not to mention, he is our first, two time Swift 3D Addict Winner.

Recently Rainman has been practicing a method that is traditionally called Edge Extrusion. Since Swift 3D doesn't have the ability to actually extrude an edge Rainman has pioneered a similiar method comprised of building his models with a segmented plane, shaping it, and then welding it to the existing model. Build a lather, rinse and then repeat, next thing you know you have a finely detailed, high quality model.

Just to show you how far Rainman has pushed this method, check out this link. This is a 'Work-in-progress' mind you.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Aaron Barnes, Thred Design)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Aaron Barnes.

Aaron has created an inspiring composition of an alien nuclear attack using Swift 3D and Photoshop combined. The robot was pieced together using Swift 3D and then placed on a plane which made up the ground. The firey background with the nuclear explosion with added in via photoshop. Aaron also made great use of Swift 3D v4s texture editing capability to apply textures to robot and give it a beaten and warn down look.

In the end the results turned to be truly amazing!

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

Swift 3D v4 Tutorials - Now in Japanese

Graeme Bull of Solid-Thinking.com and 3EnhanceDesigners.com has graciously converted our exsisting Swift 3D v4 Featured Tutorial Series to the Japanese language. Click the image to view the Japanese version Head Modeling Tutorial or click the links below.

View the tutorials:
- Head Modeling
- Tubes & Wires
- Basic Interactive Flash Tour

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Nico da Vinci)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Nico da Vinci.

This example is only the second project that Nico has ever developed in Swift 3D. Taking that into consideration I'd say Nico is a natural when it comes to Swift 3D. The model itself is a wonderful design and the animation is spot on.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

New Character Modeling Tutorial by Powetri (Henk Visser)

Here's your chance to learn some character modeling techniques from a Swift 3D Pro. Powetri, who many of you know from the Swift 3D forums and has also won our Site of the Month award, has put together a nice tutorial on modeling a character head using a geosphere. >>View it here<<

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - MouthOpen Media)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict MouthOpen Media.

The fellas over at MouthOpen Media created this animation for the Animation Challange that we held awhile back and they were the winners of the competition as well. Animations such as these really raise the bar of animation in Swift 3D.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

Advanced Modeling Tut - Surface & Smoothing Groups

In this tutorial you will learn how to take advantage of Surface Groups and Smoothing Groups in order to get better results from your models. Part one of the tutorial will walk you through the process of creating Surface Groups, while Part 2 of the tutorial will concentrate on Smoothing Groups. You should leave this tutorial with a better understanding of how these properties effect your model.

>>>Here is the link<<<

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Amy Baniecki)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Amy Baniecki.

Amy created a simple robot-like humanoid, set up the hierarchy and then animated a walkcycle with the robot. The robot itself is comprised of simple shapes (primarily spheres and cyliners). Various parts of the body were modified with the Advanced Modeler to give it an extra funky push. The end result turned out to be quite a nice set of renderings (with a nice theme) that shows just how easy it is to model, setup and then animate your 3D animations.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

Electric Rain Holiday Tree Competition

Yep, its that time of year again... Time to accidently staple yourself to the roof of your house while trying to put up lights. Time to do some power shopping at the last minute of the holiday season. Time to put on your fake smile for when your dad gives you another pair of "Designer socks" that you never wanted.

Most importantly its time to dust off your holiday humor and put it into the form of an SWF holiday card! Submit your holiday cards and have people email them to their friends and family.

Deadline for entries: December 25, 2004

1st Place: $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
2nd Place: $50 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
3rd Place: $25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate

Click here to view the contest.

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Lalo Fuente Martinez)))

Congrats to our Swift 3D Addict Lalo Fuente Martinez.

Lalo has produced a life-like product example of a detailed camcorder. The modeling is done quite well and Lalo was able to do something that is a bit of a challange, making the model look good in Raster format and Vector format alike.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

Swift 3D v4 Shortcuts - FlashPaper and PDF

I was just working on a project and realized that these printable Swift 3D v4 keyboard shortcut lists might be valuable to some of you.

They can be found here:
v4 Shortcuts - Printable FlashPaper
v4 Shortcuts - PDF

Advanced Modeling Tut - Tubes & Wires

In this weeks blog posting I put together a quick tutorial on modeling tubing and wiring. You'll find that adding tubing and wiring is a great way to compliment your models details or you could make your models comprised entirely of tubing and wiring.

Give the tutorial a shot and learn various ways of making your tubes / wires and methods for mimicing Lofting.

>>>Here is the link<<<

(((Weekly Swift 3D 'Addict' - Maybe You!?!?!)))

Do you have an oustanding Swift 3D model or animation that you would like to share with the 3D Community? If so, send your work to Submittals@erain.com and become an offical Swift 3D 'Addict'.

If your work is selected you will be crowned as our weekly Swift 3D 'Addict'. Your work will be featured in our Swift 3D Usershowcase where thousands will be able to view your creation!

Submit my work!
Please note that submissions need to be 300k or less.

This week I'll be sharing a composite scene that I (jfoley) created with Swift 3D. In this example I used Swift 3D to model the robots, spacecrafts and the ground. The 3D elements were made with a raster graphic and then an eps outline render was laid on top of it. Since the scene was quite large I composited various renders of the scene in Photoshop. In Photoshop I added blur here and there to give the scene a focal distance. I also added the dust and the burning sky in Photoshop as well.

>>Here is the link<<

Click on the first link in the User Showcase.

I'm looking forward to seeing your crazy-cool submissions!