Jim Crafton

This isn't much, but I did re-org the network a bit, and since I've learned about the Object Merge node I realized I can have a subnet with a bunch of various details, things like panels, nozzles, etc, and then just reference them in using the ObejctMerge node. So I have stuff li... (more)

Here's a revamp of the previous marine ship from before, only this time I'm really forcing myself to get to grips with modeling in Houdini: From Learning 3D A flat rendered close up From Learning 3D further away: From Learning 3D Further refinements from tonight: From Learning 3D... (more)

Finally got around to adding some textures and learning how to use Blenders UV editor. Not too hard to do, but I don't think I'm applying the actual texture image quite right. But not bad for a first start: From Learning 3D From Learning 3D Here's a final render with different li... (more)

Using this tutorial for modo (http://www.luxology.com/community/user_tutorials/modeling/camera/ ) I was able to roughly recreate something similar in Blender. Blender has some great tools, but it became pretty clear that modo has some fantastic modeling shortcuts, making it eve... (more)

Earth, in it's new neighborhood From Learning 3D This was thanks to some fantastic tutorials: http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76226 http://www.enricovalenza.com/realplan.html and http://chamberlinproductions.110mb.com/blenderearth.html And no, I didn't just swipe the ... (more)

I found this fantastic site here: Modeling a 608 Bearing that walks you through modeling a fairly complex set of shapes (at least for a newbie). It pretty detailed, and quite clear, and hte results are quite cool. After having gone through it, you definitely feel like you have a ... (more)

Simple, silly, but looks quite cool! Take a scene, set up a camera, go to the World buttons view, add a texture (with an image associated with it). Click on the Map To tab, and make sure that only the "Hori" button is toggled on. Instant background. From Learning 3D Now, let's tel... (more)

This is my first attempt at a real model with Houdini. No textures on the model yet, but it's a halfway decent first stab. Note to the Blender folks - lighting and camera positioning in Houdini sure seems ALOT easier than in Blender. From Learning 3D ... (more)

This is the first model I attempted. The idea is pretty much what I wanted, but the stargate dimenions are too small and the asteroid material isn't scaled correctly. From Learning 3D Close up on the ship with it's EM force field engaged. From Learning 3D ... (more)

Probably the next series of stuff I'll be doing is inspired by the Ian Douglas stories from the Heritage, Legacy, and Inheritance trilogies. These shots are the first real model I've done so far, using Blender. This is a xul robot, their dumb, but numerous machines used for one o... (more)

This is just a an experiment, a place to throw up progress as I learn to use 3D tools, with specific focus on using Blender and Houdini. ... (more)

This column discusses property editors and how to implement one for Java -specifically, how to make one work for our CodeDocument class. When last we talked, we saw how to build a CodeDocument class, but it wasn't something we could work with in a visual designer like JBuilder, s... (more)

When we last talked, I promised to finish up the CodeDocument class I'd so abruptly left behind back in July (JDJ Vol. 4, issue 7). Now, due to millions of desperate letters from fans around the globe, I've decided to finish off the series in this article, tackling reflection onc... (more)

Originally I planned to continue with the syntax-highlighting CodeDocument component, but I decided to switch gears and discuss some neat uses for the JTable component that comes with Swing (my apologies go out to all those weeping in the aisles, anxiously awaiting more syntax-hi... (more)

Last month we discussed the use of Swing's Document model to create a syntax-highlighting Document model that we could just plug into JTextPane and use. This month we'll continue with that and add complete support for comments, strings and numbers. We'll also cover how easy it is... (more)

When Java first came out, one of its acknowledged weaknesses was the lack of an advanced set of GUI components. This was especially evident in the text controls, which lacked many of the advanced features found in the native text controls of operating systems such as Windows. Wit... (more)