3D Design
Monday, March 2nd, 2009
We’re finding that Manchester companies are using 3D more and more to promote themselves online. And why not? 3D’s a great way to showcase products,
visualise properties, and create engaging interactivity on what could otherwise be a bland company website. Manchester companies seem to be more open minded about the use of 3D on their websites and often come to us looking for creative ideas and ways to enhance their website and communicate their product more effectively. We’re seeing a big increase in enquiries about 3D product configurators, and interactive visualisations - it seems like Manchester companies are really leading the way in the use of 3D on their websites, and long may it continue!
Tags: 3d, 3d company, 3d manchester, about 3d, Interactive 3D
Posted in 3D Design, Advertising, Architectural Visualisation, Digital Marketing, Interactive 3D | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
Last year, when we were considering what to call our company, we were advised by several well-respected business professionals to call ourselves something people could easily spell. For some unknown reason we decided to completely ignore that advice.
We were also advised to try to work the word “solutions” into our company name. While this may be right for some businesses, we felt it was too generic. To me, “3D solutions” sounded a bit like an algebraic homework assignment.
We liked the word “mitooshi” and the meaning was a good representation of our service offering. “Mitooshi” is a Japanese Romaji word and it means perspective, unobstructed view, outlook and forecast. For a company which offers 3D visualisations, these words seemed like the right words to associate ourselves with.
It’s also fitting that we used a Japanese word to name our business because our technical director believes himself to be some kind of Ninja. What kind, we haven’t yet established.
Here are some interesting amateur Ninjas on YouTube – these guys never fail to make me laugh.
Tags: 3d, 3d company, July, matooshi, mitooshi
Posted in 3D Design, Miscellany | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
I love robots. I especially like it when those who I consider to be nerdier than myself, tell me things they know about robots and what the latest robot technology is. Someone who fits that description recently showed me a video of a robot designed by Boston Dynamics called BigDog and it both intrigued and 
repulsed me. I was intrigued because of my aforementioned love of robots and I was repulsed because, well, I’m not sure. I’m aware of the uncanny valley hypothesis where robots which look and act almost, but not entirely, like actual humans, cause human observers to feel revulsion, but the BigDog robot is not at all human-like (the clue’s in the name really). I think my reaction was probably related to the way the BigDog moves and the fact that it has two sets of legs which go in opposite directions – very “exorcist”.
As you might imagine, I really liked the Citroen C4 Transformer advert which was on TV a few years ago. It was an excellent example of motion capture and 3D graphics put together seamlessly by Toronto Production Company, Spy Films and The Embassy VFX in Vancouver. (more…)
Tags: 3d, Advertising, big dog, interactive, June, motion capture, robots
Posted in 3D Design, Advertising | 6 Comments »
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I was recently talking to a friend who’s a search marketing specialist and I mentioned that to get our site up and running quickly, I was considering throwing something together in Flash. His response was, “if you do that, I’ll have to kill you”.
Flash has been dividing opinion since I was learning about this new thing called Google back in ‘99. I once witnessed one of our Flash developers throwing a printer at a wall because of its so called “inconsistencies”.
That said, Flash has been providing web sites and 2D animation since 1996 and doesn’t show any signs of dissipating. Companies that consider themselves to be comprised of “creatives” often go wild with beautifully detailed animation and graphics and I have seen some truly remarkable work. So Flash has its place among the web design community, even if that’s not with my search marketing friend.
As you might imagine, something we’re particularly interested in is Flash for 3D. Until recently the only way to use Flash for 3D was to pre-render image sequences and use Flash to control them. This is often referred to as 2.5D because it looks like 3D but it’s actually 2D. Now that there are a few decent real-time 3D engines for Flash such as Papervision3d, FIVe3D, Away3D and Sandy, we can for the first time, create content in Flash that is truly 3D.
Of course there are many real-time 3D engines which have nothing to do with Flash, but the appeal with the 3D engines for Flash lies in the browser requirements and the file sizes. Real-time 3D engines for Flash provide content which can be viewed in browsers with Flash Player 8 or above installed and according to the Adobe Flash Player Version Penetration Statistics, in March 2008, 98% of users in the UK had at least Flash Player 8. The Flash based real-time 3D engines can also output relatively small files sizes considering the graphics-heavy nature of the content.
Currently, the main uses for the Flash based real-time 3D engines seem to be games and website navigation. The Neighbourhood’s website is a particularly good example of how Papervision3D can be used for site navigation and Carlos Ulloa (one of the Papervision3D development team) shows an application of the technology on his website in the form of a car which can travel into the distance as well as left and right. Another good example is the award winning LAB website which uses Mathieu Badimon’s FIVe3D. FIVe3D works slightly differently in that it’s entirely vector-based. Zeh Fernando explains more about the intricacies of FIVe3D compared to the other 3D engines on his blog.
In terms of commercial examples, I recently saw a banner ad which was almost identical to Ullosa’s car and I’m sure it won’t be long before advertisers come up with more snazzy ways to use the real-time 3D engines for Flash to attract and hold our attention.
One thing that’s certain is that the real-time 3D in Flash has a lot of potential and I’m really looking forward to seeing it develop in the coming years. All the Flash-based 3D engines I have come across so far are open source which will hopefully pave the way to experimentation and exploratory projects. I’ve encountered plenty of browser-crashing examples which seems to be a good indication we are right at the beginning of Flash 3D’s journey.
The other consideration is Flash Player which will have to develop considerably to meet the demands that 3D content brings. Adobe has outlined new features to be included in “Astro” (Flash Player 10) which will make the possibilities for delivering 3D content greater. Once there’s a Flash Player that can handle the complexities of 3D lighting and reflections, 3D Flash content could easily become as ubiquitous as Flash’s 2D content is currently.
Tags: 2.5d, 2d, 3d, adobe, away3d, carlos ulloa, five3d, flash, June, papervision3d, real-time, rendering, sandy, zeh fernando
Posted in 3D Design, Advertising, Digital Marketing, Interactive 3D | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
You’re probably familiar with architectural visualisation. Most property marketing teams know that they can use their architect’s CAD drawings and a specialist 3D visualiser to make some nice marketing images. They also know that having still images or animations which show the property development complete and in its best light, before the builder has even lifted a brick, vastly increases their chances of selling off plan.
But now that architectural visualisation is used by most property marketing teams, how do you ensure yours is the one potential buyers are looking at and talking about?
In my experience, it takes a combination of animation, stills and web-based, interactive media to make a visualisation really stand out. Combining web-based, interactive visualisations with stills and animation is much more effective than stills or animation alone. The stills can be used in print campaigns to drive traffic to the developer’s website where users will find the interactive visualisations. We have found that users spend longer browsing websites with interactive visualisations and are more likely to follow a call to action.
Interactive visualisations enable potential buyers to immerse themselves the property; they can watch the development evolve over time while exploring the space and room layout options. This heightened level of engagement means potential buyers are more likely to make an enquiry.
The interactivity also helps you to communicate the property’s features. So if the development boasts the best, most energy-saving insulation on the market, let the potential buyer click the walls and see inside them. If all the wood used in the property comes from a sustainable resource, give the potential buyer that information while they enjoy a seamless interaction.
Using an interactive visualisation also means you get double the value from the 3D design process. Your 3D artist can render stills and animation from the model they produce for the interactive visualisation, so you get three types of media from one process and engage with your potential buyers on a whole new level.
When you go interactive, architectural visualisation transforms from luxury to necessity; from a tool which is nice to have, to an indispensable means of meeting sales targets.
Tags: 3d, animation, architect, Architectural Visualisation, CAD, interactive, marketing, May, property, stills, virtual, visualisation, web
Posted in 3D Design, Architectural Visualisation, Digital Marketing, Interactive 3D | No Comments »
