Further with Blender

I've been using spare moments to build the skeleton of the trike model, and prepare it for animation. This is a screenshot of the left half of the rear suspension. I've just figured out how to animate the wires using Hooks, so they bend when things move.

As with a number of things in Blender, it seems simple in retrospect, but there are so many features in the program that it's easy to get lost.

If it weren't for the freely available tutorials online, I would have given up on the program long ago. Now my familiarity with it is starting to get to a usable level. I'm wondering if I should make a tutorial on the model, give back to the community. Well, let me finish the animation I'm working on first.

SketchUp Space Station

Going over recent projects, I've come across a number of pieces that I think might be worth bringing up here.

This illustration was done for Hero Games for their book "Star Hero". The station was modeled in Google SketchUp. I exported the model as a 2D image with nothing but lines, then with nothing but shading, then with nothing but shadows, and composited them in Photoshop, along with a whole bunch of special effects. The planet was pure photoshop, using some distort and liquify filters, as well as a photo of some ground texture.

Frankly I've been fascinated by the explosion of free and open source software (SketchUp is free, Blender is free and open source). I haven't tried Gimp, but since Photoshop is still pretty much the standard, I'll probably stick with that for a while.

Test animation

This is actually a little old at this point, but I thought I'd throw this up there. I've mentioned before about playing around with Blender 3D, and this is a test animation I did to see if I could get a client interested. I had redrawn the logo that you can see on the spray can, and thought they might want to see it actually 'come to life'. So far no nibbles. You can see it a little larger by looking at it on YouTube.

All your database are belonging to us

There's a very different sort of project I've been working on fairly steadily for about a year, on and off. I haven't brought it up here or really spoken about it much at all because I figured it had very little to do with design, but I've changed my mind on that score: it represents design on a number of levels: interface, printed output, and work-process.

It's a database for a client who manufactures a gazillion little plastic parts. The database started as a way for me to stay organized when laying out their catalog. Then I realized that with Filemaker I could use the database to generate PDF files of the catalog information, put it in some InDesign formatting, and be done with it. The next time the catalog came out, all I'd have to do is modify the database, re-output, and there you go. I even gave them the database so they could update it themselves, and from there it started to grow in complexity and function. Now it is used in providing quotes, costing for parts, phone orders, etc., and they are going to roll it out to a web based store.

I'm mentioning all of this for two reasons: It's my primary project right now, and it illustrates one of my favorite types of client relationships, the slow build. It starts with a simple organizational method for one small project and branched out into so much more. It allows me to become very familiar with the business of the client, so I can make better decisions and recommendations for them. It also lets me look like something of a miracle worker when I can make the computer do a lot of the figuring and complex relationship tracking that was driving them up a wall.

I've used Filemaker to help run my business for years, tracking time, materials, and invoicing. I'm very fluent and comfortable with it, but it never really occurred to me to sell that skill set, and yet it is what is keeping gas in the tank as I write this. If lessons are to be learned from it, it is don't be afraid to try new things, and play to your own strengths.

The client is very happy with the work I've done, and they keep asking for me to make the database do more things, which is a godsend in this tight economy. And lastly it meets one of my favorite definitions of good design: It all seems obvious in retrospect.