3D museums on the web

I recently found this really cool 3D Museum website, maintained by the Vertebrate Paleobiology Lab of the University of California. Although the website is quite primitive, there are several geological objects available in 3D format and because of that it is so much more interesting than any other website introducing geological objects. Hopefully in the nearby future there will be a lot of wesites similar to this one as it is so much more interesting and it could help us understand things that we might otherwise never see in our life!

3D Animated Website Designing

This is the next generation in website designing. The images will be created and stored on the computer and then through various software will be played at a speed of approximately 30 frames per second, thus giving rise to animation of the 3D nature. When a user will visit the site, he will be able to move between difference scenes and thus information can be dispersed in a much more attractive manner.

Attention Grabbing

The use of 3D graphics in a website is all about capturing the attention of the reader or viewer. As can be imagined the communication of information is much faster and you can disburse more information. Moreover, any information that can be offered in the form of moving images has a better retention quality about it as compared to static means of communication.

In terms of ecommerce you want the user of the site to retain information about your products and services for a long period of time and in greater accuracy.

3 D Animation - A Great Illustrative Tool

A 3D presentation will enable the presenter to maintain focus of the audience through the vibrant imagery. This is why it is called such a good and dynamic illustrative tool. If you want to make a presentation through your website then you can generate the much needed interest quotient by using various 3D creations etc. It’s like a tool that the presenter has to enable him to enhance the speech or the propagation of in depth information about a particular product or service.

Great for Your Business

The use of a 3D animated website will go a long way in attracting targeted traffic to your site. There are various technologies available that would enable you to incorporate the use of search engine optimization within the precincts of your ecommerce business. This would allow you to attract more and more targeted traffic to your website. It would be a result of the integration of superior visual appeal through 3D graphics and focused search engine marketing.

While choosing a 3D website design service provider you must be sure to choose somebody with the requisite expertise in the field. They must be conversant with the various techniques of creating the best of 3D animation that would cater to the requirements of a successful website design. However, you must be careful that you do not overdo the graphics quotient as your primary focus would be on offering information in a manner that is full of clarity and direct.

Article source: http://articles.pravalikadesigns.com/3d-animated-website-designing.html

Animators Are Some of the Happiest Workers in America, Survey Finds

Third-party survey commissioned by AnimationMentor.com reveals
career trends in the animation industry.

Emeryville, CA October 16, 2008 AnimationMentor.com (Animation Mentor), the leading online character animation school created by animators for animators, today unveils key findings from an animation industry survey that shows a vibrant and healthy workforce with a bright future. Animation Mentor commissioned independent research firm Knowledge Wave International to conduct the survey to gain insight into an insiders view on industry trends, job titles, job satisfaction and salaries. Behind the Characters: Professional Animator Job Satisfaction, Career Outlook and Salary Survey Report is based on the responses of more than 1,200 professional animators from over a dozen countries who participated in the August 2008.


Animators are some of the happiest workers in America
The survey explored job satisfaction and how happy animators are overall. Of those surveyed, 59 percent of professional animators enjoyed their work and are proud of the work they do. More than 80 percent plan to continue working in this field and more than half would recommend a career in animation to friends and family. These statistics put animators high on the list of highest occupations when compared to national averages found in the University of Chicagos 2007 Job Satisfaction in America survey that identified clergy (67.2 percent) and firefighters (57.2 percent) the top professions where individuals classified themselves as very happy.


The salary outlook for animators is bright
Lastly, professional animators were asked what their annual earnings were for 2007 and if they thought their salary would get better or worse in 2008. In 2007, more than half of the animators surveyed (51 percent) made $40,000 or less, and 35 percent earned between $40,000 and $80,000 annually. In 2008, the outlook brightened in terms of total earnings with less than 30 percent earning less than $40,000, and the majority of respondents (51 percent) earning between $40,000 and $80,000. The survey results also showed a growth in the upper earnings ranges with 4 percent more expecting to earn between $80,000-$100,000 than they did in 2007, and 9 percent expecting to earn more than $100,000 versus 7 percent in that category in 2007.

According to the 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, animators average salaries are higher than average US workers and there seems to be good potential for career growth and increased salaries with greater experience and larger projects. However, according to the Animation Mentor survey, most animators were more motivated by fun and creativity than by money.


The top ways the industry is changing
The survey also looked at the top trends professional animators are seeing and which have the potential to change the face of the job landscape. The top three trends include: the rise of motion capture; the trend toward outsourcing and cost-cutting; and that unbelievably fast advances in technology will impact the way animation is created.


Animators need more than great animation skills
When it comes to advice for new graduates of animation, more than 50 percent said creating a high quality demo reel is the main recommendation for anyone trying to land their first job.


Mentors are an essential part of a successful career
According to the survey, access to mentors rank in the top three requirements for a successful career in animation. In addition, creating and maintaining a professional network of more senior animators remains paramount: One in five animators say they have a mentor at work and mentoring is nearly as important for kick-starting a career as working in the industry and getting a formal education.

In the "Job Satisfaction in America" survey, most of the occupations ranking high in general happiness were professions involving helping others, creativity or technical and scientific expertise. Although the two surveys measured happiness and job satisfaction in different ways, there is a direct correlation between the level of fun, happiness and satisfaction and the amount of creativity people are allowed to express on the job.


Animation Mentor meets the needs of the industry
Distinctive among art schools worldwide, Animation Mentor exclusively teaches character animation in an online environment where students learn directly from professional animators from top studios including Disney Animation Studios, DreamWorks, Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and more. Within classes that maintain a mentor-to-student ratio of no more than 1-to-15, students learn the art of animation all within a truly interactive online classroom where students collaborate and learn under the close direction of mentors.

Most animators are following their passion in life so its not a big surprise that its one of the occupations where people are the happiest, said Bobby Beck, chief executive officer and cofounder of Animation Mentor. Mentors and a strong community are the foundation of our animation school. The survey affirms the importance of this.

At Animation Mentor, students are taught online by mentors who are working animators. By graduation, each student completes the program with a demo reel, Bobby said. Well continue to use the research results to further enhance our program, support the needs of the industry, and create awesome animators.

A complimentary copy of the complete report is available at http://www.animationmentor.com/report


About AnimationMentor.com (Animation Mentor)
AnimationMentor.com is the online animation school and the only school in the world built by professional animators. The Animation Mentor curriculum focuses 100% on character animation and is taught with a studio focus in mind, by professionals who are working at the top animation studios in the industry. This immerses the student in a real world environment, preparing them for what they will experience while working in the field. The unique online format allows students the flexibility to learn at their convenience and provides the opportunity to build a network of current and future industry professionals. www.Animationmentor.com


AnimationMentor.com
Anne Casanova, Marketing Director
Ph: 510.450.7235, Anne@AnimationMentor.com
Eunice Park, Communications
Ph: 510.450.7242, Eunice@AnimationMentor.com

3D virtual worlds

Second Life

Second Life is a virtual world where anyone can lead a so-called “Second Life” in a world completely created, inhabited and shared among its users worldwide. The 3D environment proposed by Second Life enables any resident to create their own clothes, change any physical aspect of their body and even creates other objects like houses and vehicles. The beauty of this virtual world owes everything to its regular residents who have each one contributed to the assumption of Second Life which is today regarded as the leader in the 3D-world’s market. Somehow, the key to Second Life’s success has been the freedom its offers to its residents. Users have the right to create and customize objects like buildings, vehicles or clothing that they can commercialize afterwards with the whole community.

The only limit in this 3D world is in fact your own imagination. It’s very easy to get started; all that is needed is a quick registration which will be followed by downloading the software on your personal computer. In the next step that follows, even though some people might have managed to create a Virtual Avatar nearly close to their real-life physical appearance, a simple effort from you would be enough to personalize and complete your very first Avatar. Real-time statistics revealed that more than 50000 residents are connected at anytime in Second Life. Many real-life businesses and intuitions are getting involved in this 3D world more and more nowadays. We can take the examples of Accenture Consulting Ltd which has implemented itself in Second Life and has successfully used Second Life as a way to interview several candidates for jobs that are vacant at Accenture.

Moreover another example would be that of BMW which has used Second Life to judge the success of a newly launched car prototype not available in real-life. And now, even education possibilities are available in Second Life. Many universities (one example is Harvard) have already integrated themselves into this virtual world and offer many services like career guidance, online courses and promote their services through their virtual campuses. All of the above mentioned are just a few from the wide range of businesses that has stepped into this 3D world.

The Linden Dollar is the official currency of Second Life. It is to be noted that it is possible to covert Linden Dollar into real US Dollar and vice-versa. Moreover, the actual scripting language of Second Life known as Linden Script Language (or simply LSL) allows users to control objects and their avatars behaviors and includes XML functionalities that enable data to be exported to websites. The table below shows the recommended settings one should possess to be able to use Second Life.

Recommended settings for Second Life:


However, it’s important to point out that without a connection of at least 512 kbps (preferably 1mbps) it would simply be practically impossible to use Second Life. That is one big of the disadvantages of Second Life as compared to IMVU which can be accessed with a dial-up connection itself.

IMVU

IMVU is a 3D messenger which can be considered an alternative to Second Life. Much simpler and lighter in size, IMVU is practically on the same path as Second Life. IMVU has all it takes to overcome Second Life at some point in time but is presently somehow limited in its amount of public rooms (unfortunately only a few public rooms are available). Founded in 2004, IMVU has nearly reached 20 million of registered users, 100,000 registered developers and generating approximately $1 million monthly in those four years of existence. The rapid success of IMVU surely has something to do with the fact that it provides members with the same facilities as in Second Life, for creating, buying and selling of their own stuff. To get started with IMVU is very simple with just a quick registration and just by downloading the software. IMVU allows users to create their own objects ranging from an easily-made 2D sticker to some much more complex 3D items.

What makes IMVU a friendly place is that you can even meet other people through collaboration and by sharing one of your virtual products with them. By just clicking on your Avatar, you can easily perform various actions to express your mood or make a special move like shaking hands with another avatar. IMVU, in this way offers a wider range of actions that can be performed by an avatar which is not the case with Second Life which is a little bit too complex for beginners to get along. Furthermore, IMVU credits are used for buying and selling purposes in IMVU. These credits can either be obtained from exchanging your real money into IMVU credits or simply by earning them through the various paid-contests that exist on IMVU. One example of a contest is MetaRL which pays a user to simply play games and metapoints are earned in return and cash in for IMVU credits at the end.

IMVU has been designed to work on just Windows PC that was purchased this side of the millennium. **NOTE: IMVU IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE ON MAC. A Mac version is under way. Minimum specifications require Windows 98/2000/ME/XP, 800 Mhz Pentium 3*, 128 Mb of RAM, 50Mb of disk space. Works with dial up, broadband recommended. Works with any video card, 3D video card recommended, *If your PC does not have a 3D video card then you will need a processor of 1.5 Ghz or greater.

Lively

Lively is the newest recently launched 3D virtual world application created by Google. Currently available in beta-testing version only, Lively is rather more of a web-browser dependent application than an independent downloadable software like Second Life and IMVU. Those who have used Second Life and IMVU would find nothing special about the possibilities that Lively’s virtual world is offering apart from the fact that it can be integrated in any website. Moreover, Lively has been built on a much simpler algorithm and offers its users the possibility to quickly get used to the 3D environment it offers. However, since it is currently available in English language, it’s very important to have a good English level to be able to navigate through Lively at your ease.

Any new user will not find it hard to create their very first avatar. Lively offers a great selection of Hair Styles, Clothing, Colors, and other customizable physical attributes to your avatar the way you want it. Just by clicking on “Shop for more”, you would be able to have access to the wide range of clothes, shoes and objects that Lively is currently offering for free to its users The next step forward then is to find a room to chat, the most commonly visited chatrooms are named “Goog, la girl's room”, “High Dive” or “Tree Top”. One problem with Lively is that once these chatrooms reach their maximum capacity in terms of users, they cannot intake any additional users. However, on the other hand, you would be able to create your own 3D space where you would be able to add in your friends for a chat. All you have to do is to choose an environment and customize it to your preferences like set up the rules and restrictions in your chatroom that can for example grant other users access to some objects in your room or simply assigned yourself as the administrator of the room. Then the next thing you would do is add your room to the “Room List” and the work is done.


Lively also allows users to bring in their own music files (which should not exceed 512 kb in size) and displays their photos from their Picasa’s account if ever they have one. Avatars can perform several actions like kickboxing, clapping hands and even say “Good Morning” to someone in the room. A vast majority of users probably do not have time or desire to learn a new scripting language, then a browser-based virtual environment may be all they need.


To be able to use Lively, you’ll need to have a good graphic card with at least 32 MB of memory, running Windows XP or Vista (currently limited to Windows XP and Vista only) with admin privileges. Here is a list of other specifications required: PIII 800, 512 MB RAM, DX 9, 32 MB GPU (GeForce 2 or better), Flash 9 or higher, Broadband internet connection.

3DMLW

According to the official website, 3DMLW is a new standard for showing 2D and 3D content on the Internet. It includes four parts which are actually already mentioned in the article below. Instead of telling you exact details about the software, which you can actually easily find on the web page as well, I'd rather show you some visual examples. So the following pictures basically give you the idea how 3DMLW would look in your browser but to get the full experience, visit www.3dmlw.com and download the plug-in and see it for yourself.

Pros and cons (not that much, really) of different 3D technologies

3DML, an amazing arrangement for formulating websites with incredible graphics and text is one among them. Invented in 1996 by the prodigal Michael Powers, the files in this web designing language are written in XML. Technical options that are available with this product are that it is an independent 3DML product which can only be used with a single browser of Flatland Rover. The recent version of this software was released in 2005.

3DMLW is an open medium technology for formulating and displaying 2D and 3D content on the Internet through the use of different web browsers. Four kinds of sub-technologies are included in 3DMLW:

• The 3DMLW technology is quite similar to the XHTML language - specifically user-based for generating 3DMLW documents;
• 3DMLW technology is a browser-founded plug-in system technology for displaying 3DML written web pages in all the web browsers;
• 3DMLW offers users a perfect way to create a scripting platform for dynamic and user-friendly web content. There is a perfect scope for creating content which is engrossing;
• Style sheets are provided for a convenient and simple web designing policy.

In the new version of the 3DMLW technology, enhanced options are available for the web content creation with the 3DMLW editor feature. An Alpha adaptation of the superior 3DMLW editor includes features like code completion, source coloring, file and document tree view, full web screen view, page attributes property sheet and an improved functionality of the WYSIWYG editor. The 3DMLW web text language can easily be used on Linux and Ma operating systems. It also possesses many features like viewing shadows, creation of skeletal animation and multiple textures on a web page.

Technical options, additional software required, user-friendliness, ease of access, kinds of documentation, market penetration and product performance

3DML can be easily used for Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer and AOL with an available plug-in but cannot be done that easily for Mozilla Firefox. AN older model of this software can easily be used on Opera (with an additional plug-in). 3DML is very easy-to-use user-friendly software with all the Flatland tutorials that are provided by the major manufacturers accompanied with convenient demonstrations. Fast and lightweight, easy-to-grasp, 3DML is in competition with the prevailing ISO standards for the 3D languages that are used on the web. It is facing a huge a mount of competition from the VRML or the Virtual Reality Modeling Language.

HTML or the HyperText Markup Language is a great web development tool that is used in all web desinging services on a very large scale. It has become the most popular way to show web content. HTML has evolved substantially since the time it was introduced and the dynamic versions of this language are available for creating enhanced HTML applications also called HTA. Dynamic HTML, also called DHTML, can easily be used in the most modern version of Internet (I.E 5.0). With the use of applicatons like description, keywords, META tag, metadata, robots and author, HTML provides enhanced resources to explain the structure of the text-based data in a single web page document. HTML does so by representing definite text as paragraphs, lists, links and headings. It can also be used to complement text with consultative forms, surrounded images and important objects. Free HTML help and tutorials, color codes, images and goodies are easily available for any user and web developer on the Internet.

Ajax 3D is a very popular web application development language which makes use of a free framework for a rapid creation of effectual and consultative web development applications that are used across all the popular browsers.

There are many versions of Ajax 3D language that can be easily downloaded from the Internet, like ASP.NET 2.0 and ASP.NET 3.5. Both of the versions have an in-built support for the SP.NET AJAX 3D, which can be easily downloaded with them. Ajax 3D has a very user-friendly web development interface with the following advantages:

• one can easily create the latest web design interfaces with the help of Ajax 3D software components;
• web pages can also be easily enhanced by making use of the strong Ajax 3D controls easily supported on all the modern browsers like Opera 1.0, Mozilla Firefox, AOL and Netscape Navigator;
• as far as the user-friendliness of this software is concerned, the software can easily make a user access remote data and services from all browsers without the hassles of a complicated script.

The latest version of Ajax 3D, known by the name of ASP.NET Ajax 3D, has an enhanced support for JavaScript and in.built succor for Visual Studio 2008, a brilliant web design interface.

This software is easily compatible on two popular versions of the Microsoft Windows: Windows 2003 and Windows 2008. Ajax 3D is a very easy-to-use software with a tool kit and a 6-month training material which is available with any downloaded version.

Java Script is another very popular web scripting language that can easily be used for purposes of enhanced web development. Java Script was the precedent of the ECMA Script average language. Java Script has been made to look like Java and it is definitely a very user-friendly language. It can be used easily by non-programmers and simple users with no knowledge of programming whatsoever. A very dynamic, first-class and a prototype-founded language, Java Script was inspired by many web development languages in its initial stages. It is a very simple-to-learn kanguage with comprehensive Java learning kits easily available. Today this language is one of the most widely used languages of web development, used by mearly millions of web page designers for enhancing functionalities like detection of browsers and validation of forms. It can be easily said that Java SCript has achieved almost a 100% market penetration in terms of the user base.

Java Script can be easily run on most of the browsing systems, including Mozilla Firefox and Netscape Navigator. Also known as the Sun's Java, this software was originally manufactured by the Sun Microsystems in collaboration with the Netscape Communications Corporation, but Mozilla foundation is one of the present entities that are manufacturing it.

Vivaty is one of the languages that have opened the world of 3D virtual reality to many web designers and programmers. With the use of many advanced features like chatting and the ability to post links and videos in a shared web room, this language has become a favorite of many users. A product manufactured by the Silicon Valley Company, Vivaty is easily accessible from any kind of web page and has given birth to a new concept called the Immersive Web.

Vivaty has an enormous market penetration if one looks at its large active monthly users which are almost 20 million in number. A user with the help of Vivaty can view the web in 3D language with the help of an in-built tool called teh Flux.

It also offers its users advantages of great 3D chatting services, like Meebo and Ebuddy, where users can chat with friends with the help of IM protocols. A person jsut needs to create an avatar or an enhanced image for chatting in a web room. Multimedia videos can also be posted to friends along with images with the help of URL's on the embadded chat service of this language.

Adobe Macromedia Flash is one of the commonly used web application languages with great market penetration. This software is a group of multimedia technologies that are especially distributed and developed by the leading company of Adobe Microsystems. It can easily be used by all browsing systems of Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera and Netscape. Web Designs, application user mediums and special animation, all are distributed spontaneously acroos all platforms and browsers in the Adobe's Flash for luring and involving users with a superb Web experience. The product is quite user-friendly and does not require any kind of additional software. Adobe's Flash 9.0 and 124.0 versions can be operated on all teh major browsing systems of WIndows, Solaris, Macintosh (Power PC and Intel) and Linux.
Market penetration of this product is quite widespread and reaches almost 100%. The prodyct is downloadable from the official website, from the Player Download centre or any other free software download site.

Papervision 3D (versions 1.5 and 2.0) is a well-developed web animation software. It can be downloaded from teh Internet and applications can be learnt from the online tutorial. To support this software on your system, it requires the minimum support of Flash player 8 software which is an additional software in this Flash Browser platforms. This software can be accessed with the help of SVN repository and one needs to install an SVN client on the system.

Papervision 3D software is a completely Flash dependent and if possible, one should try to use extra software of AS3 model of the Papervision 3D on the Flash Player 9 for a faster processing. As far as the market penetration of this product is concerned, it was released for public use just a year ago.

Swift 3D is a leading web based developer solution producing software for great uses with the help of human enterprise. One can easily download this software if there is a valid licence. One of the most flexible software of its kind, Swift 3D offers tge greatest possible use of human workflow with the help of the Enterprise charge Management. Market penetration is quite low as the software is downloadable only with a licence. There are Multi-site ASP/ISP's tracking programs like the Midas, which is a web-based directorial tool for the promotion of websites and e-commerce related applications, available under the software package of Swift 3D.

Wire Fusion is the state of the art 3D enhancement software which makes a great use of web designing skills of the company. Donya Research and Demicron are the two Swedish companies which have released this software in November 2007. With great 3D mesh optimization tools, the Wire fusion software is a must for any kind of real-time web 3D visualization.
This software can be used for repairing and optimizing CAD files and 3D models. Updated models of the Wire Fusion software are available instantly on the web with free upgrades for contemporary cutomers.

It is difficult to say which of these is the best as all of them are quite easy to use and user-friendly and easily accessible as well. Still there is something about these new progressive technologies that makes us more and more interested in them. In the course of time they will develop new possibilities which we can't even think of today.

Something to start with.

3D web designing has become more and more popular these days, especially when advanced 3D web tools are available and many new web designing technologies have come into being.

The first ones that come into my mind are for example Adobe's Flash, 3DVIA Virtools, Vivaty, Ajax 3D, Papervision3D, Swift3D, WireFusion, 3DMLW and others. Some of these are more known and some of these are making their first steps in broader publicity. Adobe's Flash is probably currently the most popular and 3DMLW is the youngest, although not the poorest at all.

Step by step I will try to compare these different possibilities with each other and if there's anything I have missed or misunderstood, don't hesitate to leave me a comment on it.

Also I'll publish some interesting news about developments in 3D technology world. The future seems very promising to me!