The Shade Blog » Shade http://www.shadeblog.com 3D Art with Curved Surfaces Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:25:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The Uncanny Valley and 3D Characters http://www.shadeblog.com/2010/03/03/the-uncanny-valley-and-3d-characters/ http://www.shadeblog.com/2010/03/03/the-uncanny-valley-and-3d-characters/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:25:15 +0000 Chikako http://www.shadeblog.com/?p=79 Twice this morning I have come across the term Uncanny Valley and it really makes me think about 3D character animation. Since I work with 3D characters almost every day – in Shade or Shade friendly products like Poser, it explains why some characters can unintentionally creep you out while others are exceedingly charming.

Hanako for Shade is a reasonably realistic character. She seems mostly in proportion for a Japanese woman, with just a bit of extra shine you would expect from a Japanese character. Hanako is an extremely popular character among users of Shade, but she is outshined in Japan by a newer character called Tully. I am currently working on the English localization of Tully, and will post some pics here and elsewhere so you can see what I’m talking about.

Ponder on Hanako for a moment, then check out the Repliee female android developed at Osaka University.

]]> http://www.shadeblog.com/2010/03/03/the-uncanny-valley-and-3d-characters/feed/ 1 Shade 10 Released http://www.shadeblog.com/2010/02/14/shade-10-released/ http://www.shadeblog.com/2010/02/14/shade-10-released/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:58:57 +0000 admin http://www.shadeblog.com/?p=72 As announced over on Mirye.net, Shade 10 is finally shipping! Shade 10 is loaded with new features.

Shade 10 Interface

Ill be writing more about the features in the future. Here is the bullet list from the Shade 10 press release:

  • Multipass Rendering. Render images into layered TIFF files that allow post processing of each discreet effect
  • Workflow Enhancements. New, interactive 3D manipulator, custom work planes, fully customizable viewports
  • Fur Support, New Hair Operations. New support for adding 3D fur, hair masks, additional hair styling tools, hair collision detection and gravity
  • Switch Joint. A new interactive joint object allows models to switch between alternative geometry.
  • External Surface, Geometry References. Shade 10 files can reference external surface materials, geometry and more
  • Global Illumination Enhancements. Path Tracing + Photon Mapping, save Irradiance Cache, Irradiance Cache with Shade GRID
  • Toon Rendering Features. New Half Tone and Color Half Tone presets, multipass rendering with Toon Renderer
  • PoserFusion: Poser 8, Poser Units. New support for Smith Micro Poser 8 for incorporating or hosting Poser characters in Shade. Improved Poser units support for developing content for Poser.
  • Export to COLLADA. Now export Shade models to industry standard COLLADA for use in other applications, game engines, simulations
  • Export to Second Life. New export Shade models as sculpted prims for use in Linden Labs MMO
  • Export to Blue Mars. New export Shade models as digital assets for the Avatar Reality MMO
  • Native 64 bit operations on Mac OS X. Supported with Mac OS X 10.6 on Intel

Shade 10 is available in three different versions: Designer ($49), Standard ($249) and Professional ($899).

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