FreeFormFab

T-Dose Open Source Event

T-DOSE is a free and yearly event held in The Netherlands to promote use and development of Open Source Software. During this event Open Source projects, developers and visitors can exchange ideas and knowledge. This years event will be held on 3 and 4 October 2009 at the Fontys University of Applied Science in Eindhoven.

Wolfram Research

Founded by Stephen Wolfram in 1987 Wolfram Research is one of the world’s most respected software companies—as well as a powerhouse of scientific and technical innovation. As pioneers in computational science and the computational paradigm, we have pursued a long-term vision to develop the science, technology, and tools to make computation an ever-more-potent force in today’s and tomorrow’s world.

At the center is Mathematica: our ever-advancing core product that launched modern technical computing and has now become the world’s most powerful global computation system. With millions of dedicated users throughout the technical and educational communities, Mathematica represents a unique blend of major research breakthroughs, outstanding user-oriented design, and world-class software engineering.

See also: Wolfram demonstration project
See also: Wolfram Alpha
See also: Wolfram Tones

Code, Space & Form

Golan Levin has just announced a symposium titled Code, Space, Form, featuring among others C.E.B. Reas, MOS Architects and Ben Pell. Hosted from 3-7 February 2009 at Carnegie-Mellon University, it’s a multi-day affair with lectures and workshops, culminating in an exhibition at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. It should provide an interesting discussion of the implications of generative strategies in art and architecture.

Algorithmic processes, harnessed through the medium of code, allow creators to generate complex forms and organic structures by the application of elementary but carefully-tuned sets of rules. Digital fabrication systems, such as computer-controlled laser cutters, 3D printers, and machining systems, offer a nearly instantaneous way of exploring ideas in new spatial and material formats. The combination of these two approaches represents an extreme but growing position in art and design, wherein the traditions of hand-craft are exchanged almost entirely for the unprecedented possibilities made possible through a demanding new form of mind-craft. 

Brochure (pdf)

Source: Code & Form

Rhino Grasshopper

For designers who are exploring new shapes using generative algorithms, Grasshopper is a graphical algorithm editor tightly integrated with Rhino’s 3-D modeling tools. Unlike RhinoScript, Grasshopper requires no knowledge of programming or scripting, but still allows designers to build form generators from the simple to the awe-inspiring.

Spam Architecture

The images from the Spam Architecture series are generated by a computer program that accepts junk email as input. Various patterns, keywords and rhythms found in the text are translated into three-dimensional modeling gestures. Created by Alex Dragulescu.

Source: Architectradure

Parallax: BoE-Bot Robot Kit

Parallax, Inc. is a privately held company located in Rocklin, California. Parallax designs and manufactures microcontroller development tools and small single-board computers that are used by electronic engineers, educational institutions, and hobbyists. Our current product line consists of BASIC Stamp & Propeller Chip microcontrollers and development software, SX chips and programmers/debuggers, project boards, sensors, educational tools, robotics kits and accessories, and Propeller chips and tools. The ever-popular Boe-Bot Robot Full Kit (serial version) is our most complete reprogrammable robot kit. 

• Distributeur NL
• Boe-Bot Robot

Google Sketchup now ready to print

Creating a 3D printing file from a Google SketchUp file has never been easy. Today a new class of 3D printing technology has slashed the time and expense it takes to create a physical model. Our friends at CADspan just released a plugin that allows for the generation of solid, 3D printable files directly from a Google SketchUp model. This software re-creates a model by “shrink-wrapping” it with one continuous mesh. The result is a single object, in STL file format, that is completely solid and ready-to-print.

Source: Google Sketchup blog

Raster to Vector

In computer graphics, vectorization refers to the process of using software and hardware technology and or services to convert raster graphics into vector graphics. Popular applications:

• In computer-aided design (CAD) drawings are scanned, vectorized and written as CAD files in a process called paper-to-CAD conversion or drawing conversion.
• In geographic information systems (GIS) satellite or aerial images are vectorized to create maps.
• In graphic design and photography, graphics and photographs can be vectorized, which is often done through a vectorizer plugin for Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, but can also be done manually. Graphics can be vectorized for better usage and resizing, often without a change in appearance. Vectorizing a photograph will likely change its appearance from photographic to painted or drawn; the photograph may even be transformed into a silhouette. One function of vectorizing a photograph is to be able to integrate it into a geometric design such as a logo.

This tables contain general and technical information about a number of raster to vector conversion software products.

Source: Wikipedia

3D Modelleren

Er zijn verschillende methoden om 3D-modellen te modelleren (op te bouwen). Enkele veelgebruikte methoden zijn: Polygonen, Spline en NURBS. Veel 3D-programma’s bieden verschillende modelleringsmethoden aan.

Polygoon

Een veelgebruikte manier van 3D-programma’s om objecten te vormen (modelleren) is door gebruik te maken van polygonen. Een polygoon is een gesloten vorm met een oppervlak. De kleinst mogelijke polygoon heeft de vorm van een driehoek. Elk punt van een polygoon waar lijnen samenkomen heet in vaktermen Vertice of Vertex. De randen noemt men Egde en het binnenoppervlak dat wordt omsloten door de lijnen, noemt men Face.

Spline

Bij Spline modeling wordt het oppervlak van een object beschreven aan de hand van gebogen 2D-lijnen (een gebogen lijn noemt men in het Engels een curve) die onderling worden verbonden. Elke curve wordt gedefinieerd aan de hand van een aantal controlepunten die op dezelfde afstand van elkaar staan. Als de computer de controlepunten van alle lijnen kent, dan worden de punten met behulp van een wiskundige formule met elkaar verbonden via een lange gebogen lijn die door alle controlepunten gaat.

NURB

De afkorting NURBS staat voor Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines. Simpel samengevat gaat het om een ingewikkelde wiskundige formule die het mogelijk maakt om het oppervlak van (complexe) vormen te beschrijven. Bij NURBS is het mogelijk om de aantrekkingskracht van de controlepunten op de lijnen te regelen. Deze eigenschap duidt men aan met rational. Ook wordt gespecificeerd welk deel van de curve beïnvloed wordt door een bepaald controlepunt. Dit bedoelt men met non-uniform. De vormen die met behulp van NURBS worden gemaakt, zien er vloeiend en afgerond uit.

Source: 3D in praktijk

Tetra Lattice Software

With the additive nature of Solid Freeform Fabrication it is possible to create objects never thought possible, such as complex, three dimensional lattice structures. TetraLattice is one of these structures.

TetraLattice is modeled after the atomic bond structure found in diamond offering a simple repeating unit-cell. Arrays of TL units form complex lattice structures as well as complex channels within objects, resulting in many useful applications.

Free Software: ArtSoftware.org

ArtSoftware.org is a wiki for sharing information about free and open source art software. Anyone can contribute to ArtSoftware.org. Please improve our site by contributing! Click the help button to find out how.

ASCII Art

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) Art is an artistic medium that relies primarily on computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable (from a total of 128) charactersdefined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters (beyond the 128 characters of standard 7-bit ASCII). The term is also loosely used to refer to text based art in general.

ASCII art can be created with any text editor, and is often used with free-form languages. Most examples of ASCII art require a fixed-width font (non-proportional fonts, like on a traditional typewriter) such asCourier for presentation.

Source: Wikipedia

Free Software: Autodesk Maya

Personal Learning Edition is a special version of Maya free computer software, which provides free of charge access to Maya for non-commercial use. It gives 3D graphics and animation students, professionals, and those interested in computer graphics an opportunity to explore this award-winning software. 


3D-Software

Lijst van 3D-computerprogramma’s met een overzicht van programma’s die kunnen ontwerpen (voor kunst of voor spellen of technisch ontwerpen) in 3D.

Sommige programma worden gebruikt bij industriële ontwerpen, dan worden ze meestal als CAD of Computer Aided Design-programma’s aangeduid. Sommige programma’s zijn speciaal bedoeld voor architectuur, om gebouwen en interieurs te ontwerpen. Andere programma’s zijn bedoeld om figuren voor computerspellen te ontwerpen. En sommige programma zijn alleen bedoeld om kunst te maken. Veel programma’s overlappen elkaar in functionaliteit.

Free Software: Inkscape

Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development.