There are some robots that take me back to my childhood, like this skateboard-mounted, paint-spraying graffiti machine whipping an arduino-driven pendulum arm around. Not that I went around spray-painting objects, but that I was often attached to a pendulum arm, but who wasn’t, right? It’s just the sort of thing that may have inspired So…
If you haven’t seen the cranium-scorching, rendering research of Kevin Karsch, watch it, we’ll wait… Now that your brain is charred and crumbling like so much burnt popcorn, you can well understand why, after seeing this video, we had to get the low-down from Kevin himself. So… we blind folded him, spun him around, drugged…
You’ve got loads of ideas from portable candy launchers to cheese grating iPhone cases, but steps in the process (and your evil arch-nemesis Tim “criticizes everything” Jerksteen) has got your design mojo, motionless. Never fear! Another idea funding, “slam that design process in the face,” product site is here and it’s absolutely delicious… in fact,…
Shocking and amazing. Creating something on the iPad, instead of absorbing the limitless digital content, browsing design variations instead of movie options, sending in an order of that design to be printed instead of sending in orders for a large deep-pan pizza. The iRing3D iPad app has done it. It’s all simple and quite basic…
When churning the walkways of the wild burrows, we happened upon this site. A fire, five barrels and atop each one a wee man and a sprite. “Fine and dandy,” said he. “But you have metal teeth for legs. And where your nose and eye should be, are tubes of these links instead.” Helen Kaur…
Sometimes making a claw fist and putting it front of your CAD data doesn’t have the data manipulating effect you want it to. Nope, neither does two claw fists or the hiss of a toothless cat. What will scare that data into a finely structured process flow and multi-level bill of material is a little…
As you may know (or not), digital puppet-maker and modo rigging master, Rich Hurrey of Pixar Animation Studios, has recently released new modo 501 Rigging Master Course. After years in the works and a spectacular video production that explains all the possibilities of animating models with modo, it’s definitely a course to pick up. Rich…
First, I totally GANKED (part of) that headline from the Inforbix post on the same topic. That’s how I roll. But let’s hold back the onslaught on data digging for a sec and address something. Inforbix. I understand. It’s hard to say it… without shredding your throat lining by screaming it as loud as you…
Are you even the slightest bit interested in going to Las Vegas for Autodesk University 2011? Well, how would you like to go at someone else’s expense? Yeah, that (and beef stew) is what I’m talkin’ about. Perhaps even more enticing, how would you like to win a 3D Mouse to hang around your necks…
Two pieces of good news. You now have a good excuse for both staring point-blank into a stranger’s eye hole and strapping a concoction of electronics and LED’s to your face. Eye-tracking. Eye-Tracking tech for design isn’t even close to being recent news, but it bears mentioning to show you where eye-tracking tech in regard…
Like an attack of digital line drawing glory, the digitized stylus onslaught is finally making it’s way into the tablet accessory market. You probably remember the Wacom Inkling that sucks your physical sketches into its digital software, layers and all. That idea is finally being delivered into the iPad domain with eFun releasing the aPen…
Long cycling, indispensable forces caught is the crushing grip of a reversal beam spanned steadily across the plain’s splintered sheath. The itinerants deployed. Each one knew however when it ended, they would face the electrifying horror of these links. Dimitar Tzvetanov – Dark, mysterious scenes and massive landscapes captured in the concepts and matte paintings…
Are 3D Printers a disruptive technology? Are you kidding me? Look at the image above. That person, or that person’s arm, is obviously being sucked into the filament carriage to be used in the construction of extruded parts. Totally disruptive. On the flip side, that’s one more substance we can add to the growing list…
I tell you what. There’s nothing like the thought of riding atop a container of -195˚ Celsius liquid nitrogen, while its vapor spews from a small tube positioned between your legs. Nope, no problem with that. Why? Because it’s the future and it goes along quite nicely with ice pants. It’s called the MagSurf and…
I once CNC’d a foam shelter for a family of marsupials, except they ended up eating it, then attacking the neighbor family. It could have been worse, but I certainly wish I had come across Zomadic’s zensational (HA!) Zome structures before then – perhaps the wee creatures would have been happier. The Zome is a…
I’ll tell you want, consuming large amounts of GPU juice in the morning can lead to mild twitches and people wondering why you’re sucking the back-end of a graphics card in the first place. However, after you’ve got your taste for tech out your system and slipped that card into your computer, barring electrocution from…
It just makes sense. Take some photos of a thing, upload them, 3D print that sucka. My choice? Photos of my fist hitting my face, repeatedly. Unfortunately, motion capture and ruptured blood vessels can not be properly translated into seamless point cloud data as of yet. Nonetheless, hypr3D is putting 3D prints where your 2D…
Have you ever modeled an aircraft? How about an F-16? Besides being able to suck all manner of things through its massive intake, it’s one of the coolest looking Jet fighters ever designed. Myself? I’ve not modeled one, but have imagined being able to absorb them into my body, whereby using them to fend off…
It’s been just over four years since Digital Reality, Inc. made a rumbling about, what was at that time, the first web-based 3D customization to appear. Of course since then, countless online customization sites for every sort or 3D digital design has been established. Now, Digital Reality is back, with a new plan and a…
Add this to the list of best 3D CAD apps ever… And then toss your 3D analog mouse. Wait, not just yet, but soon. Maide Control is putting 3D model control on the screen and they’re doing it via the iPad. Turns out, its also more than just a digital 3D mouse. Take a look.
The bins, shallowed in the soil by the old man’s smelting oven, oozed orange mistuals. They gave off an oder that seemed, at first, quite sublime, then turned violently foul when mixed with the warm goo of these links. Zamak – Mixing surreal and awesome, Olivier Bucheron takes CG visuals to characters and machines that…
So, I was sitting in at my desk gnawing on a loose router wire, when I received the following message from our good friend Jason Corl (@jcoeng). “I’m in China now, but on my way, passed through Hong Kong… I like to check out all the tech that doesn’t exist in the US and found…
There are just not enough opportunities in the world, the stand silently in a crowded room with a mask of your face… over your face. Amirite? Slap another one on the back of your head, a couple, in your arms, swaddled in blankets and you’ve got all sort of creepiness going on. The best thing?…
It’s a sad day when you go to override the mass properties in your model and you lose your Moment of Inertia, your Center of Gravity and your will to live. It doesn’t have to be that way though. You could do what Marc Monaghan did… scream your lungs out your chest, put them back…
I believe all the texture locators have dropped off my face from pure shock. Luxology has just released awesomeness disguised in the form of the new modo Rigging Master Course for modo 501. It’s 26+ hours of having your brain contraints tweaked by the incredible Rich Hurrey, Techincal Director at Pixar, who will take you…
I know you have them, thousands of them. Photos, the 2D type… and even more images you’ve cut out of magazines and library books. If you’re like me, you’re fine with gluing them on odd shaped creatures and giving them out as gifts. If you want something more, you may be interested in 3Defy, a…
When the blankets last whipped the sides of the metal hull, the air and all the fur-bellied fire mages stood still. The blank drawn stares looking over the edges took it all in. There, the waters disappearing before their eyes suddenly being devoured by these links. Rhafael Aseo – Incredible mix of color and intrgue…
Earlier this week we hear Jon Hirschtick is leaving SolidWorks. Ctrl-C. Ctrl-V. Austin O’Malley. From a tipster early yesterday, we learned a new VP of Research and Development is on over at SolidWorks and received confirmation from SolidWorks that Austin O’Malley, VP of R&D who was with SolidWorks for over 16 years, is leaving.
The lonliness that consumes you when the CNC operators talk shop is all about to end. You may not know how to bolt a billet of aluminum into a chunk without removing half your arm skin, but you can download a program with less trauma and bring a CHUCKle to a machinists face. A fresh…
Steve Jobs – (1955-2011) 1985. An awesome year. Goonies, Cherry Coke and my Dad brought home our first computer. It was a Mac. I play my first computer game (Dark Castle) where, instead of punching each other, my lil’ brother and I would sit down and play it together – I on the keyboard, he…
Disclaimer: The following information is for entertainment purposes only. SolidSmack.com, its owner, authors and/or subsidiaries are in no way responsible for any reprehensibly idiotic or unlawful behavior exercised on the part of anyone other than their ridiculously good looking and civic duty minded selves. One has to appreciate the ingenuity displayed by a recent gang…
What was Jon Hirschtick even doing at SolidWorks? He may have ben asking himself the same question. After starting the company in 1993, serving as CEO and then as a member on the executive board for the majority of his time with SolidWorks, Jon has turned in his “immediate resignation.” GraphicSpeak broke the news, citing…
This is a guest post by Daniel Herzberg about his experience over that last few months of going through open-heart surgery and what he found out about a company that is changing the lives of people everywhere. You can follow Daniel on Twitter, view his models on his GrabCAD portfolio and check out his blog…
The viewing area is six inches smaller than my television. The front of it is sitting six inches from my face… give or take a few inches. It’s an HP ZR30w 30″ Monitor and, well, it’s massive. I had the opportunity to receive one from HP and the subsequent joy of basking in 1.07 billion…
Yes! The time has come to announce the winners if the very first SolidSmack Design Contest. This… was absolutely incredible. We had over 130 entries across a range of categories spanning architecture, automotive, consumer products and more. You can just see all the entries at GrabCAD. With the amount of entries and the thought that…
That where the waves began rolling in, we floated, silent and still. Brought long after the footfalls of the beast metal shovel lords frozen in half battle gazes. Each held its stance as foam of rust danced and chiseled off these links. Gypsy – Sherry puts a 3D spin on fractal art, that absorbs you…
The office of tomorrow! Is fabulous. It has everything you need. It’s clean, tidy, looks like a basement and best of all, it’s run by machines. That’s just what the vision of the future automated office was way back in ’69. The BBC show Tomorrow’s World takes you there through they observant eyes of James…
Autodesk has it out for you. Your software too. And probably your choice of breakfast cereals. Evil. This week they dropped their plans for the future of CAD computing revealing very clearly what software will be delivered over the web and what software service will be accessed through a browser. They’ve slated it as ‘Access…
Excitement. That’s what I look for in a good computer mouse – edge of your seat clicking, here… then THERE, real fast like. You too? The Penclic Mouse may be all you desire, but not really, but really. It combines both mouse and pen into one desk sliding implement of adventurous delight. Europe has been…
If you’re hankering for a magnificent piece of man metal (and a magnificent manufacturing process), RogueDZN is about to make you clench your teeth so tight they shatter… twice. Matt Tremblay, Founder of RogueDZN (and chief designer at __________) just announced the release of the ultimate in high performance, machined G5 titanium hotness for your…
How many times have you said, “I need more plastic bits on my desk, and I need them NOW!!” I do, EVERY DAY, followed by spooning large amounts of plastic nibs and milk into my mouth. If you’re looking for something equally delicious to add to the collection of desktop trinkets in your cubicle, look…
I warn you. Your life is about to become twice as easy, twice as wonderful and there is but one reason. The Hair Brush Fruit Bowl. What wonder is this? Endless possibility to not only display your fruit in all of it’s succulent glory but also look good doing it. I know, two thoughts… Where…
Oh, how wonderful the feel of a digital explosion across your screen. Am I right? YES. How’s it happen? Exocortex Technologies. They’ve released Momentum 3, a slick multiphysics engine for Autodesk Softimage. While it’s not useful for anything mildly related to the usual cadre of CAD apps we talk about on SolidSmack, it does give…
The vacuum separated. The muculent cadence of slivered vasculars enveloped the room as all but the left wall was covered. This was no ordinary rhubarb pie. Where had it been? What ingredients would do this? Had it become infected? Infected by these links? Tiago Hoisel – Fun, whimsical and also a bit scary. Tiago takes…
What’s better than setting up shop in your local cafe, slapping that laptop on the table and plugging in your various USB powered devices? One thing, monitors. LOTS of monitors. AOC is making it possible for you to use all of your USB ports and hubs, for that one thing. Their new 16″ portable monitor…
There’s something big happening. Bigger than the dirt clods you use to throw at your friends when you were little. That’s all you had to play with… and you loved it. Pulling dirt from the ground and chucking it through the air was the start of something. Now, the kids who use to do that,…
It’s been around over a year and was shown at SIGGRAPH 2010, but the RePro3D is suddenly showing up all over web town for the single reason that it’s, well, stinkin’ cool. Little do most people (or researchers) realize the possibilities that lie in store for such advances in jabbing wee fairy creatures with a…
We are well on our way to the completion of an awesome ‘Awesome Sauce’ Design Contest! If you’ve not heard about it, this is a completely open design contest dependent on nothing else than your cunning sense of style and creativity. It seems quite a few are up for the challenge as the number of…
Cell Cycle Ring via Ponoko With Maker Faire last week and 3D printing buzzing the skin off the ever-loving lips of everyone talking about it, there’s news galore to satiate those in dire need of a 3d print news fix. Really, what would you do if you didn’t know that researchers had found a way…
The SUN. It’s powerful, and loves to spend afternoons, in the sun (HA!), creating 3D printed trinkets with it’s own energy. Of course, it didn’t know about this until Mark Fuller, aka ‘RobotGuy’, came along with a solar panel cart, a Reprap Mendel printer and a convincing argument about ‘printing in space.’ Take a look…