I have had a chance to mess around some more with the earlier VR effect I had posted. Since then, the powers of the universe have granted me access to Flash CS3 and thus, AS 3. You can see this new, uber powerful code being put to use on this very site! Check it out!

This differs from the original VR file in many ways. Take it away, bullet list!

• Rebuilt using AS 3
• Preloader
• Rotation is now controlled by holding the mouse down and moving left or right rather than just moving to the left or right. This allows you to “pause” the VR by letting go of the mouse.
• The speed can be controlled by changing a variable in the fla (dragSpeed; frame 2, line 2).

I am planning some more updates to this file in the future, including: loading from an XML, y-scrolling, and zooming. Joy!

Download the source code! [ 8K ]

Ant Renamer is a free program that makes easier the renaming of lots of files and folders by using specified settings.

• It supports Unicode names.
• This program can rename large amounts of files and folders in few clicks.
• It only modifies files/folders names.
• Changing extension.
• Replacing character strings by others.
• Inserting a character string.
• Moving characters.
• Deleting several characters.
• Enumeration.
• Name creation with mp3’s Tag (ID v1.1).
• Name creation with file’s last modified date and time.
• Random names creation.
• Case change (uppercase, lowercase, first letter of each word in uppercase, …).
• Take names from a list/file.
• Use of EXIF info.
• Regular expressions.
• Available in 11 languages : English (default), Belarusian, Chinese (simplified & traditional), Czech, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish.

Strengths

• Batch renaming.
• Runs on all current versions of windows.
• Very quick.
• Free.
• A variety of options when renaming files.
• Can include or exclude the extension in operations.

Weaknesses

• Only one level of undo.

Download Ant Renamer via http://www.antp.be

Ant Renamer is copyrighted by Antoine Potten and I make no claim that I have anything to do with it or want any money because of it. I just think it is a great program and you should use it.

GeoSetter is a freeware tool for Windows for showing and changing geo data of image files (e.g. images taken by digital cameras). It is a very powerful and easy to use tool for adding all sorts of metadata to your digital images. It is the next step to the earlier Exifer program, also developed by Friedemann Schmidt.

Features Include:

• Reads and writes the formats JPEG and TIFF as well as camera RAW formats DNG (Adobe), CRW and CR2 (Canon), NEF (Nikon), MRW (Konica Minolta), PEF (Pentax), ORF (Olympus), ARW, SR2, SRF (Sony) and RAF (Fujifilm)
• Uses ExifTool from Phil Harvey for writing data
• Shows existing geo coordinates and tracks on embedded Google Maps map (requires internet connection)
• Setting geo data by using embedded Google Maps map (requires internet connection) or by entering known values for coordinates and altitude directly
• Automatic filling of location IPTC fields and altitude values (requires internet connection)
• Editable IPTC data (IPTC-NAA/XMP)
• Possibility to change taken date of images
• Synchronization with track files (NMEA, GPX, PLT, Sony LOG and others)
• Synchronization with already geo tagged images with buddy images (e.g. between RAW images and their corresponding JPEG images)
• Localizable user interface – English, German, French, Italian, Swedish, Czech, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Russian and Norwegian language is available at the moment

I have found GeoSetter to be one of the easiest and most reliable freeware programs out there for this sort of thing. Here is my quick and lazy bulleted review:

Strengths

• Images are easy to navigate.
• Editing geo data is simple and fast using the familiar Google Maps interface.
• Free.
• Still alive and being updated.
• Can add Flickr geo data tags.
• Allows saving of common GeoData locations.

Weaknesses

• Sometimes assigning the map position to an image fails.
• No batch processes for renaming or rotating.
• Saving the edited images is slow.
• Requires internet connection for some features.

Download GeoSetter via http://www.geosetter.de/

GeoSetter is copyrighted by Friedemann Schmidt and I make no claim that I have anything to do with it or want any money because of it. I just think it is a great program and you should use it.

CSS, Flash, HTML, Photoshop, PHP

This is a freelance project I worked on for two of my friends from high school driving from New York to Oregon, filming their misadventures, and hoping to eventually watch the Track Trials.

The site is a powered by WordPress and is running a highly customized theme.

A free model! It’s a truss!

This was built in Cinema 4D Release 8.2. There are no textures included.

Download Ring Truss Model [ 5k ]

A free model! It’s a truss!

This was built in Cinema 4D Release 8.2. There are no textures included.

Download Square Truss Model [ 314k ]

Today I am giving away a simple Flash VR file. You will need to create images at the various angles of your subject. Then simply import all of your images into this Flash file, adjust the speed to your tastes, and you will have a simple VR effect for the web or wherever.

Move your mouse to the right and the model will rotate counter-clockwise. Move the mouse to the left and the model will rotate clockwise.

Plan for further development include:

• adding vertical rotation
• smoother rotation
• on the fly updating (no need to have Flash to edit the content)
• a simple GUI

Model taken from 3dtotal.

All the ActionScript is on the first frame. It is as follows:

stop();

// Edit topSpeed to modify how fast the VR can rotate
var topSpeed:Number = 2;
var frameSpeed:Number;
var frame:Number = _root._currentframe;

// Functions, no need to edit these
onEnterFrame = function () {
	frameSpeed = Math.round(topSpeed*(_xmouse-Stage.width/2)/(Stage.width/2));
	newFrame = _root._currentframe+frameSpeed;
	if (newFrame>_root._totalframes) {
		newFrame = newFrame-_root._totalframes;
	} else if (newFrame<=0) {
		newFrame = _root._totalframes+newFrame;
	}
	gotoAndStop(newFrame);
	frame = _root._currentframe;
};

Download the source code! [ 1.5M ]

Below are PDFs containing helpful shortcuts to many common design programs. Some of these were developed by the folks over at Computer Arts, the rest were created by yours truly.

The shortcuts here are the defaults. Most of these programs will allow you to customize these to suit whatever needs // wants // quirks you may desire. Hope you find them helpful!

• 3D MAX [ 49k ]
• Acrobat [ 546k ]
• AutoCAD [ 2.7m ]
• Cinema 4D [ 62k ]
• Flash [ 115k ]
• Freehand [ 42k ]
• Illustrator [ 41k ]
• InDesign [ 42k ]
• Photoshop [ 41k ]
• VIZ [ 124k ]

Wowzers! A free model! Not an exciting model at all, but it is useful for saving a little time when setting up a concept for a trade show. This is a 10′ wide, 8′ tall curved pop-up wall.

This was built in Cinema 4D Release 8.2. It is set up to use the saved GI. The texture files are ready to go, just place your art over the grey images included in the TEX folder and you should be good to go. Enjoy!

Download 8′ x 10′ Popup Model [ 612k ]

Cinema 4D

Concepts for iPod listening stations for the Youth Center at Gateway Church. Each unit includes multiple headphones and jacks for additional headphones. Freestanding units were used to accent the café area.

Cinema 4D

Concepts for a Wii Tree arcade station for the Youth Center at Gateway Church.

Cinema 4D

Concepts for a Playstation arcade for the Youth Center at Gateway Church.