That's a pity. I thought the lighting and textures in the Modo render were more realstic and convincing.

I wouldn't have uploaded the house if I didn't want people to remodel, improve, or add to the model . In reteurn I get to learn quite a lot from the different approaches people take to rendering the house.

Really impressive work - wet scenes are always difficult to pull off and you did a really good job with a painterly flair.

When I modelled the house I was concerned about the lack of a pool - they always look good - and even considered turning the drive into a pool.

Great render and post-pro!

Where's the 'phew' smiley?

This is slightly off-topic, but If you can, try and add some more RAM to your new computer.

3GB seems a bit low (I was running 4 on my old PC before stepping up to 12 on the rig I got two years ago) and I would suggest 6GB as a minimum.

More RAM should help with the sort of visualisations you want to create.

Have you tried using the Autodesk FBX converter TIG suggested?

That'll definitely make life easier

I was really excited about this app, but it's a bit of a let down from my point of view. Even when zoomed in the control isn't very good and I can't seem to create the kind of fine detail I'm used to with Sculptris.

The worst thing is that it doesn't look like you can export your models, which pretty much makes the app useless in my opinion. Hopefully future versions can improve on these shortcomings.

For a second there I thought that you were talking from experience and that FBX import was a new feature of the next Thea build.

Doesn't look like it - unless you know something I don't

I converted the FBX to .obj and using File>Merge I imported the tree into Thea. I then applied a stock bark material to the trunk and branches and for the leaves I added a leaf texture to the Diffuse & Translucent material slots (plus a clipping mask) - I didn't change anything else.

I've just tried importing into Sketchup and both .obj and .dxf result in bug splats. DAE works just fine, but the tree used in my render is 75MB, so it looks like I won't be able to upload anything to the 3D Warehouse. On top of that I don't much fancy texturing each individual leaf

I think that the winning quality is the flow of the branch growth - plus the human touch added via the gesture based UI.

I'll have to check to see what the policy is regarding sharing tree models, but presuming that this isn't an issue, I'll probably upload some of my creations via the Thea forum and 3D warehouse. The only thing I'm short on is free leaf and bark textures that I can distribute with the trees.

Here's a test render that should give some indication of the tree quality:

The trunk and branches could possibly do with being higher poly, but it's not too shabby with some smoothing applied.

Since the modelling is based around the iPad multitouch interface, I'm not sure that it would be that easy to port it to other formats. I could be wrong though

I've just started a test render and it has to be said that I'm already surprised by the quality of the trees. Judging by the onscreen iPad preview I expected something equivalent to Tree[D] - i.e only good for backdrops or mid-ground (at a push).

So far the tree I'm using looks pretty impressive. It's a pity about the textures, but the UV mapping looks sound, so alternatives are easy enough to drop into place. It might be helpful if the developers could provide a library of textures - I'll email them and see what they can do.

@david. said:

...she likes to use hyperbole....

Ah....the new Helvetica

@unknownuser said:

I was kind of surprised this didn't get more attention....

Me too, it's a great application (as far as I can tell). I just assumed that most people don't have an iPad, or like myself, hadn't had chance to export their creations .

I'll definitely report in when I find the time to use the trees. I really hope that the trees are useful as the creation process is incredibly intuitive and rewarding - OK, I'm addicted

I've inadvertently stumbled onto the correct identity for this chair and solved the mystery.

It was a bit weird really as I was looking for something completely different - I was searching for interesting 70s and 80s gadgets for the latest speed modelling challenge and an image of the chair popped up during a Google images search:

@unknownuser said:

Chair F978

Geoffrey Harcourt, 1935, London, United Kingdom

Year of design - 1968

Manufacturer - Artifort, Netherlands

Materials - Structure polyurethane foam upholstered in Super Bultex, base consists of a painted aluminum disc

Dimensions - L70 x A69 x C75 cm

The F978 chair was designed by Geoffrey Harcourt em1968.

The structure of polyurethane brown and round base in lacquered aluminum in brown are the main features of this model. The chair is upholstered in woven wool-colored orange.

Harcourt has won many awards during his career and in 1978 received the title of 'Royal Designer for Industry.''

Source: www.zeppelinvintage.com

Best of all, it still appears to be in production: www.artifort.com/en-gb/collection/fauteuils/page_product.aspx?id=1424

@unknownuser said:

It's probably most true in relation to browser user's "tech savvy" as opposed to their overall IQ.

That's true up to a point.

I have to use IE as that's what most of my clients use and I have to be on the look out for problems that might effect the website designs I produce.

Otherwise I would use Firefox or Chrome for personal use.

Hoax or not the IE6 position gave me a chuckle.

On occasion I still run into problems that result from clients who are still using IE5 - they tend to be the sort of person who doesn't know what a browser is, or that you have to be online to read email.

True story :- whilst corresponding with a client via email earlier this week I asked a them to "email" the images they wanted me to use for their website. Yesterday I received a letter in the post containing various photographic prints and a post-it that read "here is the "email" you requested". The note also had a scribbled drawing labelled "this is the logo I need you to use"