tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21058589785159142832024-03-14T14:06:46.473+01:00Relax, in theory this should be perfectly safe...Random thoughts and discoveriesAtle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-27792646420273000152017-11-23T21:25:00.000+01:002017-11-29T19:45:07.916+01:00VR ExplorationsThroughout 2016 and the beginning of 2017, when I was still living in Oslo and working for Postmenn-Stripe (now <a href="http://www.pxlr.no/">PXLR</a>), we did several internal R&D projects to explore the possibilities and limitations of Virtual Reality - and how to best produce content for the platform.<br />
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Coming from a visual effects background, focusing on commercials, movies and TV, the visual quality of an image or video clip has always been paramount. This we wanted to take with us when producing content for this new medium.<br />
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The part of the projects described here was handled by me together with my colleague <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6335190/">Mariusz Kolodziejczak</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Photogrammetry</h3>
Photogrammetry is the process of creating digital models, of real world objects and locations, based on photographs. If done right - it can create imagery virtually indistinguishable from the original. Although labor intensive and not suited for all kind of objects (ie glass and transparent objects will give a poor result) it has great potential when you want to share an experience in VR.<br />
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For a test case we chose the <a href="https://norskfolkemuseum.no/en/stave-church">Stave Church</a> (Stavkirke) at the <a href="https://norskfolkemuseum.no/en">Norwegian Museum of Cultural History</a> at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. This old, wooden building has a lot of character and many beautiful details to experience.<br />
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<h3>
Inside the Stave Church</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNsDoF0auIpEdTmknbXyCrkdf3kt4pfdOuJX5G4XEil36obm4fFdL3p5IfjdyDM2il3cqRADVtOPGCnwThX19EjLsZpV4YexQM21jFjSMGMZ0ojzOsW4TSv3t5PRWwxPa9ReDVSFihTQ7k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-11-22+at+20.54.37+.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="647" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNsDoF0auIpEdTmknbXyCrkdf3kt4pfdOuJX5G4XEil36obm4fFdL3p5IfjdyDM2il3cqRADVtOPGCnwThX19EjLsZpV4YexQM21jFjSMGMZ0ojzOsW4TSv3t5PRWwxPa9ReDVSFihTQ7k/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-11-22+at+20.54.37+.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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It took around 800 pictures, clocking in at 21 megapixels each, to reconstruct the inside of the church. We shot on two Canon 5D Mk II cameras which were kitted with a 24 and 50mm lens. The exposure times were quite long (around 60 seconds) since we only had the natural light available to us which passed through the two open doors in the building. We also took great care to not disturb the other visitors - since the shoot was done during a regular visiting hours. With two photographers we spent around 3 hours shooting the interior this way.<br />
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The resulting images were processed in <a href="http://www.agisoft.com/">Agisoft</a> Photoscan where we had to take care to mask out tourists (and each other). We also processed all the RAW images to floating point EXR files to preserve the dynamic of the natural light to the best possible degree.<br />
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Post processing and cleanup were done in a mix of <a href="https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview">Autodesk Maya</a> and <a href="https://3dcoat.com/features/">3DCoat</a>. Since there was quite a bit of overlapping geometry further up towards the roof we had to spend a significant amount of time doing this.<br />
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The final model had to be split up before bringing it over to <a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/">Unreal Engine</a> - since we wanted to preserve as much detail as possible (although we did reduce the polygon density of our original model quite a bit). Several 8K texture maps were generated as well.<br />
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As a final touch we experimented with adding the sound of munks, church bells and creaking wood - to enhance the experience. Using the HTC Vive VR Headset you can walk around and look at whatever peak your interest.<br />
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The video below shows the experience from outside and inside.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/88h6VL11lg4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="280" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/88h6VL11lg4?feature=player_embedded" width="498"></iframe></div>
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We also did stereoscopic stripmaps suitable for the Samsung GearVR or other platforms, like Google Cardboard, with the proper viewer. These will give you full depth perception and have excellent image quality, but will not allow for movement and sound naturally.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOe9vpLWVwUDczMCQObhRW2UQTZlM3FoxKp9JFkMz5o9k2-VjXJaQYpAkPHy2jLLMnzkWlkwOryZ_DdMo557m5jszCS0KnBNyLnHITFirhCJfFFLkHQ5-IdAr1ib8pmsSeSncvufc32Dvw/s1600/Stave_Church_Inside_stripmap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="1600" height="31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOe9vpLWVwUDczMCQObhRW2UQTZlM3FoxKp9JFkMz5o9k2-VjXJaQYpAkPHy2jLLMnzkWlkwOryZ_DdMo557m5jszCS0KnBNyLnHITFirhCJfFFLkHQ5-IdAr1ib8pmsSeSncvufc32Dvw/s400/Stave_Church_Inside_stripmap.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereoscopic stripmap</td></tr>
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You can download the full size image <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2kajx1yzljlzidk/Stave_Church_Inside_stripmap.jpg?dl=0">here</a> (you'll need a proper viewer for this to make sense).<br />
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<h3>
Exteriors</h3>
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Since we were there shooting the interior of the Stave Church we also did a quick test outside. And by quick I mean not more than 15 minutes by one photographer to walk around and snap images from the ground level. The captures was a mix of 24mm and 100mm lens shots.</div>
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As with the interior model we processed these with Agisoft Photoscan, but since there was less occlusion and overlap we did not spend much time doing cleanup before bringing the model into Unreal Engine.</div>
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We also imported a model of a house from <a href="https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/trondelag/roros/">Røros</a> - which I photographed some years ago when I went there for a visit. The main challenge with this one was the grass on the roof - which we had to remove since the photogrammetry software could not create a good enough model there. This was mainly because of the wind made the grass move between the frames.</div>
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<h3>
Old Artifacts</h3>
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Preservation of cultural heritage and old artefacts is another venue where photogrammetry is well suited. Capturing organic forms with intricate details is no extra work this way. You can then choose to bring the captured object into VR, 3D print it or save for later reference in case the object in question is lost, stolen or destroyed.<br />
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To evaluate small scale objects with a lot of details we were lucky enough to get access to an image-set of a "carved scull". The original images were provided by the photographer <a href="http://www.steffenaaland.com/">Steffen Aaland</a> at <a href="http://www.glitchstudios.co/">Glitch Studios</a> and were shot using a Phase One IQ250, a 50 megapixel medium format camera. Focus stacking was utilised to get required depth of field (i.e. get the whole scull in focus).</div>
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We brought the scull into VR as well and it was pretty incredible to be able to pick it up from the table and inspect it up close.<br />
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<h3>
Bringing reality into VR</h3>
As part of our <a href="https://www.skattefunn.no/">SkatteFUNN</a> project we also looked into a plethora of other methods to "acquire reality" with the highest possible fidelity.<br />
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Areas of extra interest were HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging), to ensure the experience in VR would be as close to "being there" as possible, as well as making sure the source material held as high a resolution as possible. Even though the screens of todays VR headsets are pretty low resolution this will improve - and when this happens we can re-export the images for the new formats.<br />
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To optimise the process we photographed the scenes in a number of ways - from more traditional pano-stitch (although with offset per eye) - to a full stitch with <a href="https://www.foundry.com/products/cara-vr">Cara VR</a> for <a href="https://www.foundry.com/products/nuke">Nuke</a>. The latter giving the overall best result, but was way more demanding in artist-time and processing. As an example stitching 30-something 25 megapixel stills would consume over 125GB or system RAM. For one frame! This scene would crash in Windows, every time, but would process fine on Linux.<br />
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Some examples of images we did were the following three. The one from Vøyen gård were processed in CaraVR while the rest were stitched more traditionally per eye, but converted to stripmap in Nuke.<br />
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The main challenge with the latter were that we had to shoot one set of images per eye (and using 5 image bracketing for the HDRI), which led to session length of around 40+ minutes per location. In that timespan the sun and sky (in case of clouds) managed to move quite a bit - forcing us to replace the sky in several of the locations.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15fwsp8nFguMRfdoJN6XmFpStYbC7vgZsJ5xAj1vQFEKihTU_V02HK6Q2olS1UrojJBB5u4Q2xh1RcHEZXfW_mDU8-tlVoOPimVxLr_tvTRIL8st8hObhLMr_2brjb0Wbh9j3dK5pq7UB/s1600/Voeyen_gaard_stripmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="1600" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15fwsp8nFguMRfdoJN6XmFpStYbC7vgZsJ5xAj1vQFEKihTU_V02HK6Q2olS1UrojJBB5u4Q2xh1RcHEZXfW_mDU8-tlVoOPimVxLr_tvTRIL8st8hObhLMr_2brjb0Wbh9j3dK5pq7UB/s400/Voeyen_gaard_stripmap.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vøyen Gård, Oslo</td></tr>
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Vøyen Gård <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/v8dlsuyimh1a8hq/Voeyen_gaard_stripmap.png?dl=0">download</a> (you'll need a proper viewer for this to make sense).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDrJzCYEfF3scNKG71BZb3rXlIlDFAHykn3iCimrVwQFERr065Tp1RMdnDQLCocPCNx5XRId40YBj-O4OAMrNY-beHlUtYU2bRVgbSxx6X9PHtFGDvHU2ieHF6VnZAWEXUJJxTJhleUp2/s1600/Blaa_stripmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="1600" height="26" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDrJzCYEfF3scNKG71BZb3rXlIlDFAHykn3iCimrVwQFERr065Tp1RMdnDQLCocPCNx5XRId40YBj-O4OAMrNY-beHlUtYU2bRVgbSxx6X9PHtFGDvHU2ieHF6VnZAWEXUJJxTJhleUp2/s320/Blaa_stripmap.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blå, Oslo</td></tr>
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Blå <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/q75w3294puu07pm/Blaa_stripmap.png?dl=0">download</a> (you'll need a proper viewer for this to make sense).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mISgbDNGgiykK1Na6Scgti7BO2HoWsrXB9COQkC5zigDWxKbHFXDFeeW2g_Bv3rSHk7rpijhyphenhypheny9pi6ZbeEZqhZRsOQnFidtiP5Ij5_mVbw-6LHTHMZLV0QCw3Xc_6leCFk9UV0SigYlf/s1600/Vulcan_stripmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="1600" height="26" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mISgbDNGgiykK1Na6Scgti7BO2HoWsrXB9COQkC5zigDWxKbHFXDFeeW2g_Bv3rSHk7rpijhyphenhypheny9pi6ZbeEZqhZRsOQnFidtiP5Ij5_mVbw-6LHTHMZLV0QCw3Xc_6leCFk9UV0SigYlf/s320/Vulcan_stripmap.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vulcan, Oslo</td></tr>
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Vulcan <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/grjmezk65qgig2o/Vulcan_stripmap.png?dl=0">download</a> (you'll need a proper viewer for this to make sense).<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-69587423723467816692017-05-04T14:29:00.000+02:002017-05-04T14:32:13.442+02:00Ubuntu 17.04 SAMBA woesHaving upgraded, done fresh installs, of Ubuntu 17.04 I noticed that the SAMBA/cifs client didn't behave as expected. When mounting a volume shared from OS X (Sierra) it would work for a while before the client started DDOS'ing the server to such an extent that no other users could log in.<br />
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We then tried to connect to a windows share (windows server edition), but with a basic fstab entry it would throw an error:<br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">mount error(5): Input/output error</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Refer to the mount.cifs(8) manual page (e.g. man mount.cifs)</span><br />
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Apparently the cifs protocol defaults to using v1.0 of the protocol. By adding "vers=2.1" or "vers=3.0" to the mount options it will mount correctly.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-89166664624919284202015-10-04T20:40:00.002+02:002015-10-04T20:40:35.354+02:00Weekend Project: StampOne of my favourite go-to materials is Sugru and I've been wanting to try out making a stamp from it for a while now. But first I needed a handle. I wipped up a quick one in Fusion 360.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZhOMpJhxnvGEM4V1qmLPKLTlBGnUEeGnGuy8DbntLH5WJZnzHIZ7yZd4bQ9VMyhtjcdF7YCOGY9YNVdQu1MHxr7oi3rbsYLYZ9eH5cjpMPN1oUpC6thS89yEpE8QNy7N2y6WqrzsnRsH/s1600/stamp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZhOMpJhxnvGEM4V1qmLPKLTlBGnUEeGnGuy8DbntLH5WJZnzHIZ7yZd4bQ9VMyhtjcdF7YCOGY9YNVdQu1MHxr7oi3rbsYLYZ9eH5cjpMPN1oUpC6thS89yEpE8QNy7N2y6WqrzsnRsH/s320/stamp.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Printing didn't take long, even at .1mm layer height. Infill was 30%. On the next print I will increase the top layers to 7, instead of 5, since the printer wasn't able to create a completely smooth top surface. It would probably work just fine it the infill was higher - like 50%.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGw5bmw-PuO4SziiRC70iTZGc7G74IsH0XGkiWdP0uUmnyYaFlymJ9MwSSg1YAQhlqFHgNDmj9l-p-K1i31OBxl32-2FKfmI1Su4XF-ZdvtNKF-tZbsAhlaF-GWiPmMzULdEozb3lHwcp/s1600/IMG_3282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGw5bmw-PuO4SziiRC70iTZGc7G74IsH0XGkiWdP0uUmnyYaFlymJ9MwSSg1YAQhlqFHgNDmj9l-p-K1i31OBxl32-2FKfmI1Su4XF-ZdvtNKF-tZbsAhlaF-GWiPmMzULdEozb3lHwcp/s320/IMG_3282.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since I'm printing on a glass surface the bottom was pretty smooth. I made good use of a knife to make more grooves to be sure that the Sugru had plenty to adher to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjBOJX297NuOgGQqQ-tlSGzLJa_sWrY6j7X0HEg9u_YnyV197Nm1fnnlsjeSlRAUsn5jeE_o1KsLhHmo-dBw0ANqQZZh8HO9S4Ufj4kfMr3ksuVRpfh1G7-lH9oz5WFkLWe5tugPIPsF6/s1600/IMG_3283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjBOJX297NuOgGQqQ-tlSGzLJa_sWrY6j7X0HEg9u_YnyV197Nm1fnnlsjeSlRAUsn5jeE_o1KsLhHmo-dBw0ANqQZZh8HO9S4Ufj4kfMr3ksuVRpfh1G7-lH9oz5WFkLWe5tugPIPsF6/s320/IMG_3283.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Printed the "Thumbs up" on a secondary printer. The depth of the relief could probably be half as deep in retrospect. In this one it was 2mm deep. That would make it easier to keep fine details when separating the mold from the stamp.<br />
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Note to self: don't mirror the print. Since we are making a positiva - the stamp will be automatically inverted for you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVtNC2v3KsQXeqtToYQmsQNlq9vmKnIdr3SivQRWwcc9lvbZHaSHaHW6xlp5F3PYn2ali7jfL0hSX1wUtr_sUHJ1KlS17uZAzqtYLme-yXlZ79SuqLY7-oMsELcZJSE3MW7vIT8po9Ftv/s1600/IMG_3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVtNC2v3KsQXeqtToYQmsQNlq9vmKnIdr3SivQRWwcc9lvbZHaSHaHW6xlp5F3PYn2ali7jfL0hSX1wUtr_sUHJ1KlS17uZAzqtYLme-yXlZ79SuqLY7-oMsELcZJSE3MW7vIT8po9Ftv/s320/IMG_3284.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Before adding the Sugru I swabbed the pattern lightly with canola oil so it wouldn't stick. A Q-tip was perfect for this. I think it came out pretty well considering the finished quality of the printed surface.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXKug7VXSB-KpijvXyvo27pioYmNJPHd_emUaSfFp69UIIQMyadrxGp26Ekx8o9_3sptGmW6DXy7TXMvVHCCBMV304lnJCTOW7W-ZXYzdq3xASjoyXa1EwrmR64lY1fdk6ixU0zs0w3lG/s1600/IMG_3286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXKug7VXSB-KpijvXyvo27pioYmNJPHd_emUaSfFp69UIIQMyadrxGp26Ekx8o9_3sptGmW6DXy7TXMvVHCCBMV304lnJCTOW7W-ZXYzdq3xASjoyXa1EwrmR64lY1fdk6ixU0zs0w3lG/s320/IMG_3286.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Make sure the Sugru get plenty of time to cure. I left it a couple of days since we didn't have the ink-pad yet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRh_fBoqRY3fnKdQLB3NaCzX0lK2JEjpnNhWiCAOb6LH1d4KZ-8t2KHNXIXEtwjFdMLLzKgi6zktsdNz5toq6Ekk0UJcLlD-2sxAWFDRWvpTzB1SBQNwRd6z-rQmKT2hW7m24hVEmRc0t/s1600/IMG_3287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRh_fBoqRY3fnKdQLB3NaCzX0lK2JEjpnNhWiCAOb6LH1d4KZ-8t2KHNXIXEtwjFdMLLzKgi6zktsdNz5toq6Ekk0UJcLlD-2sxAWFDRWvpTzB1SBQNwRd6z-rQmKT2hW7m24hVEmRc0t/s320/IMG_3287.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not perfect, but enough to show that the principle works. The ink doesn't adhere extremely well to the stamp, but that might hopefully change over time as the surface get roughened up. Maybe using some fine sandpaper would help as well.<br />
<br />
The stamp handle and "thumbs-up" model can be downloaded here:<br />
<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1052496">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1052496</a><br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-71533760844367129622015-09-20T21:37:00.000+02:002015-09-26T18:36:18.054+02:00Fun with Unreal Engine and VRI've been meaning to try out Unreal Engine ever since it became "free". Recently found some time to do just that. Since I haven't coded any C++ for at least 15 years I was curious to see what was needed to get a basic project up and running - which turns out - no code at all. Blueprint (a node based graph network) and tweaking options was more than enough.<br />
<br />
Since I haven't upgraded my VR rig yet, and still use my old Oculus DK1 I was pleasantly surprised that it worked out of the box with the latest Oculus 0.7 driver and Unreal Engine 4.9 under Windows 7.<br />
<br />
This spring and summer <a href="https://home.otoy.com/">Otoy </a>did a competition called <a href="https://home.otoy.com/vr-competition/winners/">Render The Metaverse</a> and I wanted to view some of the resulting images in VR - since that was the premise of the whole competition. If you own a Gear VR you are in luck, but unfortunately, as far as I have been able to find out, there's no viewer for these stereoscopic cube map images available for the Rift. This was an excellent opportunity to check out how hard it is to develop something in Unreal Engine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVCWaag5WyLlo70z2ZfPc1JuyfVXiAcD8S_ud31nyr3axgs3xLIvtdIQ02ZB75OjSMRKyRtYE_8bX-fgpQz4pVrrm8KNgYNpfYnmSLLM_aWgj1Z_UHiW-t7a40taFMncCI48CdO4iAkI9/s1600/cube.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVCWaag5WyLlo70z2ZfPc1JuyfVXiAcD8S_ud31nyr3axgs3xLIvtdIQ02ZB75OjSMRKyRtYE_8bX-fgpQz4pVrrm8KNgYNpfYnmSLLM_aWgj1Z_UHiW-t7a40taFMncCI48CdO4iAkI9/s320/cube.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singe eye cube mapped</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As it turns out, it's not hard at all. The most difficult part was to have the cube map for the left and right eye - go to the correct eye. The default behavior is to have a texture mapped to a object and then have the engine create a stereo pair out of that which will get the proper depth when viewed in a VR headset. This, of course, will give you a cube with flat surfaces - although with depth for the cube itself. Since the cube maps provided have depth included we need to take special care to only display the relevant texture to each eye.<br />
<br />
The solution here was to create a shader that detects which eye that is being rendered and provide the correct texture. After some searching I found the magic node to be the "ScreenPosition" node. We only need the horizontal component so make sure you add a "BreakOutFloatToComponents" node before feeding the output to the "If" node.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_ZZoJKHap48gIBSO7HU8DmegjEwEzCmKmoZuzN610dJz-6E2PGMQtglo07HapkWjx0kHaWjQmx0I8M6lp69Y2dbT6etXr7MikJYJXak_K9BSKqmv1uzxYIzqeypFU1k_tEwHrdrlHzWI/s1600/graph_network.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_ZZoJKHap48gIBSO7HU8DmegjEwEzCmKmoZuzN610dJz-6E2PGMQtglo07HapkWjx0kHaWjQmx0I8M6lp69Y2dbT6etXr7MikJYJXak_K9BSKqmv1uzxYIzqeypFU1k_tEwHrdrlHzWI/s320/graph_network.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shader graph network</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I also love the "VR Preview" mode in Unreal Engine which lets you test out stuff in the VR goggles easily from within the gui.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnElKG0Dv6EMMGDa3gau2ytLmr_KyuzhGUdO5gi04VOq7QCwtC8xgGbZCx__OYhOJ-x0s6Z1ZS-rK9m86O4zOfIpN2O_nxeVdPkH-AUHBQMFFn4_2uycBSPAhJxepOzOdHHIWt0TI2OtDe/s1600/ovr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnElKG0Dv6EMMGDa3gau2ytLmr_KyuzhGUdO5gi04VOq7QCwtC8xgGbZCx__OYhOJ-x0s6Z1ZS-rK9m86O4zOfIpN2O_nxeVdPkH-AUHBQMFFn4_2uycBSPAhJxepOzOdHHIWt0TI2OtDe/s320/ovr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ouput to VR-goggles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although this solution works really well with the default setup in UE - it remains to bee seen if I can get an even better and more correct result. As it is now, we use the same cube for both textures and this cube is scaled arbitrarily without any thought to real world scale. This might cause issues since the cube itself will be rendered with a depth and then the texture will on it will, in some ways, inherit that depth. That again might work against the depth baked into the stereo cube maps and the result might be a feeling of wrong scale. Therefore we might have to work with the IPD (eye separation) a bit. At this point I'm only guessing, but we might have to set the IPD to 0, but I'm not sure yet.<br />
<br />
Further testing needed.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-4633571883970722102015-07-31T16:33:00.003+02:002015-07-31T16:33:51.522+02:00FABtotum Filament SpoolBack from vacation and found some time to play around with 3D printing again. Made a filament spool that actually fit inside the FABtotum. The STL file can be found on <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:949965">Thingiverse</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJQv6hd_1CYZR4Bm_LgGJtH2-0Cxaj8g4dDpt-LDQ4gwvC5rhn-OwnL8quCOhYeNaGWMXqwBBmM-qRGCdsJEUvvPHUII06HnwJ-KXNx9-2-Pd_sZ6TxafjWhizaMowo58y1e8EjenRx14/s1600/IMG_3060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJQv6hd_1CYZR4Bm_LgGJtH2-0Cxaj8g4dDpt-LDQ4gwvC5rhn-OwnL8quCOhYeNaGWMXqwBBmM-qRGCdsJEUvvPHUII06HnwJ-KXNx9-2-Pd_sZ6TxafjWhizaMowo58y1e8EjenRx14/s320/IMG_3060.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stringing is still an issue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The spool consists of two halves so you need to print the part twice.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFETQTHzr6TK9HHijs4kjOZ3d2Pi-jA7bXSaTAx0irUAbH4DVoyITOi2gHcp5zX9aJ53ViVm9SadLyLoKW1imLcULOSm_F7dTWMfjRhRtK7OW_Ihk2sAI0jOb7M5HOXp8Fh3mWrKhb1py/s1600/IMG_3066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFETQTHzr6TK9HHijs4kjOZ3d2Pi-jA7bXSaTAx0irUAbH4DVoyITOi2gHcp5zX9aJ53ViVm9SadLyLoKW1imLcULOSm_F7dTWMfjRhRtK7OW_Ihk2sAI0jOb7M5HOXp8Fh3mWrKhb1py/s320/IMG_3066.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Test fit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This version of the spool fits nicely within the filament bay, but I'll probably modify the next version to make it a bit thinner. This way there's less chance of friction.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8S-h5lWjXbdi2hi0wAuP_ZWPFoIXmQdTflsGOHHEUFQ13sqqARwDelSMTKZoW5nt7OtaISJBFPDOPysTvxgj5c5VN0QZdTNksicS5VlgzFSExsR8RFsB1RssF6ey_cDglH0AdwDcOVrh/s1600/IMG_3243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8S-h5lWjXbdi2hi0wAuP_ZWPFoIXmQdTflsGOHHEUFQ13sqqARwDelSMTKZoW5nt7OtaISJBFPDOPysTvxgj5c5VN0QZdTNksicS5VlgzFSExsR8RFsB1RssF6ey_cDglH0AdwDcOVrh/s320/IMG_3243.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parts "glued" together with the 3Doodler</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You need to glue the two halves together. I used a 3Doodler for the purpose, but a regular glue gun should do nicely.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipY3FhBwz077P-WYGl30ChXQiHfzYnRT2tOqAREeROZ0Z0jKkJYQSrFuuUbSqhpPcszgFJKO1fWGaWhVZyCSW0OzgYNMJvMgbgDhL3OKY7lL1GeKINLtIEOCwpBK822anGQjD4hGrDWo-k/s1600/IMG_3244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipY3FhBwz077P-WYGl30ChXQiHfzYnRT2tOqAREeROZ0Z0jKkJYQSrFuuUbSqhpPcszgFJKO1fWGaWhVZyCSW0OzgYNMJvMgbgDhL3OKY7lL1GeKINLtIEOCwpBK822anGQjD4hGrDWo-k/s320/IMG_3244.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1lb (about half a kg) of black filament winded.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm not sure how much filament the spool can hold but after adding about half a kg I would guess it could hold at least three times that amount.<br />
<br />
Winding is also something that will have to be addressed in the next version. Maybe some attachment to fit it to a drill.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-9151123511308994312015-06-15T20:02:00.001+02:002015-06-15T20:02:18.931+02:00FABtotum in da houseFinally, after waiting almost nine months, my new 3D printer has arrived!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXC7DVzqAXrVBzFFlNT1FizCEM0rPNJZOva1SMr-65t0F6s-3FO4jFmu2_2PKRr_9d1PzEC3OTCu1jizkgTKlFp1PG0H9f9vR_yWxZL-KCa8-RL-tQp3REmQF6iVM3FHUI5VwVKasgaPF/s1600/IMG_3035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXC7DVzqAXrVBzFFlNT1FizCEM0rPNJZOva1SMr-65t0F6s-3FO4jFmu2_2PKRr_9d1PzEC3OTCu1jizkgTKlFp1PG0H9f9vR_yWxZL-KCa8-RL-tQp3REmQF6iVM3FHUI5VwVKasgaPF/s320/IMG_3035.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.fabtotum.com/">FABtotum</a> is a hybrid machine which does both 4-axis milling and 3D scanning in addition to extruding hot plastic.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSx_LVWpwenMJHpGM7ZF50vPADx27SO45HAc7Z66xHBajFlDTcAzb9HnEZdZh8LoDz1i92bqQj67JbExsrr8EkYBU9ZaP4wkfho956gNfqizGp4c3BqTxDxWfls84cN4TmDU-k0xLg366W/s1600/IMG_3037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSx_LVWpwenMJHpGM7ZF50vPADx27SO45HAc7Z66xHBajFlDTcAzb9HnEZdZh8LoDz1i92bqQj67JbExsrr8EkYBU9ZaP4wkfho956gNfqizGp4c3BqTxDxWfls84cN4TmDU-k0xLg366W/s320/IMG_3037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Back in August last year, when I ordered this machine, I was originally researching new architectures to implement on a new printer build. Then I discovered the FABtotum blog and <a href="http://blog.fabtotum.com/blog/2014/04/04/belts-and-stuff-experiences-to-share/">one</a> page in particular where they discussed different cartesian configurations and their pros and cons. The design decisions seemed really thought through and seeing they had recently finished a successful Indigogo campaign I read up on the rest of the design which also looked solid. It was time to try out a turn-key solution!<br />
<br />
Currently I'm going through the calibration process so time will show if it delivers on it's promise.Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com1Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-81785622957189926872015-06-06T15:56:00.000+02:002015-06-06T15:58:23.431+02:00Explosive plates for VFX<i>Disclaimer: this is a big "do not try this at home"-post as it involves flammable gasses and explosions, so don't! Wait, who am I kidding - you're totally going to try this at home aren't you... just don't say I didn't warn you when you stand there missing an eyebrow!</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloOg9Q_5AslhaW1LWUbdOwsB4rMpY4PNdklurqqgb_FBdVTD2xW3olgCCQ81tBuVwdAj1acOZMuOZIcS26u4HGyw-OmR67sw7YOwVfkRYD0GTAlEF-pEzzeRmxPzss-FGFOhFj9w2u7J-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-01+at+17.49.41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloOg9Q_5AslhaW1LWUbdOwsB4rMpY4PNdklurqqgb_FBdVTD2xW3olgCCQ81tBuVwdAj1acOZMuOZIcS26u4HGyw-OmR67sw7YOwVfkRYD0GTAlEF-pEzzeRmxPzss-FGFOhFj9w2u7J-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-01+at+17.49.41.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Light it up! Watch your fingers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, we recently did a project at <a href="http://www.stripe.no/">work</a> where we needed some fiery effects to spice up a car shot. To be precise we wanted the car, a CG rendered Lamborghini Aventador, to have exhaust flames - and really cool ones at that.<br />
<br />
The usual route would be to create these digitally using a variety of tools, for example Trapcode Particular. As we had just a week and a half to produce the whole spot we had to be creative to make sure we finished on time. That meant going old school and shooting a practical effect in camera - allowing us to bag that particular effect in 20 minutes and focus on the rest of the 3D and compositing instead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vp4G0zeaKN2xWKRTZ_eWCEBhJsZh9MutWRDXd7HL-kJtegZ_gYlXLiLiBhJw8FSLCOPF5ZEpBz5pyIZ3NwY2lcMK3blxMfP2-n4sKdjJCVoWOUPasNH_6hcoxHafUwPC5utrgn9u9ppk/s1600/IMG_3024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vp4G0zeaKN2xWKRTZ_eWCEBhJsZh9MutWRDXd7HL-kJtegZ_gYlXLiLiBhJw8FSLCOPF5ZEpBz5pyIZ3NwY2lcMK3blxMfP2-n4sKdjJCVoWOUPasNH_6hcoxHafUwPC5utrgn9u9ppk/s320/IMG_3024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>What you need</b><br />
1 x small plastic bottle. We used a 33cl bottle from Ramlösa. You can go bigger, but this was plenty to get the effect we were looking for.<br />
1 x refill canister of Butane gas (ie lighter fluid). You probably can use a regular lighter as well, but you'll need more time to fill the bottle.<br />
1 x lighter, preferably the "long nose" or "expanded reach" kind. If you have long matches that'll work as well. The important part is to keep your fingers safe.<br />
1 x roll of gaffer tape to anchor the bottle to something sturdy so it doesn't shoot off when ignited.<br />
1 x needle, nail or piece of steel wire. I used a paper clip.<br />
1 x pliers to hold the poking device (see previous)<br />
1 x camera on tripod<br />
1 x dark room<br />
Enough safety glasses for everyone present<br />
<br />
<b>Construction</b><br />
There's not much too it really. Holding the nail in the pliers heat it using the lighter. Then, quickly, poke a hole in the bottom part of the bottle. You might have to reheat the nail a couple of times to be able to expand the hole so it becomes big enough.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5TKLWBKwX-dmxgEJluyu97Le3Ba-GzHeo8efTj2Mnhz8hmS71L50ELSnDl4DBdaTsmg3FSj7mhoK3fYKTcTFoEw-rLPdlcVMPvzNW6GAVoz3E5ZtsEWW2jsLOLnBiJfb4r3YSAcRNS0n/s1600/IMG_3030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5TKLWBKwX-dmxgEJluyu97Le3Ba-GzHeo8efTj2Mnhz8hmS71L50ELSnDl4DBdaTsmg3FSj7mhoK3fYKTcTFoEw-rLPdlcVMPvzNW6GAVoz3E5ZtsEWW2jsLOLnBiJfb4r3YSAcRNS0n/s320/IMG_3030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just about perfect</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Execution</b><br />
First of all make sure you are in a well ventilated room where there's nothing flammable.<br />
<br />
You'll need something sturdy and heavy enough to fasten the bottle to. This way it won't fly away when you ignite the gas. Gaffer tape is nice to use for the fastening. If you get the matte black kind it can also be used to make sure the bottle doesn't reflect any of the light - making the compositing easier later on.<br />
<br />
Set up your camera and frame your shot. Now we add the gas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpw4bgO64xy9lFcgj61r_CPyhCQfaip-mWx5P7JwvTUNjBIVz-n532fiVWWhTeagiAxMihHk0ytgYiRryLRLF3IzB5aZFb-2sAarCYyzbiGEZ0ReX4RK-6fT5Z_2_hZLmqOnwWzLkSvLI/s1600/IMG_3032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpw4bgO64xy9lFcgj61r_CPyhCQfaip-mWx5P7JwvTUNjBIVz-n532fiVWWhTeagiAxMihHk0ytgYiRryLRLF3IzB5aZFb-2sAarCYyzbiGEZ0ReX4RK-6fT5Z_2_hZLmqOnwWzLkSvLI/s320/IMG_3032.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add a tiny amount of liquid gas (less than a second)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Insert the butane gas nozzle into the hole you made earlier and give it a quick push. You don't need much since it will be liquid when pushing the container down onto the bottle. To much butane will not create a bigger explosion since the air/gas mix will be wrong resulting in no explosion at all. Put the butane canister somewhere safe away from everything.<br />
<br />
Now turn on the camera, turn off the light in the room and set the flame from the lighter to the small where you added the gas. If you got the mix correct you will hear a satisfying pop and see a bluish flame. If not you might try to add some oxygen. A bicycle pump should work. Use the small hole for this as well. Keep going until all the gas has been burned away.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RHU5KCFiXzM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHU5KCFiXzM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
Before trying again you have to add fresh oxygen by using the pump for a little while more. Add more gas, light, retry.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fx2uqWcY1cuDXgSNu10eXEYEsfZYHdPD94Vj9FWsYafO96XZW31KjRl3liOoQ3lRJf2wRrfNlQ4Mklzvk-Z_84VMOQ-mD4_BlWEe-SqtqMX42_HY_8WSzixpUJZ-kV3jVkDN4P-L564A/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-01+at+17.51.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fx2uqWcY1cuDXgSNu10eXEYEsfZYHdPD94Vj9FWsYafO96XZW31KjRl3liOoQ3lRJf2wRrfNlQ4Mklzvk-Z_84VMOQ-mD4_BlWEe-SqtqMX42_HY_8WSzixpUJZ-kV3jVkDN4P-L564A/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-01+at+17.51.16.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ooh, pretty!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Only steps left is to choose best part of shot and add to comp. I'm not going to go into that part here since it's fairly trivial.<br />
<br />
<b>And the final TVC</b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/129785514" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/129785514">Betsafe Gumball (:20 TVC)</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/stripe">STRIPE Studios</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-7618435155315971792015-03-28T12:53:00.001+01:002015-03-28T12:53:13.692+01:00The Slow Regard of Silent Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavru4XzxYzqvILqdWSM6IJ-8py1mmKR5YfSJcBTXZBOWnbxVBUCVQ_GH6C4Wf07VdfH-aotd3rKh_CoVN-P29KWi6tMTkPVwykeDwIpWN5MsKG9iVeESqH6WBiVbmDNC1pnZTMZ1L8ne-/s1600/cover-slow-regard_277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavru4XzxYzqvILqdWSM6IJ-8py1mmKR5YfSJcBTXZBOWnbxVBUCVQ_GH6C4Wf07VdfH-aotd3rKh_CoVN-P29KWi6tMTkPVwykeDwIpWN5MsKG9iVeESqH6WBiVbmDNC1pnZTMZ1L8ne-/s1600/cover-slow-regard_277.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
What a great read! As every great story it leaves you a bit sad at the end - not because the story itself, but because the book has ended and you want to stay in that universe with those characters a little while longer.<br />
<br />
I love the Kingkiller Chronicle's as well, but this book is something else entirely. Mr. Rothfuss wrote in his introduction to the book, and repeated again in the after word, that this book "doesn't do a lot of the things a classic story is supposed to do". That may be, but I don't think it could have been told any other way either. How you tell the story is as much a part of what makes a great story as the story itself.<br />
<br />
This book lands near the top of my favourite book-pile in good company with great storytellers like Neil Gaiman. Five stars easily!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21535271-the-slow-regard-of-silent-things">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21535271-the-slow-regard-of-silent-things</a><br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-77149027607560529902015-03-28T12:48:00.001+01:002015-03-28T12:48:35.713+01:00Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things<br /> <a style='float: left; padding-right: 20px' href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21801768'><img alt='The Slow Regard of Silent Things' border='0' src='http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398466718m/21801768.jpg'/></a><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21801768'>The Slow Regard of Silent Things</a> by <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/108424'>Patrick Rothfuss</a><br/><br /> My rating: <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1236136182'>5 of 5 stars</a><br /> <br/><br/><br /> What a great read! As every great story it leaves you a bit sad at the end - not because the story itself, but because the book has ended and you want to stay in that universe with those characters a little while longer.<br /><br />I love the Kingkiller Chronicle's as well, but this book is something else entirely. Mr. Rothfuss wrote in his introduction to the book, and repeated again in the after word, that this book "doesn't do a lot of the things a classic story is supposed to do". That may be, but I don't think it could have been told any other way either. How you tell the story is as much a part of what makes a great story as the story itself.<br /><br />This book lands near the top of my favourite book-pile in good company with great storytellers like Neil Gaiman. Five stars easily!<br /> <br/><br/><br /> <a href='http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1236136182'>View all my reviews</a><br /> Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-19464779827025310002015-03-22T12:01:00.002+01:002015-03-22T12:01:22.234+01:00Notes on getting a 3D printerSo you've decided to get yourself a 3D printer. Particularly a plastic extruder printer (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling">FDM</a> for short). Should you build it from scratch or rather buy a kit or a pre-made printer?<br />
<br />
I think the first thing you need to decide is whether you want the 3D printer to be the project or if you need a 3D printer for other projects you want to do. If it's the latter I would recommend buying a kit or a pre-made printer since it'll get you up and running quicker and save you hours of frustration. Picking one of the more known brands will also give you a safety net, in the form of support and a fellow user base, if - I mean <i>when</i> something goes wrong. Skip to the end of the article for my thoughts on buying a kit/pre-made printer.<br />
<br />
Should you, however, decide to go down the other rabbit hole and build one from scratch I've compiled a list of my favourite components. For more details check out my previous blog posts. You will need access to a workshop and at least a basic set of tools as well.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Electronics</h3>
There's nothing wrong with the old <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Ramps">RAMPS</a> shield and Marlin (firmware) combo, I've been running it for years. On the other hand it can be a bit limiting when running higher speeds as well as non-cartesian printers. The <a href="http://robotseed.com/index.php?id_product=11&controller=product&id_lang=2">4XC</a> Smoothieboard should be a good pick although I haven't had the opportunity to try it out myself yet (although I do own one).<br />
<br />
As for power the cheapest way is to use an old PC power supply which provides both a 12V and 5V rail. However the heated bed will be a lot faster with a 24V supply. You can find these on ebay.<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/">Raspberry Pi </a>for running the print process isn't a wrong choice either since you then don't have to have a full blown PC or Mac hooked up to your printer and you can instead control everything using a nice web interface in <a href="http://octoprint.org/">OctoPrint</a>. That said, you can in some cases print directly from an SD card, but that depends on your particular electronics. The Smoothieboard also have an LAN option which should eliminate the need for an external computer.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Motors</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.elektrobot.hu/items/990_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.elektrobot.hu/items/990_1.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Most 3D printers, of the desktop variety are based on Nema 17 stepper motors. These can be found on <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40%7CR40&ghostText&_sacat=0&_sop=15&LH_ItemCondition=3&_nkw=nema%2017%20stepper%20motor&rt=nc&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=100&_udhi">ebay</a>. You usually need 3 of these for movement and one for a single extruder.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Extruder / cold end</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.3ders.org/images/bulldog-extruder-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.3ders.org/images/bulldog-extruder-1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I've had great success with the Bulldog Extruder, although the Lite version ended up being too weak (even for 1.75mm filament) so I bought a geared Nema 17 motor to go with it. That's why I'll recommend going with the <a href="http://www.reprapdiscount.com/mechanics/64-bulldog-xl-extruder.html">XL version</a> right away.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Print head / hot end</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://e3d-online.com/image/cache/data/v6/1.75U-1000x1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://e3d-online.com/image/cache/data/v6/1.75U-1000x1000.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E3Dv6 hotend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My current setup is a <a href="http://e3d-online.com/E3D-v6">E3D-v6 print head</a> which is an all-metal hotend. I like it quite a bit and it is the one I would recommend, but I've also owned a <a href="https://www.hotends.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=88">J-Head Mk V</a> which I quite liked. The latter "melted" on me so remember adding active cooling if you choose to use one.<br />
<br />
The E3D hotend can be tricky to get working properly, but my solution to this was to beef up the extruder (see above) and add lubrication to the filament. This is easy, stick the filament through a small piece of kitchen sponge, before you feed it through the extruder, and drip a couple drops of mineral oil / canola oil on the sponge. This will have the added effect of making sure the filament is dust free which also helps prevent clogging of the nozzle. I would recommend a <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:492067">holder</a> for the sponge since you don't want it dragged into the extruder :)<br />
<br />
On another note printing with 1.75mm filament would, in my opinion, be the way to go for a new printer. Also for first timers start with PLA plastic and work your way up to other, more challenging, plastics from there.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Print bed</h3>
If you plan to print PLA I would, however, recommend adding a print surface on top of the heater. You could of course print on glass, Kapton or blue painters tape, but I've had the most success with the <a href="http://printinz.com/printer-plates/">PRINTinZ</a> printer plate so I would recommend checking that out.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRct5R3oCDNsN2uN0GjFGIxgRzfMl_qja34-awww39IMq_dXryMFc-ccLCA1jTtVxaClDYnVIUKUJuh73AXtOEZ2o_dEHGgPGt6jZRNeTGzMvs2WekJzwXFRlq0hQpMlcBObTOGoVhUkYj/s1600/blogger-image-2104934377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRct5R3oCDNsN2uN0GjFGIxgRzfMl_qja34-awww39IMq_dXryMFc-ccLCA1jTtVxaClDYnVIUKUJuh73AXtOEZ2o_dEHGgPGt6jZRNeTGzMvs2WekJzwXFRlq0hQpMlcBObTOGoVhUkYj/s1600/blogger-image-2104934377.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First attempt at creating a heated bed using regular glass and Kanthal wire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And yes, I would recommend getting a heated print bed. Although you can print without heating the PRINTinZ plate I have discovered that heating it to around 40C will help lessen warping. I made the heating platform myself, but it's probably easier and safer to get a pre-made one. Here you need to decide if you'll use a 12V or 24V system before buying. Apart from that I don't have much advice to give since you need to find a size that fits your planned printer. A delta printer, for one, would need a round print bed.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Which style of 3D printer to go for</h3>
There are several types of designs to choose from. The difference mainly being the mechanics and not so much the hardware, electronics and software. The main contenders are:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Reprap_Darwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Reprap_Darwin.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RepRap v1.0 (Darwin)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Cartesian printers</i> were the first DIY 3D printers to come out and it consists of a moving print-bed (usually the X axis, sideways) as well as the Z-axis (up and down) combined with a print head that moves on the Y axis.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/0/07/Rostock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://reprap.org/mediawiki/images/0/07/Rostock.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rostock delta printer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Delta printers</i> - based on the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Rostock">Rostock</a> design came next. Here you have three linear actuators that controls the position of the print head which leaves the object to be printed stationary. Having a very light print head makes these printers extremely fast and they can have a relatively large build area.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.corexy.com/reference.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.corexy.com/reference.png" height="320" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CoreXY reference mechanism.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>H-Bot, Core-XY</i>, or their derivatives, are similar in construction to the cartesian printers, but instead of moving the print bed (apart from the Z axis) you only move the print head - which means faster movement.<br />
<br />
Starting from scratch today I would definitely go for one of the latter two designs. There are several reasons, but the main one is print quality. If you at some point need to print very high and thin parts avoiding any movement of the object being printed is good as it will flex and could ultimately come loose from the print surface.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Buying a ready made / kit printer</h3>
I have no experience with these printers myself, but I would choose one of these should I order order one myself - which I have in the case of the Fabtotum.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://store.fabtotum.com//assets/img/3colors.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://store.fabtotum.com//assets/img/3colors.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fabtotum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://www.fabtotum.com/">Fabtotum</a>: I ended up ordering one of these back in August when originally researching mechanics for a new printer. I still haven't received it, but I expect it delivered within a couple of months if nothing unforeseen happens. This is a coreXY derivative which also has a 5 axis CNC mill, laser scanner and contact probe. Seems like a solid and thought through design. It arrives fully assembled.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/rRKRSVP35MuJ5G9Nh04I4zOkw3kdPzRLVNHOKBZ7ePyDXsR3hbN7LA5K75knHbQicl8pISrfh4yr-5dcXyUrmbwQYw=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/rRKRSVP35MuJ5G9Nh04I4zOkw3kdPzRLVNHOKBZ7ePyDXsR3hbN7LA5K75knHbQicl8pISrfh4yr-5dcXyUrmbwQYw=s640" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rostock MAX v2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As for a kit / delta printer it currently stands between the <a href="http://www.matterhackers.com/store/printer-kits/openbeam-kossel-pro">OpenBeam Kossel Pro</a> and the <a href="http://www.matterhackers.com/store/printer-kits/seemecnc-rostock-max-v2-3d-printer-kit-complete-kit">SeeMeCNC Rostock MAX v2</a>. Both looks good on paper and the latter one comes in a bit cheaper at $999 US.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Disclaimer</h3>
These are my personal opinions and experiences. For all I know some of them might be flat out wrong so any corrections or additions will be appreciated.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-10765022436454810602015-03-20T18:44:00.002+01:002015-03-20T18:44:44.203+01:00V-Ray for Blender under Linux<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXsi9rYFykdIM7GsLd_Nupf8GUESLIQ2FNM8UphNekyvQc_9a5mfiEFLrXeN0UWqPD4KK55lEWsKVELLEF3Hffy5VdJ5HBF2Cjh4FVBCTx1zT6P_B9T8_p9KpuIadlD9PL6AI2FNhxwQe/s1600/vraytest.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXsi9rYFykdIM7GsLd_Nupf8GUESLIQ2FNM8UphNekyvQc_9a5mfiEFLrXeN0UWqPD4KK55lEWsKVELLEF3Hffy5VdJ5HBF2Cjh4FVBCTx1zT6P_B9T8_p9KpuIadlD9PL6AI2FNhxwQe/s1600/vraytest.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold my fantastic 3D skillz...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The other day I discovered that <a href="http://www.chaosgroup.com/en/2/vray_blender.html">V-Ray</a> 3 had become available for, the open source 3D software, <a href="http://www.blender.org/">Blender</a> and thought that would be neat to try out. At <a href="http://www.stripe.no/">work</a> we primarily rely on Autodesk Maya as the primary 3D software.<br />
<br />
Since t<a href="http://help.chaosgroup.com/vray/help/blender/quick_start.htm">he official install instructions</a> were a bit lacking for linux I thought I should write up how I got it working on Ubuntu Mate 14.10. First of all, unlike OS X and Windows, there's no install file on linux. I suggest reading through the Chaos Group instructions anyway since I'll skip the obvious parts here.<br />
<br />
Start by installing V-Ray 3 standalone. <a href="http://www.blender.org/download/">Download</a> the latest Blender (I used v2.73a) and the appropriate V-Ray plugin.<br />
<br />
Unpack the Blender files wherever you like, I just kept everything on my desktop since this was just a test. You then need to extract the V-Ray plugin to it's own directory. Don't worry this will only be temporary since the next step is to copy all files (including the custom blender binary) into the blender folders you created in the first step.<br />
<br />
A drag and drop copy didn't work for me and I ended up using the rsync command in terminal to get it to work properly like this:<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">rsync -rav ./vray_plugin_directory/ ./blender_program_directory/</span><br />
Obviously you should change the directory names in this example.<br />
<br />
That's it. Now you should be able to fire up Blender by using the new binary file.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-58149223768215151052015-03-19T22:54:00.001+01:002015-03-19T22:54:09.362+01:00Back againSo it's been a while. Been way to busy with work, and life in general, to do any projects/blogging, but hopefully there will be more interesting stuff here in the time ahead.<br />
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First order of business; change the name of the blog. This is something I've been thinking about forever, but the right name never presented itself. Gave up on finding something clever or something perfectly describing the blog - since it's mostly random anyway. Welcome to "Relax, in theory this should be perfectly safe...". Let's see how true that is...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyBabf8XxRPW7vX55e9VVTYTXfVb0SBRpiMKSc0dMGb3fKg7dBPsLVpt3i1CpQZeVDH65CeK_96w7_2HlZNtc0SUB6y_j4wYizL_-AMINl1VVei6-v9A4J5U9hI93esAYPKdng1c5eNd0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-19+at+22.53.03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyBabf8XxRPW7vX55e9VVTYTXfVb0SBRpiMKSc0dMGb3fKg7dBPsLVpt3i1CpQZeVDH65CeK_96w7_2HlZNtc0SUB6y_j4wYizL_-AMINl1VVei6-v9A4J5U9hI93esAYPKdng1c5eNd0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-19+at+22.53.03.png" height="196" width="320" /></a></div>
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On another note I've been following <a href="http://www.roadtovr.com/">the VR news</a> pretty closely lately - since HTC released their new headset, the <a href="http://www.htcvr.com/">Vive</a>, together with <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/universe/vr/">Valve</a>. Up until now it's pretty much been Oculus and their development kits / prototypes, but the Vive seems to have quite a few interesting features - particularly the freedom of moving around instead of the seated experience the Rift gives you. As for myself that gets motion sickness extremely easy on the DK1 that's something to look forward to since I believe this will help greatly.<br />
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There's also the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rotovr/roto-taking-virtual-reality-to-the-next-level?ref=users">Roto</a> which might help in that regard. Too early to say how much it helps, but it would be fun to try out - even try to build myself. There's a kickstarter up for the Roto which ends in 28 days.<br />
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I also received two new Raspberry Pi 2's recently. Apart from installing Raspbian and Octoprint I haven't done much, but plan to use one to drive my 3D printer at least. This should have two advantages; hopefully I can get rid of the USB hub which is needed to power the Arduino Mega and it will have more processing power/RAM so that I can hook up a camera. The latter has of course been possible for a long time, but I've been running the original Pi model B which had only 256MB of RAM so I didn't want to use resources on anything else than Octoprint.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-51771649005754314292014-09-28T16:23:00.002+02:002014-09-28T16:23:56.152+02:00Playing around with decalsI came over some very cool wings in vector / eps format at <a href="http://4vector.com/free-vector/totem-variety-of-wings-vector-6341">4vector.com</a> and thought it would be a cool way to make my girlfriends laptop look spiffy.<br />
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Silhouette Studio, which comes with the vinyl cutter, is a bit finicky about which formats it will import so prep consists of opening the original eps in Illustrator and saving out an dxf file (Autodesk Autocad format).<br />
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The rest is easy, load up the file, scale to desired size and hit "print".<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZOhWgMbBDAz41W00_BYhwXwGlHnk_RlwIIyooZdEZiCAhtRP-RYSNWwVF3hKfXvbU0LcHpZxPUJV9EZP1vLPIGta-5t4Jwm0PdQbf8gof4gvUmaL2fsE8d7dbHVAQHg0tlcs5sBCcfH7/s1600/IMG_2762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZOhWgMbBDAz41W00_BYhwXwGlHnk_RlwIIyooZdEZiCAhtRP-RYSNWwVF3hKfXvbU0LcHpZxPUJV9EZP1vLPIGta-5t4Jwm0PdQbf8gof4gvUmaL2fsE8d7dbHVAQHg0tlcs5sBCcfH7/s1600/IMG_2762.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superfluous vinyl removed</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuG-EDIO-m2wbKzx9xFMa72UaBPbFq6hrp4lCIWJ8BbWYPiDTAf3OxH2cA3p0pePjS2ylkYRXAzBKAkjl5fSkbihe-T-N0PZ-VVpQjKCGmGtLZvDnJ4eq6RvacLgidqNtsbnupLyuP75vS/s1600/IMG_2763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuG-EDIO-m2wbKzx9xFMa72UaBPbFq6hrp4lCIWJ8BbWYPiDTAf3OxH2cA3p0pePjS2ylkYRXAzBKAkjl5fSkbihe-T-N0PZ-VVpQjKCGmGtLZvDnJ4eq6RvacLgidqNtsbnupLyuP75vS/s1600/IMG_2763.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transfer paper added</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsajEo09cMckqSVPj1wt5cbrNZyq1KA9FtimgLT4kC-YBKSTRJvbBTGIGfhAmS4NBewvZqyOsGNal1mKPh4YqHm1PUnFoaMoHD8vJ-dE7SRyD0yxp4t3bDehftLfRCSJmVkSt21QCCFWIg/s1600/IMG_2765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsajEo09cMckqSVPj1wt5cbrNZyq1KA9FtimgLT4kC-YBKSTRJvbBTGIGfhAmS4NBewvZqyOsGNal1mKPh4YqHm1PUnFoaMoHD8vJ-dE7SRyD0yxp4t3bDehftLfRCSJmVkSt21QCCFWIg/s1600/IMG_2765.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final result on the laptop</td></tr>
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The hardest part were actually to remove the vinyl with backing from the cutting mat, which is super sticky, so I'll have to work a bit on that to avoid ruining the artwork.<br />
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I'm pretty happy with the result, but in retrospect I would probably spend a little time changing the design a bit, making it higher, to create more space around the Apple logo. Oh, well, next time...<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-50224637718761951712014-09-19T18:18:00.003+02:002014-09-19T18:18:48.881+02:00Good news for Virtual Reality: VR Direct<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/PR/emeai/images/geforce-gtx-900-series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/PR/emeai/images/geforce-gtx-900-series.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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I just read up on the latest release from NVidia, GeForce GTX 980 (and 970) which is the first high end graphics card based on the Maxwell architecture, and there are some really great news to help mitigate latency and increase realism when using VR goggles.<br />
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As previously discussed, in the blog post <a href="http://blog.atleberg.com/2013/03/maximizing-performance-for-vr.html" target="_blank">maximizing performance for VR</a>, there hasn't really been a way to use NVidia SLI (multiple graphics cards) to increase the performance/quality when doing VR. The main reason for this is that by default SLI added at least one frame of latency - which is too much. And having low latency is crucial to getting good immersion. With their new VR-SLI they have found a way to let each GPU render one eye, which then will be combined and sent to the display.<br />
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Another great feature they have implemented is Asynchronous Warp - a technique first suggested by John Carmack I believe. There's a host of smaller improvements, but the last of the big ones are a low latency mode which reduced the OS latency from 15ms to 5ms.<br />
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More can be read in <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/8526/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-review/5" target="_blank">AnandTechs analysis</a> of the new cards.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-67067940574913517762014-08-31T19:36:00.003+02:002014-08-31T19:36:53.384+02:00Artsy thingy: check!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdh8IiqRdThnlYBXQrbPn9IX98dOno7GvmAEJM-GSjk0Fnl9JY0C2ae_Bh6Q-wdA1b638dujzBfw6gqtYik7eCNU00YwcqvWVUUhRy5wf1A03nX2yVJV7r5RjWxbvrymaD9L3teLLew50/s1600/IMG_2732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdh8IiqRdThnlYBXQrbPn9IX98dOno7GvmAEJM-GSjk0Fnl9JY0C2ae_Bh6Q-wdA1b638dujzBfw6gqtYik7eCNU00YwcqvWVUUhRy5wf1A03nX2yVJV7r5RjWxbvrymaD9L3teLLew50/s1600/IMG_2732.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I guess it had to be done at some point. Artsy print, accomplished. <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:446124" target="_blank">Twisted flower vase</a> by <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/Yellasing/about" target="_blank">Yellasing</a>.<br />
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Came out pretty good considering I had to scale it down to around 30% of the original size.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-65778477349604066712014-08-09T19:43:00.000+02:002014-08-09T19:43:28.184+02:00PRINTinZ printer plate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On another note; I'm extremely pleased with the printer plate from <a href="http://printinz.com/" target="_blank">PRINTinZ</a>. I'm using the <a href="http://printinz.com/140mm-x-140mm-printer-plate/" target="_blank">140x140 mm printer plate</a> which fits my printable area quite nicely.</div>
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The prints stick extremely well to the surface even when printing cold (PLA). Although too little clearance between the hotend and the surface might have it stick too well on thinner prints so be careful.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFR7lfIkT8OXnEWaFEjy3P1Y6NuYUNEAlW_3tG3pBhSij9HUy81PdCLpRSJP-JodBReRS1w6B1SQ1SL79X5YQmGXlH8-Z8msK00lEkvbeQKiWtzWmSUeplAYYaqwk7xPBhgYyYU1_RN8x/s1600/IMG_2720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFR7lfIkT8OXnEWaFEjy3P1Y6NuYUNEAlW_3tG3pBhSij9HUy81PdCLpRSJP-JodBReRS1w6B1SQ1SL79X5YQmGXlH8-Z8msK00lEkvbeQKiWtzWmSUeplAYYaqwk7xPBhgYyYU1_RN8x/s320/IMG_2720.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Failed print, not because of the printer plate though.</td></tr>
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It is great to be able to lift out the whole printer plate instead of having to fiddle inside the printer when removing the print. Detaching the print from the plate is surprisingly easy. Instead of having to use a sharp knife you just twist and bend the plate and the print pops right off - as long as it's not too flexible.</div>
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The above part is 120mm in diameter and that's the biggest footprint I've managed to print to date. Previously the parts would always pop off before the print was done - even with a heated print-bed and using kapton or blue tape.</div>
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A funny thing is that when I removed the plate and placed it on the table, before removing the part, it was quite warped by the print. The finished part is a bit warped, but in this case it won't matter, but it's something I'll have to look into in the future.</div>
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Having dialed in the new <a href="http://e3d-online.com/E3D-v6" target="_blank">E3D v6</a> hotend the new setup is starting to look quite nice - best quality prints so far :)</div>
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Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com1Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-37241429467128302712014-08-09T15:52:00.001+02:002014-08-09T16:12:58.318+02:00The quantum mechanics of 3D printersSometimes it would one could believe 3D printer have quantum properties. You have to actively observe it to get the expected result. Whenever you look away something goes wrong...Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-62136347792568254182014-04-06T11:31:00.000+02:002014-04-06T11:31:52.090+02:00A Calendar of TalesI kind of rediscovered Neil Gaimans "<a href="http://acalendaroftales.com/" target="_blank">A Calendar of Tales</a>" project today. I've read all the <a href="http://acalendaroftales.com/uploads/files/COT_E_BOOK.pdf" target="_blank">stories</a> before, but not seen the videos: which are too good not to share. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-82430727153837695292014-03-17T20:46:00.001+01:002014-03-17T20:46:43.730+01:00Another RebuildIt seems most of the posts on this blog has been about me rebuilding my 3D printer. Well, hopefully this will be the last one in a while as I have several other projects that are in need of parts and I'd rather spend time on them than on another teardown/rebuild.<br />
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I were quite happy with the performance on my previous extruder mechanism, although it was supposed to be temporary. Combined with the J-Head I got very nice prints for a while.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27GuWFmAKdc/UyapbUsnMwI/AAAAAAAAD9o/Mo8cZqFf3uQ/s1600/IMG_2244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27GuWFmAKdc/UyapbUsnMwI/AAAAAAAAD9o/Mo8cZqFf3uQ/s1600/IMG_2244.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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When the extruder broke down I tried a couple of e-bay replacements but did not quite get the performance (or fit with my printer) I was looking for. At the same time the J-Head started acting up (leakage and stuff) so I needed to find a replacement for that as well.<br />
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After a bit of research I ended up buying a Bulldog Lite Extruder from their <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bulldog-extruder-project" target="_blank">Indiegogo</a> campaign and was pleasantly surprised that they shipped them right away with no waiting at all. Although a bit heavy it's beautifully machined and well put together. The "Lite" comes without the gearbox which makes it a bit lighter, but is only suitable for 1.75mm filament. Secondly I ordered the <a href="http://e3d-online.com/E3D-HotEnds/E3D-V5-1.75mm-Direct-All-Metal-HotEnd" target="_blank">E3D v5 hotend</a> which has gotten great reviews. Going with an all-metal-hotend made sense this time around since there's no peek or PTFE that can melt/be deformed.<br />
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One thing about about the Bulldog / E3D combo that isn't perfect is the mating between the two. They are both fabricated to follow the J-Head "standard" so you can just slide the stem into the extruder, but there's quite a bit of slack along the z-axis so I made some shims out of regular plastic. 4 of these did the trick.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X-4k-GVCCRQ/UyansNh9hqI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/RlvDi6Q2u7w/s1600/IMG_2241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X-4k-GVCCRQ/UyansNh9hqI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/RlvDi6Q2u7w/s1600/IMG_2241.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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It took me a while to get everything put together, as I also switched the printer firmware from my stock Sprinter firmware, delivered with the SUMPOD, over to the latest <a href="https://github.com/ErikZalm/Marlin" target="_blank">Marlin</a>.<br />
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Now I finally have a working printer again. And I must say, I'm very pleased with the quality of the prints as well as the new functionality in Marlin. The printer even sounds better!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80beSvjc8kLAI6UEj0Xx0imtPG-Rk5qnBuaM0UBD_7uspyNDpCfwj1z6NL9hq9nTyPMpbmIO51FaCfDW3Nwjgb-U6rzXwWfk6ej1Yw8hp6ge9UgI9EZxpX2PXJDjiqADrgwerFG7dJMTY/s1600/IMG_2246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80beSvjc8kLAI6UEj0Xx0imtPG-Rk5qnBuaM0UBD_7uspyNDpCfwj1z6NL9hq9nTyPMpbmIO51FaCfDW3Nwjgb-U6rzXwWfk6ej1Yw8hp6ge9UgI9EZxpX2PXJDjiqADrgwerFG7dJMTY/s1600/IMG_2246.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2fNrQg3gyOn60XQtHhMuyp5VW5o2VfArxe6tvgn_HsxIeJTSRINo3A8PHuccAr3fqEYUA3jXhoviZc1DnfkGANshtuJe1w8uig38kQiVTVe_2Znw2sVSZSYgGVpk-NTW1QDlat1LTeHm/s1600/IMG_2250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2fNrQg3gyOn60XQtHhMuyp5VW5o2VfArxe6tvgn_HsxIeJTSRINo3A8PHuccAr3fqEYUA3jXhoviZc1DnfkGANshtuJe1w8uig38kQiVTVe_2Znw2sVSZSYgGVpk-NTW1QDlat1LTeHm/s1600/IMG_2250.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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My first print were a camera stand for one of my Raspberry Pi's. This print was sliced with .3 mm layer height so it's a bit rough, but I opted for speed before beauty this time. I've made the design available on <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:274111" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a> as well.<br />
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Until next time!Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-40285904660562146212013-11-27T08:17:00.000+01:002013-11-27T08:32:03.165+01:00Lunar Fligt vs The Rift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='462' height='260' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1EOM7Sp0Wks?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I hereby declare <a href="http://www.shovsoft.com/lunarflight/" target="_blank">Lunar Flight</a> to be my favorite Rift experience. It has by far been the best and most pleasant (read: least nauseating) experience. That might also have to do with me finally getting around to calibrating the correct IPD (inter pupillary distance) for my Rift.<br />
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Most likely the slow movement of the lunar lander and the static cockpit around the player is the main contributor in my case.<br />
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I really like that you can look around the cockpit as well - and when you look directly at a button you can activate it by pressin Y on the controller which is nice.<br />
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At first I tried to hook up the <a href="http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/spacenavigator.html" target="_blank">SpaceNavigator</a>, which would be perfect for this, but it seems a bug in Unity only let's me register one axes (Z-) so until that's fixed I have to rely on the Logitech F710 gamepad.<br />
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However; it's not an easy game/simulator - so far no success, only crashes.<br />
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Now if I could only get to try out the famed <a href="http://evevalkyrie.com/" target="_blank">Eve Valkyrie</a> demo...<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-20568640233146227722013-05-09T18:22:00.000+02:002013-05-09T18:23:32.406+02:00New Spool HolderI had some 8 mm carbon rods laying around and figured my 3D printer needed an upgrade for the spool holder. The rods are nice and long (50 cm each) and I originally intended them for a quad copter build, but I found rc-helicopter tail-rotors made of aluminum to be a better fit for that project.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkzkA4r911IXCRqNd9tKmKOYeepg9yyKVtWLkrrKPtbgpjmT889-8xctBgDc9FU14snzB3SAnSmr9V-O1UIoZUg6F1SIPn6azQwiZFJEKCiASZsNbLZMhyphenhyphencNvdGN4V6aGJAoVJKBoU3e-/s1600/10438030-AF74-4E4C-9C93-F7B85081A5B6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkzkA4r911IXCRqNd9tKmKOYeepg9yyKVtWLkrrKPtbgpjmT889-8xctBgDc9FU14snzB3SAnSmr9V-O1UIoZUg6F1SIPn6azQwiZFJEKCiASZsNbLZMhyphenhyphencNvdGN4V6aGJAoVJKBoU3e-/s320/10438030-AF74-4E4C-9C93-F7B85081A5B6.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished contraption.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The whole printer/spool holder assembly is quite high, but it saves space on the table at least. It's this high by design since the y-axis moves back and forth and having a bit of distance between the print head and the spool is good in that case.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDAfyZ4s7Djob8V7mhUQqpVXt2BeXldoZ0oUUXq-X-7gDlxvzMD7ICZafknk9ySpLt0hejAdA8XbozK1yqe-yEbbY8igUnbmMBfHWr7-07GPSo8QpaLwUtP87n_qn7FaqJd23PmNgfy3q/s1600/174B6CC5-0C4E-45A3-B519-FEA3971708F6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDAfyZ4s7Djob8V7mhUQqpVXt2BeXldoZ0oUUXq-X-7gDlxvzMD7ICZafknk9ySpLt0hejAdA8XbozK1yqe-yEbbY8igUnbmMBfHWr7-07GPSo8QpaLwUtP87n_qn7FaqJd23PmNgfy3q/s320/174B6CC5-0C4E-45A3-B519-FEA3971708F6.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closeup of the spool holder.</td></tr>
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For the center rod I used a threaded rod. This makes the centering of the bearings easier and also adds to the stability by allowing us to tighten the hold around the bracket from the vertical rod a bit.<br />
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Oh, and it rolls so much better than my <a href="http://blog.atleberg.com/2012/06/sumpod-printing.html" target="_blank">last try</a>. The design can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:86392" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a>.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-21039420450577479492013-04-30T19:51:00.001+02:002013-04-30T19:51:07.527+02:00Rift: Day twoYesterday I got <a href="http://www.unrealengine.com/udk/" target="_blank">UDK</a> up and running and took <a href="http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/mobile/epic_citadel/" target="_blank">Epic Citadel</a> for a spin. Enabling the Rift was as easy as running the level from the editor, open the console (by pressing "~") and typing the following "stereo on" and "hmdwarp on".<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkb-WCW-INqQQpkg2Rd0PoXFpUGZuqohZdDpNEwU-kqFvH9mPCyia_0IlNCGaRhEbwR7OZeOB99ShaDDHJ8ufSy6vROrWx5TrrP22Nq-rFjLsxITy8HgN_fPWra_hexF1HJxkFPZeTzbDO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+19.40.42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkb-WCW-INqQQpkg2Rd0PoXFpUGZuqohZdDpNEwU-kqFvH9mPCyia_0IlNCGaRhEbwR7OZeOB99ShaDDHJ8ufSy6vROrWx5TrrP22Nq-rFjLsxITy8HgN_fPWra_hexF1HJxkFPZeTzbDO/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+19.40.42.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Console in the UDK</td></tr>
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Tracking, it seems, was enabled out of the box so nothing else was needed.<br />
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The verdict? It kicks ass! The graphics, even though they are made for phones, are very impressive on the Rift. My motion sickness took longer to set in as well. I don't know if it is because I'm starting to get used to the experience, but what helps, for me at least, is to close my eyes when I move around with the mouse - since that is what confuses the senses. Moving back and forth along the direction I look in is not a big issue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IScfEJ2tbABbkcOUUs2wIFTsWKR42lc8pd2Xe_5x3g550YLs6ZECu1oyTg1qFGtpHWNRp2yOht04WS0nPqNx6l1zUXgQ3EYOu4g7uAO9IRBUUiYK7ShXpmL5gn2WNNFE-85qRw5w4Yy7/s1600/epic_citadel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IScfEJ2tbABbkcOUUs2wIFTsWKR42lc8pd2Xe_5x3g550YLs6ZECu1oyTg1qFGtpHWNRp2yOht04WS0nPqNx6l1zUXgQ3EYOu4g7uAO9IRBUUiYK7ShXpmL5gn2WNNFE-85qRw5w4Yy7/s320/epic_citadel.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Having two monitors when working with the Rift isn't necessarily the optimal solution since there are issues with vsync apparently. What happens is that you'll get tearing on one of the displays - and that might as well be the headset. Which is something you would like to avoid.<br />
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Since I have an iMac on my desk already I figured I'd just install a VNC server on the Windows machine and only have the Rift attached to the graphics card. That way I can control the menus/desktop with a VNC client and then close the connection before I put the headset on. Works like a charm! :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2cbUhfAMcE26qh2s4W6cFN5rkkkvUu-SHwWNN7Z_1VP12XkAUp2f-LDRAH45HI1DG49XDqkEta7yeHgqm_MlSSeeUudYve8OSpB5QqKndIO0O3WbTVaNg3STdC-53tO83gnfpHmuzsUw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+19.39.24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2cbUhfAMcE26qh2s4W6cFN5rkkkvUu-SHwWNN7Z_1VP12XkAUp2f-LDRAH45HI1DG49XDqkEta7yeHgqm_MlSSeeUudYve8OSpB5QqKndIO0O3WbTVaNg3STdC-53tO83gnfpHmuzsUw/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+19.39.24.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VNC to the rescue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don't think the flavor of VNC server matters much, but I opted for <a href="http://www.realvnc.com/" target="_blank">RealVNC</a> myself.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-3469060850771321252013-04-30T19:33:00.001+02:002013-04-30T19:33:48.798+02:00Largest print yetI finished a 15-hour print yesterday. As it didn't finish Sunday, we had cinema tickets and I really don't want the printer to be running when I'm not in the room, I had to pause it and continue yesterday.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLkWibho_9CyHEo6WRcRJ9tCF224vtifyqL3GhydSGj4QCTKGiJE8CCYwSaMJ596OxPRGRfcWtvfNRJnQqSg4qd1LLp45kbdXW8iceWLlE0sFGJSIcUFISf4EeAnztqKgmahlX5hTqb31/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+17.40.46.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLkWibho_9CyHEo6WRcRJ9tCF224vtifyqL3GhydSGj4QCTKGiJE8CCYwSaMJ596OxPRGRfcWtvfNRJnQqSg4qd1LLp45kbdXW8iceWLlE0sFGJSIcUFISf4EeAnztqKgmahlX5hTqb31/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-30+at+17.40.46.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Designed in Autodesk Inventor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pausing the print didn't pose a problem, except for the operator error. I wanted to increase the distance between the print head and the part, while the head cooled down, and indadvertedly pressed move z 10 mm in the wrong direction... The print head buried itself well and good into the model, but when I reversed the direction the damage wasn't too bad. After a bit of cleanup the next day I could continue the print. Kinda lucky there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7r_BfaiMh5Gqqqb6aYapjLAetW4v-xez3QpelsU4pXZPs8EEXFQuaKtzNF54wx07iCA_nsimaqSNLVOrpuGgRV7VlobPxdBk3DEg3kNed3VQiaaM9fDTF1hV0vvo5fYmWFKgPIM5Lw9b7/s1600/20072CB2-E083-4D69-9B3A-7014C1259D87.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7r_BfaiMh5Gqqqb6aYapjLAetW4v-xez3QpelsU4pXZPs8EEXFQuaKtzNF54wx07iCA_nsimaqSNLVOrpuGgRV7VlobPxdBk3DEg3kNed3VQiaaM9fDTF1hV0vvo5fYmWFKgPIM5Lw9b7/s320/20072CB2-E083-4D69-9B3A-7014C1259D87.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The print came out pretty good, except for two layers around the point where I paused and that's totally my fault. By being more careful I'm sure pausing a print will cause no artifacts in the future.<br />
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This print took quite a while and I'm pretty sure I can increase the print speed since it clocks in at about 14 mm/sec at the moment. If only there was an option in Slic3r where it would speed up on longer stretches and then slow down around bends or where it goes back and forth rapidly. One for the wish list.<br />
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Oh, and what is it you might ask? Its a new stepper motor holder for the y-axis on my Sumpod.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com1Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-13236807882428269162013-04-28T20:24:00.000+02:002013-04-28T20:24:02.063+02:00Oculus Rift: First ImpressionsThis Monday UPS delivered my Oculus Rift - which were a pleasant surprise since it's still, as of today, which is Sunday, listed as "Processing for delivery" on my account page on the Oculus web site.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLfxslgWLZdj2RerhBNeA-vGcyfOzjMqM_GJ0TV3BdW-sHI_dn37zjy8n9-peFIJfo9Rwx0qXpIB9qVejA6ZE98EWw761dcr7RqvmMqApWPAPPuAcstQ8zrzZASoeP5no6N3NbwYOWEr5/s1600/2A6B2474-AF6B-4828-AB83-13970743DA56.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLfxslgWLZdj2RerhBNeA-vGcyfOzjMqM_GJ0TV3BdW-sHI_dn37zjy8n9-peFIJfo9Rwx0qXpIB9qVejA6ZE98EWw761dcr7RqvmMqApWPAPPuAcstQ8zrzZASoeP5no6N3NbwYOWEr5/s320/2A6B2474-AF6B-4828-AB83-13970743DA56.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shipping box.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00xCKCX6ujrM6NzBC9hu6mjXt2Oix9NIQB97TKnRJI6Qme9pD_sk-phhTg9_la_RmD6m9xcxVSU_ns7I7AHmui8WvcSSuIk3dxG5zLlVxjt0ZjQkyf7t1lJceEgaGLzpcn0GLAGA_ZIKo/s1600/490B5AD4-305C-42D8-9A56-C4CEB39FF24D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00xCKCX6ujrM6NzBC9hu6mjXt2Oix9NIQB97TKnRJI6Qme9pD_sk-phhTg9_la_RmD6m9xcxVSU_ns7I7AHmui8WvcSSuIk3dxG5zLlVxjt0ZjQkyf7t1lJceEgaGLzpcn0GLAGA_ZIKo/s320/490B5AD4-305C-42D8-9A56-C4CEB39FF24D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice and sturdy packaging.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3sJbnhlVGv4vdcDOuh3cK46oYA9IPpYLN0yqfnA8JJPv9mQZ7a8N7V1gydZqhA7PglhcSbXZRhoB8h8CIcc0orwFmq6V2sMGha3EZl1vfwIYuyvg4i9IXHyWkPqPcIwNrtA73GUrFNeH/s1600/1BD95840-E5DA-47A4-B771-855AA0188ABA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3sJbnhlVGv4vdcDOuh3cK46oYA9IPpYLN0yqfnA8JJPv9mQZ7a8N7V1gydZqhA7PglhcSbXZRhoB8h8CIcc0orwFmq6V2sMGha3EZl1vfwIYuyvg4i9IXHyWkPqPcIwNrtA73GUrFNeH/s320/1BD95840-E5DA-47A4-B771-855AA0188ABA.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High product value going on here. Even if it's "just" a developers kit. Me like :)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2Evn1Qy5PDZPlBwkxLRBzy_gadDRlSMv6Np0x3EbpDuqe7_kdgqkyvKCjnE7xKtln4zzwFwQHEwH73HG3E5hB66TTojmS1s_Grv4ZmwvMI4jDJCxoDy_ZTfbLjTYLGJjPEZnSjeCQhxN/s1600/FCAA78AB-BA91-421C-96C1-13EDB408D307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2Evn1Qy5PDZPlBwkxLRBzy_gadDRlSMv6Np0x3EbpDuqe7_kdgqkyvKCjnE7xKtln4zzwFwQHEwH73HG3E5hB66TTojmS1s_Grv4ZmwvMI4jDJCxoDy_ZTfbLjTYLGJjPEZnSjeCQhxN/s320/FCAA78AB-BA91-421C-96C1-13EDB408D307.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As I'll probably will be bringing the Rift with me the case will be handy to have.</td></tr>
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As the OS X devkit weren't available when I got the kit didn't have anything to test it on as I'm mostly on Mac and Linux these days. Still - the new PC arrived after a couple of days so no big deal. Had to fiddle a bit around to get it up and running though; It's been quite a while since I put together a "gaming rig" and a dated BIOS prevented me from booting with the Nvidia card.<br />
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Getting the system up and running with Windows 7 and the rest of the software needed took most of yesterday so it weren't until today I could hook up the Rift and do a test run. Very excited!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_yWr6ixiOLSpAAAaP67JYRQ-AcCHfGSvjwPA7hk7Z2mGn9SCbY5Z6PgsvIkCo50U1XhKlZ8w6NCDedWnGXuY8A-aGuad9D2os-GXYH7bQ_6iOAzxH7dzxwkPQKP2KHggXmYq4SGiccM1/s1600/F7E92770-6EC2-42A2-9018-AA5139679B60.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_yWr6ixiOLSpAAAaP67JYRQ-AcCHfGSvjwPA7hk7Z2mGn9SCbY5Z6PgsvIkCo50U1XhKlZ8w6NCDedWnGXuY8A-aGuad9D2os-GXYH7bQ_6iOAzxH7dzxwkPQKP2KHggXmYq4SGiccM1/s320/F7E92770-6EC2-42A2-9018-AA5139679B60.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Current setup with a small 1280x720 display to extend/mirror the Rift. Oh, and a big iMac 27" in the background. Kind of the reason I don't want any more big displays at the moment ;)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>My first impression, when I put on the goggles, were: "Wow! Those pixels are big!".</b> Which is nothing new, and something I were prepared to experience, but still. On the other hand I did fire up the goggles while still on the desktop and a pure, blue, background doesn't give you much to look at. Having since learned that you can start the Unity Tuscany demo on your other display and switch it over to the Rift using the F9 key makes things a bit easier. As others have noted; <b>you can't navigate your desktop with the Rift!</b><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihveGM5e1n896Qh8j-3qgSB0PZRYDi2xw7aBJaeRakSde1B74Igzc6YRgMkaRg-nZT3sulePzBlGkDws7PdfkuQcQgERJQ4Ef0jBBwYouhbSeI4bFsThmDP0mFIV3rwm5g07GoGXO6OnGn/s1600/0146FF00-40F3-43E7-8765-5CCF7680A077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihveGM5e1n896Qh8j-3qgSB0PZRYDi2xw7aBJaeRakSde1B74Igzc6YRgMkaRg-nZT3sulePzBlGkDws7PdfkuQcQgERJQ4Ef0jBBwYouhbSeI4bFsThmDP0mFIV3rwm5g07GoGXO6OnGn/s320/0146FF00-40F3-43E7-8765-5CCF7680A077.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a must to have a second monitor to navigate the desktop and in-game menus.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I know there's work being done in this area, but I haven't had time to test it out myself yet. There's an active thread on the <a href="http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=17191&sid=27e130fcc97d8f4dee30737063a8cb77" target="_blank">MTBS3D</a> forum about this.<br />
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That said; the Tuscany demo is very nice and you kind of forget those pixels when you move around - which is the best part. The Rift tracks your head movement very precisely and you really get the feeling you're "there". Until, after a couple of minutes, you get pretty nauseous. At least I did...<br />
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As I'm prone to motion sickness this didn't surprise me at all, but I think the main reason in this case were from moving around using the keyboard and mouse. As long as I'm in one place, just looking around I didn't feel a thing. My hope is that having positional tracking as well will alleviate this since the cues picked up by the middle ear will correlate to what the eyes see. I might try to implement some means to test this later on. Later when I tried out some other demos the effect weren't nearly as strong so I hope it will pass entirely in the future.<br />
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Firing up <a href="http://www.playhawken.com/" target="_blank">Hawken</a> were a nice surprise. As it's not released with Rift support yet, at first I didn't understand why my POW was looking straight down, until I saw the headset laying on the desk next to me with the front down. Seems like the tracking works as expected, but the camera-rendering isn't enabled yet. There might be a way of enabling this in an ini file, but I haven't gotten that far yet. The same goes for the Citadel demo in the Unreal Developers Kit. Works fine with the head tracking, but I need to tweak the same (?) ini file to turn on the 3D view. Something to try out tomorrow.<br />
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The Rift being a developers kit I didn't expect too much, but so far I'm very happy with it. If the guys at Oculus VR manage to implement positional tracking as well as a more pixel-dense display I think the consumer version will be great product. And I hope this time around VR won't flop like it did back in the 90s.<br />
<br />Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.90607700000001 10.67523500000007 59.969711000000004 10.83659700000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2105858978515914283.post-70978972178504322972013-03-17T18:26:00.002+01:002013-03-18T16:23:40.876+01:00Merging multiple DVI signals using an FPGAA small followup to my <a href="http://blog.atleberg.com/2013/03/maximizing-performance-for-vr.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>. Inspired by an article on <a href="http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/" target="_blank">Hackaday</a> I did some more research on the use of FPGA to manipulate DVI streams.<br />
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It seems this has already been done. I came over <a href="http://vc.inf.h-bonn-rhein-sieg.de/ivc/basilic/Publications/2010/WHB10/" target="_blank">this</a> project at the Institute of Visual Computing in Germany. Direct link to <a href="http://vc.inf.h-bonn-rhein-sieg.de/ivc/basilic/Publications/2010/WHB10/WHB10_Winzker_electronic_displays_2010-4pages.pdf" target="_blank">pdf</a> here. They talk about several different methods to parallelize rendering of a scene. "Sort-first" is a way of splitting the image into multiple parts (quadrants) and have different computers render each one - then combining it with a custom FPGA.<br />
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The downside is that their solution seem to require genlocked cards. This would require professional GPU's like the Quadro line from NVidia which are not exactly the best for gaming and also carries a high cost. On the other hand, there is enough RAM on the FPGA that they can handle +- 2 lines difference in sync using a small buffer/FIFO. The main difference to what we need is that we have both GPUs mounted in the same PC. That way, when we tell the 3D engine to start sending the two frames rendered in each GPU they will start at the same time - more or less. Hopefully this will let us get away without using genlock, but that's still just a theory. Running high-rez at 60Hz the timing will be tight anyway.<br />
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<b>Update:</b><br />
It seems the <a href="http://colorado-video.com/hi-def-video-comparator/" target="_blank">618 series</a> DVI comparator from <a href="http://colorado-video.com/" target="_blank">Colorado Video</a> has the capability to do what we require. Unfortunately they do not mention what the max resolution is, if you need genlocked signals or what kind of latancy (if any) the unit has. At $1390 it's not exactly cheap either. Good to know someone has done it though.Atle Krogstad Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047867476727926957noreply@blogger.com0Sagene, Oslo, Norway59.937894000000007 10.7559160000000759.906076500000005 10.67523500000007 59.96971150000001 10.83659700000007