| June 21, 2008
I've been playing with the Spore Creature Creator for the last few days and am thoroughly impressed with the interface, the manner in which the creature data is saved in tiny .png files (which are "shared" among users) and the clever manner in which the entire application makes the process of 3D modeling addictive. I'm seeing countless comments via a search feed, and I've yet to see a negative reaction to the application.
While engaging in some banter, I was reminded of a blog entry I'd made two years ago in which I said: "Imagine the near future. I’m a toy maker with a rapid-manufacturing system (aka “fabber”) and I’m looking for new products to fab and sell. I don’t have my own designs and I don’t want to pay for any, so I play an online MMORPG..."
I wasn't thinking of Spore when I wrote that (Link below), but it certainly seems as if Spore - or rather, its creation tools - will be the catalyst for some of the changes I've been anticipating. It's starting to get the attention of the CAD community ... and the CAD developers as well.
Anyway, playing with the Creature Creator inspired me to create my own creatures and test whether or not there might be any barriers to "ripping" the 3D data. Unfortunately for those of us who work in 3D, our work is seemingly as vulnerable as everyone else's who is working digitally - from graphic artists to musicians.
Meanwhile, I've tried making "product"-things, but that's difficult since they tend to fidgit (Link to my YouTube video) as you're playing Doctor Frankenstein ... attaching/moving/resizing body parts. Consequently, I'm looking forward to the other tools; especially for vehicles and buildings.
Link: Future Scenario for the Toy Industry
Tags: 3d modeling, rapid manufacturing, spore, toys
Topic: Industrial Design
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