Tag Archives: 3D modeling

DJI Just Launched Its Own 3D Model Editing Software… And It Makes Complete Sense.

Posted on by

If you think of DJI’s drones as aerial 3D capturing devices, the entire endeavor makes a LOT of sense.

While their drones have become synonymous with stylized cinematography and even high-octane races, DJI’s drones also find themselves being used for photogrammetry, 3D mapping, surveillance, delivery, and even civic planning/surveying. In fact, DJI has a dedicated website just for enterprise use, with specialized drones, attachments, and even software. In 2019, DJI launched Terra, a 3D mapping software to turn video/image data into 3D models for efficient planning, route mapping, analysis, etc… but with their latest software Modify, the tool becomes perfect for cinematographers and creatives too. Modify helps edit, clean, and fine-tune the 3D-mapped data captured by DJI’s drones. The free-to-use tool has a variety of editing features to help repair models, remove artifacts, and even edit out objects like humans, cars, and obstacles to create seamless 3D scans that are detailed enough for even movie industries to use.

Designer: DJI

Designed to seamlessly integrate with the Terra software, Modify has some rather incredible tools up its sleeve to help rectify any problems caused during the scanning process. Whether it’s broken models caused by reflective surfaces or random floating parts in the sky that the 3D software captured by accident, Modify lets you easily identify them, select them, and remove/repair them with a few clicks, saving hours of work.

The biggest bane with photogrammetry or 3D capture is the creation of unwanted artifacts. Most people familiar with the field will tell you that sometimes the software can interpret objects that aren’t even there. Reflections, clouds, and flying creatures can sometimes result in floating planes and fragments that can often clutter 3D scans by the thousand. Manually selecting these floating parts takes hours of work, but Modify uses clever tools to help select them with a simple click. Once done, you can easily delete them. Reflective surfaces like glass, metal, and water result in broken surfaces too, which Modify lets you easily fix by adding a planar surface.

One of the standout features of DJI Modify is its intelligent host of auto-repair editing tools. These tools support operations such as flattening, editing textures, repairing water surfaces, removing floating parts, and filling holes. Modify uses AI to help regenerate signs, fix existing damaged patterns/textures, and even replace old models/textures with new ones. For instance, you can flatten roads with cars captured on them, remove the car graphics from the 2D textures, and replace the road markings to make them empty, effectively removing the cars that were originally on them. This functionality can be accessed through one-click repairs or manually by selecting custom polygons, areas, or meshes. Additionally, the software’s model display technology allows both high- and low-quality models to be viewed and edited within a single interface, with changes being synchronized and previewed across both models immediately.

The software supports various file formats like ply, obj, and b3dm, ensuring compatibility with DJI Terra and other third-party software. The software is expected to offer cloud-sharing capabilities in the future, allowing users to share processed models online for viewing and sharing via links, without the need for software installation.

DJI Modify is targeted towards professionals in sectors such as transportation, surveying & mapping, public safety, emergency response, urban modeling & management, energy & utilities, and infrastructure. Its efficient model editing capabilities cater to a wide range of drone surveying use cases, including AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction), inspection, and public safety. The software is currently for free as a Public Beta, and can be downloaded on DJI’s Enterprise website.

The post DJI Just Launched Its Own 3D Model Editing Software… And It Makes Complete Sense. first appeared on Yanko Design.

3D modeling device concept imagines what it’s like to create 3D with 2D tools

Posted on by

We live in a three-dimensional world, but we see the digital world through flat computer screens. That’s why 2D input devices like mice, trackballs, and pens are fine for most creative work that is made to be seen in 2D anyway. With the increase in 3D objects in mixed reality spaces, however, these tools are no longer sufficient and can even become painful to use. Our hands are used to manipulating real-world three-dimensional objects, but our computer tools are confined to the 2D space, making them inefficient and counterintuitive. For the new age of 3D, we need newer and better tools designed specifically for those needs, and this concept imagines a new device designed from the ground up to offer a better way to create those 3D models that will populate the virtual worlds of the future.

Designer: Jayesh Gaikwad

You might brush the Deco MX off as a glorified trackball, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. After all, a trackball is still just like a mouse that moves a cursor on a 2D screen. You can use that cursor to move and rotate a 3D object, but it’s a clumsy and awkward gesture that doesn’t map what we have in our mind when we want to turn those 3D objects living inside our flat displays. That’s what that ball in the corner of the Deco MX is for, letting you rotate an object more naturally in all three axes, making it easier to see the 3D model from all angles.

The rest of the device is made to give easier access to the tools that a designer needs when building those 3D models. There are programmable buttons to set your own shortcuts within the app, as well as dials to switch tools quickly. The central dial is, in fact, the biggest control on the Deco MX, and it gives access to the most common building and editing tools in a program. You can change which tools those are to suit your workflow, of course.

What makes the Deco MX extra interesting is the amount of screen on it. There’s one that arcs to the side, showing a history of actions you’ve taken so far. The central dial also has a screen underneath that changes depending on the tools you’ve set to be your favorite ones. There’s also a small circular screen to the side that shows you the currently selected tool without having to squint your eyes too hard.

While this 3D modeling device offers an innovative interface, the software we use today still presumes a 2D input device like a mouse or a stylus. Deco MX still can’t replace that and is instead designed to supplement it, perhaps taking the place of a large and cumbersome keyboard. Admittedly, the existence of screens on the device might actually make it harder to actually produce, but the concept has enough strong points that manufacturers should consider, especially as we journey deeper into mixed reality worlds.

The post 3D modeling device concept imagines what it’s like to create 3D with 2D tools first appeared on Yanko Design.

How CATIA Visual Scripting is making complex parametric design easier for everyone

Posted on by

Arguably the best thing to ever happen to computing was the Graphical User Interface or the GUI. It took away the massive lines of code that you previously had to deal with while computing and replaced it with the windows and folders and files we see today. This new interface made it easy to interact with the computer, allowing pretty much everyone to jump on board the new technology at the time. CATIA is doing the same for parametric designing. Equipped with an intuitive no-code and algorithmic approach, the new CATIA Visual Scripting app within 3DEXPERIENCE Platform empowers its hardcore users even more with an easier, more visual way to build out their complex designs.

Sign Up to Receive an Exclusive CATIA Visual Scripting Introduction FREE!

Created using CATIA Visual Scripting

Visual Scripting isn’t completely new to the design community, with software like Grasshopper being in the mainstream. However, CATIA’s sheer power as an industry-leading all-round CAD software combined with its new no-code visual approach to parametric/generative modeling really alters the landscape for designers, engineers, architects, etc. looking to push their creative boundaries. The company did launch a similar web-app named xGenerative Design, but with Visual Scripting, algorithmic design becomes a native part of the 3DEXPERIENCE, and seamlessly integrated into the rest of CATIA applications.

CATIA Visual Scripting provides an intuitive no-code approach to generative modeling

What sets CATIA Visual Scripting apart is its capacity to empower creators. Through a series of building blocks, designers can craft their own scripts, which in turn generate intricate 3D geometries autonomously. The interface takes on a familiar Node-based approach that most designers will find incredibly intuitive. With the tool’s Capture & Reuse feature, these algorithms become shareable and reusable assets, markedly enhancing both efficiency and collaboration across projects.

Instant parametric adjustments and design exploration in Visual Scripting

Users can intuitively link parameter blocks, defining and generating designs without writing a single line of code. The user interface is accessible to those without any programming knowledge, making complex design creation more comfortable and attainable. It also makes rapid conceptualization much easier, allowing you to quickly adjust parameters and alter your design/pattern on the fly, without editing code or rebuilding your model. It’s also the best way to rapidly generate tons of design alternatives and it’s natively built to serve the MODSIM approach, combining modeling and simulation in an integrated loop.

“CATIA Visual Scripting is not only a really powerful tool to quickly add a lot of details to designs. Its capabilities push the limits of traditional modeling with a suite of specialized operators to offer new possibilities for highly detailed and innovative designs. Creators can now also manipulate and deform meshes directly in the application, to find new interesting shapes without any sculpting interaction” mentions Edouard Sutre, CATIA Design R&D. Yet another example of the specialized operator is that the algorithm can create the architecture of lines used for complex, customized and non-regular lattice generation for 3D printing.

“CATIA Visual Scripting aids creators in all industries, not only for aerospace, architecture, or transportation”, Edouard adds. “We are empowering those in the shoe, furniture and product industries as well, for example. The tool can extend from designing buildings and huge city plans to smartphones and even jewelry.”

Visit CATIA’s Website and its YouTube channel to learn more about CATIA Visual Scripting, or check out the CATIA Creative Design & Styling community for tutorials and resources.

Sign Up to Receive an Exclusive CATIA Visual Scripting Introduction FREE!

The post How CATIA Visual Scripting is making complex parametric design easier for everyone first appeared on Yanko Design.