banditez - Slashdot User

Comment I'd recommend Rhino (Score 1) 218

by banditez on Saturday March 16, 2013 @04:28PM (#43192685) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Best 3-D Design Software?

I'm an architect and I've used Rhino for quite a while and have found it to have the most intuitive workflow between 2-d and 3-d, working between making curves or projections and using those to make solid geometry. It is also great at interface with both CNC mills and 3d printers--I've used it quite a bit myself to print architectural models and also know of quite a few other design offices that use it in a production setting. It also has quite a large community and a great scripting interface in grasshopper if you are into that. If you are more into sculptural mesh modeling I'd recommend Maya or 3D-Studio Max but I'm not sure how it would interface with a 3d printer or CNC mill. With regard to Sketchup or Blender or any other free software, I've never found their features or interface to be up to the level of commercial programs, and the cost for a Rhino seat relative to the productivity gains is negligible, and personally, while I'm sympathetic to open source, I'm reluctant to let software ideology preferences limit what I can do. If cost is a huge factor, though, and you can't amortize the software cost over a large number of projects, by all means look into those.

New WoW Patch Brings Cross-Server Instances 342

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday December 09, 2009 @04:36AM from the new-and-shiny dept.

ajs writes "World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion was staggered into 4 phases. The fourth and final phase, patch 3.3, was released on Tuesday. This patch is significant in that it will be the first introduction of one of the most anticipated new features in the game since PvP arenas: the cross-realm random dungeon, as well as the release of new end-game dungeons for 5, 10 and 25-player groups. The patch notes have been posted, and so has a trailer. The ultimate fight against the expansion's antagonist, the Lich King a.k.a. Arthas, will be gated as each of the four wings of the final dungeon are opened in turn — a process that may take several months. The next major patch after 3.3 (presumably 4.0) will be the release of Cataclysm, the next expansion."

Treasured "Moon Rock" Is Petrified Wood 209

Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday August 28, 2009 @11:11AM from the keep-yer-hands-off-my-treasure dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that a treasured piece at the Dutch national museum — a supposed moon rock from the first manned lunar landing given to former Prime Minister Willem Drees during a goodwill tour by the three Apollo-11 astronauts shortly after their moon mission in 1969 — has been revealed as nothing more than petrified wood, curators say. A jagged fist-size stone with reddish tints, it was mounted and placed above a plaque that said, 'With the compliments of the Ambassador of the United States of America... to commemorate the visit to The Netherlands of the Apollo-11 astronauts.' The plaque does not specify that the rock came from the moon's surface. Researchers from Amsterdam's Free University said they could see at a glance the rock was probably not from the moon. They followed the initial appraisal up with extensive testing. 'It's a nondescript, pretty-much-worthless stone,' wrote Geologist Frank Beunk in an article published by the museum. Beunk says the rock, which the museum at one point insured for more than half a million dollars, was worth no more than $70. The 'rock' had originally been been vetted through a phone call to NASA. As the US Embassy in the Hague said it was investigating the matter, the Rijksmuseum says it will keep the piece as a curiosity."

IBM Images a Single Molecule 169

Posted by kdawson on Friday August 28, 2009 @09:39AM from the blow-it-up dept.

chrb writes "New Scientist is reporting that researchers at IBM Zurich have managed to image a single molecule in detail for the first time. In the images of a pentacene molecule, the bonds between the carbon atoms are visible as five linked rings."

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