I’ve been a fan of trueSpace for years (I’ve been using it since version 2 hit the shelves!), the software from Caligari Corp is a medium to low end (cost wise) 3D modeling and rendering package that has an excellent feature set, is compatible with most industry standard file formats and is extensible through addons. I’ve used it both personally and professionally for various purposes. I just got an email from Caligari this morning stating that the latest version, tureSpace7.6, has been released to everyone for free! Not only that, but the training videos and manual are included as well! AWESOME!!

trueSpace may be daunting for those who are not familiar with it’s user interface, but once you get used to how tools and tool bars are arranged, it becomes much more intuitive than you may originally think. Since I haven’t used a new version since trueSpace 5.5, looks like I’ve got some catching up to do. They’ve added tabbed interfaces for views so that you can switch between workspaces and multi-angled model views and a panel with library browser and settings tabs. One of the reasons I’ve stuck with version 5.5 for so long has been that it can import stl, igs and other industrial modeling files. I use these at work to render products that are in concept phases of production or that we can’t get samples of in time for photos we may need. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be supported under the new version. Guess I’ll have to keep digging to see if I can find out anything more about this.

You will go to Jon Taplin’s blog.

You will read his every word.

You will learn!

I’ve been reading Mr. Taplin’s blog now for a few weeks. Everything I’ve read on his blog has been incredibly well thought through, logical and currently relevant. He is in the know, and amongst those who are in the know. I’ve not seen any of the stupidity and short sightedness found in the position of pundits of either wing nut variety (right or left) in his writings, and that more than anything else is a tremendous tell.

In short if you don’t read his blog, well, you’re missing out…

Looking unnervingly similar to a scene from 2010: The Year We Make Contact, this photo of the ISS at night looks less like NASA Image of the Day material and more like material from a science fiction movie! All-in-all, an incredible photo of the present meeting the future…

Links:
the NASA Image of the Day Gallery
The above photo