Cadalyst - October 2007 - (Page 16)

techtrends a total of $1,346,459 within the last 24 hours (that’s in U.S. currency, not in LindeX). But Second Life is an emerging technology as well. As such, we should set realistic expectations for its performance. “The fact of the matter is, Second Life is down from time to time. There are times when it isn’t working,” Beaubois warned. On August 9, the Grid Update section in the official Second Life blog registered several bugs: “Network Connectivity Problems” at 3:44 A.M., followed by “Service Outage for Several Regions” at 2:16 P.M. The last update at 6:48 P.M. read, “The Operations team is still hard at work on this . . . ” Figure 2. Using advanced scripting, Beaubois was able to transform the interior of a room by making the walls transparent. The World Is a Classroom Beaubois has mastered the art of flight in Second Life. He zoomed through the clouds like some Olympian god to get to wherever he wanted. On the other hand, I found myself walking into walls and ponds as I followed him. So he had to teleport me (a kind of instantaneous travel through the Second Life terrain) to the private island that serves as home for the Creative Research Lab. “Take a look at this room,” he said, pointing at a fully furnished living quarter. With a wave of the hand, he transformed the surrounding walls from plaster to wood panels. Next, he switched the entire room with a new one. This switcheroo was no magic — just some advance scripting (figure 2). “Rather than switching materials or objects, I’m changing out the entire room to show alternative suite solutions,” Beaubois said. “Your clients can come back later, look around, and look through the alternatives on their own.” Suppose I want to discuss certain spatial problems I’ve noticed, such as a fireplace that seems too high or a pillar that’s blocking the window view? I can simply take an image with the Snapshot tool from the desired angle, store it in my Inventory, and then share it with Beaubois. Our conversation in the chat window serves as a record of the discussion. There is, however, something we should know about the dimensions of the objects in Second Life. They tend to be a bit out of proportion. “People like to build their avatars much taller and bigger,” Beaubois explained. Without the constraints of the nature of genetics, some residents customize their avatars to be eight or nine feet tall. So if you’re an architect who plans to use the Second Life environment as your showcase, you’ll have to take this into consideration. Teaching in 3D “Architecture is a three-dimensional sport,” Beaubois said. “When you’re working on a building, if you can walk around a model of the building, it’ll be much better — certainly better than staring at the drawing. Some of the drawings can be — should be — in 2D. But I don’t see how, once you have a real 3D experience, going back to 2D can be satisfying.” Beaubois recalled that, during one class, he noticed something about the design of a building created by a student. “I didn’t say anything to him,” he said. “I was waiting to see if he’d see what I saw.” What Beaubois noticed was the location and design of the stairs. The avatars of the student’s classmates ended up using the stairs as the seating area, missing out on the viewing area and sight that the student had hoped to impress them with. The behaviors of his classmates alerted the student that he needed to revise his plan. The student later informed Beaubois that the stairs had been redesigned and invited the class back to test the updated building. “The virtual environment had allowed the student to design-build a space, test it out, and make corrections, all in the course of one class,” Beaubois said. Import/Export Capability A common question that architects want answered about Second Life is this: Can they import their AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop, Revit, or ArchiCAD models into Second Life? The simple answer is, not yet. What many have been doing is importing the floor plans and elevations as JPEG images and using the construction interface inside Second Life to realize their visions (figure 3). “The issue of importing/exporting 3D objects is one that will continue to be addressed by Linden Lab,” remarked Beaubois. Like most computer game universes, the world 16 October 2007 | cadalyst | www.cadalyst.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - October 2007

Contents Editor's Window Cad Central Tech Trends: First-Hand Architecture in Second Life Rev It Up — Graphics Cards Pack Power for Today’s Hottest Designs TurboCAD Pro 14 — 3D Modeling Software SimEnterprise R2 — Design Simulation Software CADopia 6.2 SP3 Professional Edition — 2D and 3D Modeling Software Cad Manager: Programming Resources for CAD Managers MCAD Modeling: Customer Service Horror Stories PLM Strategies: Manufacturing Across Time Zones AEC in Focus: Digital-Asset Management in AEC/O Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Cadfidential

Cadalyst - October 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.