B.S. University of Wisconsin – 1971; M.F.A. University of Montana – 1979; Employment: Senior Lecturer - Tufts University; Age: 56
I have been teaching courses in 3D Design at Tufts University for many years. Two years ago I switched from 3D Studio Max to Blender as the primary software employed by my students. Since then, I have developed a rather comprehensive set of online learning materials which focus on understanding the basic Blender functionality and strategies for applying Blender modelling to a creative design challenge. The course material contains weekly learning units consisting of over a hundred video tutorials, some 25 PDF tutorials, course projects and examples of prior student work. As many of my students are from the architectural and archaeological disciplines I became extremely interested in the Google Earth application as a means of displaying Blender models depicting both contemporary and ancient structures in a geographical context. Blender's current support for Collada export unlocks vast possibilities for 3D visualization of this material and the need for Blender artists to understand the various processes available in the Google Earth KML markup language. To this end, I am currently developing a learning unit for my students and would welcome the opportunity to share this with the Blender community at the 2006 conference.
Google Earth is a stand-alone application which displays satellite imagery of the earth's surface in an interactive, 3D environment. At its core, Google Earth displays user generated information through a series of data files that are in Keyhole Markup Language (KML / KMZ) standard. Although Blender's Collada export function eases the creation of a portion of these files, there are many additional factors to consider in developing a KMZ file which displays 3D models taking full advantage of the Google Earth environment. The workshop will examine the Blender / KMZ file creation process and includes:
* Blender file considerations (objects, orientation, scale, shading, colours and textures)
* Blender Collada Export .dae - (contents and settings)
* Geo-coding (mapping given address to longitude / latitude / altitude / orientation / scale)
* Remapping Blender texture paths
* KML - (linking to Collada file, creating folders, placemarks and information windows, linking Blender generated animations)
* Displaying and sharing KMZ files (Google Earth Warehouse, embedding content into HTML)
During the course of the workshop I will demonstrate this KMZ file creation process using a textured Blender model of the Pyramids of Egypt; geo-coding, displaying, placemarking and animation linking within the Google Earth environment.
URL:
Tufts University Open Courseware site - Three-Dimensional Modeling, Animation and Rendering using Blender 3D Software:
Blender Artists Forum commentary on the Tufts University Blender Coursesite:
blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php
Working files used in the workshop:
Blender_GoogleEarth_Workshop.zip
Complete documentation on the Blender to Google Earth process and workshop: