I did install the MacOS 10.5.2 update today, which appears to have helped my WiFi connectivity as promised, but that has nothing to do with how I got Ubuntu to finally connect to the net. What I had to do was click a little icon at the top of the Parallels vm window that I [...]

Posted in MacOS X, Metaverse, Operating System, Software, Ubuntu, Virtual Machine, Wonderland No Comments »

Once I found out Parallels had some problems installing the Ubuntu Desktop, it was just a matter of searching their knowledgebase for information about Ubuntu Server. Sure enough, I came up with a page of instructions that not only gave a way to install the server, but even explained why it didn’t work out of [...]

Posted in Linux, Operating System, Ubuntu, Virtual Machine No Comments »

I should have looked at the Parallels knowledgebase sooner. Sure enough, there’s a special article on installing Ubuntu on Parallels 3.0 that instructs one to edit the screen resolution. I’ll try that, but I’m sure it will take care of the problem since it was obviously a display issue with Ubuntu desktop. The server installation, [...]

Posted in Linux, Ubuntu, Virtual Machine, Wonderland No Comments »

Well, that’s interesting! I installed the Ubuntu 7.10 server on a new Parallels virtual machine, and it went through the whole process just fine. But when I tried to boot it up, I got an error that said, “PANIC: CPU too old for this kernel.” Weird! If it was that horrible, how could [...]

Posted in Linux, Operating System, Software, Ubuntu, Virtual Machine 2 Comments »

I tried starting Ubuntu 7.10 Linux on a Parallels virtual machine for the first time in months, the first time since upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), in fact. No joy. There must be some kind of incompatibility with the latest OS version, or perhaps the ISO image I have is corrupted. The latter [...]

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One step forward, two steps back. Both iClone2 and 3DXchange are easy to use, and have lots of useful features. But their export formats are pretty limited, at least they don’t export into x3d which is what I am looking for right now. iClone2 uses 2D formats, while 3DXchange only outputs to .vns format, [...]

Posted in 3D, Format, Models, Software No Comments »

Before starting on Project Wonderland, I thought I’d boot up WindowsXP (on my Mac’s Parallels virtual machine) to look at iClone2 and see if I can find out what kinds of formats it exports things to. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far.
Export Formats
bmp

24 bit
32 bit

jpg

sliding scale 0-100% quality

tga

24 bit
32 bit

gif

transparency

Obviously, these are 2D formats, [...]

Posted in 3D, Avatar, Design, Format, Machinima, Models, Software, Wonderland No Comments »

While I’m at it, here’s a link to a tool for creating and testing x3d files, from the Web3D Consortium. It’s free.
Click the logo at the left to go to the page about it.

Posted in 3D, Format, Software No Comments »

It appears that iClone2 doesn’t export to x3d. Rats! I could be wrong, though. I’ll look more closely. But first, what exactly is x3d? I’m doing a Web search on the subject now.
Wolfram Mathematica’s page says x3d is:

Web3D geometry format
Used for distributing 3D models on the web and in media applications.
XML format.
Can store multiple geometries.
Introduced [...]

Posted in 3D, Format, Software No Comments »

OK, so I’m a sucker for a good deal. I just signed up for Autodesk’s Maya PLE (Personal Learning Edition) and it’s downloading as we speak. The system requirements are:

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional (SP2 or higher)
Apple® Mac OS® X 10.4.8

No Linux version, and I don’t have XP Pro, so I’m getting the Mac version [...]

Posted in 3D, Software No Comments »