The Dogwaffler of the Moment - a
Sporadic Newsletter
Painting
with Particles...
...under the
Influence
(of force
fields, that is)newsletter #6 - late October 2005
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/newsletter/6
We have a new version of Project Dogwaffle. PD Pro 3.5 is out. If you currently use 3.0, 3.1, 3.1a or 3.2 you can get the free update patch for 3.5 at
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/patches
So what's new in 3.5? In a word - lots! Too many things to mention them here and all. But just a few key points:
* MMX support added for even more real-time effects filters
* Bug fixes (yes, so there were a few)
* more helpful tooltips.
* Improved animation capabilities.
* Working with separate color channels.
* Many new filters, and existing filters updated with new options.
* support for the 3rd party Lua scripting language
* A programmable and scriptable GUI (Gui Server)
* Improved tools for performing pulldowns and timing conversions.
* Improvements to the already powerful particle system, Optipustics.
That last item is in fact one of the highlights. It includes new capabilities such as drawing into Alpha at the same time while the particles are rendering. And it also has a new Forcefield mode, based on an image which then causes the particles to progress in different ways than if they had been under the gravity field only.
So keep this in mind:
when painting with particles... use the Force (field)!
More details here:
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/whatsnew/3_5
2. Spooky Halloween add-ons
Just in time for the creeps. We have a spooky clock making spooky
sounds and displaying a 13th hour. And the return of the animated
pumpkin brush.
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/freebies/Halloween2005
3. New versions of Gertrudis
A new version of Gertrudis is available, both as a standalone (Gertrudis Pro) or as a plugin to Dogwaffle. Both are based on the 2.1 codebase of Gertrudis.
http://www.thebest3d.com/gertrudis
If you work a lot with photos which you want to make look as if painted by hand or sketched, then Gertrudis may be a great add-on to Dogwaffle or even other imaging tools you may be using.
4. ModDog - a Music Player plugin for Dogwaffle!
If you remember the good ole' days of the Amiga, there were very compact music files in .med or .mod formats. Ray at MedSoundStudio makes in fact a tool for Windows to compose med music and sound files. He also makes a runtime library, and has allowed us to use it for our very own little music player built into Dogwaffle as a free plugin - ModDog.
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/freebies/plugins/mod
Now you can listen to new sounds to get your inspiration while waffling!
5. Lua Scripting news
There are updated LuaBrowsers, Guiserver and scripts for DogLua, the Lua scripting interface by Marco Pontello.
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/lua
Lua continues to find new supporters by more imaging tools. In fact, ourGuiserver and Lua were both added by Boris in another paint program, Artweaver - sweet! Now you may find even more scripts that work for Dogwaffle to, with more special FX features!
6. DOTM - Dogwaffler of the Moment: Avishek
What do you do when you live in Bangalore, India and have a passion for concept art and game art along with a healthy dose of imagination and great talent? You waffle.
Meet the newest Dogwaffler of the Moment - Avishek Sen Gupta
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/dotm/Avishek
7. Going 3D with Carrara Studio 3, Poser 5, Curvy 3D, ...?
I've said it before: when you do 2D for 95% of your time, you can't justify hundreds or even thousands of dollars for learning a 3D tool to cover the remaining 5% of your precious time. Plus, you may dream in color, but if you don't dream in 3D, you just can't go with the top guns of the 3D tools, Maya, Lightwave or 3DS MAX. But what to do when you still want to explore 3D and add this to your tools, explore new techniques of digital art compositions, with 2D and 3D together?
Carrara, that's the way to go. It's an Italian word for marble excellence. It's also a growingly recognized word for great 3D - modeling, rendering, animation. And while Carrara 5 was just announced this past week by Eovia (www.eovia.com), and the prior Carrara 4 is still hot too, we are offering you an even cheaper way into Carrara - with Carrara Studio 3 at only $79 (and even less some days, go figure). Now please understand this: They only have about 50 - 80 boxes left, rough estimate, and these are discontinued which means they won't make new ones. Once they're gone that's it, sayonara, auf Wiedersehn.
The great news is that to our amazement, Eovia has decided to offer the same low upgrade price for going to Carrara 5 from version 3 as from version 4! For a mere $99 you can upgrade with the downloadable version of Carrara Standard.
If Studio is still a bit too pricey, there's also Carrara 3D Basics. Around $25. no, really.
We also have a great deal for more 3D art, with CuriousLabs Poser 5 at only $79, again through a special inventory blowout deal with Purplus.
If you like to draw and would like to sculpt in 3D the same way, then perhaps Curvy 3D is just your ticket.
And soon, we will offer TrueSpace 5.2 - again not the latest, but for sure one of the greatest, and at a great price. Did you see the tutorials on texturing for TrueSpace last year?
http://www.thebest3d.com
8. famous last words - going retail!
It's done! Project Dogwaffle Professional, based on the 3.5 codebase, is out in the UK through our publishing deal with Fasttrak Software Publishing.
Fasttrak also takes online orders. They focus mostly on the UK market but won't deny your boxed version if you want it. It might be a bit pricey with the shipping and all, just depends on where on the planet you are.
http://www.fasttrak.co.uk
If you're in the UK, you can get Project Dogwaffle Professional in boxed form at PC World and other retail stores.
Happy Waffling!
