the next frontier of digital scultping?

NAIMA · May 2012

Hi I dunno how many of you have seen this video , but seems that in a non distant future , actually you can already buy this for a very cheap price and in few months get it at home ... you will be able to model by hand in zbrush and other 3d softwares .....

what do you think?

https://live.leapmotion.com/

Michael Knubben · May 2012

Do you really believe this? If so, I have some magical beans I've been looking to sell to the right guy.

While this looks like a nice peripheral, I don't see its application in sculpting or 3d modeling.

passerby · May 2012

why this over my wacom, even if this is extremely accurate , doubt it will be more accurate than my wacom, just because it is easier to draw on a surface, than wave your pen or fingers at your screen.

also pressure levels, it cant do them and my tablet can which is extremely useful.

when it comes to sculpting and 2d graphics i never see people moving away from tablets, pen/pencil feels natural to everyone you can be as loose or as accurate as you want with.

also what does the tablet emulate, that everyone has used since early childhood?, and is used in traditional art for hundred of years.

System · May 2012

I think your hands and arms will get very tired very quickly, especially if you try sculpting. It might be fun to use normally, but when it comes to art, the precision you get from a tablet just can't be beaten.

Steppenwolf · May 2012

Looks super unergonomic. Even for regular desktop stuff i don't see a future for such technology. It's a step in the wrong direction. Controls need to become simpler, more easy, more ergonomic not requiring you making big movements with your arms and wrists.

onionhead_o · May 2012

not trying to sound rude, but i really hate these gimmicky things, they are a waste of money. Also it probably pretty tiring to use. All it does is look cool.

ahtiandr · May 2012

I think it will be challenging to use this thing just because it is physically hard to keep your arms in the air for like six hours stright without resting. I dont even think that pressure sensetive screens are good for digital sculpting since your hads are blocking your view.

MadnessImport · May 2012

Come on guys it cant be that bad. Probably horrible for sculpting. I can see many uses for this with a Virtual head and maybe a laser projected keyboard display.

The way my chair/Desk Is set up All Id have to do Is move my forearms to control It...Which I could do for hours as I do it all day repetitively typing and Moving a mouse anyway

Ive seen tech like this in Movies/Games
except you could move Holographic projections with them instead
It looks pretty precise to be that cheap, i want it

Dylan Brady · May 2012

yeah agree about the tiring part. also seems like the detection field is a pretty small area really close too the monitor. not good as I would probably punch my screen more than a few times

Ace-Angel · May 2012

Let me put it this way, if you suck with a Wacom Pen, which is a refined item based upon hundred of years of evolution from the Pencil, then no amount of 'digital' and 'uber' hardware will help you. First become a good artist to take advantage of what you have, then talk.

Also, feedback? Ergonomics? Accuracy? Pressure? All these are important, having something which requires you to flick fingers all day long in broad strokes, which suffers from latency (yes, you can see that in the video when he's writing), lacks feedback making it feel unnatural to the human movement...yeah, I don't think so.

cryrid · May 2012

The future they're pitching is just a limited-Kinetic designed to let us use mobile touch-based apps on pcs?
Meh.

passerby · May 2012

cryrid wrote: »

The future they're pitching is just a limited-Kinetic designed to let us use mobile touch-based apps on pcs?
Meh.

what is it seems, which i find funny since it;s my mobile that has very limiting input devices to use, not my computer.

Denny · May 2012

Is it only me that noticed the, what seems to be, a projected version of the object / hands on the screen? If it does sense the volume of whatever is inside the field, you wouldn't need pressure sensitivity as you could use the volume of the fingers / tool to carve and puncture a mesh. While I understand the argument about how it appears gimmicky maybe we shouldn't be hasty to shoot this down? It could very well be a complement to a Wacom setup.

What if it does detect actual object shapes and volume? Then you could use a pen, scissor or fingers as tools in a sculpting application.

As always a demonstration video should be taken with a pinch of salt, I personally couldn't notice any simulated bullshit like was done with Kinect and Wii trailers though. It looked a lot like 1-to-1 feedback to me.

I'm intrigued but not sold on the concept just yet.

Edit*
Another video
http://youtu.be/XXvvCtfSU2s

pior · May 2012

This device sure looks cool ... but certainly not for sculpting. Or maybe I am missing the point. Naima, which 3D use would you see out of it ?

I could personally see it as a nice way to rotate and pan an object for presentation and review, since not everybody knows the Zbrush and Maya control schemes. But I cannot see how it would make sculpting better or faster than current programs or even traditional clay.

BTW - I do want one of these, mostly to see what people end up doing with it as it sure will be very creative. But as far as art and sculpting goes, I don't think it will bring anything to the table. 3D and sculpting programs are far from being as good as they should but I don't think that this tool will change that in any way. After all, this is just an input device.

Also :

you will be able to model by hand in zbrush and other 3d softwares

What makes you say that ? Did you hear anything from Pixologic and Autodesk hinting at an implementation of this device as an input ? Again - I could see how we could map stuff like "detect a movement of x numbers of fingers in 3d space> convert this to a click and drag in 2D screen space" in the devices driver (kinda like we do for the Wacom buttons) but I fail to see how one could perform a stroke in Zbrush using this app.

If aaaaanything ... I could imagine some sort of "potato modeling" app being made especially for that device, with a lump of clay being roughly editable with hand motions .... but thats about it really.

poopipe · May 2012

this reminds me of the macbook wheel spoof from a few years back

Computron · May 2012

I got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

Bigjohn · May 2012

If this thing actually projected the 3D model in the air, and if I could touch it and feel feedback as if it were real clay, and if I could use tools with it, then maybe it'll be useful.

But at that point I bet if you said "Tea, Earl Gray, Hot" it will materialize that for you as well.

So yeah... I don't see the point of this. Not even for painting. What painter do you know that uses his fingers? You'd use a brush at least.

Frankie · May 2012

I don't see what's not to like. You would use it as a 3d navigator with one hand while sculpting with the other (on a wacom) and could use finger position or contact to change tools.

I think it looks awesome, I probably won't buy it though

Noors · May 2012

Having tested that kind of peripheric, i garanty you can't hold it more than 15 minutes. Your hand needs a support to rest your arm and be precise.
Could be intersting for bodybuilding tho.

Kwramm · May 2012

or just try oil paining - your hands get tired too pretty soon if you're used to just having them rest on your desk, holding a mouse or a wacom. But maybe with some training it won't be that stressful.

would be a cool gimmick for presentations though or virtual whiteboards or art critiques

NAIMA · May 2012

Well in the past painters and sculptors used arms to. Do the job

....

Michael Knubben · May 2012

naima: Ah yes, famously Rodin would float his arms in the air in the same position for hours on end without touching anything, whilst hunched over a desk.

NAIMA · May 2012

I don't think you need to float your arms , probably the device is smart enough to just pick up your finger movements and you coudl eventually see a materialization of them in the screen , a glove device provided of tactile microvibrating sensors could give the feelings of solid touching ... that woudl be sick ... ^^

Denny · May 2012

It is possible to put the elbow on the desk to make it easier to work with is it not?

Where some people see limitations, others see possibilities.

Kwramm · May 2012

MightyPea wrote: »

naima: Ah yes, famously Rodin would float his arms in the air in the same position for hours on end without touching anything, whilst hunched over a desk.

rofl. imagine an entire studio doing that.... zombie apocalypse

pior · May 2012

Hehehehe

NAIMA · May 2012

Kwramm wrote: »

rofl. imagine an entire studio doing that.... zombie apocalypse

Orchestra directors...

Computron · May 2012

IDK Naima, He doesn't look like a zombie to me:

[ame="

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssa1EnJt9UI"]Weird Al Yankovic conducts the Jr. Philharmonic[/ame]

pior · May 2012

Maybe it's time to move this thread to GD...

devingeesr · Jul 2012

What if it'd used as a way to move around the model and select tools?
You can still use the wacom for drawing and stuff and use the other hand to control other elements and get it off of the keyboard.

SuperFranky · Jul 2012

too much of a trouble to sculpt this way

poopipe · Jul 2012

devingeesr wrote: »

What if it'd used as a way to move around the model and select tools?
You can still use the wacom for drawing and stuff and use the other hand to control other elements and get it off of the keyboard.

And return it to the keyboard to hit shortcuts...

This has all the disadvantages of the cheap space navigator 3d mouse and none of the ergonomic niceties.

the next frontier of digital scultping?

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