March 17, 2006
I'm a bit dazed...
The most important software I use is the stupendous program SketchUp, by @last Software. And @Last has just BEEN BOUGHT BY GOOGLE!!
What does it mean? I hope it means good things, although we all of us have had the experience of seeing a cool program bought by a big rich company, and then they do nothing with it and it ends up on the bone pile. But Google's a pretty cool savvy crowd, so hopefully things will work out. @Last has always been run on a shoestring, and hasn't been able to afford certain "frills and extras," like advertising. so this could be great for SketchUp.
SketchUp can be used for many things--I use it to design cabinetry--but mostly it's used by architects. It's awesome for modeling buildings. So maybe the plan is to model every building on earth, and incorporate them all into Google Earth! Then you could take a virtual stroll down any street, enter any (public) building....Links and databases could be associated with places..."walk into" a restaurant, and see the menu, the hours, maybe even make a reservation for a specific table that has a nice view...
Here's a screen shot (at screen resolution, rather fuzzy) of some current work. This one is past the "design" stage, but anything you see is totally plastic, and can be easily manipulated...I can select a face of a rectangle and "pull" it out, or grab one edge and "pull" that, turning it into a trapeziod-thingie. That crown-molding was made by drawing a profile, and then selecting a line for it to "follow."
And it's a totally 3-dimensional environment. There is no 2-D view. I can rotate the plan with a push of my mouse so I'm looking from underneath, or behind or above...Zoom in or out like flying. Instead of being a "fly on the wall," I'm a fly that flies all the time...
You are exactly right. (I got the inside scoop) Google is planing to use SketchUp for Google Earth. So cool you use their product!
Posted by: Scott Thorpe at March 18, 2006 10:17 AMNeil Stephenson's delightful book Snow Crash has a virtual planet called the Metaverse, where you can build your street or building with total freedom. Your house can be a mile-high cube of black granite if you want.
And I find that to be boring boring BORING.
There is nothing so destructive to art or creativity as having no limits. (As example: "Modern Art").
On the other hand the thought of modeling reality tickles me no end. I'm not sure why.
Posted by: John Weidner at March 18, 2006 10:51 AMOr better yet, model a reality--streets, buildings, cities-- that are better than mere reality. Reality Plus, I would perhaps call it.
Posted by: John Weidner at March 18, 2006 11:23 AMAmen. Modern Art is a bore. Sometimes a crashing bore, sometimes a droning bore. The excitement it generates in the academic mind is the thrill of a narcissist with a mirror. Modern Art serves largely as a Rorshach for a smug professoriate.
Realist art demands a higher degree of difficulty. It has to be 'better than mere reality' - convincing in its execution, but with layered meaning and aesthetic satisfaction. Realist art uses the common experience of the artist and viewer to establish a vocabulary for communication.
When Modern Art eschews references to the real world or treats them with irony, it creates distance from the viewer. The result is cold and utimately unpleasant and anti-human.
Posted by: lyle at March 18, 2006 05:07 PMAlso, that modelling program is way cool.
As a realist artist I find I have more in common with cave painters, cabinet makers, and architects than I do with academics and the Modern Art priesthood.
Posted by: lyle at March 18, 2006 05:12 PMJohn, post more about your cabinetry! Give us some insight as to your setup ie power tools, handtools etc].
Thanks for the tip on SketchUp.
Posted by: Reg Jones at March 19, 2006 08:33 AM
