3D rendering tools.... in SL pah!

Well I have Sketch up, Wings, Max 3D, AC3D they are all fiendishly tricky... with Sketch up the easiest for my limited time though I am uncertain that the ruby rails plug actually works with SL as  I have not managed top actually import anything there yet - I have some 3D versions of Frederick Parker chairs in Sketch-up but they stand everychance of being embedded 2D via the web browser in SL yet Ouch...

and I am running out of time:

heres some oak side chairs: heres Sir John Cass' version: and mine that Im having difficulty in getting into SL

I am also rather unconvinced with the Second Life scripting device... they dont seem to be saving terribly well, bit like the prims, whenever I go back in something seems missing...  or perhaps  I am missing something...? 

Trying to pull all the strands together for the SL elearning virtual chair project

This is the refined (sic?) Design brief or thumbnail..  

The idea is to prototype a virtual chair graphical and historical repository, linking it to current vocational training curriculum in real world fine furniture.. with examples of 3D virtual chairs, virtual workshop <s>, a movie screen on wall with links to curriculum and videos on You Tube showing real live people showing real live techniques. This could hopefully link primary source to formative curriculum study and test pieces, improve candidates knowledge of detailed isometric projection and scalar accuracies where the original sample is a distance away and maybe difficult to get "up close and personal with..  which is essential where construction and spatial awareness is a must...

The repository is the Lond Met Sir John Cass The Frederick Parker Chair collection http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/jcamd/research/rae-2008/john-cross/portfolio_outcome04.cfm , its representation on VADS http://www.vads.ac.uk/  and a synopsis of its establishment at http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/FPC.html

The fine furniture curriculum is based around components within City & Guilds existing courseware, the concepts of this design approach has been discussed with the Frederick Parker Collection Curator John Cross and the Senior Tutor Colon Eden-Eadon at the Building Crafts College http://www.thebcc.ac.uk/ , and conceptually given a tentative thumbs up..

The Concept

Within Second Life a Virtual Chair Museum has live teleporting exhibits... The Avatar approaches the chair they are interested in, sits on it and is teleported to a virtual period work shop or furniture factory that exhibits the processes and component build, that also has a screen with curriculum and video of pertinent resources and build demonstration with additional research resources and a tips for assignment and potential tutor interaction via IM or email etc..,

The Avatar can then be teleported back to the museum to try other chairs and links... I would expect all sites to use the same resource documents but with specific tutorial and curriculum pertinent to that specific chair and workshop experience.

Arrrggghhh!!! 3D rendering, disappearing buildings, panic etc..

Well I thought my ideas were coming together nicely, lots of research - found exanples of Edwardian High Wycombe furniture factory - infact here it is...

This was an original factory that was pulled down and rebuilt at the chiltern open air museum...

I had pictures of interiors: heres one:

So I could add my tools, benches etc into my version of  High Wycombe. However I am having real issues with buld ing chairs in a variety of rather complicated 3d Graphics packages: Invis,max studio 3D wings and Sketch-up - the problem being either the learning curve or the ability to get the sculpties to work in SL..

Not least my disappearing building components in SL... heartbreaking.... apparently I have over 4300 prims in my development which makes authentic re hashing of the past very tricky - so my rendering of the factory below  gets the chop...  sob...

Windsor Chairs and Google sketch up...

Making the chairs and embedding them as objects within second life.. this is a steep learning curve... also I am half way through a period High Wycombe furniture workshop so that the museum can connect to the workshop.

I have the Curriculum - all I need now is some You Tube video of bodging stringers, adze work on windsor chair seats and a bit of construction technique and I may get close to combining this with the Curriculum hopefully this will embed within the period chair making environment...  a screen on one wall... this is taking alot of time...

Hopefully an old friend of mine who is an awesome craftsman may have some you tube videos... fingers crossed..

heres Robins blog...  http://treewright.blogspot.com/

and rather sadly heres my attempt at a 3D Windsor chair arm in Google sketch-up... after 2 hours of twiddling..

 

more furniture research for the SL furniture workshop

I am trying to find out what a furniture workshop should look like, so I am a bit disappointed about the Chiltern open air museum website http://www.coam.org.uk/IHistory/History.html, having been there a few years  back for a green wood chair making demonstration...I am a bit upset there is no mention of the Windsor chair or the workshop..

I am currently following High Wycombe furniture history archives http://hwfurniturearchive.bcuc.ac.uk/asset-bank/action/viewHome  these are not much help either - though it all seems to be post first world war Ercol manufacturing and their contemporaries .. not a picture or reference anywhere to the more craft inspired bodging of the Windsor chair.... harrumph...

Research, reading, ideas etc : The Project Brief

The concept of linking three chairs from the Parker repository is not quite as simple as it looks, I have to chose chairs that are significant (one of which has to be a Windsor chair as they are ubiquitous and it is also useful as there are many resources online that can be tapped).

This also has to be recreated in Second life, I also have to collect learning materials that enables the SL elearning application tool to be valid. I really want a modernist contemporary chair and an early chair from the Parker Collection that demonstrates significant groundbreaking techniques that are still used today... I will have to liaise with John Cross at Sir John Cass to make certain my inital three chairs are the best choices, this will have to be counteredd with Stratford College to qualify pertinence for the existing fine furniture course...the intention would be to add chairs and contemporary workshops as the project progressed. So I am currently reading books on Second life coding, trawling through furniture books, ornamentation books and architectural books to make certain the environments are correct..

Whilst I think imersion in the VR environment with the kind of detail that will be necessary will make the material come alive, it will hopefully push the learner towards a vocational curriculum, it may also serve as a transition tool to enthuse students to get involved with fine furniture fabrication. Trying to find a particular pedagogical hanger to hang this on is tricky, I would like to investigate one of my contemparies modus operandi with her Roman learning environment with regards to justification.

The specification is essentially this:

An open plan museum with open access with chairs as exhibits, the avatar sits in any one of the chairs and is teleported to a contemporary workshop, where the chair was made, and is being made and componentised, there will be a virtual blackboard that embeds video, learning materials, blueprints, history, links and a quiz with learning outcomes, the avatar can then teleport back to the museum and sit on another chair...

This enables engagement, a certain amount of drilling in gathering information and a check of learning outcomes for reinforcement, perhaps the reward could be an apprentice toolkit ?

Should the Student be given contemporary workshop clothing?  ah dilemas....

Have completed the virtual museum building... and some thoughts on collateral elearning???

What with the licencing issues that have closed down the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum in SL I wonder what implication this has for learning material and IPR and estate royalties… most of FLW designs were out of copyright.... very interesting...

I am still following my Luddite stream of criticism and investigating as to whether SL is a sensible elearning environment... Larry Cuban is helping me along as well....are we following the unproven ideas of collateral learning?  the famous 1927 picture of  teaching geography to pupils in an aeroplane in Los Angeles in Teachers and Machines  The classroom use of technology since 1920 L.CUBAN springs to mind...  ah..

I bet the kids remembered the flying experience more than airborne based physical geography, full marks for engagement though..

Heres my Museum by way of distraction: Frank Lloyd Wright eat your heart out... though it looks a bit Petts Wood on reflection...