Strange Days..Until the End of the World.

Strange Days..Until the End of the World..

The Politics of Web3D 2011 Style… 3D Interface Design told to “wait” again.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20071726-264/microsoft-declares-webgl-harmful-to-security/

Dont fix it if it aint broke… or in reality, dont let it happen if were not selling it.  Microsoft, which has buried mass 3dmedia tools and technolgies for over a decade has made its “webgl play” that i said it would have too last year. The play is “tell em its broke”. Now the next play is to tell them “we can fix it”  or “heres our better mousetrap”..Direct X v.13  but youll have to wait till we ship it.:)

Adobe finally has been forced by Unity-and in a way Apples Flash rebuke to get 3d working after a decade of fritzing around with intel and other nonsense. So a mountain may come from a molehile in terms of flash3D..But again were told we must wait… Creatives, always told we must come second. wait- before you can create. and then the tech is sold off or killed…  so typically old.

The reality of the tech driven medium again is shown clearly to those in the creative media business mature enough to see it.

The world of IE Browser Importance is now ending. And new devices -tablets and  computer watches/phones are soon to dominate, so whats a shrinking OS software company to do?

 ” method patents”? lol

  stay tuned.

GROKKING TRANSMEDIA – 2006 Style. Second Life meets Transmedia Universe

http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2006/09/all_your_starba.html

In 2006 I felt the nacent Second Life had enough “viewsers” paying money for virtual items to invest in bringing the StarbaseC3 Universe into the platform. Of course  ever since as it was created a decade earlier, the C3 Universe was “made” for online 3d MMO immersive viewsers, and after Linden Labs had finally listened to our reasoning about IP rights in 2003, and “value” could be found for third parties within the SL platform, it was time to “Invade”.:)  So in 2006 I created a small “Invasion Fleet” for Second Life and also found a partner who was finally able to provide “Stereo Lithography” 3d Printed models for a “almost reasonable” hobbiest price. So we Invaded with a set of 3 ships, that came with a story background within the Starbase C3 online world, and added the first built in “games” for a vehicle in SL – a target drone” shooter that was embed in each ship sold. And to that  the ability to purchase “desk toy” model of each of the 3 ships sold and a new level of  “narrative immersion” was introduced to those in SL who were interested in original Sci Fi RPGs.

Its interesting now to re read the “grokking” of what we offered then, now 5 years ago. Transmedia had yet to become a buzz word  and “virtual worlds” were just getting their first play in the blogworld of  overnight “experts” in the metaverse:).

Its a fun read as Transmedia thinking collided with Virtual Worlds thinking for the first time in the “SL blogosphere”.;) 

Grokking at the speed of light…

THE SECRET HISTORY OF TRANSMEDIA – PART 3 “1986 – THE YEAR THE TRANSMEDIA DIED”

Since I dont get invited to fancy panels at SXSW or DED , I’ll have to use this blog to offer my unique view of the “transmedia” meme of 2011.  I’ve said before in earlier installments of this “secret series” that almost all “transmedia” methods being talk about today were alive and very well in the 1980s.. Especially in the toy/tv kids world business. Without the 24/7 nature of the Internet/mobile devices  the “deeper”- more immersive” elements now being offered couldnt be developed, but all other avenues utilizing every medium possible were explored.

Today I found this clip posted at AINT IT COOLS NEWS, Seems like Leonard Nimoy will be returning to being a robot;) The geeks are thrilled. But this clip, the teaser for a 1986 feature film for the obviously “transmedia” IP..the “Trans” formers…. really hit me as the day the Transmedia died.

Leonard Nimoy, Orson Wells, and JUDD NELSON…. “judd nelson?!”  now this was “TRANSMEDIA PRODUCTION!”  All fighting the Decepticons and saving the world!. Michael Bays films have been “B- movies” compared to this cast and action packed cinema event!… Transmedia came screeching to a hault after this Im sure…

Dead. but like any good Zombie…not really.

Come the color macintosh and hypercard in 1988… and the “personal tool” to make a  “new media”. And the day the apple hit henry jenkins in the head in 1993…

and “Transmedia” was born again. To slowly find students and converts, and to grow again into the giant robot, (bad robot?;) of magic boxes,bloggers and stories, and trade show panels and VCs… All poised for the MEGAFUTURETRON to come..!!

But for now, behold the day the transmedia died. Id love to meet the makers of this Film, and i really need to find a full copy via Emule tonight.;)

Best

C3

WEBGL VERSION OF FIREFOX 4 RELEASED – Native Web3D in a Browser- Finally

Well it only took 15 years of bad techie politics and egos to get us to a place where 3D rt media plays natively in a popular browser. Firefox 4.0 with webgl support active has shipped and as of last night demos of “slow” but working web3d content can now be seen as easy as a jpeg or gif or html file. Now the game is to get exporters for the most popular 3d apps like Max and Maya, and Im sure thats only a few weeks away. Blender has a web3d exporter for download offered today, and I need to go find the old “o3d” files I had made when Google was the buzz around its O3D initiative before it tossed its support toward the Mozilla/ Kronos/ WebGL players.

It’s all so tiring and late by a decade, but it’s good to finally start the interface media change over on the web. Since it’s already beginning to excite those on mobile devices. The shame is that it’ll be the  mobile devices that make 3d interfaces mainstream, and that the same people who fought over tech issues for 15 years may be involved again in holding back creators visions of user experiences, for their own coder religious ego based biases.

The next steps. already announced by companies like Unity3d are to make “actual” real-time 3d content authoring tools ( for sale-not sas) and allow them to compete via price and capabilities in a free market that serves designers and their clients. A system that allows a full ecosystem for RT3D media to flourish.

Let’s hope that dosen’t take another 15 years.

 

StarshipC3.com 2001-3 Wayback Machine Archives – Lost Transmedia History

http://web.archive.org/web/20021123082825/http://starshipc3.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/20030310214504/www.starshipc3.com/c3chap1.pdf

Ive used the Wayback Machine to find the remnants of the STARSHIPC3.com site from 2001. It was a pure ONLINE TRANSMEDIA template for it’s time. Before any RSS driven linkage of “social sites” . It premiered a web machinima 3d animated pilot that was supplemented by comic art(since i didnt have the budget to continue the 3d animations) Viewers could then enter a 3d avatar virtual world AS the main 4 characters and interract in the next story phase. It also had a 3d shooter game based on the story world., as well as message boards, an ebook tech bible etc.  The links to the advanced media elements are now lost, but one can find them at difffernt locations on the web and at starbasec3.com. And most of the “technologies” that drove the games /3d animations etc are long gone. Which should be a lesson to creatives online, thatthe  tech companies arent in buisness for you as customers;) and that online media- your work- is not being designed by the tech companies  business models to “last”. Forget LONGTAILS, “they” arent being designed for by your tool makers.. unhappy? then make it change;)!

Anyhow- enjoy the peak at 2001 or so- – and “transmedia” online  before it had the snazy name.;)

Iv’e also linked the first chapter of “FIRST STEPS” which was meant to be the “story novel” of the transmedia IP. There was a full pitch doc for the novel/online universe that Im looking to find — if I can get one ill post it, I lost alot of older files in a move this year. 

best c3

NICE VISUAL DRAG AND DROP PROGRAMMING APP FOR UNITY3D

http://u3d.as/content/hutong-games-llc/playmaker/1Az

This is what made Axel3D so powerful for creatives back in the early 2000s. I assume this type of GUI must be soon implemented within Unity3D and standardized under their vision.  Its good to see it happening.

UNITY “LOVES” FLASH? ;) JUST SAW THIS ANNOUNCED

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2011/02/27/unity-flash-3d-on-the-web/

Devil in the Details… but unseating the “plugin” meme has been a decades old pain in the ass. This might be a very good thing for web based browser 3D.

5 years ago a web3d team I was “trying” to help, kept telling me that “Unity3D”  “wasnt the competition” when i kept saying  -” look here”…   Yeah I know.

THE SECRET FUTURE OF TRANSMEDIA – A SPECIAL REPORT

I really suggest reading this article even though the new webzine “Continent” its published in,  has the silliest tagline Ive read in a long time.;)

http://www.continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/viewArticle/6

Yes, OK, it’s not a “special report” and like usual not a “real” secret. I just needed a “story headline” to connect the narrative of the posts I’ve been making on transmedia recently.

For those who wish to continue makeing a living off  ”creative content” and “ip” over the next 50 years, I can’t think of a more important article/topic Ive seen online in almost a decade.

You Judge.

A Sneak Peak of Tomorrow – Hero today, Reality Tomorrow

http://www.talenthouse.com/stan-lee-foundation-create-a-superhero

They just ended the”voting” phase of this contest to “create a hero for the 21st century” and the “Stan Lee Foundation”. As you all know Stan Lee was in  part responsible for the comic book stories and characters that have affected our culture and its thinking for over 50 years.

This world wide contest offers a unique view into the psyche of todays younger creative set. it would be wise for many to study the galleries. What you see there, mutliply by 1000, and youll have some idea of the future societies to come. Both Real and Virtual, and of course , combined;)

Many designs are “tracings” of older comic book, super heroes that have been our cultural gods and goddesses, or myths for a century, but others are something new. Something that will be as strange as a man in a bat outfit fighting crime was in 1940. Or of  heroes  who got “superpowers”  from  “radioactive”  accidents  in the early -mid cold war atomic 60s.

I tossed in an entry…I  had an idea that i thought might be a good ”design/idea”  for the Lee Foundation. After the contest ends I’ll add some thoughts on the contest,  creativity in the age of the web and social media values .

Till then, I truly suggest the look at Tomorrow  the rather large gallery offers.:)