So I'm using the "Beta" version of Blender, which seems to be commonly referred to as version 2.5. The stable release version is still 2.49, which has the old UI and interface which many have complained about over the years.
I've been learning Blender on the 2.5 version so all I'm really familiar with is the new interface. I actually really like this new Blender, it is fast and easy to model in, and performance is quite good. The beta version does seem to have a few issues though:(
-The latest one(2.56a) crashes sometimes, when this happens I open up 2.55 which hasn't crashed on me and do whatever I need to do.
-Boolean operators don't seem to work terrible well-- sometimes they work yes, but other times I end with a monstrosity of broken triangles which just isn't fixable.
-Bevel is a modifier, and I can't see any way to just apply it to a selection. It always wants to work on the entire object.
-Poly reduction is also a modifier(called Decimate). The problem with it is that it doesn't maintain UV's, so it is rather useless if you have already textured your model. Old Blender does have a script that maintains UV's, as does MeshLab, so it is possible to export to one of the those programs, decimate, and then pop it back into New Blender.
Still, just the fact that Blender includes so much(and is free) makes it pretty fun to work in. Modeling seems solid, though I have noticed a few issues as mentioned above.
UV unwrap works fairly well, I like the UV editor so far.
Texture paint mode: where I can just paint on the model and it applies it to my UV texture. I like this! I can see using this to rough sketch a texture, and then fill in the detail in PS/GIMP.
Sculpting mode: something like zBrush. Well okay, it isn't as good as zBrush, but it exists, it is build right in to Blender, and it works well enough.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Adapters
Three more of my adapters arrived today, now I can actually go about recharging my battery, and powering my laptop off of it.
Total weight: 180g Damn these adapters.
myPower female cigarette lighter Adapter(54g): plugs directly into the solar panel and has a female cigarette lighter adapter on the other end. This came with the solar panel.
myPower All Car Charger(50g): Need this to plug into the solar panel(not a car as the name implies). The solar panel only has a female car charger plug for output.
Tekkeon Sunbooster Solar Charging Adapter(26g): Need this to plug into the above mentioned car charger, the other end goes into the battery. This item is not 100% required, but it is fairly necessary as it allows the solar panel to charge at lower voltage(down to 12V).
myPower ALL MagSafe Connector(50g): This is a custom item that Modern Outpost produces. It connects my battery to my MacBook Air, letting the laptop run directly on DC power. Without this I'd have to do a DC->AC->DC conversion and loose much of my potential power.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Licenses
Picked up two licenses today.
$100 Apple iOS Developer license. Went for the individual option for now since I don't have a company, and don't really want to wait the extra time that is involved.
$400 Unity iOS license(non-pro). This version should suffice for my first project, missing a few features but nothing I can't live without.
$100 Apple iOS Developer license. Went for the individual option for now since I don't have a company, and don't really want to wait the extra time that is involved.
$400 Unity iOS license(non-pro). This version should suffice for my first project, missing a few features but nothing I can't live without.
Setting up the Air
My solar kit won't fully arrive for another week, so for now I'm setting it up with the development tools I plan to use.
I do plan to install Windows on this machine, but I don't have a copy of Windows 7 yet.
Blender: I've taught myself how to use Blender on my Windows machine already, at least to a moderate level. Now I have to learn to use it on the Mac, only it lacks the 3 button mouse Blender is designed to work with.
Unity3D: Yep I'm not going to waste time writing yet another engine. Unity also lets me easily port any game I make to multiple platforms. Big win that.
GIMP: OK I've never used this before. Always had a copy of Photoshop on my windows box, but I don't have PS for Mac. Yet. So I'm going to give this free alternative a try and see if it will suffice.
I do plan to install Windows on this machine, but I don't have a copy of Windows 7 yet.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Macbook Air impressions
My MacBook Air arrived today from UPS.
First impressions of Mac:
+It is fast and responsive. Programs load very quickly. SSD can likely be attributed to most of this.
-It is not a lite as Apple claims. They say it is 2.3 lbs, but I weighed it and found it to be 1074 grams, this rounds to 2.4 lbs Apple!
-Not much screen space when your coming from dual 24 inch monitors
-Single button 'mouse' is brutally painful in apps that are design for multi button mouse.
I may just have to pick up an ultralight mouse(around 80g). A touch pad may work fine for light web browsing, but I've never been able to stand them for serious work in the past, and so far this Mac touch pad only seems marginally better than I've had on previous laptops.
-Shortcuts are really painful on this keyboard. The command key replaces many of the uses of the control key from Windows, but it is positioned completely different, and I'm finding it quite difficult to hit(have to use my thumb).
-I'm used to Chrome, and Safari doesn't seem to compare very well so far. Amusingly I can't find any method to make Safari go fullscreen. Seriously.
First impressions of Mac:
+It is fast and responsive. Programs load very quickly. SSD can likely be attributed to most of this.
-It is not a lite as Apple claims. They say it is 2.3 lbs, but I weighed it and found it to be 1074 grams, this rounds to 2.4 lbs Apple!
-Not much screen space when your coming from dual 24 inch monitors
-Single button 'mouse' is brutally painful in apps that are design for multi button mouse.
I may just have to pick up an ultralight mouse(around 80g). A touch pad may work fine for light web browsing, but I've never been able to stand them for serious work in the past, and so far this Mac touch pad only seems marginally better than I've had on previous laptops.
-Shortcuts are really painful on this keyboard. The command key replaces many of the uses of the control key from Windows, but it is positioned completely different, and I'm finding it quite difficult to hit(have to use my thumb).
-I'm used to Chrome, and Safari doesn't seem to compare very well so far. Amusingly I can't find any method to make Safari go fullscreen. Seriously.
Mobile Battery
I've looked at a variety of mobile batteries with the intended purpose of using them to charge my laptop & other electronics.
Brunton has two choices
-impel: 145W/38oz
-sustain: 73W/21oz
Tekkeon produces three batteries that are quite similar to each other.
-MP3450i: 58W/15.9 oz
-MP3450: 50W/15.3 oz
-MP3750
: 50W/15.4 oz
Energizer/XPal also produces two batteries, although I can't see any practical way of using them with solar since they require 19V input.
-XP18000
: 90W/17.5oz
-XP800
0: 40W/7.9oz
The XP8000 for my purpose is pretty ideal weigh wise, but I haven't seen any method to boost solar panel voltage up to the 19V it requires.
Tekkeon produces a solar charging adapter, which you can use to boost the voltage off the solar panel as it comes into the battery, but it only boosts it to the 12V required by Tekkeon's battery.
I've decided to go with the Tekkeon MP3450i, it is heavier than I'd like, but Tekkeon makes it pretty desirable with their solar adapter.
Another big reason I went with the Tekkeon: Modern Outpost produces an adapter that lets me connect my Tekkeon to my Macbook.
Strange as it may seem, Apple has not seen fit to release a DC adapter for the Macbook. The only thing they offer is a Airline adapter, but this adapter is total fail as it cannot charge the laptop(it will only power it).
Brunton has two choices
-impel: 145W/38oz
-sustain: 73W/21oz
Tekkeon produces three batteries that are quite similar to each other.
-MP3450i: 58W/15.9 oz
-MP3450: 50W/15.3 oz
-MP3750
Energizer/XPal also produces two batteries, although I can't see any practical way of using them with solar since they require 19V input.
-XP18000
-XP800
The XP8000 for my purpose is pretty ideal weigh wise, but I haven't seen any method to boost solar panel voltage up to the 19V it requires.
Tekkeon produces a solar charging adapter, which you can use to boost the voltage off the solar panel as it comes into the battery, but it only boosts it to the 12V required by Tekkeon's battery.
I've decided to go with the Tekkeon MP3450i, it is heavier than I'd like, but Tekkeon makes it pretty desirable with their solar adapter.
A really helpful dude named Graham, from Modern Outpost helped me figure out alot of this stuff.
Another big reason I went with the Tekkeon: Modern Outpost produces an adapter that lets me connect my Tekkeon to my Macbook.
Strange as it may seem, Apple has not seen fit to release a DC adapter for the Macbook. The only thing they offer is a Airline adapter, but this adapter is total fail as it cannot charge the laptop(it will only power it).
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Powerfilm F15-600
Ordered the Powerfilm F15-600
It is a 12 ounce solar panel, capable of generating approximately 10W.
At $108 it was the best deal I could find that seemed like it might be capable of restoring at least 35W of power per day(size of Mac Air 11 battery).
Peak solar is apparently only 5-6 hours per day in most regions of the United States, so even assuming this panel ends up at half efficiency of 5W, that should be nearly enough(25W-30W).
Once I get a battery I'll test it out in various conditions(sunny, shady, bad weather) and see how it performs.
If it turns out to be insufficient I'm looking at the Powerfilm F15-1200
Mac Air Ordered
Ordered a Macbook Air 11
inch today. The only upgrade I added was the 128 SSD instead of the default 64.
It was $1150 on Amazon.
Macs seem to retain their value so I expect I can sell it within the next year without loosing much.
It was $1150 on Amazon.
Macs seem to retain their value so I expect I can sell it within the next year without loosing much.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Powering the laptop
To power a laptop and other devices such as a camera and phone, when no power grid is accessible it seems two things are required.
-Power source: a solar panel, hand-crank or other device capable of generating power
-Power storage: this is to store and modulate the flow of power so that devices don't get too little or too much
A solar panel seems to be the lightest and easiest solution for generating power, at least that I can find.
Brunton makes various sized portable solar panels, ranging from 5W up to 50W. I'm still not sure which size I'm going to end up needing to keep my laptop powered, though I figure it needs to be able to come close to fully regenerating the Macbook Airs battery from a single day of sun(I'd settle for half filled per day though).
The Explorer is only 4.8 ounces and generates 5W. But thats under ideal sunlight, and it seems most places in the US don't get more than 5-6 hours of it per day. Also this thing would be strapped to my backpack and likely have a far from perfect angle to the sun most of the time. Perhaps I could carry an umbrella and strap this thing on top, that might increase the output.
-Power source: a solar panel, hand-crank or other device capable of generating power
-Power storage: this is to store and modulate the flow of power so that devices don't get too little or too much
A solar panel seems to be the lightest and easiest solution for generating power, at least that I can find.
Brunton makes various sized portable solar panels, ranging from 5W up to 50W. I'm still not sure which size I'm going to end up needing to keep my laptop powered, though I figure it needs to be able to come close to fully regenerating the Macbook Airs battery from a single day of sun(I'd settle for half filled per day though).
The Explorer is only 4.8 ounces and generates 5W. But thats under ideal sunlight, and it seems most places in the US don't get more than 5-6 hours of it per day. Also this thing would be strapped to my backpack and likely have a far from perfect angle to the sun most of the time. Perhaps I could carry an umbrella and strap this thing on top, that might increase the output.
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