My Fave Five Contest!

I know you've been waiting patiently (some of you not so much) for our next contest to begin. Well, it's finally here! SceneCaster's My Fave Five Contest promises to be as cut-throat, action packed and full of drama as the US democratic leadership race. The only difference is: we're doing the whole thing in 5 weeks and leaving out the hair pulling.

Here's the Run-Down
It's pretty simple: create an original scene (remixes and scenes from templates do NOT count). Make your scene public. Other SceneCasters find your scene and 'Fave' it, like so:



At the end of each week the scene with the most Faves wins that week's round and $100 from Amazon.com.

At the end of 5 weeks, our 5 winners will go head to head in a showdown where your votes will help determine the grand prize winner, who gets $500 from Amazon.com! We'll post the leaders on our contest page, along with full details and tips to help you make it to the top.

First round starts at 12:00 am Monday June 2 - pour yourself a big coffee and get busy!

New Catalog Content - Town & Country

It's the best part of the week: new content time! We did another upload of new models this morning so that you can spend the coming weekend parked in front of your computers: letting your dishes pile up, your laundry go unwashed, your yards turning into meadows...speaking of which:

Call us 'GreenCaster'
Who knew you liked the great outdoors so much? Our city street tiles were such a hit that we've added a whole series of country tiles, including meadows, trails and clearings. You'll find these in 'Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings'. Plus, we've beefed up the 'Exterior Products > Plants' categories with new trees and shrubs. So you can enjoy the great outdoors without the pesky bugs, pollen and random bear attacks.



We're Campy, Now You Can Be, Too!
The one and only time I ever went camping I ended up with a 12-hour nosebleed (which used up all my toilet paper) and hypothermia. No word of a lie: when I got home I actually kissed the driveway before I kissed my Mom. Trust me: this is waaay better. Look in 'Themes > Camping'.



All Work and No Play?
It's been a long work week - go get your freak on. Our '3D People > Miscellaneous People' now includes a whole bunch of corporate types in suits, contrasted sharply by some who really just came to party.



These Guys Could Really Use a Rest
Our regular cast of characters (these are the guys who actually have names) can finally take a load off after months of standing around. We've set them up without collision to make it easier for you to plop them onto a chair.



p.s. We've also expanded the range of our draperies to include swags and tiebacks. They're in 'Interior Products > Art & Accessories > Window Coverings'.

So go choose your venue and we'll see you in town...or country.

Keyboard Tips & Tricks

You guys are getting pretty good out there! Judging from the scenes that are being posted lately, I think it's high time we release some of the 'hidden' features of SceneCaster which you might want to keep handy for when you decide it's finally time to build that replica of the Sistine Chapel. There are quite a number of keyboard functions that you can use to build your scenes faster, better & easier.

2D View Actions
Left-click to select or move objects
Mouse wheel – Use to "zoom in" or to "zoom out."
Right-click (hold) while dragging to "pan" or "scroll the scene."

2D View Keyboard Shortcut Keys
D - Draw Walls: allows you to begin drawing walls.
U - Draw Floor: allows you to draw a floor with no walls or ceiling.
A - Chain: toggle setting allowing you to draw only one wall at a time or a connected series.
Spacebar - enclose room while drawing walls.
R - Delete wall: click on a wall to delete it.
S - Snap: toggle setting allowing override of snap settings to grid/guides/extensions while drawing walls (useful when drawing freeform or 'curved' walls).
G - Grid: toggle setting allowing override of snap to grid while drawing walls.
N - Points: toggle setting allowing override of snap to points while drawing walls.
X - Extensions: toggle setting allowing override of snap to extensions while drawing walls.
P - Properties: opens properties dialog box for selected 2D object (walls, room, doors, lights, etc.) You can edit the properties of most 2D objects.
L - Light: allows you to insert an additional light in your scene.
Alt - allows you to override collision when moving 3D objects in 2D View.
I - Tools: opens the tools dialog box for drawing shapes, dimensions and text.
Y - Layers: opens the layers dialog box. You can create layers just for shapes and text.
Del - Delete the selected object.
esc - Cancel: cancel the current action.
Ctrl + Z key to undo the previous action.
V - Flip Vertical: flips the floorplan vertically.
H - Flip Horizontal: flips the floorplan horizontallyAction.
E - Extrude: allows you to drag a wall segment from one break to another.

3D View Actions
Left-click to select and move objects.
Mouse wheel – Use to "zoom in" or to "zoom out."
Right-click while dragging to "pan" or "scroll the scene."

3D View Keyboard Shortcut Keys
Shift - Hold down key while dragging to move an object “up” or “down.”
Alt - Hold down key while dragging an object to override the collision constraint.
Ctrl - Hold down key while clicking on objects to select more than one object at a time.
Del - use to delete selected object(s).

3D View Arrow Keys:
Move the camera one inch in the corresponding direction.

New Catalog Content - Party on, SceneCaster!

Try to keep up now, folks; our modeling department is workin' overtime! We did another release of new content just yesterday. Judging from the scenes that greeted me this morning, many of you must be constantly scanning the catalog, looking for new content even before I can make the official announcement (Yeah that's right: I'm talking to you, Diroshi!) So, here we go:

Because No One Can Look Sad in a Funny Hat
...even a guy who's 106 years old. We've added 24 party favors to the 'Themes > Party Time' category - complete with pizza, cakes, balloons, beer...everything except the antacid.



My thanks to Jim Burgersten for letting me butcher his wonderful scene.

Because No One Should Feel Left Out
...not even virtual people. We had a post on the Designer's Den wall a few weeks back telling us our collection of 3D people was sadly lacking in diversity, which was true. So we'll continue to add to this category to represent a much broader range of ages, ethnicities and cultures. You'll find 16 new characters in '3D People > Miscellaneous People'...although I'm not sure they'd be too pleased about being called 'miscellaneous'...note to self: change category name.



Because Cow Hide Rug Needs a Rest
I did a blog post recently which spoke about how this one object

has become our most valuable 3D asset because you clever SC'ers keep adapting it to serve as puddles, islands, hills and bloodstains (sometimes even as a cow hide rug!)...all in an effort to get you to speak up and ask for the content you're looking for. We took the hint, and added 17 blob-shaped things in 'Interior Products > Basic Shapes' to help you mold your own creations a bit more freely.



Alright, that's all for now - party time!

MixMaster Results: It's a Tie!

Our sincere congratulations to Osvaldo Martinez and Lorita Ho, who took a mad dash to the finish line in the final hours of MixMaster 2008 and each scored 30 remixes to tie for the grand prize: one half of one iPod!!! Alright, just kidding - I think we can manage an extra grand prize, given all the effort our winners put in. I suspect they must have pulled in a lot of favors from their friend lists and the SC population to make this happen.

I have already contacted our winners with the good news and sincerely hope they will dedicate a song or two to everyone who helped them out along the way. Now I just have to figure out how to put it delicately to Osvaldo that 'Pimpin' House' might not be the best title for a new template...

Stay tuned for more great contests (and more great prizes) from SceneCaster.

New Catalog Content - Windows on Real Estate

I know you're eagerly awating news of new catalog content on a weekly basis. Last Friday we very quietly updated our catalog with some fun new stuff to keep your creative juices flowing. So in case you didn't discover these on your own over the weekend, here's the run-down:

Park Avenue Brownstone, Anyone?
You may not have $14 million dollars lying around, but you can still feel like a New York hot-shot. We've added 12 new city-themed street and building tiles so you can build your own urban jungle. Combine them with our new 'New York' panorama like Lesley Bergen did here:



...and you're well on your way to becoming the next Captain Combover (no offence to Mr. Trump or the Trump organization intended). Look in the catalog under 'Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings'. One word of caution - they're BIG, so either build a space that's a minimum 100 x 100 x 60' h. or try out the outdoor scene function described here.

Now, To Feather That Nest...
We've added 28 iconic mid-century modern furniture pieces from the Herman Miller collection at SmartFurniture. Many of these are signature items from Charles and Ray Eames, the groundbreaking design duo that helped define the look of the 1950's with their modernist, sculptural pieces which are still extremely popular today.



You'll find these and 22 additional models in 'Branded Products > Smart Furniture'

Now What's a Great Room Without a View?
(You see how I'm tying this all together?) We've beefed up our collection of 3D doors and windows, not only because they make a great statement in your scenes, but they make natural targets for you to link your scenes together and we wanted them to say 'Click Me! Please!'. They're also a lot more customizable with colors and textures than our old ones.



You'll find these in 'Interior Products > Architectural Elements > New Doors and Windows'.

Enjoy spring in the big city everyone!

MixMaster Closes in 3 Days!

It's getting very tense in the last 3 days of our MixMaster 2008 contest. I have to confess I'm watching the leaderboards like a hawk to see if we'll have a last minute explosion of remixers trying to make a strategic push to the head of the pack. If you're just such a person:

1. I congratulate you on your deviousness.
2. Here's my last minute advice: get your facebook friends in on the act. Copy the url from your Scene Details page; it will end with the project id number, like so:



Then, create a new mail message, paste the URL into the message box (along with your personalized plea for support) and send it out to your facebook friends. I know I would: there's a lot at stake here, people!



I am fb friends with quite a number of you now and have tried to honor any and all requests that come my way to remix scenes, but keep in mind that as the hours grow shorter your odds may grow narrower.

Good luck to everyone!

New Catalog Content

We're continually adding to our growing catalog of 3D content to help you create a greater variety of amazing scenes. We've just added a Catalog Spotlight widget to our home page, just so you can keep track of what's new/noteworthy on a daily basis. Plus, we've just updated the SceneCaster app. once again, so here's the rundown:

Color Me 'Spicy'!
You asked for them, you got them. We've beefed up our 'Paints/Colors' category in the 'Textures and Art Library' with 131 (that's right, you heard me: 131) all new paint colors. Rich reds, yummy yellows and an all new 'Darks' category for the little Goth in all of you.



Need a Little Vacation?
Spend a few hours with our friends in the new 'Fun in the Sun' category. All the benefits of a real holiday, and no sand in your nether regions - what more could you want?




Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don't
We've added 2 new fonts to our library of 3D letters: 'Plain' and 'Fairytale'. You'll find them in the 'Text' category. Because fonts are like shoes: you can never have too many.



Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration...
...but honestly: who wants to be a stinky genius? We've got 7 new templates to inspire the non-foul-smelling genius in you, including that 'Dorm Room' scene you see magically assembling itself on our home page. Take 'em out for a spin!