Designer's Den

3D Scenes

2009-03-31T07:05:00.001-07:00

Use your photos and videos to create your personalized 3D Scenes from fun photo-realistic templates like Surf’s Up, Fashionista and more!

How does it work? We've enabled users of 3D Scenes to upload their own photo and video content to high quality 3D scenes without ever having to use the SceneCaster editor. Now you can create your personalized 3D scene in seconds and display it on your profile page for all of your guests to see. Plus, we've added a photo viewer, so that when you click on image links, you'll be able to see the image full size.

Great Moments in SC History

2008-09-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

It was exactly one year ago yesterday that SceneCaster quietly opened its doors to the world and hoped that someone would walk in.

I have to go to the U.S. occasionally for work and I always get uptight when the customs officers ask me what I do for a living: "Well, I work for this software company and we have an application that lets you create 3D scenes where you can add objects and then there's this Google component to it and you can add video links and..." At this point the officer's eyes usually start to glaze over and I begin to wonder if I should have just said "Boxes; I make boxes."

I can't wait for the day when I can say "SceneCaster; I work for SceneCaster. No need to hug me."

We're not quite there yet. We're getting close, though. Here's a look back at some highlights of the past year.

Sept 25, 2007 - The First Scene
As far as I can tell, this is the first one published (not half bad, either):

Jan 4, 2008 - The Joker
Ellen Solem's television breaks down, prompting her to create her own fun and some of the most visually compelling scenes ever (with the worst titles). Who can forget the sheer suspense and dramatic tension of "26" (see what I mean?), in which a giant beer can with a grudge stalks an unsuspecting hiker out for a stroll?

March 26, 2008 - The Favorite
Lesley Bergen begrudginly accepts a friend's invite to join SC...as far as I know, her family have not had clean clothes or a hot meal since. She develops such a devoted fan base that her scene "Invisible" scores an astonishing 542 page views ...and there's nothing in it! NOTHING!

April 15, 2008 - The Addict
Joy Brewer joins SC; author of 163 scenes and counting - that's a new scene just about every day. She says SceneCasting "is the most relaxing thing I have ever done." Must be a nice break from her day job on the bomb squad.

April 15, 2008 - The Innovator
We add the 'link' feature that lets you create your own links to other scenes and other Websites. Some smarty pants named Diroshi Raja uses this to create SC's first interactive graphic novel:

July 18, 2008 - The Ambassador
SC's rapidly growing Spanish-speaking population prompts Isabel Christina Restrepo to guest blog for Designer's Den because frankly, my Spanish is muy malo!

Sept. 25, 2008 - The Crew
Our sincere thanks to all of our great contributors for their imagination, their skill, their humour and most of all for sharing their scenes with us.

Favorite Google Things - Library Sofa

2008-09-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

We're really proud to be the only online design software that can import models from the Google 3D Warehouse. It's like having access to a great big online store where all the merchandise is totally free! It's a shopper's dream!

The downside is that their content is sometimes hard to find, poorly named or (worst of all) has that little annoying little 2D man attached when you download it. Being in the fortunate position of browsing through all of your scenes every day I often find items I did not know existed until they pop up in someone's design.

My new fave is this little beauty:

Curvy, tufty, cushy: she's got it all. If I were a single man I'd take it for a drink. It even accepts textures from our library if you drop them on the right spot. Zoom in and try to hit it right about here:

My sincere thanks to Eliana Lombardo Teran for finding it and using it so well. And if you're looking to download it yourself, the magic search word is "chester".

One Percent Inspiration

2008-09-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Inspiration for a great scene can come from anywhere. I've been known to drop everything because I spotted a new Google object and decided that I had to build a 'home' for it in SC immediately. Just lately I seem to be on a bender for re-creating images I find of beautiful residential architecture and interior design. I like the idea of being able to spend a few hours in these spaces I will likely never get the chance to visit in real life (unless the company finally caves in to my suggestion that I take a world tour with unlimited license to barge into people's homes uninvited). It's sort of like trying on a suit you know you can't afford and isn't necessarily your style, but you just want to see how wearing it will change you, if only for a moment.

My two favorite online destinations of late are both blogs, and I put them out to you only because there's a lot of budding designers amongst the SC population who may find them inspiring as well. The first is Design Milk, which is a showcase of what's new & inventive in art, architecture & industrial design. There are some very out-there ideas here, but you'd be surprised how much of this stuff gets filtered down eventually to your local IKEA. DM was the source of this scene:

which was inspired by this home in Costa Rica:

The second is Apartment Therapy. They're all about livin' large when space is at a premium. They've got specific sites for many of the major metropolitan centers across the US (I feel only slightly snubbed that Toronto is a no-show). The nosy neighbour in me is addicted to one of their regular features called 'house tours' which was the source of this scene:

which was inspired by this home in San Francisco.

So, while I may never live in a modernist glass home in the Costa Rican jungle, or a mid-century bungalow in San Fran, I can still spend a few hours 'living' if not actually living there. In dissecting and re-assembling these spaces I garner two major benefits. One: I get to rip-off great ideas for use in the ever-evolving, never-ending, please-make-it-stop renovation of my own home, and two: it's a good design exercise to imagine what was on the other side of the photographer and 'fill in the blanks' as it were.

No wait, there's three: by taking things apart you get a good handle for what makes them work, and this gives you the tools to build things better in the future.

New Catalog Content

2008-09-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hey SceneCaster-ites!
You've been doing such a great job of creating scenes that our poor servers are smoking. We're doing a bit of clean up over the next few days to distribute the load a bit better and during that time you may notice some inconsistent performance. Patience please - it's all for the greater good.

Now the good news - new content release!

Art.com
The internet's biggest supplier of art & decor is now on SceneCaster! We've chosen 50 of their best-selling pieces to add to our content library, both framed and un-framed. Plus, we plan to continue to add to this collection over the coming months. Their website offers over 500,000 prints, so we're going to be pretty busy for some time. But that's not all: Art.com's sister site has also joined us....

Allposters.com
The world's largest poster store is available, too! We've got classic movie posters, rock & roll favorites and even some more tongue-in-cheek pieces:

which inspired my 'back from vacation' scene here. Look for Art.com and Allposters.com in our 'Featured' content category.

Back To School
Speaking of things getting back to things (how coherent do you expect me to be after that many coffees?), the wee ones have gone back to drink from the fountain of knowledge. Look at their little shiny faces and empty heads just waiting to be filled up! It does the heart good:

Remind me sometime to sing you the song I wrote to memorize the periodic table. Sounds nerdy, but you can kiss my 'A'...in chemistry! Take a look in 'Themes > Back to School'

Recess!
Lest you forget that thing you use to carry your brain around in needs a bit of exercise too: we expanded the 'Outdoor > Playground Equipment' category with a whole bunch of swinging, climbing, teetering & tottering fun.

Alright - it's SceneCaster September: everybody back to work!

Una Nota de Isabel Christina

2008-08-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hola a todos los usuarios de SceneCaster de habla hispana!

Mi nombre es Isabel Cristina y quiero compartir con todos ustedes la experiencia de usar esta increíble aplicación.

Hace un tiempo por fortuna, alguno de mis amigos de facebook me invitó a usar SceneCaster y aunque ignoro muchas invitaciones decidí aceptar ésta. La primera vez que entré a la página debo confesar que no entendí mucho de cómo usarla, baje el programa y cuando ví la cantidad de opciones que tenía para seleccionar objetos no sabía muy bien que hacer con ellos! Decidí explorar un poco y empecé a ubicarlas en la superficie que aparece cuando vas a crear una escena. No tenía idea que podía modificar las dimensiones de los espacios, y debo confesarles que solo después de haber ensayado con unas cuantos escenas bastante simples empecé a usar la opción de vista en 2D.

Ahora cuando veo mis primeras escenas (todas se llamaban Isa 1, Isa 2, Isa 3… muy original por cierto!) debo admitir que eran bastante ‘minimalistas y tímidas’ por el poco uso de elementos, pero no porque fuera mi estilo (alguno de ustedes conoce muchos hispanos tímidos?), sino porque no sabía de la cantidad ilimitada de catálogos que existían a través de la opción de objetos 3D en Google!!!

Las imágenes anteriores son ejemplos de mi primeras escenas ‘minimalistas’.

Después de batallar con mis primeras escenas empecé a explorar cada vez más por la aplicación y especialmente me detenía a observar escenas que otros realizaban, de esta manera empecé a familiarizarme con nombres como Diroshi Raja, Lesley Bergen, Jim Burgersten, Wai-Shan Lisa Lo, Michael Sanders, Mark Zohar, Adrijana Mracina o Aoife Sutidaa, ellos han sido sin saberlo mis maestros, sus escenas son siempre alucinantes, plenas de detalles y muy creativas, mirarlas siempre es placentero, no solo por su belleza, sino también porque entrar a cada una de ellas es entrar en contacto con mil y un mundos. A través de las escenas que realizan los usuarios de esta increíble aplicación he estado en villas del medioevo, baños romanos,la inauguración de los Olímpicos, el medio oeste, la casa de los Simpsons, conocí a los alliens de Diroshi, vi una película en el teatro de Michael, me alojé en el Gran Hotel de Lesley, y desayuné en el chalet de Giulia; de igual manera, cada vez que me iba familiarizando más con la aplicación me animaba a recrear escenas para que otros compartieran conmigo imágenes de lugares que solo existen en mi imaginación como una escena que realicé hace unas semanas a la que llamé Purest White,

donde en medio de la nieve más blanca y pura una mujer se encontraba en absoluta contemplación (la ciudad donde vivo en Colombia tiene una temperatura promedio de 28°C todo el año!), pero también me ha dado la posibilidad de compartir con Ustedes escenas como Delirium Salsa,

en la que a través de un link puedes mirar en YouTube a los bailarines de Swing Latino que son de Cali, mi ciudad, y que han ganado en 3 ocasiones el Campeonato Mundial de Salsa!!! Quién se atreve a decir que los latinos no llevamos el ritmo en la sangre o que nos falta talento y creatividad? Entonces, no sería increíble que cada día hubiesen más y más escenas donde viéramos por ejemplo a dominicanos y panameños bailando merengue, una exposición en el Malba en Buenos Aires, un concierto en el Teresa Carreño de Caracas, o a un grupo haciendo canopy en las selvas de Costa Rica, Ecuador o Perú?

Realmente, SceneCaster es la aplicación más sencilla y entretenida que he encontrado; no solo como herramienta para recrear espacios, sino también como herramienta social, ya que desde que la uso he tenido la oportunidad de hacer contacto con personas de partes tan diversas del mundo como Sri Lanka y Canadá o China y la India!

Yo espero sinceramente que se animen a usarla, que exploren todos sus usos, que diseñen sus espacios con ella, que bajen objetos nuevos con Google y que las compartan con todos quienes hacemos parte de esta gran red de usuarios de la mejor aplicación que he podido encontrar: SceneCaster!!!

Michael's note: My most sincere apologies for this ham-handed translation:

My name is Isabel Cristina and I want to share with you the experience of using this incredible application.

Some time ago fortunately, some of my friends invited me to use facebook SceneCaster and although I ignore many invitations I decided to accept it. The first time I went to the home page I must confess that I did not understand much about how to use it. I downloaded the program and when I saw the number of options open to select objects, I did not know very well what to do with them! I decided to explore a bit and started to locate on the surface that appears when you create a scene. I had no idea that you could change the dimensions of space, and I must confess that only after having experimented with a few, quite simple scenes that I began to use the option of creating in 2D View.

Now when I see my first scenes (all were called Isa 1, Isa 2, Isa 3… very original by the way!) I must admit that they were quite 'minimalist and timid', but not because it was my style (do you know many timid Hispanics?), but because I did not know the unlimited number of 3D objects that existed in the Google catalog!

The previous images are examples of my first 'minimalist' scenes.

After battling my first scenes I began to increasingly explore the application and I stopped specially to watch others doing scenes, thus became familiar with names like Diroshi Raja, Lesley Bergen, Jim Burgersten, Wai-Shan Lisa Lo, Michael Sanders, Mark Zohar, Adrijana Mracina or Aoife Sutidaa, they have been unknowingly my teachers, their scenes are always amazing, full of detail and very creative, always pleasant to watch, not only for their beauty, but also because entering each one is like being in contact with a thousand worlds. Through the scenes being made by users of this application, I have been in incredible villas in the Middle Ages, Roman baths, the opening of the Olympiad, the Old West, the home of the Simpsons; I met the aliens with Diroshi, I saw a movie in Michael's theatre, I stayed at Lesley's Grand Hotel, and had breakfast at the Villa Giulia. As I became more familiar with the application, it encouraged me to create scenes to share places that only exist in my imagination. A scene I made a few weeks ago I called the 'Purest White', where amid the snow, white and pure, a woman was in absolute contemplation (the city where I live in Colombia has an average temperature of 28 ° C all year!) But SC has also given me the opportunity to share with you scenes such as 'Delirium Salsa', which through a link on YouTube you can watch the dancers Swing Latino in Cali, (my city,) They have won the World Championship in Salsa dance! Who dares to say that Latinos do not carry the pace in the blood or that we lack talent and creativity? It would be unbelievable if every day we have more and more scenes where we saw such things as Panamanian and Dominican merengue dancing, an exhibition at the Malba in Buenos Aires, a concert at the Teresa Carreno Caracas, or group doing canopy in the jungles of Costa Rica, Ecuador or Peru?

Actually, SceneCaster is easy and entertaining, not only as a tool to create spaces, but also as a social tool. Since joining, I have had the opportunity to make contact with people from such diverse parts of the world as Sri Lanka and Canada or China and India!

I sincerely hope that this will encourage users to explore all its features, to design their spaces with it, discover the Google objects and that we share them with everybody in this great network of users with the best application that I could find: SceneCaster!

SceneCaster New Editor Release

2008-08-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Our developers have been heads down for the last three months, getting ready for our latest release of the SceneCaster Editor. It is chock-full of tasty new treats for our scene creators as well as our scene viewers.

Installation
The next time you go to create or remix a scene, you'll be prompted to download the new editor. It's a pretty standard installation, but comes with two things to take note of:
1 - You need to close all of your browser windows while the install takes place (including the SC one). Don't worry, we'll re-open your browser for you when the install completes.
2 - about 2/3 of the way through the install, you'll experience a pause of several seconds. Don't worry! It's not frozen, it's just getting some components it needs from Microsoft.

So What's New?
In a word: PLENTY! Most importantly, when you save a scene now, you have the option of allowing 3D viewing. Anyone viewing your scene will now be able to view your scene using our 3D Viewer. They'll be able to zoom and pan from every camera angle and get the full 3D experience without having to remix the scene. Those of you who prefer our classic 2D editor still have that option as well.

About Linking
Good news as well. Now any links you attach to your objects are attached to the object itself, rather than drawing a big box around the object. This will help alleviate any frustration you've had about viewers not being able to click on your links.

Embedded Video
Now any video clips you link to will play right in the 3D scene with their own playback controls. You don't have to link out to external sites anymore!

List of Added Bonuses
You can finally paint ceilings - no joke!
You won't pick up additional objects when you drag & drop anymore.
We turned off collision to make it easier to put objects in/on other objects.

New Keyboard Commands for Advanced Editors
These are gold! Take notes:
Hold down the Shift key and you can free-rotate objects with your mouse.
Hold down the Ctrl and Shift key to move objects up & down. Added bonus: they'll maintain their elevation wherever you move them.
Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and you can re-size objects with your mouse.
Select an object and use your arrow keys to nudge objects in 4 directions.
Select an object, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and use your Up/Down arrows to nudge them vertically.
Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple objects and use your arrow keys to move them as a group.
Use the W, A, S, D keys to move your current camera.

Looking forward to seeing what all of you will come up with.

SceneCaster eNews - the Premiere Issue

2008-08-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's the maiden voyage of our first ever eNewsletter: Casting Call, and we're as excited as a dog in a house made of beef. Those of you who have signed up should have received Casting Call in your email already. Those of you who haven't signed up yet: shameful! But you can still get a preview here.

How to Subscribe
Easy peasy: click on this super subtle link from any of our FB pages:

Provide a valid e-mail address and you're on your way. You can also unsubscribe very easily, so don't feel like you're signing your life away.

Why Subscribe?
You'd be crazy not to, that's why! We'll be giving sneak peeks at new features, new content, our favorite scenes & SceneCasters, games, contests, rewards and much, much more. So...what are you waiting for?

New Catalog Content - Olympics!

2008-08-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have been literally glued to my TV every spare moment for the past week, watching coverage of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. As an aside, is it just me or did you think it was rude of Usain Bolt to stop trying after he knew he was going to win the 100M sprint?

Anyway, in the spirit of the games, we've just added 60 athletes, flags and patriotically-inspired paraphernalia so you can build your own tribute to the spirit of sportsmanship. We apologize if your country's team is not represented, but we have only so much time left. Remember to use the image upload tool if you want to see your nations flag on the podium, too.

Now go forth and conquer!

Scene Spotlight Honorable Mentions

2008-08-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

It was a long weekend here in SceneCasterLand, so I had quite a bit of catching up to do yesterday when I made it back in to the office: dusty, unshaven, tired (renovations - wish me luck).

As it always is when I've been away from the community for a while, I work myself into a frenzy over who will be the Scene Spotlight. Not to inflate all of y'all's ego too much, but you're really getting very good at this!

Our honoree ended up being Susan Johnson's 'Sumo Wrestlers', a tongue-in-cheek (pun intended) look at the grand opening of a Japanese bar where I hope no one ever orders the 'Dirty Martini'.

Why it won: You have to ask? Pure sex appeal, plain and simple.

However, there were so many contenders over the past few days, that I had to give them their propers. And it's an excuse for some shtick (who am I kidding?)

Bonnie & Clyde & Pops? - Susan Johnson

What made it great: Susan versus Susan! It had dramatic tension, a sense of story and incredible camera work. Plus, it paid homage to every great Hollywood action movie with the presence of the 'panicky idiot' (sorry Farrah) in a supporting role.

Basic girl meets fat guy in a little coat... - Ellen Solem

What made it great: Ellen's first take on Basic Girl was called (appropriately) Basic Girl in a Basic World. It won SS hands down! I sent Ellen a clip from (the best movie ever made) Tommy Boy, because the title reminded me of 'Fat Guy in a Little Coat', which was totally snubbed by the Academy Awards in '95. Ellen created this scene, complete with link to the YouTube video as an homage. Stunning!

Earth - Rachel Tan

What made it great: It was like '6 degrees of cloudy blob' over the weekend. CB plays the clouds (duh) in this scene, a bubblebath in LB's Bath Time, as well as Basic Girl's gravity-defying updo. That aside, this scene has stunning lighting effects, a message (environmental conservation) and Rachel's signature whimsical, innocent, color-saturated style.

Those Were the Days - Lesley Bergen

What made it great: Honestly: if she'd named the scene 'Find the Bong', I'm sure her scene views would have doubled (there are three. And no: they're not from the SC catalog, they're courtesy of the hop-heads at Google). I really like how the hazy film covering the windows seems entirely appropriate for the scene, too.

My Dream Bathroom - Diroshi Raja

What made it great: Um, I think you forgot something Diroshi: where's Brad Pitt serving you the no-calorie donuts?

Cool Lookin School - Amanda Howard

What made it great: Amanda's description for the scene reads: "A class room where kids can be calm, but visually stimulated". ROFL! I think Diroshi has a better chance with Brad & the donuts.

Cupid's complot - Isabel Christina Restrepo

What made it great: I don't know what a 'complot' is, but I'm pretty sure it means Isabel had a waaay better weekend than I did. Oh yeah!

Footnote: two days later, Isabel publishes this innocent little number:

Who does she think she's fooling?

Family Room - Ma. Rosario P. Bautista

What made it great: I know nothing of this SCer (yet), but this is just straight-on pretty and I've always got a soft spot for that.

Great work everybody - keep 'em coming!

L'art du blog

2008-07-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

What is it that compels us to pour out the contents of our head onto a web page for the consumption/regard of the entire world? Not sure, but there are millions of them out there: some great, some...not so much.

Since I took on the happy task of handling the SC blog, I can tell you that it's an oddly compelling part of my weekly to-do list. As a matter of fact, the SC blog has prompted me to branch off into a couple of other blogs; one of which I'm starting to use just to post some of my favorite SC scenes and write a bit of commentary about them without all the FB hooplah telling me I have to "superpoke 25 of my friends or the puppy gets it"...you get my drift. Plus, as the SC'er with the largest number of scenes to date (BOO-YAH!) I found this was a great way to keep them organized. My FB page is always getting cluttered with scenes I have to make to become new templates, marketing images, movie files, stuff that started out as a great idea and petered out to near uselessness but I didn't have the heart to delete it, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Which brings me to my point (finally) If you're a blogger and you're posting scenes to your blog, please let me know about it.

If you're a novice blogger interested in how to embed your scenes in your blog:

Step 1 - copy the Embed code from your Scene Details page, like so:

Step 2 - paste the code into a new post on your blog site, like so:

Step 3 - publish your post, and voila:

You've just added the richness of 3D to your gossamer wordsmithery!

An Audience With The Queen

2008-07-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty momentous day for us here at SceneCaster's nerve center on Friday as we were graced by a visit from none other than Scene Queen Lesley Bergen!

PHOTO: Lesley Bergen (left) and some guy she picked up at lunch.

As luck/fate would have it, two of our guys were passing through her hometown a few weeks ago, sent her a quick IM and bingo-bango: she accepted our invite to drop by and let us dissect her marvellous brain! It was like the mothership had called her home!

We spent a good two hours over lunch (and by 'lunch', I mean 'cocktails') getting to know the lady behind the legend. I remember being struck waaay back in April by the incredible level of detail and art direction that went into Lesley's scenes and was very politely (I hope) inquiring into as to whether she was involved in graphic arts or photography or some other creative endeavour. Much to the surprise of both of us, she admitted to having no such background or interest until she started casting scenes. Fast forward to the present: Lesley has completed 100 stunning, innovative and startlingly intricate scenes (and counting).

PHOTO: 3D Lesley signs documents donating brain to SC.

Those of us here at mission control would like to thank Lesley for the hours she's spent entertaining us with our own app., and for her incredible skill at making it sing & dance.

Wanna Be A Star?

2008-07-15T13:55:00.001-07:00

We’ve had some magazines and newspapers express interest in writing an article about SceneCaster – how it’s used, who is using it and why… if you live in one of the following areas, and are willing to be interviewed for a possible profile in a newspaper, magazine, blog or even a TV show (!), please let us know.

We’ve had requests for people living in:
The Bay Area
Calgary
Chicago
Cincinnati
Indianapolis
Florida
New York

Are you a newlywed or bride-to-be?
We’d love to hear from you and find out how SceneCaster is helping you plan out your new home. Write on our Designer's Den Wall and tell us your favorite bridal registry website too.

New Catalog Content (at long last)

2008-07-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, after a brief hiatus during which we were re-working our catalogue, we've finally been able to push up a lot of new content to keep you busy for the next while.

The Art of Crime
I'm curious to see how well the concept of 'urban decay' plays out with our SC'ers...just make sure you keep it on the virtual walls, kids. We've got a set of spray can-wielding no-goodniks in the 'People' category, 2 new graffiti-inspired fonts in the 'Text' category and whole bunch of, ahem, artwork in 'Themes > Graffiti Art'. My thanks to catalog hound Susan Johnson for this screenshot:

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scene
I'm not sure what's more frightening: the fact that we've been invaded by giant-cranium'ed, green skinned aliens, or the fact that in the future we'll all be forced to wear black leotards and go-go boots all the time. Nevertheless, if you're into sci-fi (and spandex), take a peek in 'Themes > Lost in Space'.

Meanwhile, Back on Earth
Where people are still wearing jeans - SceneCaster introduces an additional 50 wood flooring textures including some lovely parquet designs reminiscent of old Europe. I've always wanted herringbone floors; now at least I can have them in my digital rooms. They're in the Texture Library, under 'Wood Flooring'.

And Finally, Just So Your Toes Don't Get Cold
You might want to throw down a new rug - in lots of fun new shapes & styles! They're in 'Home and Furniture > Rugs'.

That's all, folks. Gotta go get my grandmother fitted for her leotard!

My Fave 5 - Showdown Time!

2008-07-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

After five weeks of faving like maniacs, we've reached the showdown portion of our My Fave 5 Contest. Our winners have put in a great effort and have shown incredible creativity and, more importantly, great sportsmanship...but that's all about to end! I had forecasted a battle of the scene-divas sometime after round three and it looks like we won't be disappointed.

If you visit our contest page now, you'll notice each scene has its own 'vote' button. You get to vote on your favorite out of our top five. You only get to vote for one scene, so choose wisely.

And without further ado, here's a bit of detail on our contestants and their amazing scenes:

Bedroom - Diroshi Raja

SceneCaster's favorite author created this deceptively simple bedroom scene, which is actually seven interlinked scenes of bedrooms showing all the stages of life. It's like peeling an onion...made of mattresses. 'A' for effort, as well as being the only SC'er to use the link feature....ahem.

Poolhouse - Christina Skov Egede Olsen

If this were a contest for SceneCaster's longest user name Christina would be our hands-down winner. If this were a contest for combining the largest number of colors in one scene: no contest! She's also the most junior member of the winner's circle, having been a SC'er for less than two months, which is as hugely impressive as her name.

Roman Bath - Lesley Bergen

SceneCaster's Queen of Scenes: she's fearless, she's tenacious, her creativity knows no limits. She has published 90+ scenes, trashed countless computers and ignored mountains of laundry to get to this point and she deserves to be compensated! p.s. She's also the only one of the top five who did it without the Scene Spotlight...

Moon Pavilion - Melody Kim

Melody has published the fewest number of scenes of our top five, but each one has been exquisite from the get-go. There was no learning curve for Melody; she took to SceneCaster like Michelangelo took to the brush, like Tiger Woods took to the clubs, like Paris Hilton took to acting...wait a sec...that's no good...should've said Meryl Streep...

Boat Bedroom - Carole Landreau

Carole, absent for all of rounds 1-4, rushes in at the 11th hour of week five and throws down a killer scene that has her uniquely personal, journalistic, 3D diary, "snapshot-of-my-life" kind of spin....complete with a bedroom with a lifeguard...draw your own conclusions...

There you have it - vote wisely, vote soon. We'll announce our winner early next week.

Super Important Announcement

2008-06-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not one who's prone to exaggeration, but this may be the single most significant event in the history of the world! ...well, the 3D world anyway. We here at mission control have been working for quite some time in order to streamline our rapidly expanding catalog content and make it easier to find what you're looking for.

That day has finally arrived....but that's not even the best part!

The highlight of the new catalog is far and away the 'My Catalog' feature. It allows you to add objects from the SC catalog to your very own 'My Objects' and 'My Textures' categories, so that cowhide rug you're all so fond of can now be at your fingertips anytime! All you have to do is drag icons from the catalog down into your 'My Catalog'.

But that's not even the best part! (The suspense is killing you, isn't it?)

Ok, here it is: the best part is you get to upload your very own photos, textures and models. This bears repeating: they're your very own photos, textures and models.

Now, in just a few moments that ubiquitous generic puppy photo can go from looking like this:

To this (not just any dog - MY dog):

Even this (yep, that's MY Mom):

You get the idea, right? Ok so now let's do textures (this is seriously fun!). One of my latest scenes is a plan for the renovation of my bathroom. I took pictures of 3 tile samples to try out and presto!

Option 1 - classic white on white:

Option 2 - cool, beachy, calm:

Option 3 - man-glam!:

This'll take you a bit of practice to get your seams to line up and get your scale correct. I'll be posting new tutorials to the Designer's Den to help you out over the next little while and I'm always available for your questions and suggestions.

Models - some of you have 3D modeling skills, some of you have tried Sketchup (that's the Google object format). Now you can have your models in your own catalog.

Here's mine (don't laugh):

Not exactly Michaelangelo's David, but better than a kick in the teeth if I do say...

As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about this; I think it will add a new level of personalization and customization to SC and I can't wait to see the great scenes you're going to come up with.

Word of note: you may need to clear your browser cache if your scenes do not launch successfully.

Instructions for Internet Explorer:
1. Quit Internet Explorer and quit any instances of Windows Explorer.
2. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Internet Options.
3. On the General tab, click Delete Files under Temporary Internet Files.
4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box , and then click OK.
5. Click OK.

Instructions for Firefox

New Catalog Content and New Features

2008-06-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

New Content: Anthony and Cleopatra
Because we'll use any excuse for a toga party - we've added 33 objects to help you re-enact the classic love story that brought a nation to its knees...or you could just stage a really great party scene, your choice. They're in 'Themes > Anthony and Cleopatra'.

New SceneCaster Chat Room
Next, If you've happened by the Designer's Den lately, you may have noticed this little widget hanging out there:

It's our new live chat room! You can share live chats with other SceneCasters, ask questions, get tips and waste a few minutes with your scene-obsessed peers. I myself shared a very pleasant few minutes this morning over coffee having a nice chat with two of our leading 'ladies'.

New Templates
By popular demand: we've added 2 new templates to our Create a Scene page to help you create great outdoor scenes. One is a bustling urban street scene:

The other is a leafy green forest scene:

We just want you all to keep a good balance in your lives, after all. Try them out and let us know how you like 'em.

New Pleas for Support, Please
You may have noticed these ever-so-subtle links nested just below the main nav bar:

Let's break them down:
Invite Your Friends - Duh, what FB app doesn't have that ubiquitous bit o' linkage? However, if you happen to know someone who is a potential scene-genius, we'd sure love to meet them, and this will make it a bit easier for you to do just that.

Become a Fan - we take the opinions of our fans pretty seriously (why else would we keep a bunch of developers locked in a dark, scary corner of our office until they come back with a Mac version?) Becoming a Fan gets your voice heard: write us a review, leave your comments and get access to regular updates about upcoming promotions, contests and more.

Sign up For Our Newsletter - This will get the SC Newsletter delivered right to your email address, so you'll always be in the loop about upcoming events, contests, content releases and feature releases.

Don't forget: next My Fave 5 contest round begins 12:00am sharp EST on Monday! Fair warning!

New Catalog Content - High Seas Adventure

2008-06-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Two brand new fresh model sets have just been delivered! Luckily I was able to combine them into one all-encompassing scene:

Look in "Themes > High Seas Adventure" for the models and "Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings" for the beach tiles. Have a great weekend everybody and watch out for that XXX rum, ye scurvy dogs!

New Catalog Content

2008-06-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, people! Time to relax, unwind, plug in and cast a few scenes! We've refreshed the catalog with some amazing new content. There's some tricky stuff in here, so take note and try to keep up:

SceneCastopolis
We added 4 new city building objects. The great part about them is that they all come with custom textures, so you can drag & drop facades onto each of them to change the look. Combine these with the 'resize' function, one of our urban panoramas and you'll have a thriving metropolis in no time! Check out one of our Scene Spotlight winners here and you'll get the idea:

Look in 'Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings'.

Please: Don't Drink and Dart
Our newly expanded 'Themes > Bar Theme' category includes beer (2 kinds!), billiards, booths and a bounty of beverages. Try saying that after a few pints!

More Fun Than a Barrel Full of Jesters?
The 'Themes > Medieval Era' category proved so popular, that we've beefed it up so that it would be, how do I put this: less weapons-intensive? Now you can stage a happy little violence-free production like this one:

Also, check the 'Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings' category for cobblestone street tiles and these amazing castle walls, towers and houses.

Anyone Up For a Little Rootin' & Tootin'?
We've had a few of our SC-Superstars create their own Old West scenes out of nothing more than some Google objects and duct tape. We took the hint and added 'Themes > Old West' to our catalog with buildings, cowboys, cowgirls and even ponies! I always wanted a pony...

Also, look in 'Themes > Outdoor Tiles and Buildings' for the desert hard pan tiles you see here. Now giddyap!

The Many Faces of SceneCaster

2008-06-03T06:15:00.001-07:00

You know: when this app. was originally created by pre-historic cavemen rearranging stones on a dirt floor, it was intended to help people plan their spaces better. When we released SceneCaster on an unsuspecting facebook community late last year, we suspected we'd get a lot of users who would focus on interior design & layout. It's really pleasantly surprising however, to find that some of our most popular and highly-rated scenes have been anything but! They're more like this:

Digital Art - These are the SC's who are creating an assembly of objects just for the sake of creating a visually appealing vignette. I'm really impressed by these people, because they're treating SC just like any other creative tool, like a paintbrush.

Storytelling - They say every picture tells a story, but these SC's are taking it to a new level by creating scenes that are either linked together to tell a story, or represent a pivotal moment in a narrative.

Personal Expression - These SC's are using our app. almost as a scrapbook of their lives & experiences. They're re-creating the things that are relevant or important to them at this moment and giving us a glimpse inside.

3D Greetings Hallmark may be interested to find their sales are slipping because resourceful SC's are creating personalized greetings for family and friends.

Dreamscapes & Fantasy Where we've left the realm of space planning entirely and are creating fantastical flights of fancy where there are no such things as scale or gravity. These are completely original worlds.

Fun & Games The SC's who are creating their own games or visual jokes.

Design - the tried and true. They're still out there and they're doing some amazing stuff. SC is a great way of working out layout and color schemes - I've even planned the entire construction of a house on it.

So there it is - one tool, dozens of uses!

My Fave Five Contest!

2008-05-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-23T13:52:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

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.