My Expression

ZAM and Materials with Transparency

barkest — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:52:00 GMT

If you add a bitmap material to an object in ZAM 3D and that material has some transparency then it is quite likely that the result will not be what you expected. Don't fall into the trap of thinking transparency means 0% opacity because any opacity value below 100% will cause issues. Here is an image which shows an object that has had a bitmap material with transparency applied to it in ZAM 3D:

You can see that it does not look great BUT don't panic as this issue is internal to ZAM 3D and when you export it then it will work fine inside Expression Blend as the following image shows:

So until this is fixed, which may well be some while, then carry on adding materials with transparency to objects in ZAM 3D but don't worry that they don't look too good as everything should be ok when it hits Expression Blend.

ZAM 3D tutorial series in progress

barkest — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Last week I started recording the ZAM 3D tutorial series. There are only a handful of videos posted so far but I aim to add around 10 per week so it should soon start to fill up. Although there are a number of 'glitches' with the current build of ZAM 3D I still reckon it's the best tool around for creating 3D scenes for use in Expression Blend. In addition to that Erain who write and market the application are a great company to deal with whether your a single user or part of a larger team. As for the glitches then don't worry I make sure that I show you them all and in most cases provide suitable workarounds which means you won't have to lose that muti-million dollar contract you just landed :-)

A Simple 3D Button

barkest — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:37:00 GMT

Random LABS Keyword: 3DButton

In this set of Random Labs I create a simple 3D button in ZAM 3D which has a glossy looking image on its face (created quickly and easily in Expression Design). The techniques shown in this series can be reused time and again when creating images to be placed onto 3D meshes.

Finally and for 'fun only' I place a quick and easy animation on the button which will give the user visual feedback that the button has been clicked.

The ZAM 3D file containing the final button and animation are packaged as a download.

Lab tutorials are FREE to view. To learn how to access this and other lab tutorials go to:

http://x-coders.com/blogs/randomlabs/archive/2008/05/13/how-to-use-learn-expression-studio-random-labs.aspx

If you have any problems subscribing to or viewing tutorials please contact one of the Admins at:

http://x-coders.com/forums/

Zune Player Project

barkest — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:55:00 GMT

I have created a set of four Expression Design project series tutorials where I show you how to create vector artwork from a bitmap image. The finished .Design file is available for download.

Following on from this, in the ZAM 3D project series I have created a series of nine tutorials showing you how to create a 3D object from the artwork. The final Blend project is downloadable.

Simple rotating cube

barkest — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:13:00 GMT

Following a forum request I made up this simple rotating cube. It's nothing special so I won't be making a tutorial but feel free to grab a copy.

2D Panels on a 3D Mesh

barkest — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:16:00 GMT

Random LABS Keyword: 3DCube

As this is my first Blog entry I thought I would stick to what I enjoy doing and that is making an interactive 3D object. The ability to grab hold of an object, spin it around and play with it never fails to excite me. Rather than stick with the tried and tested 3D Plane I thought it would be good to branch out and build a 3D cube with each side having its own 2D Panel.

I built the cube in ZAM 3D and in the tutorials I explain the technique of how to make each face a separate mesh. After this we jump into Expression Design to create a simple image that will be placed on each face, and then we change the ZAM 3D generated XAML so that each mesh has the ability to accept 2D objects.

With the output from ZAM 3D we will look at how ‘easy’ it is to manipulate the XAML markup to make sure we don’t have too much work to do. I think in future Blog entries I will probably reference this one quite a lot as the techniques described form the basis for placing 2D controls or panels onto a 3D mesh. If you listen carefully you will hear my dog barking in the first tutorial, he likes to be part of things I guess.

Lab tutorials are FREE to view. To learn how to access this and other lab tutorials go to:

http://x-coders.com/blogs/randomlabs/archive/2008/05/13/how-to-use-learn-expression-studio-random-labs.aspx

If you have any problems subscribing to or viewing tutorials please contact one of the Admins at:

http://x-coders.com/forums/