1 Sep 2003

Millimeter

www.millimeter.com, online and in hard copy, the professional resource for production and post production, in its 1 April 2003 issue, had S.D. Katz review all landscape generating software, with digital landscape links and photo gallery.

http://millimeter.com/ar/video_build_own/

After an excellent introduction and setting of contexts comes the following;

Digital Landscapes that Fool the Eye (Are we trying to fool anybody?-EHF)

Corel: Bryce 5

E-on: Vue d'Esprit

Greenworks: Xfrog

Onyx: Tree Professional

Digital Element: WorldBuilder 3 Pro

Planetside: Terragen

Pandromeda: MojoWorld

3D Nature: World Construction Set 6

'It all began in the 1970's with mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot...'

What do GPS and DEMs have to do with...

...and there are excellent sidebar pieces entitled:

1. The Algorist's Dilemma

2. L-Systems

3. Smile, You're on Candid Camera

EHF Conclusion: The real digital promise is the opportunity for landscape architects to move beyond the representative reality of 2D plans and perspectives...we are not there yet...but we get closer.

All of these software work to give you excellent ecologically appropriate wilderness, which we, landscape architects, can 'develop' with the likes of World Construction Set and the wealth of architectural modeling/rendering software.

And there is the question of animation, as it sits between photo-realism and the cartoon world. Does this not whet the appetite of landscape architects?

This article and its links are an excellent read.

Edward Flaherty

4:56:18 PM    

Don't try to tell me this is not about the landscape!  :)  Chris Lydon interviews James Gleick on his biography of Sir Isaac Newton. "Almost everything we know about apples and moons in motion and at rest, about time, space, gravity, inertia, differential and integral calculus, occurred to Isaac Newton in his early twenties, working in isolation through the London plague years of 1665 and 1666." [Scripting News]
4:18:20 PM    

No-frills travel hits roads. Stagecoach launches £1 fares between some UK cities in an attempt to bring no-frills travel to the roads. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]
4:16:01 PM    

Phones become readers of the landscape?!  New 3G handset offers much. Third-generation phone firm 3 is expanding the range of handsets on offer. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]
4:14:32 PM    

Is gaming really a 'lifestyle'?. You do not have to be into urban sports and pop stars just because you like gaming. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]
4:11:51 PM    

Game graphics hit their limits. Video game graphics have almost got as good as they are going to get, says a leading game maker. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]
4:11:19 PM    

Will Linux remain true to its roots?. Wharton examines whether Linux can truly remain open while simultaneously gaining acceptance in the corporate marketplace. [CNET News.com]
4:10:39 PM    

Making your presence felt in a video. Total pixelated [The Register]
4:10:01 PM    

US sponsors Anonymiser - if you live in Iran. Behind the Net curtains [The Register]
4:08:30 PM    

Going Gold? Maybe, if Enough Cellphones Ring. The music industry may be having trouble persuading people to buy its songs online. But the cellphone market is another matter. By Alec Foege. [New York Times: Technology]
4:07:30 PM    

Use of RFID tags raises privacy concerns. The unchecked use of RFID technologies poses a privacy risk for consumers, privacy advocates say. [Computerworld News]
4:06:39 PM    

Opera, Mozilla update their Web browsers. Though they trail industry leader Microsoft Internet Explorer in usage, development on both browsers continues. [Computerworld News]
4:06:02 PM    

More Companies Are Routing Calls via Internet. Some companies are switching from conventional telephones to systems that route calls via the Internet, which can result in substantial savings after the initial investment. By Adam Bauman. [New York Times: Technology]
4:05:16 PM    

Now on the Web: The Total Price. Spurred by competitive pressures, more online merchants are disclosing how much their goods and services cost after taxes, fees and shipping charges. By Bob Tedeschi. [New York Times: Technology]
4:04:38 PM    

Selling your personal data. Harvard Professor John Deighton asserts that consumers should capitalize on the value of their personal information and get something in return. [CNET News.com]
4:02:16 PM