Certainly... happy to do so...
Hi There,
The models in the video are generated using the blender bas-relief composite node plugin... This first came to my attention circa 2008 / 2009..... It's a very good tool.. but unfortunately.. it's not easy to get it working....
The plugin is specific to blender versions... it will run below blender 2.49 or blender 2.5... The plugin author.. and many others in the blender community have stated that this will not work in any version beyond 2.5...
As the current blender version is 2.62 this means stepping back to one of the prevous versions.. blender 2.49 is the recommended blender version.. this is a considerable problem... The plugin author has made a blender 'build'available.. with the plugin pre-installed... not such good news as it may seem... you have to compile the blender build... to create an executable version that can use the plugin.
Instructions are provided below to accomplish this...
Building Blender with C++ Express and Scons on Windows XP/Vista
Install the following Applications / Libraries
1. MS C++ Express
2. Python 2.5
3. Scons
4. Windows SDK for your version of Windows
5. DirectX SDK
6. TortoiseSVN
7. Download /trunk/lib/windows from SVN (contains all the libs for windows)
8. Download and copy the Quicktime Dev Kit to lib/windows/QTDEVWIN
In blender/config/win32-vc-config.py
set openexr path to lib_vs2005
In windows Environment Variables
Add the following paths (replace with your installation paths if different)
PATH add c:\python25
INCLUDE add C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\include
INCLUDE add C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0\Include
LIB add c:\DX90SDK\lib;
LIB add C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0\lib
Download SVN Trunk
run scons from the Blender Folder.
For ease, make this batch file This will update your SVN, and rebuild your checkout.
c:
cd\blendersvn
"c:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoiseProc"
/command:update /path:c:\blendersvn\blender\ /closeonend:1 /notempfile
cd blender
call scons
If you download multiple branches, change the build folder in config/win32-vc-config.py, but leave the install folder normal. Then in the /Sconstruct file at around line 317 there is a reference to env.BlenderProg(B.root_build_dir, "blender" change the "blender" to another name and that is what that branches exe will be called.
I am not the type of person who gives up at the first hurdle.. and at some point I will perform the blender build process.... but in light of the complexity of 'building' blender.... I looked into the way the plugin works to see if there's an easier way to use this method.... there has been much discussion of this in the thread below....
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/woodwo...ing_files.html
As a result we have discovered means to emulate the function of the plugin.. without use of blender or any other complex tools / software install procedures...
The models are created by a process that applies tone-mapping to a rendered depth-map of an existing 3D model... it's an image compositing process... when you understand the functions applied.. it's not so difficult to use the same method in generic FREE tools like kerkythea and gimp.... much easier than fighting your way through the install procedure above...
Hope this helps
Danny
What one man can do another man can do..
BitMaps to Models, 3D2Relief, tutorials and FREE CNC Software http://cnc4free.org