Join a community!

A group of english researchers posted online data and obj files for dinossaur shapes used in the study Linking the evolution of body shape and locomotor biomechanics in bird-line archosaur. Looks like a cool library for dinossaur bones, elements and scripts! Check it here: http://datadryad.org/handle/10255/dryad.47161

Lately I've been having probably too much fun with an android app that allows any user with a fairly decent phone to do 3D scanning. Unlike other similar apps, this one does not require high-end hardware. Using it is amazingly simple: fire up the app, just point your camera to any object of scene, and walk around it. display.land films the entire scene, and has a handy marker to tell the user that it has collected enough video to process a 3D scene. Then, just upload it and wait for results. Works great for medium sized scenes, not so well for small details or individual objects (but, for that, there are other apps and techniques). Users can also use the phone to do some editing on captures scenes, such as cropping or adding notes. To download 3d models obtained with this app, user have to share the scene link and log in the display.land website using a web browser. Models are downloadable as textured PLY, GLTF or OBJ, wich can be cleaned, repaired and prepared for insertion into virtual scenes or 3d printing.

Where to get the app: Display.land

Some examples created with my smartphone: detail of my school library makerspace; architectural detail from Torres Vedras; makerspace; my (surprisingly tidy) office.

As you can see from the examples, this app requires some tries for the capture technique to give good results. Captures can also be affected by bad filming, ou sudden light changes during capturing. Display.land creators made this useful guide: Learn display.land to help create better captures Still, I'm very impressed by their photogrammetry algorithms, and the app's ease of use. 3D scanning is not a easy technique, and with this app it almost seems effortless. 

This is one of my favourite modeling programs, in several levels: it's easy to learn and use allowing 3d modeling with preset meshes, young children can very quickly learn to create 3d objects, exports easily to several formats, such as dxf and vrml wich can be imported into vivaty studio and other 3D animation apps. A great and fun little program to create robots and vehicles. Download here: Doga Project.

Others tools and  ways to draw in 3D ( part 2)
( see part 1 :
http://www.odisseialabmedia.univ-ab.pt/babelx3d/content/draw-3d

Using some tools made by Kekenken :
http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~kekenken/

1-
Save that one
http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~kekenken/main/3d/script/06_genenode/1/drawing_0_0.wrl

and open it in local , you will be able to ....."File...Save state as" ....if you use BSContact.
If you use BlaxxunContact, you have F8 or something like that to save your drawing.

So : draw with the mouse or a graphic pad.

Save it
Then , with vrmlpad , delete all except the group Balls-Gp , they are just spheres...

2-
What is interesting with
http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~kekenken/main/3d/script/06_genenode/2/drawing_2_1.wrl
is that it uses a Proto : proto_colorball_1.wrl
http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~kekenken/main/3d/script/06_genenode/2/proto_colorball_1.wrl

So you can modify the Proto , with vrmlpad ,changing  the sphere to any shape you want.
It will be your pencil.
You also can draw on any other shape than a plane.

It is a nice tool to plant flowers on a terrain.
( There are other ways somewhere ,can't find them for now )
( I will reedit when retrieving my memory)