Archive for June 2010
How to get rid of audio noise digitally
June 26, 2010
If you´re recording sound effects or speech, you´re aware of the number one high quality sound killer… Yes, we´re talking about noise.
Well, rule number one when it comes to recording sound is to avoid any noise and we all know that. But when you´re doing a quickie and you´re PC´s fan is screaming on the recording, then here´s how to get that fixed and still get away with “decent” sound quality…
This is a simple two step process, that you can do all for free. One of my excellent co-workers and friends, Steven Magyar, actually presented me with parts of this really great procedure a while ago – and I´ve been using it ever since.
Step 1
There´s an excellent and popular audio editing software from www.download.com. It´s called Audacity. Just go there, make a search for it and install it.
You can also click on this link to go to the page directly:
http://download.cnet.com/Audacity/3000-2170_4-10058117.html?tag=mncol
Install and run the software, then load your audio file.
Now, use the maginfying glass icons to zoom in a portion of your audio, where your noise is all you hear. Use the left mouse button to drag a selection and use the play icon to check the noise.
It´s important that you DO NOT hear anything else besides the noise…
Next, head over to the Effect menu at the top and select Noise Removal. When the window appears, select Get Noise Profile. Close the Noise Removal Window.
Now, deselect your selection, zoom out and make sure you either have nothing selected or that ALL of your audio is selected.
Go ahead and bring that Noise Removal back up again, and this time select the amount of noise you want to be removed and click on Remove Noise.
Be careful not to remove too much of it, since that will then interfere with the audio quality. In case you removed too much, you can always use the Edit -> Undo function.
When you´re done, save the new audio as a new WAV file.
Step 2
Now that the noise is gone, we want to get a nice, even audio levels for your speech. If you´re doing sound effects, you can probably skip this step. But it won´t hurt to give it a go anyway…
Get the Levelator from the Conversations Network:
http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
Run it, drag and drop your noise-less WAV file and let the software do its magic.
It will save a new audio file and add “-output” to the filename.
And that´s it!
Have fun with your audio recordings and let me know if this was helpful!
If it was, don´t hesitate to share this technique with your friends…
Thanks a bunch!
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How to start making a Myst-alike game in 30 min
June 9, 2010
Some time ago, I talked about the Adventure Maker and how you can make Myst-alike games for free…
Well, today – I´m going to actually show you how that´s done – from creating the renders in Vue 8 Infinite, to stitching the 360 degree panoramas using the Image Combiner that comes with the Adventure Maker – to loading the final images and creating the actual nodes with hots spots that you can click on to move around in the game.
In less than 30 minutes! (Give an take some rendering time)
I´m using Vue, since it´s so easy to use for this purpose. I´m mean, Vue just rocks when it comes to… creating ROCKS! 
You can use Bryce, Terragen, POV-ray and 3D Studio Max with the provided examples on the Adventure Maker website as well.
I´ve created some using Lightwave before, and I´ve heard that Poser can do the right renders without trouble.
I´ve actually had some issues with DAZ Studio, but there is a work around and I´ll post a note on that shortly.
So, ready to get started?
Awesome..!
Here´s the first video, that will walk you through the scene creation and rendering in Vue.
View video 1:
And here´s the second video, that will walk you through finalizing the rendering, then move on to the stitching and finally setting up the game nodes.
A node is simply a position in your game, where you can rotate 360 degrees and click on hot spots to get to other nodes – progress through the game…
View video 2:
Allrighty, I hope you had some serious fun!
As always, let me know what you think – and if you liked the videos, don´t forget to forward them to your friends.
Thanks a bunch and see you soon!
PS. I actually made a small mistake during the second video, while positioning the second hotspot. It´s supposed to be the opposite of the first one, but it ain´t…
Why 3D vendors seldom make it really big
June 5, 2010
There are many great ways to start selling your 3D products without actually learning to sell.
Take www.daz3d.com or www.renderosity.com as an example.
With a great product that´s niched and unique, you can sell several 100´s or even 1000´s of copies over a few years.
So how come content creators seldom make it big?
Well, the obvious reason is that you give away 50%.
But there´s a more profound reason…
See, there´s only 24 hours a day, and you can only create so many products each month.
Even with a team that produces more products in the same amount of time – you can´t release too many of them, since they will then interfere with eachother.
Well, unless you make all of them 100% unique and without competing against eachother. (Not likely, unless you´re into several niches at the same time)
Regardless, you would have to mass produce new products each month…
Yes, there´s a compound effect going on… As your store gets larger, all the “old” products will start adding to the monthly sales.
No doubt about it…
However, you´re never really free doing that…
I know I never was…
Yes, I quit my job – but only to jump straight into another rat race.
So, what am I really talking about?
Hold on, I´ll explain…
Take a closer look at DAZ 3D… Renderosity… Frankly even STEAM that sell games online.
What the people behind these websites really have done, is to create as sytem for instant delivery. It´s more than a webshop.
It´s support, a community and it´s all connected with the 3D software or in STEAM´s example – with your PC / MAC.
Now, DAZ 3D have a little over 4200 brokered products.
Compare that to creating 1. Maybe 10. Or even 50.
And, I know vendors that have well over 150 products.
So, what´s the issue?
Here´s the issue…
How much time, money and effort do you put in to create a single product?
And you get 50% of every sale – right?
How much time does DAZ, Renderosity or STEAM put – to sell the same product – and still make 50% (I don´t have the exact figure for STEAM)?
It´s probably a ratio of 1/100.
Whoa…
Yeah…
To say the least.
They make THE SAME amount of money, putting in less time, less effort and less money…
And now… Here´s the BIGGIE…
How much sales volume do you think 4200 products can create?
Quite a lot.
THAT´s the difference.
It´s UNCOMPARABLE.
Those who make it big are those who learn to sell and market.
Not content creators…
You can´t compare that to producing one or two products each month,
letting someone else market it for you.
Of course, and I repeat again – DAZ 3D and Renderosity are outstanding. And it´s a great way to start…
But it´s hard to live doing ONLY that…
And it´s even harder when you are out of control and let someone else take 50%.
Take book writers as another example. They make a percentage of each book sold.
How much effort do the publishers put compared to writing a whole book?
Probably 1/100. Or atleast 1/10.
I don´t care what the number is – it´s HUGE no matter how you look at it.
Those who learn the skill of selling, get more with less time and money.
Period.
There´s nothing more to it.
Yes, selling is an art. It´s not luck.
It´s a whole science!
It includes getting over the fear of selling, and of perfecting the skills by doing that on a consistant basis…
I would have been out of business a long time ago, if I didn´t learn to sell on my own…
I remember back in 2006, when I released my first big 3D product – the Light Dome PRO for DAZ Studio.
I was scared beyond words and I think I sat 70% on the toilet waiting for DAZ to release it.
And I sat there 90% after the release…
Ok, lets not end with THAT picture, shall we..?
What I was saying, is that I´ve learned so much since then and I can see the difference…
I´ll be opening up another blog shortly, devoted entirely to online marketing – of ANY product.
And there will be lots of tips of off-line marketing as well.
I just HATE seeing good people struggle out there!
You can learn to sell, and you WILL see the difference.
It´s just THAT big.
And the best part comes here…
Selling is VERY predictable…
Yes, you read that right…
It´s an art, and like any art – and once you learn it, you gain such powerful control, that you will fall out of your chair…
Frankly, you´ll be asking youself why you never did this before…
Does this make sense? I´d love to hear your thoughts and if you like the post – don´t forget to share it with your friends…
Thanks and until then, have a great weeked!
7 ways of lighting interiors in 3D
June 1, 2010
Someone turn on the lights please!
In just a few minutes – I´m going to reveal to you, the 7 ways of lighting interiors in 3D. You can use them to instantly add lighting with an understanding of WHY. You can mix the 7 ways or use them one at the time…
Interior lighting can be very frustrating, since there are so many options to choose from. I know that I always preferred to make outdoor scenes in the start, since that´s easier to grasp… I mean, there´s just the sun, sky and some ambient.
Indoors…
…that´s a different story.
So, jump right into the first video here:
Yes, you can of course use an area light instead of using several spotlights. But I like to talk about the real basics, since that will give you a better understanding of the concept. And in some cases even more control.
For instance, having a few spotlights, enables you to vary their intensity through out the room – where an area light is constant all over. And spotlights render faster…
Allright, now – here´s the rest of the video, watch it here:
And that´s about it!
Let me know what you think, if the videos were helpful and if you like them, don´t forget to pass them on to your friends…
Thanks a bunch!
