Polynomial (yt) is a 3D space shooter with mathematically generated fractal scenery and models by Dmytry Lavrov with demos available for Linux, (Intel) OSX, & Windows. (via)
posted by juv3nal on Jun 23, 2009 - 35 comments

Metaplace Raph Koster's customisable, isometric, browser-based 3d environment has now entered open beta. caveats: Registration required, some Beta flakiness (previously)
posted by Sparx on May 17, 2009 - 16 comments

People have been trying to make the appearance of three-dimensional movement almost as far back as the first movie cameras. The very first efforts used stereoscopy (more pre-vious-ly), which wasn't functional for theater-settings. In 1915, the first public test of 3D film was deemed unsuccessful, as images presented with green/red lenses detracted from the plot, but that didn't stop people from trying to make 3D films. Polarized glasses are another inexpensive method of simulated 3D, while shutterglasses are a more costly method. Up to 1998 or so, there were approximately 187 3D movies made, not counting porn, cartoons and shorts (which bring the 1998 total to 263). 2009 is supposedly the year that 3D movies really take off, as it has been reported that 3D films are expected to gross over $1bn (£700m) at the box office next year, a five-fold increase on their $200m haul in 2008. There are some really big titles coming, including the "3D drug trip" that is Avatar, and all of the announced future Pixar releases will get the Digital Disney 3-D treatment. But 3D isn't limited to the big screen and big companies. The next format war could be over 3D TV. And now the independent production company MeniThings has released the feature-length movie, Battle for Terra. [via mefi projects, and a bit more on the movie after the jump] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on May 8, 2009 - 56 comments

Brian Valentine takes 3D macro images of flowers and insects. (How do I view them?) He discusses his macro methods here; a more general guide for making your own (not necessarily macro) 3D images can be found here. More 3D goodness at the Flickr Stereophotography (and stereovideography!) pools. Via EMRJKC'94. [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on May 6, 2009 - 32 comments

Gallipoli: The First Day [flash] An ABC documentary site about the WW1 ANZAC landing at Gallipoli, on 25 April 1915.
posted by tellurian on May 3, 2009 - 12 comments

Lunar Lander 3D in 5k
posted by gwint on Apr 25, 2009 - 39 comments

subprime. Beautiful animation about the US housing market.
posted by uncle harold on Apr 22, 2009 - 30 comments

Lifting it's script from the abandonned fourth movie, Mad Max will be returning, sans Gibbo, as a 3D animated feature. I'll see you on the road, skag!
posted by Artw on Mar 7, 2009 - 38 comments

Ötzi the Iceman. Up close and personal.Really close.
posted by merelyglib on Mar 6, 2009 - 25 comments

Molecular Movies features cell and molecular animations, along with animation tutorials. [more inside]
posted by Korou on Jan 30, 2009 - 5 comments

Structure Synth is an application for creating 3D structures from a set of user specified rules. It is an attempt to make a 3D version of Context Free.
posted by signal on Jan 2, 2009 - 8 comments

View-Master. It's was, for many, their first exposure to 3D. But where did all those little dioramas come from? Well, sculptor Florence Thomas for one, responsible for these Tom Corbett images. More. Via. Previously.
posted by Astro Zombie on Nov 7, 2008 - 36 comments

The Eco Zoo - some amazing Japanese 3D Flash. If you take a close look at the animals there... you might be able to get some tips to live in a more environmentally friendly way!
posted by Artw on Sep 13, 2008 - 13 comments

Area 56: Peeing robots, rockin' office workers, engaging panoramas, and even a few sexy girls.
posted by artifarce on Sep 6, 2008 - 9 comments

Virtual Vaudeville [shockwave] Watch a 3D simulation of legendary comedian Frank Bush in a vaudeville performance from a variety of perspectives. Switch between any of eight perspectives at any time and read the extensive hypermedia notes to gain a richer understanding of the performance in its historical context.
posted by tellurian on Sep 4, 2008 - 11 comments

the first full release of Photosynth. Stonehenge. Venice. Previously 1,2,3. PC only.
posted by signal on Aug 23, 2008 - 65 comments

A film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Hugo Award winning novella, Coraline will be out (in 3D) in early 2009. [Previously] [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin on Aug 12, 2008 - 27 comments

Fascinating 3D renderings of different processes inside of a human body. Yes, the style is quite similar to The Inner Life of The Cell, but this one is different. Dissolving of the pills was definitely entertaining. It would be great if a doctor could comment on the other processes that are displayed.
posted by Surfin' Bird on Jul 9, 2008 - 14 comments

With 'Lively' Google tries something more interactive in the 3d space after buying SketchUp in 2006. [more inside]
posted by acro on Jul 8, 2008 - 40 comments

Friday Flash Java Fun - 'Building Houses With Side Views' Entertaining Java game/exercise/doodad. [more inside]
posted by le morte de bea arthur on Jun 13, 2008 - 31 comments

The Graveyard: Walk through the graveyard. Sit for a spell. Walk back out again. [via Jay Is Games] [more inside]
posted by brundlefly on Mar 22, 2008 - 15 comments

A 3d graphics engine written in Excel. Money shot on page 4. Blatantly stolen from seanyboy.
posted by signal on Mar 6, 2008 - 32 comments

Papa Palmérino Sorgente, the Pope of Montréal [more inside]
posted by XMLicious on Feb 28, 2008 - 8 comments

POV-Ray Short Code Contest #5 - The animation round! This time the competitors were allowed 512 bytes of POV-Ray code to create a (short...) animation. The rules of rounds 2 and 3 (previously on Mefi) allowed 256 bytes but to create stills. [more inside]
posted by elgilito on Feb 16, 2008 - 11 comments

1982-2007 Pixar's papers on computer graphics
posted by brundlefly on Jan 25, 2008 - 21 comments

The Fabaroni is a 3D printing machine that constructs 3D models with pasta dough. You've also got the 3D chocolate printer made out of lego. And Previously.
posted by mattbucher on Jan 15, 2008 - 11 comments

A YouTube Channel devoted to 3D animation student projects
posted by jlori on Dec 23, 2007 - 3 comments

Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Paris, 1900. Approximately 200 antique photographs of Paris at the turn of the 19th century, mostly from the 1900 Paris World's Fair. French CG artist Laurent Antoine is reconstructing the Exposition in Maya 3D. Bienvenue!
posted by cenoxo on Nov 11, 2007 - 13 comments

Mapping Memory. "Turn the human brain upside down and all around to see how memories are saved (or lost)." National Geographic has a great interactive 3D map of the brain as part of an excellent feature on memory. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Oct 24, 2007 - 5 comments

"Somewhere on the planet are ten-year-olds who, someday, will be the first people to set foot on Mars" 300 scientists and space-experts contributed to what's billed as "a realistic vision of the first Human Mission to Mars" -- Race to Mars. Discovery Channel Canada used Hollywood special effects, but for added realism rather than ray-guns and aliens. On the website, you can argue about whether they got it right. www.racetomars.ca
posted by richlach on Sep 7, 2007 - 24 comments

Andrew Lipson and Daniel Shiu build faithful, 3D versions of Escher prints using LEGOs: Relativity, Ascending and Descending, Waterfall, and Belvedere. (Only one of those four images required any photo manipulation to create its "Escher effect" -- can you tell which one, without scrolling down to see the descriptions on each page?) Other people's LEGO adventures: a playable harpsichord, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a portrait of Catwoman.
posted by allterrainbrain on Jul 8, 2007 - 17 comments

Here are some beautifully rendered views of polytopes, and a few more. The rendering program, Jenn 3D, is free and downloadable, (OS X, Linux, Win) and includes some really dazzling fly-about and camera effects as well as tons of high-dimensional models to explore. There's also a mind-boggling possibility of playing Go on boards in projective space. Via the Math Paint blog, which leads to other interesting places...
posted by Wolfdog on Jun 2, 2007 - 13 comments

Sweet! Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has made a 3D printer that forms objects out of sugar.
posted by exogenous on May 9, 2007 - 36 comments

Planktoon 3D Animation. [Via Monkey Filter via Ample Sanity.]
posted by homunculus on May 3, 2007 - 5 comments

Photorealistic CG water (and a little on how it's done).
posted by hoverboards don't work on water on May 2, 2007 - 41 comments

3-D images have a longer history than you might imagine. Stereographs were invented in the mid-1800s, and quickly became very popular. You can still view 3-D pictures of the Civil War, cowboys and Native Americans, World War I, Egypt circa 1900, small town America of the 19th century, and zeppelin wrecks(!). How do you view them? You can buy or build a viewer (like this classic), but a better way might be to learn to do it with the naked eye (try this method if you have trouble). A new technique converts stereograms into "wiggle images" [prev.] the approach has been used on this picture of a downed zeppelin and this picture from the Civil War. Free software will let you make your own wiggle images.
posted by blahblahblah on Apr 23, 2007 - 23 comments

3D Glass Paintings by Xia Xiaowan. [Via Table of Malcontents.]
posted by homunculus on Apr 17, 2007 - 24 comments

You have spacial skills. Apply them in Building Houses 2, on mathsnet.net. Or freestyle in Building Houses 1. Or at night! Oh and also there's like a hundred more puzzles over there too. Some java required.
posted by cortex on Apr 12, 2007 - 66 comments

Gary Stasiuk's beautiful Digital Creatures pulls the curtains on the kinematics of geometric objects, after which he plays with the mathematics and user interactivity of generative art and shows how to build the appearance of AI behaviors into Flash objects.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Apr 11, 2007 - 14 comments

Steath InkJet Printer Could Rock Industry I know that once your desktop printer reached a certain quality, you probably stopped caring about printing news at all. But suddenly there are a few breakthroughs to get excited about. Kodak's first inkjet printers have cut ink cartridge prices in half, Zink doesn't use ink at all and will fit in your pocket and now an Australian start-up is announcing a $200 printer that will print a page a second. And the inkjet connection to nanotechnology won't just mean cheaper printers. People are using inkjet heads to print microchips and even human cells. Fab@Home is trying to replicate the Altair phenomenon with 3D printers, and you can even get a ZPrinter 450 industrial-strength 3D printer for less than $40,000. How long before the word print means serving yourself the latest Stephen King, a pair of glasses or even a new kidney?
posted by PeteNicely on Mar 26, 2007 - 53 comments

Packet Garden observes how you use the internet, then takes that info and generates a 3d world based on it. [via]
posted by brundlefly on Feb 26, 2007 - 13 comments

The Morphable Face Model "captures the variations of 3D shape and texture that occur among human faces. It represents each face by a set of model coefficients, and generates new, natural-looking faces from any novel set of coefficients, which is useful in a wide range of applications in computer vision and computer graphics." Amazing/terrifying tech from Herr Prof. Dr. Volker Blanz.
posted by gwint on Jan 15, 2007 - 38 comments

CarveWright, a 3D wood carving machine made by former NASA robotics engineers. Demo video.
posted by stbalbach on Jan 8, 2007 - 26 comments

The sphere. A simple object. Primitive. Round.
The CGSphere Project is simply this: What can you do with a round object in your 3D world?
Gallery here

Contributors have tried to create the most captivating 3d sphere, using their choice of software.
My favorites: My Precious. No Way Out. Solar Radiometer. Idea in a Cage. Sputnik. Hunter Killer. Don't Do it. mini adventure. Corals. Pin Ball. Spy Hole.
posted by filmgeek on Dec 23, 2006 - 19 comments

Landcraft
posted by delmoi on Dec 23, 2006 - 16 comments

Lenticulations :: Animated 3D Multiple Lens Photographs
posted by crunchland on Dec 2, 2006 - 12 comments

Finding The Third Dimension. A research project at Carnegie Mellon University that attempts to extract the third dimension from one single photograph. (YouTube video, via)
posted by zardoz on Oct 24, 2006 - 13 comments

The Croquet Project is a staggeringly ambitious attempt to create 'an operating system for the post-browser Internet' - a multi-platform, open-source, extensible, decentralised, peer-to-peer, 3D virtual reality metaverse [2,3], designed for 'highly scalable deep collaboration', led by Alan Kay.
posted by MetaMonkey on Oct 1, 2006 - 37 comments

Interesting gallery of images people have made using a program called zBrush. (some images nsfw)
posted by crunchland on Sep 17, 2006 - 24 comments

"Imagine a blend between a National Geographic documentary and a Tex Avery cartoon. This short is a combination of 3D characters and live footage." Five-ish minutes in the life of a ladybug with anger issues. (YouTube)
posted by Orb on Sep 7, 2006 - 21 comments