In-House Tools
While SiteMolder takes advantage of some of the mainstays for web development: Adobe Photoshop for imaging,
Adobe Acrobat for document sharing and Microsoft Visual Studio for some .Net and ASP programming/scripting,
we get the most bang for our buck by utilizing extremely mature OpenSource tools.
You need to upgrade your Flash Player If your flash is working, this should be the Melting "S" designed in Blender. One of the most prominent and sophisticated 3-D modeling tools we use is Blender. The melting "S" is a nice example of dynamic simulation, ray-tracing and enhanced material properties available in this package. This sample was modeled and rendered in less than 30 minutes. The functionality in Blender rivals that of most commercial products including Maya. The staff at SiteMolder have written several custom modules using Blender's "Python" scripting utility. Examples include real surface wave simulation with dynamic "flotilla".
To get pure photorealistic effects, only the most advanced rendering engines will do. When we want excellent
raytracing with physically exact refraction, we turn to Yafray. The rendering engine supports caustics, various
illumination models, lens distortions and more. Our "Glass SiteMolder" is only an example of Yafray's most basic
functionality.
A most useful tool for creating custom logos for any business is InkScape. This 2-D Illustration package produces
"Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)" files. You may be asking, What is SVG? It's what allows professional illustrators around
the world to create corporate logos, banners and the like ONCE for all media. If you need the logo for a business card or
for a life-sized poster, the original SVG file will do. It scales smoothly for all media so you don't have to pay an
artist to "clean-up" the logo for larger than life presentations.
Gimp is the most versatile and widespread Open Source tool available for extremely quick imaging work. It has a suite of
dynamic 2-d effects and can create some wonderful gif animations in minutes. The Sitemolder "Spinning Globe" and "Ripple"
effects took less than 10 minutes combined to develop, process and save to file.
Yet another 3-D rendering facility we like to use is Pov-Ray. This tool is mainly used for high-end rendering, but differs
from most programs in that all elements are created with scripts. We find it extremely efficient to edit existing projects
through simple text editing. The "Site Carver" (since the letters are made to resemble wood) image was put together with
a project file containing about 5 lines of test per letter rendered.