Notes

Boolean disaster

2012-02-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

Bad news. I've been going under lot of pressure this weekend as my wife went into medical treatment at nearby hospital. Her asthma suddenly relapsed and to make it worse, i received complaint for some of my blog post sat the same time. If you notice, i deleted 2 posts and removed their companion files. Well, this is what happen when we didnt prepare enough, Murphy's Law will always take action.

In between back and forth to hospital, luckily I still managed to get my stuff done. And like the other complicated situation, I totally forgot how to solve a simple problem. This time, it is Boolean operation.

Perhaps you already knew the fact that most of 3D artists will always avoid using boolean. The result is kind of ugly topology and sometimes also affecting the stability (try to boolean a large object, add some stacks and leave it as it is as you work with your scene, you'll know what I mean). But there were times when boolean could help speed up some process. I consider merging two cylinders as this specific situation.
Here is my base model. Its simply just a small cylinder attached to a bigger cylinder. I boolean them and start fixing the edges and then add symmetry modifier:

What happen when when I added a subdivision modifier? here's the screenshot:

You can see that some spot of topology got clipped. At first I was like "Ah, unwelded vertices", then i run from weld, target weld, bridge, delete to finally rebuild the mesh, they all went into same thing, some part of it got clipped. Detach it, create new geometry and attach them into new geometry, nothing. I replaced subdiv modifier, and its still the same:

Okay, at this point the bell rang in my head. I remember i had solution for fixing automatic edge crease value assigned by boolean operation (did I mention boolean? I didnt even remember i was using boolean when working with this model. In fact, I previously did checked edge crease and all my edges were uniformly at 0 value). I simply re-collapsed my object to editable mesh and re-collapsed it again to editable poly, and tadaaaa, the clip disappeared:

For you who has problem either clipped edge or a ridge/harsh after a using boolean, right click on your object > convert to editable mesh and right click on your object > convert to editable poly would do the justice. I usually did the workflow straight after boolean operation, only this time I got too may things going at once i could barely think of anything. I found this technique quite long time ago and apparently never got fixed for some reason we probably would never know. Just read this tips, even 3ds max 2.0 have this sort of automatic edge crease problem.

And now, another interesting fact i found two days ago: although some folks mention the advantage of using turbosmooth modifier is less memory consumption, it actually almost double the face counts than meshmooth (both use level 1 with isoline display off). You can read total faces using turbosmooth and meshsmooth compared on exactly the same object above. And what puzzles me even more, 1 on 1 comparison (I snap them into single position), all vertices exactly have the same position on both modifiers, ie: there is no geometry difference between object using turbosmooth and meshsmooth. Only face counts were different. How is that even possible? I dont know. But, (yea, there's always but), this face counts resort to meshsmooth face counts when the geometry collapsed into single mesh. You'll see significant face counts decrease after you collapse objects with turbosmooth modifier.

And as a thank you for your time reading this post, here's the (previously) horrible model I showed you above:

Download: 3dsMax9, Vray. Mediafire

Good news is, not confirmed yet though, my wife will likely get back home this noon. Yay!. Its breaking my heart to see my 3 years old cried to sleep each night looking for his mom.

Pin Up and G-Chair

2012-02-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

Pin Up

Manufacturer: Infinti Design
Model: Pin-Up
Description: Pin Up is a free curvy design that develops from a disc-shaped base into an unusual shape, enhanced by a range of 5 joyous and innovative colours to excite, inspire and express personality.The full-grain leather version reveals the softer side of Pin Up, designed for maximum comfort. Modern and elegant, it comes in a choice of stylish colours - white, ivory, red, dark brown and black - and adds a touch of class to any room.The Pin Up chair is made of Freeform soft integral polyurethane or foamed polyurethane, available in five original colours. The polished steel base features integrated swivel mechanism. The upholstery comes in ultra-soft full-grain leather or Melange fabric.

Download: Max 9 format,Vray. Mediafire

G-Chair

Manufacturer: Infinti Design
Model: G-Chair
Description: Die-cast aluminium frame. Cold-foamed polyurethane seat and backrest.

Download: Max 9 format,Vray. Mediafire

Swan Chair

2012-01-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Manufacturer: Fritzhansen
Designer: Arne Jacobsen
Model: The Swan
Description: Arne Jacobsen designed The Swan™ as well as the Egg™ for the lobby and lounge areas at the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, in 1958. The commission to design every element of the hotel building as well as the furniture was Jacobsen’s grand opportunity to put his theories of integrated design and architecture into practice. In 1958 the Swan was a technologically innovative chair: No straight lines - only curves. A moulded shell of synthetic material on an aluminium star swivel base, with a layer of cold foam covering the shell upholstered in fabric or leather. These two original designer chairs originated in Jacobsen’s own garage in his home in Klampenborg, north of Copenhagen and have been in production at Fritz Hansen ever since. The Swan is ideal for lounge and waiting areas as well as the home. It is available in several leather types and fabric upholstery. The base is always star shaped in satin polished aluminium.

Download: Max9, Vray. Mediafire

Free 3D Models

2012-01-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

Recently finished Microso*t Zune HD, download here (Mediafire, 3,5Mb).
The rest of my models check here.

Tahun Baru. Apa itu?

2011-12-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. [link].

Kesimpulannya, yang baru itu adalah siklus perhitungan kalender/penanggalan.
Sekarang jam 23:10, para tetangga saya nyetel musik mirip konser woodstock, bedanya yang bersaing adalah musik dangdut. Sebelah sana barbeque ikan, yang sana bakar jagung, di jalan raya bakar petasan (masih nunggu laporan, tapi belum ada yang bakar diri kedengarannya).
Saya? Sibuk membenahi file library yang acak adut, sambil terus memikirkan alasan kenapa euphoria tahun baru itu diidap sebagian besar orang, apa alasannya?

Saya pribadi nda pernah terlalu pusing sama perayaan. Menurut saya (yang kurang belajar ini), perayaan itu adalah inefisiensi dari berbagai macam segi. Waktu, biaya, tenaga, polusi environment dll. Semua resource yang terlibat dalam sebuah perayaan menghasilkan waste tanpa self advantage samasekali, selain beberapa hal seperti story dan memory (sebagai future reference yang entah bernilai atau nda). Lain masalah jika perayaan tersebut melibatkan kolega bisnis yang baru anda kenal, mungkin perayaan tersebut akan mempunyai nilai ekonomis.

Bagaimana dengan sosialisasi? Maaf pak, kedengarannya defensive. Sosialisasi seperti hal-hal yang self motivate lainnya, tidak memerlukan waktu khusus seperti tahun baru atau sebuah acara perayaan apapun. Jadi kenapa 1 januari itu harus dirayakan dengan hingar bingar dan euphoria, seolah ini hari yang istimewa melebihi hari-hari lain dalam kurun 1 tahun?

Alasan yang paling masuk akal buat saya, ya sekedar ikut-ikutan global trend.

Ada yang menjawab:

We celebrate it because it's the begining of a new cycle in the life of our planet.Why do you celebrate your birthday? Its just another day/year isnt it? !! [link]

Pertama, saya pun nda merayakan ulang tahun, i missed the point of celebrate almost anything. Kedua -lucunya- dia bilang "siklus baru" ini tanpa menunjukkan apa gejala berhentinya siklus yang lama (selain kesimpulan wikipedia diatas). Apa ada point yang bisa kita definisikan seperti misalnya sebelum tahun baru jenggot cuma tumbuh 1mm sehari lantas bisa tumbuh dramatis 1 centi sehari? Ketiga -dan yang paling fundamental- siklus kehidupan di planet bumi belum berubah dari sejak big bang, kemungkinan tidak akan pernah berubah kalo nda ada unsur cosmic catastrophe, misalnya matahari mati atau planet bumi ketabrak meteor segede bulan (ingat zaman dinosaurus?).

Coba kalau kita ubah perayaan itu jadi peringatan bagaimana? Mari duduk bersama, pikirkan apa yang sudah kita raih tahun kemaren, berdoa mendapatkan yang lebih dan kemudian membuat rencana-rencana dan usaha-usaha yang baru untuk tahun ini.
Apakah setel dangdut kencang-kencang, bakar petasan, tiup trompet sambil konvoy dijalanan atau berdesakan-desakan ditempat hiburan itu menjanjikan sesuatu yang lebih baik untuk anda di tahun baru ini? Untuk apa semua itu?

Javanesse Restaurant

2011-12-20T00:49:00.000-08:00

First render was quite unusual. I slept, when i woke up, it stuck on 2nd prepass. IR map calculation took twice longer than rendering. The second image, i used lower DMC sampler and noise and the result was not quite apparent though. Wooden chairs color was last minute photoshop on client behalf.
-. 3dsMax 9/Vray/Photoshop

The Sun Path

2011-10-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

In the process of designing (ceileee...) my crampy home (tight space, tight budget), I find a particular setup to help me define the path of sun ray lit my roof. Its useful to examine appropriate wall height,observing the light cast through the openings or just checking which part of the house need special attention to the roof insulation (keyw*rd: heat). I did this with Autocad, thus save me time build the model in 3D for sun ray observation (you can download the .dwg file here).
In my example below you'll see, half of my attic bedroom will begin to cool down at 3PM in the afternoon. Given the angle of the roof (30° angle) I certainly hope it create enough pressure difference for the air to flow to the living room and in turn expelled through another opening there.

On the left wall (6 meters height), I try to mimic a solar chimney to control overall air flow on this house (I keep eco-friendly in mind in this design). I dont know if it's gonna work at all, as the opposite wall only half its height (no heat chamber either). If you have something to say about this, I will be very glad to hear any opinion. Should it not OK, would a heat duct provide a solution? The worst case of this design is the small pathway between the wall will become a heat chamber, radiating heat into bedrooms.

Ahhh, and there is another work done yesterday. I think it was too feminine in style. Do you agree? What do you think?

I'm fine, thanks

2011-10-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, how are you? How's life?
OK, cut the crap..
I've been busy and been good. I've done lot of works lately, found some interesting stuff along (like this one) and plan on redoing my house. In fact, by the time I type this, i already have one finished alternative drawing plan on how it's gonna look in the future. Bear in mind, I say future. It's gonna cost the sh*t out of me and most likely i'm gonna do some DIY projects for the product I simply dont think worth (or, to be precise, have) the dime to spent. Take a look at overpriced solar panel water heater which could be so simply DIY-ed by Tom. Some of you might have deep enough pocket, but I prefer these DIY approach with some local resources like this one, even if i have the budget I would feel like stupid if i do buy one. --edit: After all, DIY stuff was kinda keep me sane and balance from this computer screen.

On the other side, I bought a second hand DREMEL® 400 Series DIGITAL (400-4/80) for my small metal surgery :). Haven't got time to perform any surgery though, I guess not until I swap my 550W Enlight PSU with a Cougar GX. And off course, a nice sheet of 3mm alu, black shinny and milky white plexy glass, 30m black and red cable sleeves, duh. Got too much things going on my head. See you!

Firesheep

2010-10-31T03:50:00.000-07:00

Firesheep adalah sejenis HTTP session hijacker yang dipakai untuk mendapatkan informasi yang dikirim oleh server ke user melalui data yang tersimpan di cookie, yang berakibat sang pembajak dapat melakukan apapun yang bisa dilakukan oleh seorang user.
Ketika anda melakukan login ke dalam sebuah situs, biasanya pembuat situs memproteksi data login yang terkirim dengan mengalihkan data tersebut melalui jalur HTTPS yang di-enkripsi. Tapi sayangnya setelah proses itu, tak semua situs rela merogoh kantungnya menyediakan layanan berbasis enkripsi secara simultan. Akibatnya, cookie yang seharusnya dikirim untuk identifikasi user pada saat request selanjutnya di server praktis menari telanjang, siap untuk dinikmati oleh tangan-tangan jahil.

HTTP session hijacking (sometimes called "sidejacking") is when an attacker gets a hold of a user's cookie, allowing them to do anything the user can do on a particular website. On an open wireless network, cookies are basically shouted through the air, making these attacks extremely easy. ~ codebutler.com

Jika dulu anda harus rela rambut rontok ditarik tarik sendiri demi mempelajari tehnik sniffing ini, sekarang anda bisa tersenyum ala setan dengan disediakannya Firesheep. Proses download dan install Firefox extension ini sudah bisa dilakukan oleh bocah belasan tahun yang bisa menggunakan internet. Praktek menggunakannya pun bahkan lebih singkat dari waktu anda memesan secangkir kopi. Cukup dengan satu persyaratan: dipakai di tempat yang menggunakan open WIFI connection (biasanya cafe yang menyediakan internet gratis), kemudian menunggu orang lain untuk connect ke salah satu dari 26 preferensi situs yang tersedia di database Firesheep. Setelah melakukan proses capture anda tinggal double click siapa yang terdaftar di dalam list tersebut dan voila!, anda sudah masuk ke account si pengguna.

Negaraku..

2010-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Merintih saya, setelah mbaca beberapa excerpt hasil blogwalking mengenai Atlantis: The lost continent Finally Found. Teringat betapa pemerintah nda mau menghargai hasil karya anak bangsa sendiri, atau bisanya marah-marah nda jelas yang malah kontraproduktif. Saya nda peduli mau beneran apa nda Indonesia itu bekas Atlantis, yang jelas saya tahu negeri ini ada potensi-potensi sangat besar yang harusnya bisa mengangkat derajat warganya lebih dari sekedar exportir babu.

Inbox di fesbuk

2010-09-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

Saya nda pernah antusias klo dapet inbox, mau dari temen atau mau sisa transmisi planet klingon, pasti pertanyaannya seputar "Apa kabar" atau "Sekarang dimana". Sue (So What di-alay-kan) gituloh, nda pernah "Udah di transfer tadi yaa hadiah semilyar-nya" atau "Mobil-nya OTW, pajak udah saya tanggung". *pletak*

Barusan ini ada temen saya ketularan penyakit yang ndak pernah saya liat sebelumnya, nulis inbox ke beberapa orang sekaligus. Mirip ama cerita si Paymex yang akhirnya kena maki berjamaah. Lucunya, --sama seperti kejadian sebelum-sebelumnya-- selalu saja ada yang merasa dizalimi terus berdemo disitu. Kesan yang saya tangkap, beliau ndak suka dikirimi rame-rame, mungkin menurut beliau kurang eksklusif.

Yang merisaukan tapi saya maklumi saja, kegelisahan beliau dianggap non elitis itu diekspos dalam bentuk yang sama, yaitu nyepam. Demi mempertahankan martabatnya beliau jump in the wagon, bareng-bareng nyepam list yang dibikin temen saya itu, melalui reply-reply yang saya tau cuma sekedar kekesalan merasa terzalimi. Eladalah...

Coba, kalau inbox itu ndak usah dibalas, nda usah diperpanjang siapa yang ngirim, pasti sampeyan juga nda perlu baca tulisan curhat saya ini.

Happy Eid Mubarak

2010-09-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a video few days ago on my facebook account, and thought would share it here as well.

Happy Eid Mubarak everyone. Please post a comment if you like it. :)

Mengatasi gejala kehilangan akun anda di fesbuk

2010-09-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

Beberapa temen yang ndak terlalu ~~mau~~ tau apa itu fesbuk, bagaimana cara pakainya, trus boleh ngapain aja disana sering kebablasan, tau-tau akunnya sudah dijambret orang. Ya mo cari salah sapa kalau udah kejadian gitu ngga ada gunanya. Yang musti diketahui sekarang, bagaimana cara menghindari supaya nda kejadian lagi.
Berikut di bawah ini saya tulis aja biar sampeyan-sampeyan ngga terbengong-bengong lagi sambil sumpah serapah dalam hati napa kok nasib sampeyan malang dan menyedihkan gitu. Disini saya akan membahas mengenai fesbuk, tapi pada dasarnya semua akun internet mempunyai teknik perlindungan yang serupa.

Gunakan password yang aman
Autentikasi fesbuk menggunakan imel pengguna dan sebuah password. Pastikan password anda menggunakan kata yang sulit ditebak. Jangan menggunakan nama pasangan, selingkuhan, anak, atau hari ulang tahun sampeyan. Jangan juga pake nama artis soalnya nanti kalau ketahuan artisnya main vide0 p0rn0 sampeyan sendiri yang malu toh?
Usahakan password sampeyan pake kombinasi huruf besar/kecil, angka, dan karakter khusus seperti @#$%%^&*()_+∂ƒß©∆˚¥† dan lain-lain. Semakin random password sampeyan, semakin sulit di tembus baik menggunakan metode brute force encryption atau santet sekalipun.
Keamanan email utama.
Umumnya, setiap proses mendapatkan akun di internet menggunakan sebuah imel. Lindungi email utama sampeyan dengan menyembunyikannya dari info akun sampeyan. Gunakan email yang berbeda antara imel yang anda pakai sebagai username dan imel yang anda pakai untuk menghubungi user yang lain. Buat password imel yang berbeda dari password akun fesbuk, karena cuma imel ini satu-satunya jalan sampeyan mendapatkan akun kembali jika suatu waktu akun sampeyan kena jambret.
Jangan pernah join/bergabung dengan grup-grup atau fanspage yang mempromosikan bisa mempertahankan/menjamin akun anda dari hacker atau pembekuan dari fesbuk.
Jangan pernah juga mengirimkan imel beserta password kepada ~~grup-grup seperti ini~~ siapapun. Pada intinya, semua grup yang seperti ini adalah grup bogus, yang tujuannya ~~sekedar cari teman atau bahkan~~ menipu orang-orang yang tak ~~mau~~ tahu mengenai prinsip-prinsip keamanan akun mereka sendiri. Tak ada yang bisa mengamankan akun anda sendiri jika memang si penipu sudah tau password sampeyan. Begitupun pula jika fesbuk tiba-tiba memblokir akun. Yang bisa sampeyan lakukan adalah menghubungi facebook support secara langsung.
Kebanyakan penjambret akun adalah teman kalian sendiri.
Hacker pada dasarnya bekerja dengan mengumpulkan data kemudian mencocokkan data itu dengan akun sampeyan. Nama kerabat, tanggal lahir, barang kesukaan, hobby, semuanya yang diduga bisa menjadi kata kunci akan dicocokkan dengan akun kalian. Ada lagi hacker yang memanfaatkan kelengahan sampeyan. Misalnya dengan memasang keylogger yang berbentuk software (misalnya:Actual Spy) atau hardware (contohnya: yang sepintas nampak seperti PS/2 converter ini).
[edit 2010-10-31] Atau melalui metode unsecure WIFI network yang marak terjadi baru-baru ini..
Berhati-hati menggunakan fasilitas komputer publik seperti warnet atau perpustakaan.
Kalau sampeyan liat mencurigakan, mending nda usah pake. Kebanyakan akun yang pernah dijambret, dipakai/dibuka dari berbagai tempat. Sampeyan nda akan tau apakah komputer yang sampeyan pake itu udah diset otomatis untuk menghapus internet cache setelah sampeyan tutup jendelanya. Sampeyan nda akan pernah tau apa disitu ada keylogger atau nda. Sampeyan juga nda akan pernah tau si admin mengawasi protokol network atau nda. Karena sekilas semua terlihat aman (menurut sampeyan).
Jangan sampeyan kira pake versi mobile juga aman.
Walaupun HP dan BlackBerry-nya punya sampeyan, traffic data tetap bukan sampeyan yang ngatur. Saya punya pengalaman membatalkan login ketika sedang terkoneksi. Ketika saya buka lagi halaman loginnya, saya langsung masuk ke akun orang lain yang nda saya kenal. Dugaan saya itu terjadi karena kurang amannya aplikasi atau mungkin melibatkan ketidakberesan system proxy dari ISP.
Kalau sakit berlanjut, hubungi dokter.
Biasakan untuk berinteraksi dengan penyedia layanan. Kalau sampeyan bisanya cuma nggerutu tapi nda mau komplain ke penyedia layanan, penyedia layanan nda bakal tau dan nda bakal mau untuk memperbaiki layanannya. Sampaikan masalah sampeyan beserta kronologinya ke http://www.facebook.com/help/. Cari section yang tepat untuk problem anda, disana sudah ada kategori-kategori dan support center sendiri untuk setiap masalah akun sampeyan.

[edit 2010-10-31]: Dan ini belum termasuk mengamankan perangkat yang anda pakai sendiri dari kejahilan virus, worm, trojan atau malware, yang tentunya kalau ditulis disini juga nanti malah berekses tl;dr

Semoga membantu bagi para calon korban.:D

Absolute URL [PHP]

2010-09-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

I was stuck here, not being able to find the right answer for this silly question. Have tried to find similar problem over forums and web to no avail.
I wanted to have an independent system regardless where the root of this script uploaded. They could be uploaded on root server http://yousite.com, on subdomain http://yoursite.com/subdomain, in subdirectory http://yoursite.com/subdomain/subdirectory, or even in virtual subdomain http://subdomain.yoursite.com/. Finding an absolute server path was not as special as this one, because there are several adequate methods like using native getcwd() or $_SERVER.

The problem for URL is we cant tell where the site root without first knowing where your web root documents located at the server. A common structure like /usr/<user_name>/www/public_html as web root with http://yoursite.com URL would not be a problem since you could always define "/" as your variable when pointing to root site. But when you move the your root site directory 1 level down, "/" would certainly break your script down. Or how if your website located on subdirectory of a virtual subdomain?

Assumed you have this kind of structure:

..index.php
..init.php
../admin/
..index.php

init.php is the place where you save your CONSTANTs throughout the site and also constantly executed for root index and admin index. Here is how to find and absolute URL from inside init.php.

<?php
# replace windows trailing slash \ with unix style / 
$url  = "http://" . $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] . 
         str_replace("\\", "/", dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']));
# need forward slash just in case we are in sub domain 
$url  = (substr($url, -1, 1) != "/") ? $url . "/" : $url;
# directory of this init.php 
define('ABS_PATH', str_replace("\\", "/", dirname(__FILE__)));

$dir = str_replace("\\", "/", getcwd());
$tmp = str_replace(ABS_PATH . "/", '', $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']);

if($dir != ABS_PATH)
{
    # we're on subdirectory, strip the directory from $url
    $tmp = explode('/', strrev($tmp), 2);
    $url = str_replace("/" . strrev($tmp[1]), '', $url);
}
define('ABS_URL', $url);

?>

On your root site index.php insert this init.php using

require_once('./init.php');

On your admin index.php use

require_once('../init.php');

Note the difference between ./ (which mean on the same dir) and ../ (up one dir)

ABS_PATH will always point to the directory where your init.php located. This is real path (aka server path) of your root web documents. ABS_URL will always point to absolute URL location of directory of your init.php.

Hope this help someone..

9x5

2010-08-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

I was dreaming.. One of my friends show me how to "multiply" numbers. He/she showed me this:
9*5 = (9-5)+(5)
4 5
and I woke up. That's it.

Hooray!!

2010-07-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

Surprised! After reading 5 Ways to Clean Up Your Social Media Identity, in a vicious spirit of virtuous brand, I re-discover this blog from http://socialmention.com/.. I didn't even remember i had blog out here.. I supposed this blog was a replacement for my old portfolio which was just closed in 2009 (yea, i predict the future, so what?) but then again because i'm too much of a minimalist fans i left it empty so you guys could imagine what i would've written here..
So, see you then..

2002-09-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today's sucks. nothing to do and I went around visiting old friends. one of (used to be) my best friends has 2 children now, and they grow up so fast.. Am i gettin' old?

2002-07-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

First time to blog service, would love to hear anything from friends.

Edit: If you check my profile, my current profile was created in 2008. This post could happen in the past, prior google acquired blogspot. After that, blogspot only accept google account, hence the profile date.