3d

Old vs. new tech -- and old tech wins by a landslide

The LP was invented in 1948, and judging by the sales surge over the past few years, LPs won't be going away anytime soon. Amanda Ghassaei's "3D Printed Record" project demonstrated vinyl's continuing relevance in the 21st century. Years ago when I saw an early demonstration of 3D printing, I knew the technology would eventually lead to printing LPs, but now it's a little closer to becoming a reality. First, however, there are major sound-quality issues to overcome with 3D printed LPs (though they can play tunes with fidelity that's far below MP3 … Read more

Design your ideal interior with Sweet Home 3D for Mac

Sweet Home 3D for Mac is an interior design application that lets you lay out your furniture (or even your house). Sweet Home 3D for Mac is a free download and installs easily.

Sweet Home 3D for Mac lets you arrange and rearrange furniture in a framework house so you can get the optimum layout. You start using Sweet Home 3D for Mac by laying out the dimensions of your room, floor, or house. The more accurately this is done the better, as a few inches can make a huge difference in layout potential. After that, you can grab images … Read more

Love low-fi? 3D-print your own vinyl records

I can't bear to part with my record collection. It's got gems like Steely Dan's "The Royal Scam" that sound better on a turntable and amplifier than on MP3.

Maybe analog sound can feel better because we're analog creatures. Whatever the reason, vinyl's recent popularity has led to events like Record Store Day and DIY projects like Amanda Ghassaei's 3D-printed records.

An editorial staffer at Instructables.com, Ghassaei managed to lay down digital audio files on 3D-printed 33 rpm records that she played on a standard turntable.

The results, as heard in the video below, sound about as clear as phonograph cylinders from the 1880s. The audio output has a sampling rate of 11kHz and 5- to 6-bit resolution, but tunes like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are easily recognizable. … Read more

MakerBot purges 3D printable gun parts from Thingiverse

As of a day ago, MakerBot's Thingiverse Web site hosted the plans for a key component of an AR15 semi automatic rifle. Anyone could download Michael "HaveBlue" Guslick's design for the lower receiver, and if you had a 3D printer you make one yourself.

Those plans, and plans for other firearm components have now been removed from Thingiverse. You can access Guslick's old listing, and you can also find it on the Pirate Bay and elsewhere, but the printable STL files have been removed from Thingiverse, and the listing no longer turns up when you … Read more

Poll: Did you like the smoother, HFR 'Hobbit'?

If you're one of the many, many people who saw "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" over the weekend, chances are you didn't see the film exactly as the director, Peter Jackson, intended.

But if you were, please let us know whether you liked it by voting in the poll.

"The Hobbit" is the first major film to be released in a higher-frame-rate 3D version called HFR. Unlike traditional releases, which are shot and shown at 24 frames per second, the HFR Hobbit comes in at 48fps.

Jackson said he preferred viewers watch the HFR … Read more

'The Hobbit' 3D tech divides our CNET reviewers

Now that Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has opened in theaters around the world, the most controversial thing about it isn't even that he somehow is making three 3-hour movies out of a 300-page children's story. No, it's the way the movie has been shot that has the most people talking.

The "Hobbit" trilogy has been captured using James Cameron's 48-frames-per-second 3D technology (HFR 3D), which Jackson says leads to less eyestrain and a sharper picture.

Only a limited number of cinemas will be showing the movie in HFR -- Jackson says it's only 1,000 out of 25,000 theaters.

"On the first day of shooting 'The Hobbit' in 48 frames, there was not a single cinema in the world that could project the movie in that format," Jackson said, according to CinemaBlend.

While we're not going to go into how the technology works here, CNET editors David Katzmaier and Ty Pendlebury have just come out of a showing in HFR 3D and wanted to share their thoughts.… Read more

The 404 1,181: Where time is of the essence (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Instagram photos disappear from Twitter feeds.

- You can use IFTTT to post Instagram photos to Twitter cards.

- Twitter vs. Instagram in a knock-down, drag-out filters fight.

- Head-to-head: Twitter vs. Instagram filters.

- Sony putting an end to production of handheld cassette recorders.

- "Modern Seinfeld" Twitter account imagines Jerry and Co. in the Digital Age.

- Check out the CNET 100 of 2012.… Read more

3D TV

A mere three years ago, 3D was heralded as the future of television, bolstered by the overwhelming popularity of a certain James Cameron film starring blue-skinned aliens. Now it's "just another feature" on today's mid- and high-end televisions, and barely anyone watches it.

The main problem is lack of content. There are still only a handful of 3D channels, which show plenty of repeats, and even massive 3D rollouts like the 2012 Summer Olympics met with yawns (it didn't help that the 3D events were delayed until a day after the live ones aired). Films … Read more

MakerBot Replicator

3D printing has a way to go before it becomes a mainstream consumer activity. If it ever does cross over from its hobbyist and commercial roots, MakerBot and its CEO Bre Pettis can claim a decent share of the credit.

The MakerBot Replicator and newer Replicator 2 3D printers are fine products, but the company's marketing know-how is also a significant factor in its success. MakerBot's Thingiverse Web site hosts plans for more than 26,000 printable objects, all free for anyone to download and print. Pettis' media-friendly demeanor has landed his company's name on the digital … Read more