Mixed reality (MR) was defined in 1994 by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino as "...anywhere between the extrema of the virtuality continuum". Microsoft has adopted the term for its own platform, Windows Mixed Reality, to help group Virtual and Augmented reality. The technology has been accessible to developers and businesses for a few years now, yet, the clear majority of applications belonging to this not-so-new market are still mainly composed by single person experiences.
This is surely appropriate for a lot of business cases, such as visualisation of data that should only be accessible by the interested party, or training on specific single-user scenarios.
It is also not surprising that a person wearing a headset, gives the impression of “digital isolation” and inspires the idea that MR is more suitable for solo experiences and one-to-environment interactions. An impression that is often misleading.
If we talk about games and entertainment, for example, several multi-player experiences show that it is possible to create immersive and engaging virtual experiences, where users interact with each other and share the same content.
In the business environment, however, not only does there seem to be a resistance for adopting MR, but it is evident to us, that there is a lack of understanding of how this technology could improve collaboration and productivity within teams, possibly involving clients as well.
What could these scenarios be? The list is literally never-ending.
Obviously, any kind of situation that requires cooperation and involves expensive set-ups or dangerous situations, could potentially be recreated in a digital version. Reducing costs and risks is surely an objective of most companies, if not all, and MR could easily be leveraged to achieve better results with lower risks and costs.
Thinking out of the box is paramount for business oriented people (and developers), wishing to work with bleeding edge technologies. Developers who want to engage and experiment in building mixed reality applications, for cooperative scenarios can really go wild, since not much has so far hit the public eye in a significant way.
At nsquared, we have brainstormed several scenarios related to what we do best: facilitating cooperation in the work space and improving the outcomes of business meetings.
Our development facility, featuring multiple Microsoft HoloLens’ and immersive headsets allowed us to experiment and develop several ideas and solutions that would be compelling to many businesses using meeting spaces, multi-user interaction, and visual data. Difficult to explain in words, even more difficult to understand the potential of this technology unless you try first hand.
If you are interested in seeing how mixed reality could change the way you do business, contact us and book a hands-on demonstration.
nsquared solutions
Monday, July 2, 2018
3D Printing
3D printing, or more specifically, additive manufacturing, is a manufacturing process the involves building 3D objects by adding layer upon layer of material to create the final product. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is the most common type of additive manufacturing, especially among household printing technologies.
In this blog, we are going to teach you the basics of how to prepare a file for 3D printing using FlashPrint software, which is free. Do not fiddle with the specifics of the settings until you have become more familiar with using the printer.
Keywords
Extrude: The process of forcing out a thin layer of plastic.
Infill/Fill Density: The percentage of material that is printed inside of the outer shell of an object. There are different shapes that can be used to create the infill pattern inside of solid object.
Filament: The material that is fed out of the printer.
Print bed: The surface that the object is printed onto.
Raft: Layer, or layers, of extruded thermoplastic that is used to stabilise a printed object. A raft helps an object to adhere to the print bed.
File preparation
First you need to create a universal 3D file that the 3D printing software can open. STL is usually the easiest to use but fpp, x3g and obj files are also compatible. Open the 3D file that you have and it will appear in your window. You can pan and rotate around by holding the left or right mouse buttons and scroll to zoom in or out. Make sure that under ‘Print’, the machine type is set as ‘FlashForge Creator Pro’.
Use ‘Move’ to move the object around the bounds of the print area. In this submenu, use ‘On Platform’ to choose a face and select it as the face that is in contact with the platform.
Use ‘Rotation’ to rotate the object in any axis, as well as choose a surface to rotate to the platform.
Use ‘Scale’ to change the scaling of the object.
Use ‘Cut’ to slice the object.
Use ‘Extruder’ to choose to print the object using the left or right extruder.
Supports Options
We recommend using the ‘Linear’ support type, and sticking to the default settings. This will be required if your part has overhang. Click on the ‘Auto Supports’ button and the program will automatically create the required supports for your object. Then click 'Back', click ‘No’, and if you are ready, we can move onto the Print settings.
Print settings
First, make sure the 'Material Left' and 'Material Right' (extruders) are the same as the ones installed onto the printer. At the time of writing, both extruders have ABS filament installed (black and white). 'Supports' can be left on 'Automatch', but it refers to whether supports are printed by the left or right extruder. The 'Raft' setting will enable or disable the raft. If you disable the raft then it is important to monitor the printer during the start of its printing process to ensure that the extrusion is sticking to the bed during the first layer. The 'Resolution' setting tells you how thick each layer will be, and therefore how fine the detail of the print will be.
In the ‘Infill’ tab, you can set the percentage and fill pattern used in the infill. For objects where the internal solid structural strength is important, the higher the infill should be used, up to 100%. We recommend that the minimum infill percentage should be 30%.
Recommended temperatures
Extruder Temperature: ABS: 230C PLA: 200C
Platform Temperature: ABS: 100C PLA: 50C
Once you have chosen your Print settings, click 'OK' to save the file onto an SD card and then you can move onto the Printer setup.
Printer setup
Plug in the SD card and turn on the printer using the switch found at the rear left of the printer. Select ‘Print from SD’ and find the path to the file that you have saved.
Here we have clicked on the file ‘dual test.x3g’. The printer will take some time to begin heating, and will commence printing once the heating process has finished.
It is a good idea to monitor the first layer to verify that it adheres well to the build surface, and then also periodically each hour after that.
nsquared solutions
In this blog, we are going to teach you the basics of how to prepare a file for 3D printing using FlashPrint software, which is free. Do not fiddle with the specifics of the settings until you have become more familiar with using the printer.
Keywords
Extrude: The process of forcing out a thin layer of plastic.
Infill/Fill Density: The percentage of material that is printed inside of the outer shell of an object. There are different shapes that can be used to create the infill pattern inside of solid object.
Filament: The material that is fed out of the printer.
Print bed: The surface that the object is printed onto.
Raft: Layer, or layers, of extruded thermoplastic that is used to stabilise a printed object. A raft helps an object to adhere to the print bed.
File preparation
First you need to create a universal 3D file that the 3D printing software can open. STL is usually the easiest to use but fpp, x3g and obj files are also compatible. Open the 3D file that you have and it will appear in your window. You can pan and rotate around by holding the left or right mouse buttons and scroll to zoom in or out. Make sure that under ‘Print’, the machine type is set as ‘FlashForge Creator Pro’.
Use ‘Move’ to move the object around the bounds of the print area. In this submenu, use ‘On Platform’ to choose a face and select it as the face that is in contact with the platform.
Use ‘Rotation’ to rotate the object in any axis, as well as choose a surface to rotate to the platform.
Use ‘Scale’ to change the scaling of the object.
Use ‘Cut’ to slice the object.
Use ‘Extruder’ to choose to print the object using the left or right extruder.
Supports Options
We recommend using the ‘Linear’ support type, and sticking to the default settings. This will be required if your part has overhang. Click on the ‘Auto Supports’ button and the program will automatically create the required supports for your object. Then click 'Back', click ‘No’, and if you are ready, we can move onto the Print settings.
Print settings
First, make sure the 'Material Left' and 'Material Right' (extruders) are the same as the ones installed onto the printer. At the time of writing, both extruders have ABS filament installed (black and white). 'Supports' can be left on 'Automatch', but it refers to whether supports are printed by the left or right extruder. The 'Raft' setting will enable or disable the raft. If you disable the raft then it is important to monitor the printer during the start of its printing process to ensure that the extrusion is sticking to the bed during the first layer. The 'Resolution' setting tells you how thick each layer will be, and therefore how fine the detail of the print will be.
In the ‘Infill’ tab, you can set the percentage and fill pattern used in the infill. For objects where the internal solid structural strength is important, the higher the infill should be used, up to 100%. We recommend that the minimum infill percentage should be 30%.
Recommended temperatures
Extruder Temperature: ABS: 230C PLA: 200C
Platform Temperature: ABS: 100C PLA: 50C
Once you have chosen your Print settings, click 'OK' to save the file onto an SD card and then you can move onto the Printer setup.
Printer setup
Plug in the SD card and turn on the printer using the switch found at the rear left of the printer. Select ‘Print from SD’ and find the path to the file that you have saved.
Here we have clicked on the file ‘dual test.x3g’. The printer will take some time to begin heating, and will commence printing once the heating process has finished.
It is a good idea to monitor the first layer to verify that it adheres well to the build surface, and then also periodically each hour after that.
nsquared solutions
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Creating a PowerApp with a SharePoint list as its datasource
PowerApp is a Microsoft service that lets you quickly create apps for displaying and manipulating data. In this blog post, we will be going through how to create a PowerApp for saving, viewing, and editing, info that is saved as a SharePoint list and is accessible to everyone in an organisation.
First, we will look at creating a SharePoint list from an Excel sheet.
1. Open an existing Excel sheet that you want to use for your PowerApp. Select the data in the Excel sheet and format it as a table.
2. Login to SharePoint. From the New tab, select App.
3. Search for “Spreadsheet” and click Import Spreadsheet from the search result.
4. Browse the Excel sheet you used in Step 1 and click Import.
NOTE: You might face one of these issues when trying to import the Excel sheet to SharePoint as a list.
- Error: “Specified file is not a valid spreadsheet or contains no data to import.”
Solutions that worked for me: add SharePoint URL to your browsers trusted sites list.
- Error: “This feature requires a browser that supports ActiveX controls.”
Solution that worked for me: as I was using Google Chrome on a Windows machine, installing the Internet Explorer (IE) tab extension on Google Chrome, then open SharePoint from the IE tab. The IE tab is not available for OSX.
You have successfully imported the Excel sheet table as a list in SharePoint.
5. We will now use this list to create a PowerApp. To do this, from your list, click on the PowerApps drop-down control, on the menu bar, and select Create form app.
A new PowerApp with the SharePoint list as datasource will be automatically generated. This PowerApp displays a list of items. You can view the item details by clicking on (>) next to each item. You can also edit the details of an item using this PowerApp.
Your PowerApp is now ready to be published so that it can be useful to everyone in the organisation.
Sabina Pokhrel
First, we will look at creating a SharePoint list from an Excel sheet.
1. Open an existing Excel sheet that you want to use for your PowerApp. Select the data in the Excel sheet and format it as a table.
2. Login to SharePoint. From the New tab, select App.
3. Search for “Spreadsheet” and click Import Spreadsheet from the search result.
4. Browse the Excel sheet you used in Step 1 and click Import.
NOTE: You might face one of these issues when trying to import the Excel sheet to SharePoint as a list.
- Error: “Specified file is not a valid spreadsheet or contains no data to import.”
Solutions that worked for me: add SharePoint URL to your browsers trusted sites list.
- Error: “This feature requires a browser that supports ActiveX controls.”
Solution that worked for me: as I was using Google Chrome on a Windows machine, installing the Internet Explorer (IE) tab extension on Google Chrome, then open SharePoint from the IE tab. The IE tab is not available for OSX.
You have successfully imported the Excel sheet table as a list in SharePoint.
5. We will now use this list to create a PowerApp. To do this, from your list, click on the PowerApps drop-down control, on the menu bar, and select Create form app.
A new PowerApp with the SharePoint list as datasource will be automatically generated. This PowerApp displays a list of items. You can view the item details by clicking on (>) next to each item. You can also edit the details of an item using this PowerApp.
Your PowerApp is now ready to be published so that it can be useful to everyone in the organisation.
Sabina Pokhrel
Monday, June 4, 2018
Cross-Referencing using Adobe InDesign
Documentation is sometimes the most critical part of a project. Whether it is internal, or product documentation, finding a way to automate documentation can save a lot of time, and reduce the amount of mistakes that can be made if changed manually.
At nsquared, all our software comes with an extensive user guide for customers to follow, so it’s important for us to automate as much as possible.
The following steps will show you how to create Text Anchors, and create Cross-References to these anchors to automate referencing within your document. For example, if there are references in your document, such as, “…refer to Chapter 5 on page 54”, the chapter name and page number will be automated. If the chapter moves from page 54, the reference will automatically update.
Note: This guide assumes that you have an intermediate level of experience with InDesign.
Creating Text Anchors
1. With your document open, identify the text you would like to define as Text Anchors. Typically, these Text Anchors are chapters, headings, and sub headings. For example, Chapter 5.
2. Once you have identified the Text Anchors, highlight the text.
3. Open then Hyperlinks window by going to the Window menu, Interactive > Hyperlinks.
4. With the text highlighted, click the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner of the Hyperlinks window, then click New Hyperlink Destination.
5. A pop up window will appear. From the Type dropdown, select Text Anchor.
6. Give the Text Anchor a Name. It is recommended that the name of the Text Anchor is the same as the text highlighted. This will make it easier to Cross-Reference later, which we will cover in the next section. For this example, we will call the Text Anchor Chapter 5.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 to create all the Text Anchors in your document.
Inserting Cross-References through your document
1. Now it is time to reference the Text Anchors. Click where you want to insert a reference in your document. For example, taking the example from above, “…refer to Chapter 5 on page 54”.
2. Go to the Type menu, Hyperlinks & Cross-References > Insert Cross-Reference.
3. From the Link To dropdown, select Text Anchor.
4. From the Document dropdown, make sure the document you are working on is selected.
5. From the Text Anchor dropdown, select the correct Text Anchor for this reference. For this example, we will find Chapter 5.
6. From the Format dropdown, select the format you wish. These formats can be edited further by clicking the pencil icon.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 to insert all Cross-References in your document.
Now you have automated all references throughout your document. Now, if you rename a Text-Anchor, or it has moved to a different page, all Cross-References will automatically update.
No more incorrect referencing!
Jessica Ayad
At nsquared, all our software comes with an extensive user guide for customers to follow, so it’s important for us to automate as much as possible.
The following steps will show you how to create Text Anchors, and create Cross-References to these anchors to automate referencing within your document. For example, if there are references in your document, such as, “…refer to Chapter 5 on page 54”, the chapter name and page number will be automated. If the chapter moves from page 54, the reference will automatically update.
Note: This guide assumes that you have an intermediate level of experience with InDesign.
Creating Text Anchors
1. With your document open, identify the text you would like to define as Text Anchors. Typically, these Text Anchors are chapters, headings, and sub headings. For example, Chapter 5.
2. Once you have identified the Text Anchors, highlight the text.
3. Open then Hyperlinks window by going to the Window menu, Interactive > Hyperlinks.
4. With the text highlighted, click the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner of the Hyperlinks window, then click New Hyperlink Destination.
5. A pop up window will appear. From the Type dropdown, select Text Anchor.
6. Give the Text Anchor a Name. It is recommended that the name of the Text Anchor is the same as the text highlighted. This will make it easier to Cross-Reference later, which we will cover in the next section. For this example, we will call the Text Anchor Chapter 5.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 to create all the Text Anchors in your document.
Inserting Cross-References through your document
1. Now it is time to reference the Text Anchors. Click where you want to insert a reference in your document. For example, taking the example from above, “…refer to Chapter 5 on page 54”.
2. Go to the Type menu, Hyperlinks & Cross-References > Insert Cross-Reference.
3. From the Link To dropdown, select Text Anchor.
4. From the Document dropdown, make sure the document you are working on is selected.
5. From the Text Anchor dropdown, select the correct Text Anchor for this reference. For this example, we will find Chapter 5.
6. From the Format dropdown, select the format you wish. These formats can be edited further by clicking the pencil icon.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 to insert all Cross-References in your document.
Now you have automated all references throughout your document. Now, if you rename a Text-Anchor, or it has moved to a different page, all Cross-References will automatically update.
No more incorrect referencing!
Jessica Ayad
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Test Driven Development (TDD)
What is TDD? How is it different from Unit Tests? How many tests should one write when using a TDD approach? - These and many more questions come to our mind when we think or decide to take a TDD approach.
TDD stands for Test Driven Development and is different from writing Unit Tests Unit Tests refer to what you are testing, -where-as TDD describes when you are testing. To simplify this, with Unit tests we test and verify the smallest possible unit of behavior, wherein with TDD the tests drive the development. We can say that Unit tests are a part of a TDD approach where we write tests before writing the code. It can include Unit tests, functional tests, behavioral tests, acceptance tests, etcetera.
The idea looks simple in theory, and represents a fundamental change to approaching software development.
Red-Green-Refactor cycle:
The key to TDD is the Red-Green-Refactor cycle. Write tests that fail, fix the code and run the tests again - repeat this until they pass. The below diagram explains it well:
Source: https://centricconsulting.com/case-studies/agile-test-driven-development/
Workflow:
RED - Write a failing test which captures the requirements.
GREEN - Implement the functionality by writing just enough code to pass the test.
REFACTOR - Refine/improve the code without adding any new functionality.
And then repeat the whole cycle.
In my opinion, it is always helpful to see the code tested upfront using this painless testing approach. It gives a sense of confidence to us before we start end-to-end tests for the project. Not only this, I believe it gives a fair indication of code coverage, fewer defects and easy maintenance as well.
As important as it is to start with this approach, it is equally important to make modifications, whilst continuing using the approach. Considering a real-world situation, applications change and over time a method may be removed/added/modified. While making any modifications in the code at a later stage in time, we should run all the tests written until now to ensure that we did not break any functionality while adding/modifying code. In my experience, this reduces the testing time by more than half.
It is very important to monitor the code coverage though the development/maintenance cycle of the application. With code coverage, we get to know if any code is not being called by a test. The two scenarios that will be applicable here are: the code is missing a corresponding test, or it is dead code and needs to be removed.
As writing-running-fixing tests consumes time, it is very tempting to put the writing of tests on the back-burner. The most pressing and difficult aspect of this is to keep the discipline and continue the practice. When it comes to shipping robust, high quality products the benefits of this approach are rewarding!
At nsquared we are working using TDD on our latest products. If you want to find out more about how we work, please get in touch.
Tripti Wani
TDD stands for Test Driven Development and is different from writing Unit Tests Unit Tests refer to what you are testing, -where-as TDD describes when you are testing. To simplify this, with Unit tests we test and verify the smallest possible unit of behavior, wherein with TDD the tests drive the development. We can say that Unit tests are a part of a TDD approach where we write tests before writing the code. It can include Unit tests, functional tests, behavioral tests, acceptance tests, etcetera.
The idea looks simple in theory, and represents a fundamental change to approaching software development.
Red-Green-Refactor cycle:
The key to TDD is the Red-Green-Refactor cycle. Write tests that fail, fix the code and run the tests again - repeat this until they pass. The below diagram explains it well:
Workflow:
RED - Write a failing test which captures the requirements.
GREEN - Implement the functionality by writing just enough code to pass the test.
REFACTOR - Refine/improve the code without adding any new functionality.
And then repeat the whole cycle.
In my opinion, it is always helpful to see the code tested upfront using this painless testing approach. It gives a sense of confidence to us before we start end-to-end tests for the project. Not only this, I believe it gives a fair indication of code coverage, fewer defects and easy maintenance as well.
As important as it is to start with this approach, it is equally important to make modifications, whilst continuing using the approach. Considering a real-world situation, applications change and over time a method may be removed/added/modified. While making any modifications in the code at a later stage in time, we should run all the tests written until now to ensure that we did not break any functionality while adding/modifying code. In my experience, this reduces the testing time by more than half.
It is very important to monitor the code coverage though the development/maintenance cycle of the application. With code coverage, we get to know if any code is not being called by a test. The two scenarios that will be applicable here are: the code is missing a corresponding test, or it is dead code and needs to be removed.
As writing-running-fixing tests consumes time, it is very tempting to put the writing of tests on the back-burner. The most pressing and difficult aspect of this is to keep the discipline and continue the practice. When it comes to shipping robust, high quality products the benefits of this approach are rewarding!
At nsquared we are working using TDD on our latest products. If you want to find out more about how we work, please get in touch.
Tripti Wani
Monday, May 21, 2018
Documentation for today's programmer
When creating documentation, whether for a project, lab, or technical, you would have run into the challenge of needing to move that documentation to different formats: PDF is a popular one, but perhaps also HTML, particularly if your company uses a wiki for such things. At nsquared, we found that this movement of documents can get frustrating, not only because they do not always come across cleanly, but also because if they are different, you then have to maintain a bunch of different documents. Time to solve this, using tools which are freely available: Markdown, Pandoc, and PowerShell.
The solution is reasonably simple. You can still write your document up in your favourite word processor, however, keep the formatting to a minimum (avoid anything more complex than bold, italics, and hyperlinks; also, you can add images, but do not do it in your word processor). Once you have your file ready, save it out as a .docx, so that we can get underway in earnest. The first part covers converting your document to the Markdown format.
Steps to convert from docx to Markdown:
1. Download and install Visual Studio Code.
4. You now need to navigate PowerShell to the location of your document. Generally, it will start in your user folder (C:\Users\YourAccount). You can use the 'cd' command, plus the path of your document to get there quickly:
6. Now it is time to utilise Pandoc. In PowerShell, type: pandoc 'YourDoc.docx' -f docx -t markdown -s -o 'YourNewDoc.md'
8. Your document will be converted to Markdown (though retaining the original document, though you will not need it by the end, so do with it what you like).
9. You have successfully converted your document from .docx to Markdown, the next part is to update your document using Markdown.
Steps to update your Markdown document for easy conversion:
1. Open Visual Studio Code. Once open, you will be presented with a (mostly empty) window. This might look familiar in part, if you have used any other Visual Studio program; Visual Studio Code is the light weight version, and it is remarkably powerful, and allows you to easily write in many programming languages.
2. Click File > Open File, and then browse your files for your new Markdown file (we are opening it in VS Code).
3. With your file now open in Markdown, you will notice that it is looking very plain. This is the power of Markdown, it utilises only the most basic of formatting, however, this allows it to easily be converted into other formats.
4. Here is an excellent cheat sheet of how Markdown works. Have it at the ready, for the next few steps.
5. Now you will need to open the preview page (which shows you what your document will look like with Markdown applied). With your document open, navigate to the top right, and click the split window icon, with the magnifying glass in front of it:
6. You will be presented with a panel to the right of your Markdown document, which is showing you what the output will be. You will notice, all the Markdown tags (#/*/---/```) are gone, and just plain text appears, with light formatting.
7. Now, using the cheat sheet as a guide, update your Markdown document, so that it presents how you would like it.
8. With your Markdown complete, close Visual Studio Code, because, you are ready for further conversion!
Steps to convert your Markdown to HTML:
1. Open PowerShell once more, and navigate to your Markdown document:
As you will realise, from now on, you simply need to maintain your Markdown document, and then you can convert it; as mentioned previously, this works for PDF and docx too, so you can always produce those formats if you need them.
This is the start of your Markdown journey, though, expect to continue and go further. Through using Pandoc, and PowerShell, you could put together a PowerShell script to automatically convert your latest Markdown document to HTML, so that you can keep working on your documents, without worrying about the export process. This is an excellent workflow and may help you increase efficiency!
Elliot Moule
The solution is reasonably simple. You can still write your document up in your favourite word processor, however, keep the formatting to a minimum (avoid anything more complex than bold, italics, and hyperlinks; also, you can add images, but do not do it in your word processor). Once you have your file ready, save it out as a .docx, so that we can get underway in earnest. The first part covers converting your document to the Markdown format.
Steps to convert from docx to Markdown:
1. Download and install Visual Studio Code.
- - We will use this to edit your document later, but essentially this will be your go to program very soon.
- - Pandoc is a freely available program online, which will handle the conversion of your documents. It supports a host of outputs, including: docx, HTML, Markdown, PDF, latex, and txt, just to name a few.
4. You now need to navigate PowerShell to the location of your document. Generally, it will start in your user folder (C:\Users\YourAccount). You can use the 'cd' command, plus the path of your document to get there quickly:
- - Type: cd 'C:\Users\YourAccount\Documents'.
- - Make sure to replace the path section with the location of your document (the above uses 'Documents' as that location).
6. Now it is time to utilise Pandoc. In PowerShell, type: pandoc 'YourDoc.docx' -f docx -t markdown -s -o 'YourNewDoc.md'
- - Make sure to substitute 'YourDoc' with the name of your current document, and update 'YourNewDoc' to have a name which you want, for your converted file.
- - If you want to know about the commands available for Pandoc, make sure to visit their documentation page.
8. Your document will be converted to Markdown (though retaining the original document, though you will not need it by the end, so do with it what you like).
9. You have successfully converted your document from .docx to Markdown, the next part is to update your document using Markdown.
Steps to update your Markdown document for easy conversion:
1. Open Visual Studio Code. Once open, you will be presented with a (mostly empty) window. This might look familiar in part, if you have used any other Visual Studio program; Visual Studio Code is the light weight version, and it is remarkably powerful, and allows you to easily write in many programming languages.
2. Click File > Open File, and then browse your files for your new Markdown file (we are opening it in VS Code).
3. With your file now open in Markdown, you will notice that it is looking very plain. This is the power of Markdown, it utilises only the most basic of formatting, however, this allows it to easily be converted into other formats.
4. Here is an excellent cheat sheet of how Markdown works. Have it at the ready, for the next few steps.
5. Now you will need to open the preview page (which shows you what your document will look like with Markdown applied). With your document open, navigate to the top right, and click the split window icon, with the magnifying glass in front of it:
6. You will be presented with a panel to the right of your Markdown document, which is showing you what the output will be. You will notice, all the Markdown tags (#/*/---/```) are gone, and just plain text appears, with light formatting.
7. Now, using the cheat sheet as a guide, update your Markdown document, so that it presents how you would like it.
8. With your Markdown complete, close Visual Studio Code, because, you are ready for further conversion!
Steps to convert your Markdown to HTML:
1. Open PowerShell once more, and navigate to your Markdown document:
- - Remember to use the ‘cd’ command, and the path to your document – cd 'C:\Users\YourAccount\Documents'
- - Pandoc 'YourNewDoc.md' -f markdown -t html -s -o 'YourNewWebpage.html'
As you will realise, from now on, you simply need to maintain your Markdown document, and then you can convert it; as mentioned previously, this works for PDF and docx too, so you can always produce those formats if you need them.
This is the start of your Markdown journey, though, expect to continue and go further. Through using Pandoc, and PowerShell, you could put together a PowerShell script to automatically convert your latest Markdown document to HTML, so that you can keep working on your documents, without worrying about the export process. This is an excellent workflow and may help you increase efficiency!
Elliot Moule
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Bringing your 3D Models into Unity
When you are working across multiple programs in technology, it’s important for any
designer to be aware of what file formats are suitable for the program you’re using. There is
nothing worse than working long and hard on making something look great in one program,
and having an error on it when dragged into another!
3D is lots of fun and very straight forward to make simple models to deck out any scene in Unity, so I’m going to walk you through a simple procedure of exporting for a 3D model into Unity. My preferred 3D modelling software is Autodesk Maya but you can use any you wish, as long as you can export the model into an FBX file.
Why .fbx?
An fbx file is a 3D asset exchange format that is compatible with many 3D tools. It also enables you in most cases to save your materials on the object if desired. As opposed to an OBJ file, your capabilities are much larger.
Getting started:
Jump into Maya and create your model. I have made a simple lamp to use as an example. Note: you want your model to be on the lower side of the poly count. To keep track of the count, select Display > Heads Up Display > Poly Count. The count will appear in the top left corner.
Materials:
You can apply your materials to the object in your 3D software, OR Unity. For the sake of showing you how to do so in Unity I’m going to leave my model without a material in Maya.
A few things to check before exporting:
- It is a good idea to combine your meshes. You can do this by holding the mouse and dragging a box over all the objects and selecting Mesh > Combine.
- The ‘Up Axis’ should be set to ‘Y’.
- Your model is on the ground plane, with all location and rotation values set to 0 in the ‘Attribute Editor’ panel.
Exporting:
Getting your model export-ready is very straight forward. Ensure the alignment is correct and everything is squared-out and facing forward toward the positive Z-Axis. When you’re ready, go to File > Export All. Select FBX under ‘Files of Type’ to export in the correct file format. Name your file and place it somewhere you can easily access when you open up Unity to import the object.
Once you’re in Unity:
Once you’ve got a new or existing scene set up in Unity, simply drag and drop into the Assets panel. Once you can see your model, drag it into your scene. You can then right click in the Project panel and click Create > Material. Now for the fun part! You can drag and drop a PNG if you’d like, or select a colour from the top right Inspector panel. It’s here you can also customise your material by toggling between the X and Y options in the tiling section.
So there you have it!
A basic guide on how to get your 3D objects into Unity correctly as well as a little bit of customisation. Happy designing!
Jacqui Leis
3D is lots of fun and very straight forward to make simple models to deck out any scene in Unity, so I’m going to walk you through a simple procedure of exporting for a 3D model into Unity. My preferred 3D modelling software is Autodesk Maya but you can use any you wish, as long as you can export the model into an FBX file.
Why .fbx?
An fbx file is a 3D asset exchange format that is compatible with many 3D tools. It also enables you in most cases to save your materials on the object if desired. As opposed to an OBJ file, your capabilities are much larger.
Getting started:
Jump into Maya and create your model. I have made a simple lamp to use as an example. Note: you want your model to be on the lower side of the poly count. To keep track of the count, select Display > Heads Up Display > Poly Count. The count will appear in the top left corner.
Materials:
You can apply your materials to the object in your 3D software, OR Unity. For the sake of showing you how to do so in Unity I’m going to leave my model without a material in Maya.
A few things to check before exporting:
- It is a good idea to combine your meshes. You can do this by holding the mouse and dragging a box over all the objects and selecting Mesh > Combine.
- The ‘Up Axis’ should be set to ‘Y’.
- Your model is on the ground plane, with all location and rotation values set to 0 in the ‘Attribute Editor’ panel.
Exporting:
Getting your model export-ready is very straight forward. Ensure the alignment is correct and everything is squared-out and facing forward toward the positive Z-Axis. When you’re ready, go to File > Export All. Select FBX under ‘Files of Type’ to export in the correct file format. Name your file and place it somewhere you can easily access when you open up Unity to import the object.
Once you’re in Unity:
Once you’ve got a new or existing scene set up in Unity, simply drag and drop into the Assets panel. Once you can see your model, drag it into your scene. You can then right click in the Project panel and click Create > Material. Now for the fun part! You can drag and drop a PNG if you’d like, or select a colour from the top right Inspector panel. It’s here you can also customise your material by toggling between the X and Y options in the tiling section.
So there you have it!
A basic guide on how to get your 3D objects into Unity correctly as well as a little bit of customisation. Happy designing!
Jacqui Leis
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