Future of 3D Design on Tablets - Topical Debate #2

A sister thread to the previous topic, with the iPad becoming more robust and essentially empowered, and Android soon to start bridging the gap in processing power - this is an open discussion about where this influence will lead, what the future prospects of Nomad could be, competitively and creatively where this may take the industry to afterward, looking a decade or so ahead. I think there’s going to be a boom of it soon, an explosion of 3D design software - ProCreate’s pending 5.2 update might trigger that as it’s already a market leader in design. Not an immediate trigger, but one that will influence others to pull in rank and file.

@stephomi I would love to hear your thoughts of the future for your incredibly thorough work my friend, or the impact your work has possibly had on this end of the market. Being solid at the no.2 spot is a feat that’s amazing to have pulled off on your own, it’s remarkable.

i think with the rise of cloud computing it won’t be necessary to have specific mobile versions of apps.
I curently use shadow pc.
I can log into windows from any device.
Pen functionality doesn’t work properly yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
I can currently use maya/zbrush/ any other app on my tab7+.

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interesting mention about cloud computing. I agree, but the mass commercial implementation wouldn’t come about for a very long time. I don’t see Apple ever committing to that, but with Google via running a cloud-based version of Android through using their quantum supercomputing technology projects, their current quantum system is thoroughly frightening (check the report about the time crystals it created - no joke) but is only in experimentation. The recent come about of 5G also makes this possible, however, global growth in the economy would need to happen. 5G signal would have to be the norm, as cheap as it is to run regular WiFi bandwidths so majority of homes, regardless of financial/political state of the nation, could access to make it viable. Shadow cloud computing is curious, I don’t see it for everyone but having the ability to run. desktop software and bypass the hardware specs of a tablet is very interesting. Apple can in theory do a sort-of similar trick already natively with MacBooks & iPads, I can run desktop software off the MacBook and interact with it with the Apple Pencil through the iPad, sculpting in Blender this way was rather gnarly. Nice input Alex :ok_hand:

Yeah, I am waiting on 5G coming to my area, which should be early next year.:crossed_fingers:
I already have the 5G tablet :slight_smile:

But I see cloud computing for everyone as inevitable in the next 10 years.
Just like currently cloud gaming is taking off and all the big players are pushing their own service, you will see cloud PC services taking off and becoming faster and cheaper.
It’s like having a high-end Windows PC or Mac in your pocket to deploy anywhere.

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Inevitable yes, it will grow in the market. Ten years for mass consumer rollout and change in OEM manufacturing and consumer habits I’d project that more toward the next 20 years before it’s the accepted ‘norm’. There’s also the issue with having your technology and not just your digital footprint entirely dependant on an external, web-based service. One severe outage of power to the external supplier and devices just won’t work It’s very risky for a lot of consumers and businesses to think about, especially if the consumer is not very technical and just use mobile devices to manage their basic social and informational needs. Security problems are also a big one. But as a shift in trend on a broader scale of services, yes I wholly agree. It takes portable power to the next step. Battery chemistry (alternatives to lithium-ion) would also need to play a major role, 5G consumes a lot of power - let alone future iterations of the technology - world supplies of lithium are depleting incredibly fast, and the voltage it produces for small cell packs isn’t sustainable for prolonged periods of use for this kind of frequency technology. Future cell packs need to store more energy in a lighter, smaller but denser package. Progress is coming, breakthroughs are in sight. It’s exciting to think about though if we can solve energy and material problems coming into the coming decades.

These days I have been thinking about adding VR to my digital art workflow using Oculus Quest 2. This way I would be a VR/IPad only digital illustrator.

I imagine a VR set connected to the IPad Pro would be awesome.

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Or ideally an iPad Pro bundled into a VR headset (M chip, screen built into goggles, etc.) VR sculpting is something I’ve only recently discovered, it really interest me also. I’ve seen some YT videos of people using sculpting software, looks fiddly in terms of keyboard and accessing menu commands, but otherwise, seems really fun.

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And I wish I didn’t have to give money to Fuckerbeger to use a standalone VR. Would love if someone else manufactures one.

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lol, Occulus unfortunately isn’t very popular as far as VR headsets are concerned but its the only real commercially known one. Other OEM’s probably find it a bit too risky other than big players, Samsung had their own with Gear - now dead - and Google once had their DayDream VR… I loved that. I really did. That would have been perfect moving forward to now - but, being Google, they discontinued it. VR just doesn’t seem to be in the highest demand for social commercial use, hence the two big product failures. Occulus is also struggling, but because it’s FB, they’ll probably just keep it going irregardless which will be handy. Desktop is going to be the way forward for VR, I watched a video of game devs using Unreal 4 in VR and building a game world - it’s a whole new experience, the dude was just walking around his own level, adding assets in front of himself in real time and walking around them. Crazy, crazy!

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I’ve been using VR for several years now & there are quite a few design apps. Apart from Adobe Medium sculpting, which I find can be problematic due to a limited toolset, there is also Gravity Sketch (which is now free). GS is basically a subdivision surface modeller that is being geared more towards product design applications, but is also useful for character design. I’ve retopologized a couple of Nomad sculpts in GS with good results. As an architect, it really is powerful to be able to stand inside a model and feel the space you’re creating.
I use desktop VR to leverage the power of my GPU but it seems that Oculus is betting heavily on wireless VR, which is essentially tricked out mobile phone technology. I’ll stick with desktop for now, but wireless seems to be where the “social” side of VR is heading, encouraged by cheap headsets and the promise of a virtual version of Facebook. Virtual business meetings are also a gimmick that VR has been touting and Gravity Sketch even allows collaborative modelling to occur in a shared space, with VOIP so you can chat with other users, share ideas, teach and be guided. GS is my main use of VR, but mainly in a hobbyist capacity. We have a commercial client that wants to leverage VR for use in promotional materials so maybe I need to look into learning the basics of Unreal.

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