The latest interactive 3D learning resource developed by FusedWorks, Doncaster College’s 3D visualisation studio, means you can do just that.  Whats more the resource is completely free!

The one year SPACE project was funded by JISC/HE Academy and formed part of a larger Open Educational Resources (OER) programme.  Developement of  SPACE was a result of a successful partnership between Doncaster College, National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural and PALATINE (the then HE subject specialist for performing arts).  Collaboration with staff and learners from college’s and HE institutions throughout the UK ensured that the project was ‘fine tuned’ to the needs of the learner and lecturer.

FusedWorks, as part of Doncaster College were able to work closely with staff to incorporate elements of the project into the curriculum.  This enriched the student learning experience by consolidating theoretical skills with practical work experience.  Examples of student involvement included:  creation of project branding, YouTube ‘help’ tutorials and a selection of 3d props available from the in-built library.

SPACE is freely available to all, whether you’re studying, teaching, working or simply pursuing an interest in the area of performing arts and want to experiment with your own venue and set design.  PC and MAC versions are available under an open licence and can be easily downloaded from the project website.

Download the resource!

For more information on the project visit the project website www.space.fusedworks.com or contact Helen Richardson on 01302 553588.

On 4th July 2011 Doncaster College’s FusedWorks team presented the beta version of the SPACE project resource during the PALATINE DIGITALIS event. The event took place at The University of Leeds and seeked to promoted the use of digital technologies to enhance and embed creative processes.

More about the event: http://www.palatine.ac.uk/events/view/2022/

The team at FusedWorks have been busy working on an Open Educational Resource project funded by Jisc.  The project named SPACE (Simulated Performing Arts Creative Environment) will see the creation of an application to enable 3D teaching and provide an interactive learning resource for use by performing arts lecturers and students in both Higher and Further Education.

The resource is intended to complement the teaching of performing arts in the UK and users will be able to experiment with set and lighting design through the creation of their own 3D theatre space.  Users will be able to import 3D props and characters with adjustable attributes and also apply cues to their creation.

The project is a collaboration between Doncaster College, Creative and Cultural Skills – the sector skills council for the creative and cultural sectors, the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills (NSA),  PALATINE – the HE Academy subject centre for Dance, Drama and Music and SHM a consultancy specialising in research, proposition development and organisational effectiveness.

The partners of the project are:

• Doncaster College – as leading institution
• Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council
• National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills
• PALATINE (the Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music)
• SHM Productions Ltd

For more information about the project take a look at the project website www.space.fusedworks.com. You can also follow the project on Twitter – @3D_SPACE

A group of Doncaster College representatives (including Helen Richardson from FusedWorks) made a working visit to Casablanca, Morocco between 23rd and 28th January 2010.  This exchange was realised within The Skills for Employability Project which is realised in collaboration between Doncaster College and ESITH in Morocco (Ecole Supérieure des Industries du Textile et de l’Habillement).

The project is funded by the British Council, and aims to promote skills development and increase the employability of young people in participating countries by encouraging close links between education and industry.  FusedWorks developed an interactive 3D application to support teachers in the delivery of EFL (English for a foreign language) lessons called “Don Smith”.

The learning tool was created in support of a British Council initiative to increase the employability skills of students and lecturers in Morocco and Tunisia.

Don was created and animated in 3ds max software, then exported into Unity 3D to build an interactive web-based application.

The end piece heavily relied upon using keywords and images that would hopefully relate to the viewers collective consciousness and at the same time provide a journey into which the Jobshop’s services could be highlighted. The piece took over two-three months to complete, but was both an enjoyable and interesting project to work on. The Jobshop were extremely happy with the end result and feel that it reflected the effort put in by the FusedWorks team, although to fully appreciate this piece it is best seen on a Phillips 3dtv.

The Health and Safety in Construction Project, took an existing paper based “spot the mistake” exercise and turned the idea into 3d interactive media which would allow users or groups to identify the mistakes within the scene with much more accuracy and from a more realistic point of view. The project is still in progress and the second stage of development involves allows users to mark/highlight the health and safety problem areas and compare their findings with set answers which can also be adapted and modified by trainers, lecturers or industry professionals.

During 8^th and 11^th November the FusedWorks team together with Doncaster College representatives attended the 4DSMILE Closing Conference event.   This was a meeting between all partners of the 4DSMILE (4D Simulated and Managed Interactive Learning Experiences) project from the Transfer of Innovation Leonardo da Vinci programme. The event took place in Kossuth Zsuzsanna vocational training school in Dabas (Hungary) and all participants from Hungary, United Kingdom and Finland attended.  The conference was a great opportunity for all partners to meet and summarise the ‘lessons learned’ from the project.  Details of discussions will be included in the final project report.  Project sustainability and future co-operation also formed part of the discussions.

Key representatives from the project presented their own observations and conclusions:

• József Halász – Kossuth Zsuzsanna Szakképz Iskola és Kollégium (Hungary);
• Tom Bjon – Keski-Pohjanmaan koulutusyhtyma / Kokkolan ammattiopiosto (Finland);
• Helen Richardson – FusedWorks, Doncaster College (United Kingdom);
• Barbara Brodigan – Director of Contracts, Commissioning and International Development at Doncaster College.
• Gyula Kosztolányi – Former principal of Kossuth Zsuzsanna Szakképz Iskola és Kollégium, president of Kognitiv Hungary.

During the 4 days FusedWorks 3D project developers delivered advanced 3d training to selected Hungarian and Finnish content developers.  This saw them receive training on the use of Unity3D software for interactive and immersive learning object creation. This training together with previous training in 3dstudio max concluded the knowledge transfer.  It was also a good practical summary and debrief session for the 6 learning objects that were created earlier.  The event was also a chance for us to participate in a meeting to discuss a proposal for an EU FP7 project (7^th Framework Programme) which was submitted in the beginning of the year. Further steps have been presented with possible re-submission and also actions for a more active role in submitting similar bids were recognised.

Martek Marine recently commissioned FusedWorks to create an interactive 3D model of an oil tanker that could be used to showcase its products.  During the show the sales team demonstrated their new system to customers on a 40” screen for maximum impact.

Steve Coulson, Director at Martek Marine said “Being able to show Navgard in situ on the virtual oil tanker is fantastic.  Not only can customers interact and understand the product for a more informed choice but its technical installation can also be demonstrated.  This is the most cost effective way we could get these results without using a real oil tanker”.

Navgard is the first of several products that will be included on the 3D model.  The final application will be available on the Martek Marine website and also as a stand alone application to support the sales and technical teams.