Customize Your Sky

Customize Your Sky

In this blog post, we will discuss how to create custom sky modifications. In particular, we will focus on creating (1) an all-white sky and environment, (2) an all-black sky, and (3) a sky with stationary cloud effects.

Drive Your Reality/HD Animations with Virtual CRASH 3 Physics

Drive Your Reality/HD Animations with Virtual CRASH 3 Physics

Are you a die-hard fan of FARO (formely ARAS) Reality or FARO HD, but wish there was a way to create your animations using a true 3D physics simulation tool like Virtual CRASH 3? If so, this post is for you. Here we demonstrate just how easy it is to extract the 3D simulation data from Virtual CRASH 3 and use it to define an animation path within FARO Reality.

Making Rotating Assemblies with a Hinge Joint

Making Rotating Assemblies with a Hinge Joint

In Virtual Crash you have the ability to take solid objects (.3ds, .dxf), separate out components, and add joints to manipulate movement. In this post, we will look at using a hinge joint to create a rotating assembly.

Adding Striping or Color Schemes to Vehicles

Adding Striping or Color Schemes to Vehicles

In a previous post, techniques were discussed concerning how to modify the different “Element” portions of a vehicle to suit your needs, but here we will discuss how to modify the “Faces” portion to get an even more custom look for your vehicle.

The Amazing Auto-Driver System

The Amazing Auto-Driver System

One of the gems of Virtual CRASH 3 is the “auto-driver” system. This feature allows the user select the paths on which the simulated vehicles are to drive (within the limits of physics of course).  This is an excellent alternative to specifying the steering angles "by hand," especially for complex roadway geometries (although Virtual CRASH 3’s fast control icons are particularly handy for that purpose). In this post, we discus how to use the auto-driver system in Virtual CRASH 3.

Make Your Own Vehicle Modifications

Make Your Own Vehicle Modifications

Suppose you have a case involving a Ford Explorer SUV police vehicle, which had lights and push bumper, and you need to add it to your Virtual CRASH simulation, but this vehicle is not in the Virtual CRASH database. Don't give up. You can make this yourself using the 3D modeling capabilities of Virtual CRASH 3! 

Adding Traffic Signal Symbols to Animations

Adding Traffic Signal Symbols to Animations

So, you're working on your t-bone impact animation for trial, and now you want to put a traffic signal timing symbol into your crash animation, rather than using text annotation. As is usually the case with Virtual CRASH 3, there is a way to do it by taking advantage of Virtual CRASH's amazing versatility. Below we will review the procedure for creating a traffic signal symbol with animated signal timing. 

Importing Large Terrain Meshes

Importing Large Terrain Meshes

Have mercy on your microprocessor. When importing large dxf or 3ds meshes for use in your simulation environment, be considerate to your system's resources. In this post, we're going to discuss importing large terrain meshes.