DEV Community: Julia Johansson

How to get started with MagicaVoxel and make your own avatar

Julia Johansson — Tue, 04 May 2021 14:44:03 +0000

For some time, I have been using an open-source 3D tool called MagicaVoxel. If you have ever played or know about Minecraft, then it is a bit like that. This tool can help you get into 3D, create artwork or make your own avatar which the tutorial goes through below.

It is free to use for any project and relatively easy to get started with compared to other 3D software. The pre-set light and render settings really help. In other 3D programs you could tinker about for hours and it still does not even come close to decent. There are also fun lego, ball and clay settings where the building pieces, voxels, look like those.

Get started you too

Download the program from here.
Install and open up the program.
You will see a blue box in the middle.
To your right, you should see a project panel.
Click on chr_sword and you will see a character with a sword in the main window.
On the left palette panel, choose the colour of your sweater.
On the brush panel, choose b for box mode and paint.
Then paint the sweater by clicking on the figure's sweater.
Keep going! Don't forget to save the file. Maybe erase some hair voxels or attach them to fit your shape.
Note that you are in Model mode. In the top left corner, you can switch to Render mode. The image renders every time you change something, you will see a blue loading bar at the top. When you are done you can save the image by clicking on the camera icon at the bottom.

Good luck! //Julia in voxel form

Post your avatar in the comments if you like :)

What is a server?

Julia Johansson — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 09:18:19 +0000

For a very long time, I had a somewhat clouded idea of what servers were... some kind of special distant computer? Turns out it was in the name all along and a server is a machine that serves you with things. It could serve you a website, data you can download or other stuff. It can be near or far away.

It is this relationship that decides a machine is a server. In order for the machines to communicate they need a protocol, like a menu that gives them a shared language. A common protocol that we all use when surfing the web is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP.

We have evolved hardware to be very good at serving and it has made the distinction between different types of machines larger. The image of a data center with servers just doesn't look like a personal computer.

But really, any computer can be a server. The thing that makes a machine a server is: does it serve? You can make your laptop into a server, you can make your friend’s computer into a server. You can even put a virtual machine within your own computer and turn that one into a server. Quite a mind-bender.

Of course, things always more complex when you dive in further but I find this helpful when I think about servers.

Miniature IoT plant-care project step 1: procure components

Julia Johansson — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 15:13:02 +0000

At the moment, I am taking a course on internet of things. One assignment is to set up an automated system for home use. I want to do something with plants and I have been curious about Adafruit for a long time, they have lots of cool hardware. A while ago I saw that they have a guide and components to make an automated system for a self-watering plant, so that is what I will be doing.

You are welcome to join in, I list the guide and the components below. I would like to be finished in late May. You could also just tag along for the ride, I will post some updates about the project.

Ingredients - the components you will need

1 x Adafruit Bonsai Buckaroo
2 x Small Alligator Clip Test Lead
2 x Nail to measure resistance
1 x Adafruit CLUE - nRF52840 Express with Bluetooth LE
1 x Battery pack or USB cable to plug into another power source, unclear yet
1 x Submersible 3V DC Water Pump
1 x Tube for the water, 6 mm diameter, length unsure
1 x Water container with some kind of lid
1 x Plant

It is cheaper to use a BBC micro:bit instead of the CLUE, I chose Clue because it has a screen as well. This is a test project, there are problems with having nails in soil like this overtime when they corrode and might damage the plant. I have no plan for that but I intend to look into it more.

The guide

First, there are some components via the link below and what they do and then there is a guide below that. You can buy most of the stuff on that page as well, but you could of course use some components from somewhere else. Adafruit Bonsai Buckaroo Plant-Care guide

3D web visualization: what are some current challenges?

Julia Johansson — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 11:59:50 +0000

What are some current or soon-to-be challenges with 3D on the web in a web browser? I'm thinking about displaying data in a 3D space, 3D effects or exploring objects via a browser.

Native technology vs web browser?
Battles between frameworks?
Performance?
Screen size?
UX?

I'd love to hear what you think!

Extra info: I am exploring topics for my bachelor thesis in software engineering 😊