frading

I'm sure there are multiple next steps possible in parallel, but one is most likely that those apps become accessible in a browser with just a click. That's my approach with Polygonjs ( https://polygonjs.com )

It's also interesting to look at how those apps have evolved over the last 20 years to get a sense of where we might be in the next 20. For instance, even though Houdini has always be a very open package, it's user base exploded when it explicitly created Houdini engine to integrate with Maya/Unreal/Unity. So integration is a key factor and we can hope to see apps become even more interchangeable.

Marketplaces, like blender's ( https://blendermarket.com/ ) or Houdini's ( https://www.orbolt.com/ ) will also grow, increasing collaboration between artists and developers, just like github increased collaboration. That should be accelerated as teams become more and more remote-only.

Then I'm curious to see when AI will make a dent in 3D creation, just like we have seen for 2D works with midjourney. Maybe there will be a github copilot for 3D?

And maybe in 10-20 years, we'll arrive at a combination of those items, as in an AI powered marketplate that guesses tools the community may need.

Trust me they don't.

I've had all sorts of gaps in my career. 6 months, 1 year and more, to explore different domains. I'm in computer graphics/front end, pretty fast paced.

Nobody ever asked.

Please, never feel guilty about taking a single month off. If your body needs rest, you need to listen to it.

My take is that those apps will be designed to create interactive experiences. At least that's the direction I follow with the one I create ( https://polygonjs.com )

Polygonjs [1] (disclaimer, I develop it) is for vanilla js, but also has components for vuejs [2], react [3] and react-three-fiber [4]. The goals are to provide a higher level api than threejs, and also to not be restricted to a single framework.

[1] https://github.com/polygonjs/polygonjs

[2] https://polygonjs.com/docs/integrations/vue

[3] https://polygonjs.com/docs/integrations/react

[4] https://polygonjs.com/docs/integrations/react_three_fiber

This is spendid. I've used other tools to spot the ISS previously, but this one makes it so intuitive. Great job.

Polygonjs [1] uses WebGL (via threejs [2]) pretty heavily. It allows you to create interactive WebGL experiences, without coding, only by connecting nodes. So you can set up geometry processing, particle systems, custom shaders or object behaviors.

[1] https://polygonjs.com

[2] https://threejs.org/

I've just released a WebGL experiment that uses music to animate particles. It's meant to be exciting to both watch and create (the music - not composed by me - is pretty epic).

https://polygonjs.com/particles-music

And it's done with a visual node-based editor I'm working g on. Here is a tutorial of it in action.

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2WfjN_pVGgj32-ZJc_VNaZ...

I use basecamp personal. Really easy to accumulate links in to-do lists. I can add notes to a link and check them off when I don't need them but still want them around to keep a record. It has worked for me for several years.

Glad that worked! I hope that didn't put you off learning French.

Personally, I stopped trying to write such letters after a couple instances where the recipient company claimed they never received any letter from me.

Then I learned you should always send a letter with a signature to have a proof of reception, which is a bit more expensive. And then one kept charging me anyway, and still claimed the letter didn't reach the right department (after more time spent on the phone with them).

Bottom line is if a company wants to make it difficult for you to leave the relationship with them, there are tons of tricks in the books for that. Therefore I blacklist them after any sign of dishonesty.

This reminds me of the French newspaper lemonde.fr, which I had subscribed to, and then wanted to unsubscribe after a couple months. There was simply no way to do so online, not to reach any customer support. The only option was to send a letter via post. This was during our first lockdown in UK, so no way I would go to the post office for that. I'll simply never be a customer again.

I'm working on one: https://polygonjs.com (still in beta)

Since I couldn't find a good tool to make 3D experiences for the web, I created one that so far it made my clients very happy.

It's node-based, which allows you to try different ideas very quickly within the same scene. You can process models and geometries, or even create your own glsl shader with just nodes. And if you're not a coder, it can also be a good way to learn.

https://polygonjs.com/ and some tutorials: https://vimeo.com/polygonjs

I've created https://mediatag.io just for this goal. It makes it easy to add a page, a note, an image. Just with a single click if you're in a rush. Or if you have a tiny bit more time, you can add tags to organise what you've just saved.

That's one of the reasons I created MediaTag [0], to be able to save pages and see associated tags next to the links. Here is how my HN favorites look like: https://mediatag.io/gui/items/f117244b-mediatag-hn

[0] https://mediatag.io

What I like to do sometimes is contact the support of the apps I'm hesitating on. Whichever is most responsive/helpful wins, as it's a good sign they actually care.

Your website peeked my interest as well. I just subscribed and am curious to see what kind of jobs you have available.

(I also messaged you guys about skipping the stripe process)

Yes, I haven't mentioned that in the post, but that's definitely a good point. Our happiness or satisfaction will be very much linked to progress we make.

And since progress tend to be logarithmic (the last 20% taking 80% of the time), the last bit will be the least pleasant. So that's where we become less efficient.

Of course that doesn't mean either that we should stop when it gets hard. But being aware of this should help you decide if you should keep pushing or if it's time to take a break (which can be a few minutes or maybe weeks).

Excellent, thank you for those links. I will read them carefully.

Do I understand you right that Github, Basecamp, Twitter are or were zombies?

If that's what you are saying, I'd love you to elaborate, because I can't see how one could see this.

I wouldn't say it's impossible. There are a few ways to fight this feeling.

First, try and understand why you care so much, if that excess of care is giving you too much pressure.

Maybe you care too much because that's your livelihood, and that prevents you from taking risks? In that case, try and shop for other jobs and maybe seeing what other options are available will make you be more relax.

Or maybe you care too much because the timing means you have only one shot at whatever you're working on? Then work beforehand on having more options. Or lowering the risk of your project failing. Think about a plan B, or C.

What I'm trying to say basically is that if you feel that you're at your best when you don't care too much, find ways to create that distance or relaxation. That might need some time, logistics, or introspection, but it's certainly worth it.

Absolutely. No extreme is ever good. Shipping and forgetting is a recipe to do mediocre work.

But I rarely witnessed that.

What I see very often, though, is people not feeling ready to share what they have. And I've been in countless conversations to urge people to fight this instinct (which I'm guilty of too often as well).

That actually makes me think about 2 things now:

1. Being in the zone is good, but you may be functioning mostly on instinct, so the more experience you have, the better results you ll get. By that I mean that it s where that thing called craft helps you. You then have some techniques that you can rely on, and not only your gut feelings.

2. While being in the zone, it's still good to jump out of it and criticize your own work (as in you always have to be your best critic). It s almost as if criticizing yourself should be a reflex, part of your instinct. Sometimes I imagine someone commenting what I do and me trying to defend my work. If I can't defend it well, that means I better look into :)

And I've mentioned that in another comment, but that applies to any work, whether it is considered creative or technical (knowing that there is a big overlap between those). As a person doing films and web app, my thinking is not very different from one to the other.

(Thanks to you for making me think about this)

Is tapping into your flow state a similar thing to "being in the zone"?

In which case, it's hard to tell, since it is quite subconscious.

I'd be tempted to say that being in the zone (if that's what you mean, let me know if not) happens to people who allow themselves to be less self-conscious, to be less disturbed by their own ego. In which case it may help them create better or more focused work.

Although I realize I will probably give this a bit more thoughts, since that's interesting :)

> Great things come from people being impractical

Yes, but in my experience this is more an exception, compared to the vast majority of people who never ship anything, because "it's not quite right yet". That's where the danger lies.

And I think there are plenty of similarities between art and tech, regarding this.

For a web app, it will have to be shared before growing in quality and becoming great. Github, Basecamp, Twitter all did that. It's always about having a first released being a kick ass half or a half ass product (Getting Real was phrasing it like that if I recall correctly).

Same for a film. It might be released on a specific date to a wide audience, but it has gone through many iterations, discussed between dozens of people.

And just getting it done does not mean that you have to stop everything once your deadline has passed. If there is more work that you want to add to improve it, do it. But at least you've shared it as an intermediary stage, and you and your work have probably both grown from that. And you can now give yourself another deadline.

Triple checking is fine to me. I do it plenty of times. But it certainly depends on how long this would require and what it is spent on.

For instance, I re-read my posts several times before publishing (and still wondering if I left typos). But for the design, I'm happy to leave things as a work in progress, knowing I will come back to it later.

It's all about choosing your battles.

I'm not even sure Steve Jobs claimed to be a perfectionist. "Doing great work" might be more how he would have phrased it, as well as iterating on it.

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know that.

I love the last point "Done is the engine of more"!

ha, that's not exactly what I mean in this post, I hope that's not what you would take away. (although you might just be sarcastic)

What leads us to perfect our work (and prevents us from shipping) is hopefully not an ego problem. It's just that we might be too eager to keep improving it, instead of enjoying the current state. It's just like the belief that adding yet another feature to an app will solve everything.

Hello all, OP here.

Don't hesitate to shoot any questions if you have any.

This blog is mostly oriented towards filmmakers, but the concept of perfecting vs completing can apply just as well to web or technical endeavors.

Ah, excellent, I haven't seen that one, but it's gone up my list now.