An oscilloscope is an electronic device that helps to measure voltage against time. It represents one or more electric potential differences in a two-dimensional graph, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis showing voltage. An oscilloscope is conventionally used to locate defects in other electronic instruments or to test the circuitry in a new electronic device.

An oscilloscope converts the electric signals it receives in the waveforms into a signal that is displayed on the screen in the form of a dot. This dot moves from the left side of the screen to the right continuously, almost looking like a single line. When there are any deflections, the dot moves up or down, resulting in a wave that is interpreted and analyzed to know fluctuations in the voltage. Some oscilloscopes can show even two or more waveforms. These are used for phase comparison and timing measurements.

Some oscilloscopes are converted to a PC that not only provides the display but also supplies control interface, networking, disc storage and even the electric power. There are known as PC oscilloscopes or PC based oscilloscopes. They are becoming very popular because of the increasing use of PCs and also the low cost involved.

There are several advantages of a PC oscilloscope: lower cost; easy exporting of data to spread sheets or word processors and other PC software; customized PC programs for easy operation of the oscilloscope; the PC’s disc storage and networking functions can be used for the oscilloscope as well, instead of investing in exclusive oscilloscope software; and more portability when used with laptops.

There are also certain limitations of using a PC oscilloscope: requires special oscilloscope software; the oscilloscope has to depend on the PC, which may be much slower than the oscilloscope; difficult to transport when used with a desktop PC and there could be difficulty in using the PC’s screen for the oscilloscope’s display.

Information about PC oscilloscopes, along with their prices and product facts can be sourced from the internet. There are hundreds of sites that give information about PC oscilloscopes.

3D digital art has certainly come a long way from its obscure beginnings. Nowadays, you find it everywhere – in print, web and television advertisements, in movies, etc. But what exactly is digital art?

The technology of 3D digital art

3D Digital art is a very young field, and more research and formal training is needed before schools can offer it as a viable study. So far, 3D digital art software has managed to create impressive 3D images, but more functionality needs to be incorporated. Software developers are continuously working to delve into the vast potential of 3D digital media.

Many digital 3D artists are involved improving the application of 3D digital software’s light and shadow effects on objects. Most 3D artists also create straight from their imagination ‘surreal’ or impossible objects. Their output is often times seen in movies and on the Internet.

3D digital imaging is a long process. When you create one 3D digital face, it can literally take months – even with the help of software such as Corel Bryce 3D, Adobe Photoshop, Curious Labs Poser, Jasc PSP and other painting programs. The technique of ‘modeling’ is particularly hard to master. It takes months and sometimes years for the best digital artists to achieve ‘broadcast quality’ looks.

Spline control is another particularly complicated area of 3D digital imaging. Before going into such advanced techniques, digital art students must be well versed in the fundamentals of LightWave 3D, as well as basic modeling skills. They should be very good at selecting and modifying points and polygons, determining framing and motion paths, basic surfacing and image mapping.

Blender 3D is a powerful open source program for creating 3D models and objects. Although it is freely distributable, it is not in any way inferior to many high end commercial 3D modeling and animation programs. In fact, in the modelling department, it is surprisingly fast and intuitive to use compared to many commercial programs of the similar type.

There are two main ways of creating 3D models in Blender 3D.

The first method is by modifying from existing objects and primitives. These included tools in the Add function such as NURBS surfaces and meshes. From these objects we apply various operations. Two very useful functions are Extrude and Knife Cut. Extrude is performed by pressing the E Key on the keyboard. Knife Cut is performed by using the K Key.

The second method of building 3D models is from using curves, paths, edges and vertices. This method may employ techniques such as extruding vertices, creating faces, revolving using Spin, extrude along path or curve. A quick way to create face is by pressing the F key once the respective edit points has been selected.

For precision modelling, we can use the Snap to Grid mode. This is done by holding the Ctrl Key while snapping points. One can also use direct numerical inputs as well.

When doing 3D modelling in Blender, it is important to understand the properties of Object & Edit Mode. We will need to toggle between this two modes very often.

These fundamentals in 3D modeling are not only applicable to Blender 3D. In fact, it is valid for most other 3D applications as well. The processes are similar, only the specific keys and commands are different.