I ran into an issue with my Observable Collection and after comparing my code and xaml against the one made available for download on http://www.windowspresentationfoundation.com I decided that I’d come back to it and work on the next chapter which deals with handling 3D elements and their export to XAML.

The first part of the chapter is essentially the same as what was done back in chapter 3.  So I skipped ahead to the portion where the author is asking the reader to download and work with Electric Rain’s ZAM 3D program.

The problem is, since they are no longer in testing, the product has officially released, they are no longer making a trial available for download.  They state that the functionality is entirely the exact same as their primary product, save for the export functionality to XAML.

I’m not going to let that keep me down though.  I did a search on google and discovered a great paring.

Someone on codeplex.com made an export tool available for download which hooks into the open source 3D program made available for download at blender.org

They don’t mention it, but when you install blender, it directs you to python.com as it will not run without python installed and functional.  So if you’re following along in the book, you’ll need to be sure to hit python’s download page and make note of where the Windows installation is (3 links down) on the page.

I’ll let you know how things go with this alteration to the book‘s direction.

Edit: There’s a great wikibook available called, “Blender 3D: Noob to Pro” available which can get someone jump started into using Blender.