Field Notes · Source archive

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine

Originally published 2026-08-06 on Advisory Hour.

Originally published as an Advisory Hour Substack post on 2026-08-06. This first-party site copy preserves the text, localizes public supporting media, and connects the record to its project trail.

Original post

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

If you do any work in the 3D space, then the odds are ridiculously high that at some point you’ve had to navigate an asset store to obtain a specific kind of object. It could be a sword, car, house, mountain, train or even small things like stairwells, lamps, or desks. It’s less a capability question and more a function of time. There is only so much time in the day to build these objects, and world-building that needs to fill in.

This story isn’t about a stair well or a specific item, but it’s a story that began with the construction of a singular object. I wanted a lamp. A lamp is a good way to shine the light on things.

The Lamp

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

The lamp was so neat that it spawned a whole set of new idea. The first one was a selfishly motivated design. Could I produce this lamp in the real world? How might I accomplish it? I’d need something like parts and a supply list. I’d need to convert the blender geometry over to a CAD capable design. Could AI do an OK job at CAD?

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

The first render of the CAD version of the lamp came across my feed. I was thrilled. “This looks like it might actually work!” And the AI largely agreed, “Maybe!”

The next step was building a dedicated page to review the bill of materials and how to actually, well, build the thing.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

This article isn’t about my adventure in trying to learn how to produce real world machined things from AI driven CAD designs, but I’ll note that it can get you started. This next image is a supplier bundle I had built out as I navigate a brand-new experience: managing machinists and 3D printing companies to produce the lamp. If I can do that, then I can do crazy next.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

The Infinite Asset Store

This brings me to the next big idea. The infinite asset store.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

Every two hours a hermes agent wakes up and uses the toolchain to build a new 3D object. These 3D objects are always a surprise. I never quite know what I’ll get. Hermes is unreasonably good at this. The detailed pages are a delight, too.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

While there are objects like the stairwell that clearly have utility in different builds, that is not always the case. Consider the next example, which is a strange artistic creation. I’m not sure if the model decided to just show-off, or if there was a genuine point to this one. The descriptive text for the asset reads as follows.

Reusable formal-garden spiral boxwood topiary with a continuous tapered clipped-foliage band, conical core and crown, trunk, classical Versailles-style limestone planter, raised panel frames, blackened corner straps, drainage rosettes, soil lip, irrigation inlet, and grounded feet.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

Looks more like an instrument of torture my dentist might use, but sure… it’s a garden spiral. I like the idea that it’s a gnome teleportation device better. Lawn gnomes enter via a side portal and then zip right across the cosmos.

The gallery grew to such an extent that I’ve since added filter and search controls-much like what I used to use back in other 3d asset libraries. It’s brought about several new ideas, as is par for the course with these ideas. Perhaps just seeing this self-building asset store gives you ideas yourself. What’s great about something like this asset library is that it improves the range and reduces the total time to produce a project. If a model doesn’t have to burn cycle time building an item from scratch and can just plop it into your project, then you’re to a much better place with your project and away from the vibe look that a lot of 3d software tends to carry.

Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.
Perpetual Asset Store Motion Machine image from the original Advisory Hour post.

The asset library grows every 2 hours. The growth rate has caused me some amount of concern: it’s clear I need a lot more disk than I have at home. What happens when the library reaches 300+ assets, let alone 3,000+? This new world of abundance requires tricks to navigate it, all by itself.

Connected work

  • ArtLab: Browse image, motion, sound, and the work between versions.
  • Field Notes: Browse the short records of experiments and unfinished directions.