Web 3D Survey v2
Web 3D Survey v2 rebuilds the site on TanStack Start, adds homepage support summaries, WGSL and adapter reporting, browser capability stats, and a live /machine report.
Ben Houston • July 12, 2026
This is the personal blog of Ben Houston (bio here), a 3D computer graphics software developer. I've worked on projects like Web3DSurvey, Three.js, Deadline, Krakaota, and Exocortex VFX plugins. I'm also an entrepreneur, having founded Land of Assets, Threekit, Clara.io, Exocortex, and Frantic Films Software.
Latest writing
Frameworks vs. Toolkits for Multi-Market SaaS
Why SaaS products that stretch one opinionated framework across multiple markets often become harder to use, and why scalable multi-market products separate universal toolkit primitives from market-specific frameworks.
Ben Houston • June 22, 2026
Adventures in Fluid Simulation
I spent ten years building fluid simulation tools for VFX: a three-day Stable Fluids prototype, sparse level sets for Scooby-Doo 2, tetrahedral and vortex solvers at Exocortex, and three pieces of my software on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Ben Houston • June 22, 2026
My Dad, an Apple IIe and a Stack of Nibble Magazines
My dad bought an Apple IIe and a stack of Nibble Magazines. This was the start of my career in computer graphics.
Ben Houston • June 21, 2026
Optimizing TanStack Start for Cloud Run
TanStack Start runs on Nitro, and Nitro's default Node output can split server code across many files. On Google Cloud Run, that file fan-out can add seconds to cold starts. Bundling the server and pre-warming Node's compile cache reduced first render time on this site.
Ben Houston • June 20, 2026
A Solution to Rampant Token Theft: Proof of Possession
Static API keys in environment variables and files are too easy to steal. A better model is proof-of-possession, where every API call must be signed by a non-exportable private key that is available only through a constrained signing interface.
Ben Houston • June 14, 2026
Introducing vitest-command-line
Testing command-line tools is deceptively hard - hanging processes, lost stderr, temp file juggling, and unreadable failures. I built vitest-command-line to make CLI testing in Vitest simple and robust.
Ben Houston • June 10, 2026
node-prewarm: CLI for Node 25's Compile Cache
New in Node 25 is the node compile cache, which can deliver a 20% to 30% boost in server start-up time. I built `node-prewarm` to make that practical on real projects with minimal changes.
Ben Houston • May 15, 2026
Transferable Pixel-Perfect Material Graphs for Blender & Three.js
How I built the MaterialX Fidelity Suite, then used it to drive pixel-perfect MaterialX support in both Three.js and Blender — including custom noise node implementations that finally close the gap between reference renders and open-source tools.
Ben Houston • May 1, 2026
MaterialX Needs a Single-File Container
MaterialX assets are multiple loose files, which breaks down in online, and collaborative contexts. The community has already solved this with zip packaging. We just need to formalize it as .mtlz.
Ben Houston • April 24, 2026
Launching Land of Assets
After a decade building enterprise 3D visualization at Threekit, I've moved on to build Land of Assets, a product visualization platform built on open standards, with AI image generation running off those same assets.
Ben Houston • April 14, 2026
Passwordless Login System
Passwords are a shared-secret liability. Here is how to build a modern passwordless auth flow using Email OTP and Passkeys (WebAuthn), without storing passwords.
Ben Houston • March 26, 2026
