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Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide

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1. Instances Shift 1 Lists the hierarchical relationship between parent and child objects in the scene Geometries Shift 2 Lists all the objects in the scene including meshes primitives and hot spots Materials Shift 3 Lists the materials used in the scene Textures Shift 4 Lists the textures used in the scene Animators Shift 5 Lists each imported animation instruction tag by name Repository Shift 6 Lists all the elements in your scene arranged by type Tip If a Hierarchy menu is too long to fit on your screen use the scroll bar to scroll up and down For information about navigating Hierarchy menus see About Hierarchy Menus in Chapter 2 About Hierarchies In a 3D scene hierarchies describe the parent child relationships between geometries and between a geometry and the textures and materials applied to it Animations are also arranged hierarchically In a hierarchy any attribute or action applied to the parent is also applied to the children A parent element can have multiple children and which in turn can have children For example in the scooter model below the Instances Hierarchy menu shows that the geometry citibug is the parent of the other geometries that comprise the model such as citybug MESH 0 and citybug MESH 1 Hierarchy viewpoint Scene Builder Build 3 0 9 6 Rendering Hierarchy Shift O gt 0 MTSRootInstance gt feitybug v 2 null_body_repositi
2. essere enne ennnnn nr nnnnennennnen 45 About Default Settings for Your VET Scene sssssssssssssssssseseeeee ener enne nennen nennen 45 Publishing for Stream Tuning Studio essen enne enne nennen trennen tree tnnt r neni nnne nenne 47 Creating a Default mtx File tese reiten pert PEE EERUERAEE REP SERET RR ERES ls obedescisazeaecdetssentsesasendbes 47 Appendix A Help Resources and Peedbaek usec ipe eater te EIE RQeo tpe tinea e Iripebda eut oa poH ana 48 Viewpoint Developer Central A Complete Resource ssssssssessseseeeeenee eren enne enne enne nnne nnns 48 Download Viewpoint Applications Guides and Examples sse enne 48 Viewpoint Applications cn nitro e i e eee ad ee Fe re eH Hte e een d 48 User Cdes 5e tree ann estes ietistesiedun ntevtumbeus i ictdtetdvedied tates eiue ced 49 Examples ieee eR errr E Pee cu ELE IULII 49 Appendix B Scene Builder Menu ODUOP S ssisncnsdnnisasnnnunanansssnndnrunivnincasiniecadaiantacannwoenspmemniasnn 50 Main Commands Menu TOo0ls5 Een erui test rece rue etur el tes erede er tex es neces 50 Scene Commands MEenus ccsccesccsseesseesseeseesseeseecseceseeseesccssecesecaecaecsaeceaecaaecaeeeseseaeseeeseeeeseseseseeeeaeceaecnaeeneeeneeeaeeeaes 50 Load T Menu nie deeper RP E US ERU EE EE Pe PECERE PME HEAR RE RET TRE ERE C HER ERRARE ER EH 51 Instances 2 Meu cp EURHU REIR E eee eee MEME EI 52 A imation 3 Mem someone
3. Corresponding XML tag ShadowRadius Choose whether you want to display the Hot Spot Line the line between the clickable hot spot activation area and the displayable hot spot text or texture Corresponding XML tag WidgetLine Distance from Hot Spot moves the displayable hot spot text or texture closer or farther from the activation area and adjusts the hot spot line accordingly Corresponding XML tag Radius Keep In Window forces the hot spot display area to stay within the VMP window when this option 1s On Hot Spot Options shows or hides the options that follow for hot spot orientation Text Location and Attach Line The default is Off options are hidden Text Location X Text Location Y or Text Location Z reorients the hot spot text or texture along the X Y or Z axis respectively Corresponding XML tags WidgetCenterX WidgetCenterY WidgetCenterZ 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 60 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Attach Line X Attach Line Y or Attach Line Z relocates along the X Y or Z axis the end of the hot spot line that is closest to the clickable activation area Corresponding XML tags TrackX TrackY TrackZ Anchor Hot Spot hides or displays the options that follow for anchoring the displayable text or texture associated with the hot spot Pin Source X or Pin Source Y sets the X or Y offset respecti
4. Click Use Noisemap to apply noise to a texture Default is Off Noise on Noisemap adjusts the fineness or coarseness of the noisemap on a texture The higher the number the coarser the noisemap Click Noisemap Size to choose from a menu noisemap sizes from 8x8 to 512x512 A larger size noisemap creates a coarser noise channel for the texture Procedural Lightmap Menu X Light Pos 0 347 Y Light Pos 0 212 Red 0 376471 Green 0 376471 Blue 0 427451 Specularty 0 571 Intensity 0 037 Clamp Diffuse val 0 498 Blur Image 4 Load Back Image Spherize Back Image 0 Num Diffuse Color 128 Num Specular Color 128 Force Low Black Off 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved Save to JPG saves the procedural lightmap effects you ve created as a JPEG image file You can edit this file in a 2D graphics application and apply it as a lightmap Cancel Changes resets to the last lightmap applied to the scene If no lightmap has been applied to the scene yet resets to the default lightmap Show only selected Off Click Select Light and choose from the menu to select a light point Points 5 are on the face of the geometry points 6 10 on the back of the geometry When set to On Show Only Selected shows only the lighting effect for the selected light point Delete Light removes all the lighting for the selected light point X Light Pos moves the selected ligh
5. e Bumpmaps With a bumpmap you can give a geometry the appearance of being smooth or bumpy metallic or fabric or made of some other particular material e Hot spots You can provide just in time information about an object by assigning a clickable 3D area that displays text image or other media when the viewer clicks or points to it About Instances Instancing is a common technique to help reduce file size when working with 3D models with duplicate parts For example if a car has four wheels you can create one wheel and then reference three more instances of it Then you can transform the three instances to their correct locations You can also apply different textures to each instance if you need to To do this you need to change both the texture name and the material name on the instance otherwise the instance inherits the name from its parent and will also inherit the texture and material settings 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 22 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Adding Primitive Geometries 3D Shapes to Your Scene To add a 3D shape and adjust its location in the scene 1 From the Primitives 8 menu click the 3D shape you want to add It is automatically added to the center of the scene Now you can change the object s position and size You can also adjust its color texture and other characteristics Boxes Versus Cubes While visually quite similar a b
6. 1 In the upper left of the screen open the Animators Shift 5 Hierarchy menu and click animation you want to play For more on changing Hierarchy menus see About Hierarchy Menu in Chapter 2 2 From the Interaction Animation 3 command menu click Manual Time Control to set it to On Animation On Off 3 Drag the Fixed Time Step slider to set a time interval where Reverse Direction each increment you drag the Time Scrubber equals the time interval you set here 4 Drag the Time Scrubber slider to move the animation to a Manus Time control specific time value Time Scrub For each time value you can view changes to timeline values in the Object Information window at the bottom of your screen The Time Scrubber always affects the entire animation even if you have selected a child animator or timeline You can enter a number past the end of the animation to add keyframes to the animation You can navigate through the keyframes on the timeline by using the following e Press Alt Click to move through forward e Press Shift Click to move backward If the current animation is a timeline the value of the timeline displays on the Time Scrubber menu option An asterisk in front of the value indicates you are on a wildcard keyframe or that one of the frames on either side is a wildcard and that the value shown is affected by a wildcard setting and may change if the wildcard s value changes 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corpor
7. 2 From the Transformation 4 menu use the Scale X Scale Y and Scale Z sliders to resize the length X height Y and width Z To resize the geometry uniformly along all three axes from the Transformation 4 menu use the Uniform Scale slider Adjusting the Opacity of a Geometry Opacity is a way of measuring how much light can penetrate an object In a VET scene 0 opacity makes the object so transparent it is invisible and 100 makes the object completely opaque in other words not at all transparent In the illustration on the right the large ball has 50 opacity and the small ball has 100 opacity To adjust the opacity of a geometry 1 Inthe Scene window right click the geometry you want to adjust or select a geometry by clicking its name on the Hierarchy menu on the left Delete Selected 2 Onthe Instances 2 menu use the Opacity slider to change the geometry s opacity Clear All Collapsed 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 24 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Transparency and Rendering Using Sort Rule for Overlapping Transparent Geometries If your VET scene includes multiple semitransparent objects the order in which they are rendered may affect how the scene appears to the viewer The Sort Rule option determines a scene with several semitransparent objects and for objects within the same layer When the Nearest sort rule is turned on only the surfa
8. Start Frame 100 0 2 EndFrame 1750 i Update Remove Save Load Ranges 21 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 5 Managing Geometries About Geometries in VET Scenes A geometry is a 3D object or any part of an object that can be individually referenced within the scene For example a 3D model of a lamp may include three geometries the base the stand and the shade With Scene Builder in addition to importing 3D models from other 3D modeling applications you can add simple 3D geometries called primitives to your scene Primitives include cubes spheres cones pyramids cylinders boxes and planes You can also use Scene Builder to manage the characteristics and textures applied to the geometries in your VET scene including e Textures You can apply a 2D image as a texture to the geometry With Scene Builder s Texture Lab you can refine your scene s texture add alpha map transparency add a noisemap and choose settings by channel You can also control the type and amount of compression you want to apply e Lightmaps Lightmaps give the illusion of illumination on the geometry You can load a JPEG image file as a lightmap or create your own procedural lightmap with Scene Builder Procedural refers to the fact that this type of lightmap makes procedural calls directly to Viewpoint Media Player instead of referencing a JPEG image thus causing little noticeable file size increase
9. even VolumeTrigger has some limitations 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 69 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Q How do I change the focal length of the camera in Scene Builder A On the Rendering Hierarchy Shift 0 menu click Camera Then on the Scene Commands menu choose Transformation 4 Click and drag on the Scale Z button Click Yes to the warning message and continue dragging the slider on the Scale Z button to change the camera s focal length You can see the Scale Z values in the Object Info window Q Are double faces supported A Sure On the Instances 2 menu click the Backface Culling button so that it is set to Off Q I m usually happy with the results of simulating the environment mapping with lightmaps However when I ve got a flat surface it doesn t work Is there a way to get good environment mapping for flat surfaces A Use the Specular Wrap option in the Materials 6 menu Q How does Sort Rule work on the Global Parameters 5 menu Scene rendering with Sort Rule Nearest left and Furthest right A The illustration above shows the difference between Nearest default left image and Furthest right image Sort Rules When you have several semitransparent objects the Sort Rules determines the visibility criteria for different surfaces When the Nearest sort rule is turned on only the surfaces closest to the camera are rendered The Fur
10. Macromedia Flash resolution photographs object movies and panoramas Viewpoint Experience Technology The architecture of a VET scene including the key components that comprise it Technical Overview objects animations events and properties You ll learn how to combine these components and organize them in the VET scene s mtx description file VET Deployment Guide Steps that administrators can take to set up the web server with VET content Viewpoint XML Reference Guide The new online Viewpoint XML Reference Guide is a powerful reference tool containing the most up to date information and examples for the XML tags and properties that control a Viewpoint Experience Technology VET scene VET uses XML scripted in an mtx file to orchestrate the elements of a scene including animation interactivity and loading of files as well as ZoomView and HyperView functionality Note This online reference replaces the PDF documents Viewpoint Experience Technology XML Reference Guide and Viewpoint Experience Technology XML Authoring Overview Examples You ll also find several online examples of VET content on the Viewpoint Developer Central website Each example offers downloadable files that illustrate specific techniques or ways to solve particular problems The files for each example are commented Click this link to choose from a list of available examples that you can download to your computer 1999 2002 Vi
11. e Show Hot Spots When On the hot spot activation area shape is visible Generally this is set to Off in a scene Click Hot Spot Options to set it to On Move the hot spot activation area shape to the place in the scene you want users to click or point From the Transformation 4 menu use the Scale X Y and Z sliders to scale each vector separately or Uniform Scale slider to resize the hot spot activation area shape to the dimensions you want From the Hot Spots 7 menu click Rollover Text and then type the text you want to display when the user clicks or points to the hot spot activation area Use Font and Text Color to change the font style and color 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 29 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Tip If you want to wrap lines of hot spot text use n new line escape sequences to break up the lines For example WR wore tars 1e a long long tese steingl can be broken up with n VAM woro tais is Wei long long yarcexe string to create three lines of text To learn more about advanced editing of hot spot such as triggering animation or other action or applying textures see the Viewpoint XML Authoring Guide available from the Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com To create a hot spot with a texture in Scene Builder 1 2 3 4 From the Hot Spots 7 menu click Add Hot Spot and
12. Appendix B Scene Builder Menu Options 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 45 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To publish and save your scene s mtx and mts files 1 2 Note You can use the Save MTX option to save multiple drafts of the mtx file by giving each draft a different name However you should only publish to a compressed mts file once From the Publish 0 menu click Publish Specify a name for your mtx file and click OK The mts file will be given the same name with a Compress File Off filename extension of mts Verbose MTX Off Use Resource Names On l Language Encoding Default Use TrixelsNT On Minimum Triangles 0 Retain Normals Off To save your scene s mtx file 1 2 3 Optionally use the following options in the Publish 0 menu to specify how you want your mtx file saved e Click Compress File to set to On if you wan to create an mtz file a compressed form of the mtx file e Click Verbose MTX to set to On if you want to save a version of the mtx file that includes all tags whether or not they are used in your VET scene Click Save MTX Specify a name for your mtx file and click OK To save your scene s mts file 2 3 Important To avoid quality degradation you should save an mts file only once using either the Save MTS or Publish option Optionally use the following options in the Publish 0
13. Then you can easily reload the file to reset to the original location of animated elements When you are finished with your scene publish first to retain the original states of animated elements and then you can test the animation again Editing mode lets you edit the scene On or preview your scene as if it was playing on the the scene as if you were viewing it on the web via Viewpoint Media Player Off Help displays this document Scene Builder User Guide Scene Commands Menus Load i The Load 1 menu allows you to open an existing mtx file or import a file into your instanced p VET scene Animation 3 The Instances 2 menu allows you to control and change polygons You can flip Transformation 4 normals make objects geometries into double sided polygons and change the crease Globals 5 angle and transparency Textures 8 The Animation 3 menu allows you to control animation properties in a scene You Hot Spots 7 canreset an animation or change the camera mode You can also collapse Primitives ja objects geometries Preferences 3 The Transformation 4 menu allows you to change the properties of Publish D objects geometries rotation scale and translation The Global Parameters 5 menu gives you control over most of the scene parameter values You can change shadow properties as well as load in global lightmaps and panoramas 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights rese
14. To do this Use this To do this Ctrl D Enable Debug command menu for power users and developers E Load global lightmap R Reset camera S Toggle shadow Shift S Toggle the Blend Shadow option X Open an mtx file Shift X Save an mtx file Ctrl Right click Load a lightmap Ctrl Alt Right click Load a texture 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 68 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix E Frequently Asked Questions The following FAQs were gleaned from Support Forums on Viewpoint Developer Central http developer viewpoint com and from the questions asked through technical support Q Do panoramic images have to be sized to the power of 2 i e 128 256 etc A No It is not required for any diffuse texture maps alpha channels or bumpmaps to be sized to powers of 2 However lightmaps should be 256x256 pixels Q When I open an ase file with animations an ASE Animation Options dialog box displays What s the purpose of it A ASE Animation Options dialog box enables you to split animations by frames The most commonly used animation authoring software packages such as Discreet 3ds max provide a single timeline for animations Web animations however usually require multiple timelines For example in 3ds max a model of a computer laptop opens and the screen is activated on a single timeline For VET the two animations typically need be sepa
15. click Quit Quit Restart Clear Scene Reset Camera Trigger Animation Editing Mode Off Help F1 Opening an Existing mtx File To open an existing mtx VET scene description file 1 From the Load 1 menu click Open MTX 2 Select the mtx file you want to open and click OK For information about opening an existing ase or obj file see Chapter 3 Importing 3D Models 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 15 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Tip You can also use this option to insert an MTX into one of your existing scenes Plus if you have the Show MTX Errors option on the Object window will display any errors 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 16 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 4 Importing 3D Models Preparing 3D Content to Use in Scene Builder To get the most out of Scene Builder make sure your 3D files are ready for inclusion in a VET scene This way you are less likely to lose work in Scene Builder by having to go back to the original 3D modeling application to rework your file Before exporting to ase or obj check models in their native applications ASE is the preferred file format when exporting from 3ds max Creating a VET Scene from an Existing ase or obj File You can create a VET scene based on 3D models that you import from other 3D modeling applications The following diagram
16. 0 000000 16 71 936996 70 209999 0 000000 17 77 063004 70 578001 0 000000 18 81 552000 70 121002 0 000000 19 85 530998 58 3659003 0 000000 20 88 528999 55 254997 0 000000 21 90 724998 60 388006 0 000000 2 Click Use Continuity to create a working copy of your keyframe set This is the set you can experiment with before you save your changes In the Scene window the original timeline and keyframes appear show as a green line The edited timeline and keyframes appear as a blue line Tip To make sure a specific keyframe is not removed during simplification process click it 3 Use the Precision and Number of Points Between Keys sliders to refine your edited timeline 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 37 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 4 When your timeline is edited as you like it click OK to save your changes 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 38 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 7 Managing Scene Hierarchies Overview of the Hierarchy Menus The Hierarchy menus allow you to select and view scene elements by name In addition you can now drag and drop scene elements to change parent child relationships and rename scene elements The Hierarchy menus are as follows press Shift the numbered specified to display a menu Rendering Hierarchy Shift 0 Lists the hierarchical order in which scene elements are rendered
17. All rights reserved 17 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 8 Use Viewpoint Media Publisher or the MTS3 Interface to See the Viewpoint Media Publisher User Guide embed your VET scene into a web page for more information about Media Publisher See Chapter 2 of Using JavaScript in VET Web Applications for information about using the MTS3 Interface These documents are available from Viewpoint Developer Central at http developer viewpoint com Importing Files from 3D Modeling Applications You can import files from 3D modeling applications to use in your VET scene The process varies depending on the 3D modeling application you use Discreet 3ds max formerly 3D Studio MAX includes a built in export utility that lets you export an ase file Many CAD CAM applications allow you to export obj files Alias Wavefront Maya and Newtek LightWave 3D Lightwave include built in export utilities that allow you to export your 3D model and associated animations in mtx format You can also use 3D scene converter tools such as Okino PolyTrans to convert native scenes file to mtx format Right Hemisphere VMI Virtual Media Integrator offers publishing from a variety of 3D file formats Viewpoint ZoomView Builder enables you to create zoomable VET scenes from 2D images ZoomView enables you to easily deploy large print quality images online allowing users to zoom in pan around and exa
18. Cube On Open ASE MTX max script simultaneously opens ase and mtx files generated by viewpoint_export ms a max script in 3ds max version 4 or later View Allon File Open On Add OBJ adds a specified obj file from a CAD CAM application to the scene Add NFF adds a specified nff file to the scene Note that only geometry and diffuse color information is supported for imported nff files Add MTS adds a specified mts file to the scene The mts extension indicates that the file is in Viewpoint s proprietary format containing geometry and texture information Scale to Unit Cube allows you to view all objects in a scene in their entirety select all objects in a scene and scale them into an invisible unit sized bounding box for optimal rendering When Auto Scale to Unit Cube is On objects resize at load time so that all elements in a scene can be seen in their entirety On default selects all objects in a scene and scales them down or up into an invisible unit sized bounding box for optimal rendering View All repositions the camera to fit all objects into view When set to On View All On File Open automatically repositions the camera to fit all objects in view On is the default Quick Time VR Import allows you to import an image grid for object movies Quick Time VR files 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 51 of 76 Wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene B
19. Macromedia Flash movies text and audio to create rich media content Using a sophisticated set of compression techniques Viewpoint tools create a visually crisp smooth streaming multimedia experience for the user Note To publish VET content on a website the site publisher must complete a Broadcast License Agreement and acquire the associated Broadcast License Key Broadcast licenses are FREE for non commercial use For more information please visit the Broadcast Key section of the Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com What is Viewpoint Scene Builder Viewpoint Scene Builder allows you to compose and edit the contents of a VET scene Scene Builder creates two VET scene files e Ahighly compressed file mts containing 3D objects lightmaps texture maps and panoramas e Acompanion XML mtx file containing parameters describing the 3D objects animations and scene as well as references to any external files Once the final mtx file has been generated it can be embedded into a web html page using Viewpoint Media Publisher Note Even though a rich media component is in an mts file it is not necessary to use it in the resulting scene The mts file is your creative arsenal The mtx file orchestrates the elements within a scene To place a rich media component in a scene Scene Builder publishes an mtx file containing XML tags to acquire media atoms from its mts file Media atoms can al
20. This option opens the Viewpoint tool panel Create Hot Spots Convert Object to Hot Spot Select All Hot Spots Revert Hot Spot to Object 5 Select the object that you want to be treated as hot spot Click Convert Object to Hot Spot 7 Switch to the Modify tool panel on the right side of your screen 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 19 of 76 wy V lew p Ol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 8 In the Hot Spot Properties area specify the rollover text in the fe _ Parameters Ii Text field HsSpetPropeties You can also specify the color point size font and several other Text hot spot options 2 Sa 9 Select File gt Export Cor MEM 10 In the Save dialog box select the ASE file format and click Save Size 32 2 Font Times New Roman 11 Switch to the Utilities tool panel 12 Click Save mtx 13 In the Save dialog box select Save as Type Viewpoint MTX SEM Hee E mtx and click Save Iv Hot Spot Line LineDistance 6 IV Constrain to Window Important You should save the file in the same directory and with the same name as the ase file 14 In Scene Builder click Open ASE MTX max script Note Objects that are primitives in both 3ds max and Scene Builder will be invisible hot spots for example cubes and spheres 3ds max objects that are not primitives such as the teapot myobject will be visible in Scene Builder If you want a primitive to
21. Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 48 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide User Guides Check out these documents available from the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com for more information on Viewpoint Experience Technology and related utilities See this document To learn about Viewpoint Experience Technology What Viewpoint Experience Technology is and how you can use rich media Getting Started components including 2D photos and drawings 3D models animation ZoomView images Macromedia Flash movies video text and audio to create rich media content Creating 3D Rich Media Web Creating a basic 3D VET enabled web application and publish it to a web page Applications Viewpoint ZoomView Technology Using ZoomView to publish interactive high resolution zoomable images on User Guide the web Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio Stream Tuning Studio is an application for optimizing mts file sizes Guide Viewpoint Media Publisher Guide A utility that provides a fast and convenient path to the web for Viewpoint Experience Technology VET content Quickly create VET web applications from Viewpoint Media Files mtx mtz by embedding them in web HTML pages or running transformations on mtx XML files through built in XSLT support Viewpoint Integration Guide for Using VET and VMP to integrate Macromedia Flash with animated 3D high
22. aS E EER a SAn R EE eS IEP E E a PEENE 37 Chapter 7 Managing Scene MIBFSFCIIES ocio eoi Pee EEXVEHR M UE a A 39 Overview of the Hierarchy Menus enne enne te nennen tenere irren innen rn ennt ne nene nnne nenne 39 About Hierarchies 4 iiee n eei t e P HE dds RR UR De PCT ERR UR EE Ee Pe Pee FLUE LEER Een 39 Editing Hierarchies sci oo terne E IURE EHE E cee EIE 40 Rename Scene Elements notet pre breiten petet e Cep EFT e ia hae tpe ee unis TEER E Tei Ehe cba ds 40 Defining Parent Child Relationships in a Scene sese enne nenne 40 Chapter 8 Setting Other Scene Global Parameters eseeeeeeee eene nnn nnn 41 Setting Your VET Scene s Height and Width cc cccccscseceseceeeceseceseceaecseecseecseceneeseeeeeseeeeeeaeeeeecaeceaecnaeeeecaeeeaes 41 Setting the Scene s Camera tiep eta Ee E Pa ko Ea ee HARI ERU ERSTER RAE EH SS ENSE EEPE agadasdessdesacbescaadie 41 Set Minimum and Maximum Camera Zoom enne enne nennen trennen nnne enne nenne 42 Set Camera Rotate Minimum and Maximum ssssesseseeeeeer eer enne enne ennt enne nnne n rn enn nennen 42 Specifying a Background Color Image or Panorama sese enne nns 42 Chapter 9 Publishing Your VET Scene PIS 1uoiacsatstursadtecita n sa bla ape eei on act Y do atn doeet ear ecpe soo dip 45 Publishing and Saving Your VET Scene Files essen enne nnne nennen nennen enne nnns 45 About File Compression during Publishing
23. as a quat type gives you nine values Q Is there a way to see an animation s spline path in Scene Builder A Yes Select your animation from the Animation hierarchy list and then click Show Spline Path Q Is there a command line interface for Scene Builder A No However future versions of Scene Builder may incorporate this functionality Q Once I published my model in VET file format is there a way back to my original data file A No Once the content is published in MTX MTS format it cannot be converted to any other file format To save content in another format start with your original content from the 3D authoring application Q What is the purpose of the Simplify Timeline tool A It is primarily designed to overcome a limitation of the ASE file format for recording animations When exporting a keyframe animation from 3ds max into an ASE file all original 3ds max keyframes are disregarded 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 71 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Instead the timeline is sampled at equal time intervals For example a new keyframe is created every 1 10 second By changing the Controller Output parameters the sampling frequency can be changed VET files do not require uniform timeline sampling The Simplify Timeline tool enables you to resample the animation timeline and optimize it for VET Thus to accurately export the animation spline path from 3ds max to VET w
24. background To avoid this use an image that has the same pixel dimensions as your scene From the Preferences 9 menu use Set Scene Height and Set Scene Width 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 43 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To add a panorama as a background 1 From the Load 1 menu and click Load Panorama 2 Click Spherical to use a converted iPIX panorama Or Click Cylindrical to use a converted QuickTime VR panorama 3 Select the JPEG image file of the panorama you want to import and then click Open The panorama is applied to the scene background 4 Fromthe Globals 5 menu click Camera Navigation and choose Panorama 5 Click Shadow so that it is set to Off Turning shadows off generally looks better with a panorama 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 44 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 9 Publishing Your VET Scene Files When you publish your scene Scene Builder compresses the mts file containing your textures models and lightmaps Important To maintain the visual quality of your scene plan to publish the mts files only once You may edit and resave the mtx file as many times as you want You can now generate HTML files directly from Scene Builder Media Publisher functionality has been built into this version enabling you to preview VET content by quickly embedding it in an HTML fil
25. bar Or double click to type a new numeric value Press Enter 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 12 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide About Hierarchy Menu The Hierarchy menus in the upper left corner of your screen provide a directory of components in the VET scene There are seven Hierarchy menus Rendering Hierarchy Shift 0 Lists the hierarchical order in which scene elements are rendered Instances Shift 1 Lists the hierarchical relationship between parent and child objects in the scene Geometries Shift 2 Lists all the objects in the scene including meshes primitives and hot spots widgets Materials Shift 3 Lists the materials used in the scene Textures Shift 4 Lists the textures used in the scene Animators Shift 5 Lists each imported animation instruction tag by name Repository Shift 6 Lists all the elements in your scene arranged by type Tips To switch between Hierarchy menus in the upper left corner of Scene Builder press Shift plus the number of the menu On the Texture Hierarchy menu click a texture to see a 2D image of it in the Object Info window If a Hierarchy menu is too long to fit on your screen use the scroll bar to scroll up and down To change Hierarchy menus 1 Click the name of the current menu to display the list of all Hierarchy menus 2 Click the name of the menu you want to use next For examp
26. click the button and type your setting 5 Click OK to apply the lightmap Applying Bumpmaps to a Geometry A bumpmap is a grayscale image that you can apply as an emboss pattern to a the surface of a geometry The bumpmap must have the same pixel size as the diffuse map To apply a bumpmap 1 Click the geometry to which you want to apply the bumpmap 2 From the Textures 6 menu click Bumpmap 3 Click Load 4 Choose the image file you want to apply and then click Open Shortcut To quickly apply a bumpmap press the Shift key and drag and drop a JPEG image file onto a geometry 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 28 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Adding Hot Spots to a VET Scene Hot spots sometimes called widgets are 3D areas within a VET scene that users can mouse over to display text an image or other media To add a hot spot 1 From the Hot Spots 7 menu click Add Hot Spot and choose the shape for the hot spot activation area you want to add sphere cube box cylinder cone pyramid or plane Click Show Hot Spots and Show Hot Spot Text to set each to On This allows you to see the hot spot activation area while you are setting the related options You can set both of these options to Off before you save your file e Show Hot Spot Text When On hot spot text is always visible regardless of whether the user points or clicks on the hot spot activation area
27. dividing the imported animation 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 31 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 3 Toreview and edit this information later from the Load 1 menu click ASE Animation Options Scene Builder handles the conversion to Viewpoint time format To organize animations from imported mtx files 1 Load the mtx file as described in Importing Files From 3D Modeling Applications in Chapter 4 2 On the bottom of the Interaction Animation 3 menu click Split Animations 3 In the Split Animation dialog box shown right click the shaded bar showing gt gt to see a list of all animations 4 Click the animation you want to split 5 Click the Add button to add the first animation range for this animation An item called Anim appears in the Animation Ranges box 6 Double click an item in the Animation Ranges list to display the name in the Name box below 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved Split Animation Select animation to break from the list below Animation Ranges o Add Clear All Animation On Off Reverse Direction ed Timeline Manual Time Control Time Scrubber o Animation ily Once Loop Animation Simplify Timeline Name Start Time Stop Time Accept 32 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 7 Editthe values in the Name Start Time and Stop T
28. includes these chapters e Chapter 1 Introduction Describes what you ll find in this guide e Chapter 2 Using Scene Builder Offers an overview of Scene Builder and a description of how to use Scene Builder s menus and options e Chapter 3 Getting Started Lists system requirements for Scene Builder and includes procedures for basic steps including starting and stopping Scene Builder and opening scene files e Chapter 4 Importing 3D Models Describes how to import an ase obj or mtx file from a 3D modeling application into your VET scene e Chapter 5 Managing Geometries Describes how to add primitive 3D shapes cubes spheres etc to your VET scene and how to manage the texture and other characteristics of the objects in the scene This chapter discusses object opacity textures lightmaps bumpmaps and hot spots e Chapter 6 Managing Animations Describes how to organize and test imported animations in your VET scene e Chapter 7 Managing Scene Hierarchies Describes how to use the Hierarchy menu to organize elements in your VET scene e Chapter 8 Setting Other Scene Globals Describes how to set scene height and width define settings for the scene s camera and set a background color image or panorama e Chapter 9 Publish Your Scene Files Describes how to save or publish your scene s mtx and mts files This chapter also describes how to create a default file that you can use as a VET scene template e Appendix A He
29. menu click Show Camera Constraints to set it to On 2 Use the Camera Rotation X Y and Z sliders to adjust the minimum setting 3 Use the Camera Rotation X Y and Z sliders to adjust the minimum setting Specifying a Background Color Image or Panorama You can specify a background color or a background image for your VET scene You can also add a panorama as your VET scene s background In Scene Builder you can add either an iPIX spherical panorama or a QuickTime VR cylinder panorama to your scene Use Viewpoint iPIX Utility or Viewpoint QuickTime VR Importer to convert these panorama formats for use in VET scenes For more information see these documents available from the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com e Enhancing iPIX Panoramas With Viewpoint Experience Technology e Viewpoint OTVR Importer User Guide 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 42 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To add a background color 1 From the Globals 5 menu click Set Background Color 2 Choose the color you want to use and click OK To add a background image 1 From the Load 1 menu and click Load Panorama and then click Flat 2 Select the JPEG image file you want to import and then click Open The image is applied to the scene background Note Background images smaller than the scene s height and or width automatically tile to fill the
30. moves the shadow plane up and down You must set Bound Shadow to Off for this to have an effect Corresponding XML tag ShadowY Shadow Color lets you choose a custom shadow color The default is black Corresponding XML tag ShadowColor Shadow Opacity controls the intensity of the shadow from lighter to darker within a range of 0 to 1 0 Corresponding XML tag ShadowOpacity 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 55 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Antialias smoothes any jagged edges visible in the scene where 1 means never antialias 0 means antialias based on performance and 1 means always antialias For a specific instance you can override this setting using the Antialias option on the Instances 2 menu Corresponding XML tag AntiAlias Antialias Passes controls the number of progressive antialiasing passes A higher number means more rendering passes which increases image quality but slows performance Experiment for the optimal quality performance ratio Corresponding XML tag AccumMax Render Edges affects the strength of rendered edges to settings ranging between 0 and 600 percent The result is a subtle effect that darkens or lightens polygon edges Corresponding XML tag EdgeBias Sort Rule lets you control the effects of multiple transparencies in a scene This option sets the priority of geometries rendered in the scene where Nearest 0 means o
31. rrit irie seor donation dete dm ete dte donate oe E 54 Transformation 4 Menu inem nde er reir t e e e e e etre e e eee E e ee e er cess 54 Global Parameters 5 Ment REM 55 Global Parameters 5 Menu Camera Settings sss ener enne enne enne nnns 56 Materials 5 MelEs sss Ue EMEN MEE MIC 58 Hot NI CRNARUIDNTRT 60 Primitiyes 8 Menus csscsscececsecescesssavaccvrtcasceacaseetssaceciccatieveacasadua n e e re EU a ee i eoi b e rens 61 Preferences 9 Menmi E 62 Publish 0 Men siise isein seitens iee enine akee i ine TEn Ee Nen NEE E Ee inn EE E a En iS eE ire r i inia 62 Texture Lab Menu ig nne R PET E ER EA ERR ERICH RE CREER ET RE EE ERE ERR ER ERE ER 3 63 Procedural Lightmap Menu MM 64 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 4 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix C Resetting Elements of Your Scene sssssessssssssssrresssnrenssenrennsnrssnnsnresrnnrnesnsernnn 66 Appendix D Keyboard ShOIPOULS cosssussic atde naaa ae oie 67 Commonly Used Keyboard Shortcuts sess nnn ET ESEESE Piri Es 67 Camera SHOTO a mee ane 67 Hierarchy Menu Shortcuts ince recen rte vances TRE EE ER OR E ETHER eL d 67 Additional Shortcut Keys ee etd teu ei sun e tui e ute d hanya 68 Appendix E Frequently Asked QUESTIONS iss acidi ER EREEEPE YR VE ARR VAR NER EY NRRR EVE RUE RA
32. the panorama the image gets very pixilated that is it looks like a bunch of little blocks instead of a smooth picture For example by setting a higher Min Camera Scale value to 0 5 default is 0 2 you can prevent a user zooming in too close Likewise by reducing the Max Camera Scale value to a range between 0 5 and 2 default is 1000 you can prevent the user zooming too far out This is important with a cylindrical panorama for instance to keep the user from seeing the top and bottom of the cylinder To set minimum and maximum camera zoom Cam ra Rotation X 90 1 From the Globals 5 menu click Show Camera Camera Rotation X 90 Constraints to set it to On Camera Rotation Y 180 Camera Rotation Y 180 2 Use the Min Camera Scale and Max Camera i 3 i ion 1 Scale sliders to adjust these settings ao a Min Camera Scale 0 2 Min Camera Distance 0 Cam Nearest X 1e 007 Cam Nearest Y 1e 007 Cam Nearest Z 1e 007 Reset All Constraints Set Camera Rotate Minimum and Maximum Setting minimum and maximum values for camera rotation is another way to control how your scene is viewed These settings tell VET how much you can move the camera back and forth along a particular axis X Y or Z For example when the scene is in Orbit Camera mode if you set both Camera Rotation Y and Camera Rotation Y to 0 the user cannot look up or down in the scene To set minimum and maximum camera rotation 1 From the Globals 5
33. user manual to find out how to convert implicit mapping such as spherical or cylindrical into explicit UV mapping Q Does Scene Builder preserve resource names A Yes For example name an object in 3ds max and save the scene as an ase file Open the ase file Scene Builder publish it and check the instance name in the mtx file The instance name coincides with the name in 3ds max The naming structure is preserved in the mts file as well Keep in mind however that only the newest March 2002 version 2 5 of Stream Tuning Studio preserves resource names Stream Tuning Studio 2 1 replaces all resource names with default names such as MATERIAL 0 Q Do I need to convert from Quaternions to Euler using the tool on the Debug D menu A Rarely Scene Builder already performs the conversion if it s necessary when publishing files With imported spline path and rotation animations you have the option of saving your animation values with either Quaternion or Euler values Quaternion values are classified as quat types whereas Euler values are classified as R3D values Note that the number of values you ll find in the timeline for both quat and R3D types can vary depending on your original animation For instance if you animate an object along a TCB spline with ease to and ease from values and then save it as an R3D type animation you get eight values X Y Z T C and B plus ease to and ease from The same animation saved out
34. uw a uu e Using Viewpoint s ZoomView Viewpoint de sex technology which allows you Media TT to convert a JPEG image into a Publisher apu PN E zoomable image Streaming interactive 3D Embedded on a Web Page Scene Builder saves the mtx and mts files for your scene Viewpoint Media Publisher reads an mtx file and generates a web page html file using customizable templates Finally visitors of your website can view your VET scene using Viewpoint Media Player VMP a web plug in Viewpoint Corporation offers tools and help to bring your 3D and rich media content to the web To download Viewpoint tools for free and for more information visit the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com Note Viewpoint Media Publisher functionality is now integrated with Scene Builder enabling you to generate HTML files with your VET content 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 9 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 2 Using Scene Builder Scene Builder Windows and Menus Viewpoint Scene Builder includes four main parts as illustrated below e Scene window Here you set the stage for your 3D scene You can see and adjust the location and scale of your 3D models and their associated textures and other materials e Scene commands menu You can choose from nine menus listing various categories of options for creating and enhancing a VET scene For a de
35. 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 52 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Edge Antialias applies antialiasing to creases open edges materials or all of the above true Default is True Corresponding XML tag Edge AntiAlias Specularity Wrap changes the way the lightmap is applied by interpolating between lightmap rendering effect SpecWrap 0 and environmental reflection map effect SpecWrap 2 Corresponding XML tag Spec Wrap The Opacity slider allows you to set the opacity for an object with settings ranging between 0 and 100 100 makes an object completely opaque 0 makes it completely transparent Corresponding XML tag Opacity Assign Render Layer reassigns the layer to which the selected instance is rendered Unless otherwise specified layers are rendered back to front with the lowest layer numbers rendered first Corresponding XML tag RenderLayer When Billboard is applied to an object the positive Z axis of the selected object always faces the camera regardless of what occurs in the rest of the scene Default is Off Corresponding XML tag Billboard ZBuffer determines the visibility of an object in a scene For example if you have a box and a sphere and the box is inside the sphere select the box and assign the ZBuffer to be Off The entire box becomes visible If the box s ZBuffer is turned On then the box is invisible Corresponding XML tag ZBuff
36. Channel Quality adjusts compression for the Y channel The default compression for the Y channel which is luminosity is very low The range is 0 01 to 100 default is 10 Cb Channel Quality adjusts compression for the Cb channel The default compression for this channel is high The range is 0 01 to 10 default is 1 Cr Channel Quality adjusts compression for the Cr channel The default compression for this channel is high The range is 0 01 to 10 default is 1 Alpha Channel Quality adjusts compression for the Alpha or mask channel The default compression for this channel is low The range is 0 01 to 10 default is 10 Click Update TrixelsNT Preview or Update JPEG Preview depending on whether you choose Viewpoint s proprietary TrixelsNT compression or JPEG compression to view the effects of compression on the texture file 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 63 of 76 ZD Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Match JPEG Size is available when you have created both JPEG and TrixelsNT preview of a texture see option above By clicking this the TrixelsNT version of the texture 1s created so that its file size is comparable to the JPEG compressed version Note Before you use this option be sure the JPEG file is the optimal file size to match This option can cause the texture file size to increase Use Global Noise to set the intensity of the noisemap from 0 to 100
37. RE EAR BREL HK MAE 69 cccpga c M 73 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 5 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 1 Introduction New Features in Viewpoint Scene Builder 3 0 11 This new release of Viewpoint Scene Builder includes great new features Generate HTML files Test and deploy VET content by quickly embedding it in an HTML file Read files from a URL Open files remotely from a URL Supports swf file loading Load and view swf files through Scene Builder For discreet 3ds max users improved ASE authoring path It s now easier than ever to author VET content Create a No Geometry hot spot You can now add hot spots that are not confined to an object Resolved Issues This new release resolved the following issues from the previous version of Scene Builder For discreet 3ds max users improved ASE authoring path includes e Reads focal length of the camera correctly e Loads all ASE textures e Improved camera rotation animations match those observed in 3ds max e Loads textures in their actual size e Supports morph target animations Publishes backface culling correctly Publishes animation On 0 1 correctly Publishes collapsed for Flash animations Generates Pre and Post tags correctly Fixed known issues with Transformation translation rotation scale sliders Improved reloading of textures lightmaps and bumpm
38. a gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide es ony Version 3 0 11 September 2002 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All Rights Reserved Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Viewpoint Experience Technology VET Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio Viewpoint Scene Builder and Viewpoint Media Player VMP are registered trademarks or trademarks of Viewpoint Corporation in the United States and in other countries Companies names and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted Information in this document is subject to change without notice Macromedia and Flash are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia Inc in the United States and or other countries All other product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners Disclaimer Except as expressly provided otherwise in an agreement between you and Viewpoint all information software and documentation is provided as is without warranty of any kind Viewpoint makes no warranties express or implied including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose regarding such information software and documentation Viewpoint does not warrant guaranty or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the software in terms of its correctness accuracy reliability timeliness suitability o
39. amera Distance sets the minimum camera distance a user can zoom to To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 0 to 1000 Corresponding XML tag CamDistMin Max Camera Distance sets the maximum camera distance a user can zoom to To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 0 to 1000 Corresponding XML tag CamDistMax Cam Nearest X sets the nearest camera position on the X axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMinX Cam Farthest X sets the farthest camera position on the X axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMaxX Cam Nearest Y sets the nearest camera position on the Y axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMinY Cam Farthest Y sets the farthest camera position on the Y axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMaxY Cam Nearest Z sets the nearest camera position on the Z axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMinZ Cam Farthest Z sets the farthest camera position on the Z axis in Walk mode Corresponding XML tag CamPosMaxZ Reset All Constraints removes any camera constraints and resets the camera parameters to their default values 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 57 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Materials 6 Menu Render Mode assigns a rendering modes t
40. animation backward On or forward Off eee SS DC Show Selected Timeline shows the timeline for the selected animation Fixed Time Step sec Render Animation Manual Time Control allows you to manually track animation actions which is useful Play Only Once when troubleshooting Choose On to enable the Time Scrubber Loop Animation Time Scrubber allows you to play the animation manually drag the slider or jump to simplify Timeline a specific time in the animation double click the option and type a numerical value Fixed Time Step lets you set fixed time intervals in seconds for your animations Render Animation lets you specify whether the animation is rendered first as the scene s background Pre or in the foreground Post Corresponding XML tag RenderAnim Play Only Once sets an animation to automatically end when it has played through once Corresponding XML tag RenderAnim Loop Animation loops an animation the specified number of times The default is 1 Corresponding XML tag Clamp Simplify Timeline displays the Keyframe Simplification dialog box where you can streamline your timeline Split Animation displays a dialog box that allows you to divide non ASE animations by frame set Transformation 4 Menu Reset Object Transform sets Rotation and Translation to 0 and Scale to 1 for the selected object Rotates X rotates the selected object on the X axis Rota
41. appear in Scene Builder as a mesh change the name of the object in 3ds max to be unique For example rename cube to mycube To generate animation ranges in 3ds max This utility enables you to create animation ranges natively in 3ds max and then export them to Scene Builder 1 In3ds max open the scene where you want to create animation S 4 Al amp J T ranges Sphere a 2 Inthe Utilities tool panel on the right side of your screen click MaxScript Collapse Color Clipboard Click Run Script Diaa 4 Select viewpoint export ms Measure This option opens the Viewpoint tool panel Motion Capture 5 Create an animation RewtxFom MaxScript C Weg 1 Open Listener New Script Run Script 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 20 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide O o N Oo 14 Specify the animation names Specify the start and end frames Click Add Select File gt Export In the Save dialog box select the ASE file format and click Save Switch to the Utilities tool panel Click Save mtx In the Save dialog box select Save as Type Viewpoint MTX mtx and click Save Important You should save the file in the same directory and with the same name as the ase file In Scene Builder click Open ASE MTX max script 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved range3 100 0 175 0 Nam amp ange3
42. aps Ctrl Alt drag changes camera Z scale correctly Tool tips are now available in the object window Fixed known issues when deleting objects and animations Import two ASE objects sequentially Publish crease angles Now load alpha channels correctly Rendering property and Globals rendering mode now works correctly Publishes Specwrap correctly Loads the default file automatically Loads panoramas Enhanced Texture Lab functionality Load SWF files directly through texture loading dialog boxes Publishes the scene with the original resource names by default 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 6 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide e Saves animation play direction appropriately e Now add more then 10 OBJs to your scene e Improved primitives functionality so you can now change the diffuse color e Geometry Precision values are rescaled to be measured in bits instead of percent of the bounding box e Hierarchy window scrolling bar working appropriately for large scenes e Removed Quick Time VR Import function because there is a new authoring path Refer to Viewpoint Developer Central http developer viewpoint com for more information on the QuickTime VR importing path e Loads OBJ textures in their actual size About This Guide This guide describes how to use Viewpoint Scene Builder to edit and assemble the components of a Viewpoint Experience Technology VET scene This guide
43. ars a globally applied 256x256 pixel lightmap that is one Antialias applied to the entire scene Click the option and then choose Load to select a lightmap _ Antialias Passes 0 or choose None to clear a lightmap Render Edges For an object this setting can be overridden by using the Lightmap option on the Sor Rule Nearest Textures 6 menu to specify a lightmap for that object Toggle Panorama Set Background Color Corresponding XML tag GlobalLightmap Camera Navigation lets you choose from four camera modes Orbit Walk Panorama or Still Corresponding XML tag CameraModeSelect Show Camera Constraints shows On or hides Off the camera controls listed in the Global Parameters 5 Menu Camera Settings section below The default is Off Click Shadow to view On or hide Off geometry shadows in a scene The default is On Corresponding XML tag DoShadow Blend Shadow removes the white shadow plane and blends geometry shadows with a scene background such as a panorama image On The default is Off Corresponding XML tag BlendShadow Shadow Radius controls the blurring strength of shadows and edges The higher the value the more blurred the shadows edges Corresponding XML tag ShadowRadius Bound Shadow binds the shadow to the bottom of the bounding box for the scene The default is On Corresponding XML tag BoundShadow Shadow Position Y
44. ation All rights reserved 35 of 76 Ww View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Viewing an Animation Timeline To see a visual map of the animation timeline 1 From the Animators Shift 5 Hierarchy menu in the upper left corner of the screen click the name of the animation you want to play 2 From the Animation 3 menu click Show Selected Timeline to set it to On Tip Right click the scene to refresh the timeline iewpoint Scene Builder Build 3 0 9 6 op Animation e Red dots indicate keyframes in the animation e Green dots indicate keyframes that are part of the parent animation but not part of the currently selected animation 3 Now you can run the animation as described in Playing an Animation and Manually Playing an Animation With Time Scrubber above 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 36 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Simplifying an Animation Timeline Scene Builder can evaluate the timeline for your animation and calculate possible optimizations that will reduce file size The Simplify Timeline tool is designed to overcome a limitation of the ASE file format for recording animations When exporting a keyframe animation from 3ds max into an ASE file all original 3ds max keyframes are disregarded Instead the timeline is sampled at equal time intervals For example a new keyframe is created every 1 10 second By changing the Cont
45. avier Roca Special thanks to Elaine McClay Drew Cohan Jeremy Young Anders Vinberg Viewpoint Corporation 498 Seventh Avenue Suite 1810 New York NY 10018 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 2 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Contents Chapter 1 nb UC DTI cose epis pup o Beatum a cu up ULuveuu Reda aaa DU S LM ae DON ND TMME 6 New Features in Viewpoint Scene Builder 3 0 11 enne enne enne nennen nnn nns 6 RESOLVE TS SUS EM E M 6 About LMS G lde os intereat eie tino p trat pereas ese tiot ied errata eE E EESE Utt ere EE vey ant eodem b P enva ett ene 7 Related Documents ppURUOIIORRRU RIPE RERO BEER EE RISE PORE CERE 7 About Viewpoint Experience Technology cR enact RR a erori RR ERAS ESSERE ER ERM ERE ESEE AERE UR EOS 8 What is Viewpoint Scene Builder ssssssessesseseeeeeeen eerte nennen trennen rre esteet estent ne nnne nnne nnne 8 The Role of Scene Builder in Viewpoint Experience Technology ccccesccssessseesseeseeeeeeeeceeeeeceseeneceeeeeneeeneeeneeeaes 9 Chapter 2 Using Scene SWISS coii rERH E EPEPERERRUE y EFOM QE YERERCE RA XEPEEQICRERE EXER FEY E EE RACER URN Ch CREE 10 Scene Builder Windows and Menus eeeeseeeeseeeeseeeeeene nenne enne enne nne nennen retener entre nette ene aisr enne 10 About Scene Commands M enis nee repe rH E c Hi aep Eas OARE Pata aaa S AEA SaNaT EREET Ip eta Euh un 11 P
46. ce you may want to turn anti aliasing off or change Sort Rule from Default to Nearest 2 From the Publish 0 menu choose Save MTX Be sure to name your file something descriptive such as ProjectSettings mtx From the Preferences 9 menu choose Select Default File 4 Choose the default you saved and click Open 5 Restart Scene Builder The default file will be opened and executed 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 47 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix A Help Resources and Feedback Viewpoint Developer Central A Complete Resource The Viewpoint Developer Central website is a complete resource for VET content developers At Developer Central you can get Viewpoint applications user guides downloadable example files support production tips and techniques to name just a few of the offerings there Go to Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com to e Get Assistance For questions about using Viewpoint Experience Technology click Forums under Support in the left navigation bar e Get Examples Click Examples amp Tips in the left navigation bar e Subscribe to the Viewpoint Developer Newsletter Learn new production tips and techniques for creating 3D and rich media content for the web with VET Click Newsletter in the left navigation bar e Give Feedback About Viewpoint Applications Viewpoint Corporation values your feedback Direct you
47. ces closest to the camera are rendered The Farthest sort rule forces all occluded surfaces to be rendered For the Center sort rule the visibility criteria depend on the positions of centers of bounding boxes Note The sort rule is set for the entire scene rather than by instance For example in the left illustration below the transparent cube cannot be seen inside a transparent sphere because the sort rule is set to Nearest On the right the cube is visible because the sort rule is changed to Farthest Scene rendering with Sort Rule Nearest left and Farthest right To set the sort rule for your scene 1 From the Globals 5 menu click Sort Rule 2 Choose one of the following sort rules to specify what renders first e Nearest default means that only surfaces closest to the camera are rendered e Farthest means that all occluded surfaces will also be rendered e Center means that the rendering criteria depends on the relative position of centers of bounding boxes 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 25 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Adding a Texture to a Geometry If a geometry contains UV mapping coordinates then you can apply a JPEG image as that geometry s texture Or you can replace existing textures with a JPEG image Tip You can select a texture by clicking its name on the Textures Shift 4 Hierarchy menu To add a JPEG file as a texture to a
48. e Publishing and Saving Your VET Scene Files Once you ve updated your VET scene using Scene Builder you can save the scene s mtx and or mts files About File Compression during Publishing A central feature of Scene Builder is its proprietary compression of scene elements contained in the mts file The mts file format is a proprietary binary resource file containing all geometry materials and textures in a scene and is referenced by the scene definition file the mtx file When you publish an mts file it is much like saving an image file with JPEG compression If you publish more than once the visual quality of your scene degrades Important For the highest quality scene plan to publish only once from Scene Builder Alternately you can save the scene s mtx and mts files separately About Default Settings for Your VET Scene When you publish your scene Scene Builder s default settings generally produce the best results Check that your scene has these optimal settings found on the Load Publish 1 menu before you publish or save Q Image Quality Image Texture compression setting 60 default Lightmap Quality 60 default Q Q Geom Setting Geometry compression setting 0 8 default Q Use TrixelsNT Viewpoint s proprietary wavelet compression On default When this is set to Off textures in the scene are saved with JPEG compression For more information about setting Scene Builder s options see
49. e color for the selected material How this color appears depends on the render mode This option is especially useful if you want to match the underlying color of an object to its applied texture to avoid color discrepancy when rendering Corresponding XML tag Diffuse Texture Diffuse loads a JPEG file as a texture to the selected material of an object If you choose None it removes the current JPEG texture file Corresponding XML tag Diffuse Texture Lab lets you test and set compression for a geometry s texture Lightmap applies a 256x256 lightmap to the selected object Choose None to remove a lightmap For a specific object this option overrides the Lightmap setting on the Globals menu 5 Corresponding XML tag Lightmap Lightmap Lab allows you to create a custom procedural lightmap Bumpmap applies a bumpmap to the selected material Note that this option requires that a diffuse texture of the same size is also applied to the selected material Choose None to remove a bumpmap Corresponding XML tag Bump Bumpmap Strength sets the depth of the impression made by a bumpmap Corresponding XML tag BumpStrength 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 58 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Environmental Dither introduces lightmap dithering to remove lightmap rendering artifacts Corresponding XML tag Dither Texture Bilinear Filter applies a bili
50. e object and reflects that environment in the object s surface A lighter portion of a lightmap reflects hotly or intensely Generally a lightmap is a photographic image and in a Scene Builder scene is what the camera sees in any reflective object You can easily create lightmap files in Adobe Photoshop or other 2D graphics application In Scene Builder you can apply you can apply an image file as a lightmap Alternately you can apply a procedural lightmap that adds very little to overall file size For more about procedural lightmaps read the following section called About Procedural Lightmaps For an image to be used as a lightmap e tmust be an RGB image e The image size must be 256x256 You can apply lightmaps globally and locally to materials or texture maps In other words if you have a model with three different texture maps you can assign one global lightmap for the whole model or three different lightmaps one for each of the three texture maps 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 26 of 76 Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide gt Viewpoint Note You cannot share same jpg file between different types of texture mapping textures lightmaps bumpmaps and so on To use the same image for several types of mapping make a copy of the file and give each copy a unique name To apply an image as a global lightmap 1 Click the geometry in the Scene window to select it Or From the Geo
51. e recommend that you over sample the number of keyframes in the ASE exporter and then simplify this animation in Scene Builder 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 72 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Glossary 3D action alpha map animation antialiasing dse axis Broadcast Key bumpmap camera collapse crease angle diffuse edge edge bias element geometry global flip polygons hot spot Three dimensional An object or volume that exists in the dimensions of width height and depth Something that happens in a VET web application This can be triggered by a user clicking or pointing to a part of the scene for example an object by other logic coded into the scene such as the start state of a transition Also called alpha channel A grayscale image that acts as a mask creating areas of transparency or semi transparency depending on the concentration of black or white White areas are transparent black areas are opaque and all grayscales in between provide different levels of semi transparency A motion or transition added to a media atom or a group of media atoms over time Examples include an object moving around a scene transitions from one color or texture to another or an object becoming visible Intermediate colors or shades of gray in the pixels between contrasting colored regions Antialiasing improves the appearance of objects in
52. ene Builder be sure to uninstall any previous version first To install Viewpoint Scene Builder 1 Goto the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com 2 Inthe upper left corner click Viewpoint Tools under the Tools link 3 Onthe Viewpoint Tools page click Viewpoint Scene Builder 4 Download the Viewpoint Scene Builder application from the Scene Builder page This downloads the exe file for the Scene Builder installation tool c On your computer double click the exe file to launch the Scene Builder installation tool 6 Follow the on screen instructions to install Scene Builder on your computer 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 14 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Starting and Stopping Viewpoint Scene Builder To start Scene Builder e Double click the Scene Builder icon on your desktop This displays the Scene Builder application shown below ii Viewpoint Scene Builder Build 3 0 9 6 0 x Hier oxi b SCENE zj V INSTANCE instance name citybug MESH 0 vis 1 col 0 pass 0 Instance world matrix translate x 0 387 y 0 000 z 0 000 Position x 0 387000 y 0 361000 z 0 000000 Rotation x 0 000000 y 0 000000 z 0 000000 Scale x 1 000000 y 1 000000 z 1 000000 Opacity 1 000000 RadRotation x 0 000000 y 0 000000 z 0 000000 l To stop Scene Builder e In the upper right corner of Scene Builder
53. er Shadow turns the shadow On or Off for the selected object The default is On Corresponding XML tag DoShadow Use Crease Angle allows you to choose between using the assigned smoothing groups of the imported model or the crease angle assigned by Scene Builder Sets the Crease Angle between 0 and 180 Adjusting the crease angle determines whether and how much rounding to an object s angles is applied Corresponding XML tag CreaseAngle Recompute Normals recalculates the normals based on the change in the crease angle set by Crease Angle Pass Click allows the click of a parent geometry to pass along to the child object geometry In a scene this is useful if you want a click one part of a model to trigger an action in another part child of the selected model 0 means don t pass click 1 means pass click to the next object through the Zbuffer and 2 means pass click up through the hierarchy Corresponding XML tag PassClick 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 53 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Animation 3 Menu Animation On Off pauses Off or resumes On an animation Animation On Off Corresponding XML tag On Reverse Direction 1 Selected Timeline Rewind rewinds the selected animation in a scene This resets the entire animation and Manual Time Control sets the model back to the starting point of the animation just run Reverse Direction plays the selected
54. ewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 49 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix B Scene Builder Menu Options Following are descriptions of the command menu buttons located on the right side of the Scene window Navigate quickly through the command menus by pressing the corresponding number keys on your keyboard Main Commands Menu Tools Below are brief descriptions of buttons that appear at the top of all the command menus Quit Quit closes the Scene Builder application Publish or save any work you want to keep Restart before choosing Quit Clear Scene Click Restart to quit your current session of Scene Builder and open a new session If Reset Camera you ve chosen a custom default file it will automatically reload Before clicking Trigger Animation Restart be sure to publish or save any work you want to keep Editing Mode Off Help F1 Shortcut Press F5 to restart Scene Builder and reopen the current file Clear Scene deletes an object from a scene or deletes an entire scene Deleting a whole scene clears everything allowing you to start a new scene Reset Camera places camera in its original orientation to your scene Does not reset Camera Mode see Animation 3 Menu below Trigger Animation starts the selected animation in a scene It is recommended you use this option to test your animations upon loading your file into Scene Builder before you begin working on the scene
55. face Determines the finesses of the segments making up the model A higher tessellation results in a smoother model but larger file size Scene Builder allows the user to define the surface of procedural geometry and allows the user to adjust the number of triangles that define that surface A picture on the surface usually a JPEG or similar image file This image file is rendered over polygons to give the object a realistic looking surface 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 75 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide tiling transformation translate TrixelsNT uncollapse VET Viewpoint Media Player VMP wavelet widget wireframe XML ZBuffer 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved The method of repeating a texture more than once across an object or part of an object A tiled texture looks best if its edges seamlessly match up with each other top to bottom and side to side Tiling is a common method of using the smallest texture possible to cover a large area such as a texture of a brick tiling across a large polygon or object to create an entire brick wall Transformations refer to these three actions translation rotation and scaling See translate rotate scale To move the object along the X Y or Z axis in the scene Viewpoint s proprietary image compression using wavelets Used to create high quality 3D scenes in small file sizes To rende
56. geometry 1 Click the geometry in the Scene window Tab Textures 2 From the Textures 6 menu click Texture Diffuse Edge Rendering Default Click Load 4 Select the JPEG file and click OK Material Color Diffuse O Applying Alpha Maps Alpha Channels An alpha map or alpha channel is a grayscale image that acts as a mask creating areas of transparency or semi transparency depending on the concentration of black or white White areas are transparent black areas are opaque and all grayscales in between provide different levels of semi transparency To apply an alpha map in Texture Lab 1 In Texture Lab click Add Alpha Channel 2 Select the JPEG image you want to use as an alpha map and click OK 3 Usethe Alpha Channel Quality slider to adjust the alpha channel You may also choose Invert Alpha to invert how the gradations of transparency are applied Click Has Alpha to toggle the alpha map on and off 4 Click Update TrixelsNT Preview or Update JPEG Preview depending on the type of compression you choose to see the results of the settings you choose See the Texture Information window for data showing results of optimization on file size and streaming 5 Click OK when you are satisfied with the optimized texture Applying Lightmaps to a Geometry A lightmap is an image that determines how light interacts with and scatters on the surface of an object This image essentially traps the environment around th
57. hat is associated to an obj file A binary resource file with a filename extension of mts containing all geometry materials and texture information for a VET scene MTS is an open specification 3D file format developed by MetaCreations and Intel Architecture Labs A Viewpoint XML scene file with a filename extension of mtx that contains the hierarchical relationships between objects and other elements in the scene This file is the script for staging the scene elements and usually references an mts file Also see XML The filename extension mtz for the compressed form of an mtx file and the preferred format for web enabled Viewpoint content Complex animations in an mtx file can make file size large Compressing these large mtx files enables fast downloading of Viewpoint scenes Neutral File Format Files that use a minimal scene description language in order to test various rendering algorithms and efficiency schemes and to describe the 3D geometry and basic surface characteristics of objects the placement of lights and the viewing fulcrum for the eye Some additional information is provided for aesthetic reasons such as the color of the objects not strictly necessary for testing the efficiency of rendering algorithms Scene Builder imports nff files 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 74 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide normal obj opacity panorama polyg
58. he default scene size is 640x480 pixels You can change the height and or width of your scene with Scene Builder To set the scene s height and width e From the Preferences 9 menu shown right set these options e Use the Set Scene Width slider to adjust the scene width in pixels e Use the Set Scene Height slider to set the scene height in pixels Setting the Scene s Camera The scene s camera is the lens through which the VET scene is viewed You can adjust settings for the scene s camera to constrain how much the user can zoom or rotate You can use one of four camera modes for your scene e Orbit The camera can rotate around the edge of the scene e Walk The camera can move in one direction at a time e Panorama The camera views the scene around it from the center e Still The camera doesn t move Camera Camera Camera Orbit Mode Y camera Walk Mode 4 Panorama Z E Y Object Mode Y Camera rget Y Piot Orbit Walk and Panorama camera modes To set the camera mode e From the Globals 5 menu click Camera Navigation and choose the mode you prefer Orbit Walk Panorama or Still 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 41 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Set Minimum and Maximum Camera Zoom You can restrict the camera scale to ensure that the panorama image is seen at its best resolution For example if users can zoom too close on
59. he published file Use Resource Names preserves the original names taken from the 2 imported file Image Quality 60 Language Encoding allows you to publish your VET scene with a double byte Mightmap Quality 20 character set required for languages such as Kanji cision 09 Save MTS saves all geometry and textures into a single compressed mts file Unlike UseTrkelsNT On Publish this does not save the corresponding mtx file Because Save MTS compresses Minimum Triangles 0 the scene elements republishing or resaving an mts file results in a loss of visual Retain Normals Off fidelity Image Quality controls image compression for a scene within a range of 0 to 100 A higher setting increases the image quality but decreases compression 100 means no compression Images that contain text for instance require a higher image quality so the text to remains readable Generate HTML Template HTML Window HTML V HTML BKey Lightmap Quality lets you to control the quality of lightmap compression within a range of 0 to 100 A higher setting increases the lightmap quality but decreases compression 100 means no compression Geometry Precision controls geometry compression the higher the setting the better the quality and the larger the file Settings range between 0 and 1 6 Default is 0 8 Use TrixelsNT lets you use TrixelsNT Viewpoint s proprietary wavelet compression as the c
60. his resets the entire animation and sets the model back to the starting point of the animation just played Transformation 4 Menu Reset Object Transform resets an object to its original imported state Choose this command to clear all modifications to the selected object and resets the transform properties Globals 5 Menu e Set Background Color displays a palette from which you can select a scene background color Reset All Constraints resets the camera parameters to their default values Textures 6 Menu Click Texture Diffuse and choose None to remove the texture from the selected object Click Lightmap and choose None to remove a lightmap from the selected object Click Bumpmap and choose None to remove the bumpmap from the selected object Hot Spots 7 Menu Reset to Default Values resets the rollover text and hot spot activation area to their original state Preferences 9 Menu Clear Default File clears the custom defaults file and resets to Scene Builder s original defaults 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 66 of 76 wy V lew p Ol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix D Keyboard Shortcuts Commonly Used Keyboard Shortcuts Use this To do this accent key upper left on Cycles through command menus keyboard Backspace or Delete Delete selected object 0 through 9 Tab through the Scene Com
61. htmap like other lightmaps either globally or locally Creating a Procedural Lightmap 1 2 Inthe Procedural Lightmaps control window choose the settings you want for your lightmap From the Textures 6 menu click Create Lightmap 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Specularty 0 571 Intensity 0 037 Clamp Diffuse val 0 498 Blur Image 1 l Load Back Image l Spherize Back Image 0 X Light Pos 0 347 Force Low Black Pos 0 212 Red 0 376471 Green 0 376471 Blue 0 427451 Tip See the effects of your settings as you make them by dragging the Procedural Lightmaps control window to the side of the Scene window 3 On the preview sphere click and drag each light point to adjust its position 4 Adjust the values on the Red Green and Blue slider buttons to set the color of the lightmap 5 Click Save to JPEG to create a JPEG file with the lightmap you ve designed For a description of each menu option in the Procedural Lightmaps tool see Procedural Lightmaps Menu in Appendix B To add a background image to a procedural lightmap 1 From the Textures 6 menu click Create Lightmap 2 Inthe Procedural Lightmaps window click Load Back Image 3 Choose the JPEG image you want to use and click Open 4 Click and drag the Spherize Back Image slider if you want apply a fish eye lens effect to the back image Or double
62. ile Open Object Information Window I Object Info loj xl b SCENE B V INSTANCE instance name citybug MESH 0 vis 1 col 0 pass 0 Instance world matrix translate x 0 387 y 0 000 z 0 000 Position x 0 387000 y 0 361000 z 0 000000 Rotation x 0 000000 y 0 000000 z 0 000000 Scale x 1 000000 y 1 000000 z 1 000000 Opacity 1 000000 RadRotation x 0 000000 y 0 000000 z 0 000000 l The Viewpoint Scene Builder interface includes a Scene window Hierarchy menu and Scene Commands menu and Object Info window 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 10 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide About Scene Commands Menus The Scene Command menus on the right side of your screen provide options for creating and enhancing your VET scene There are nine Scene Command menus Load 1 This command menu allows you to load files Here you can open an existing mtx file or import a 3D file QTVR movie and choose settings for ASE based animations Instances 2 This command menu allows you to control and change polygons You can flip normals make geometries into double sided polygons and change crease angle and transparency to name a few of the controls Animation 3 This command menu allows you to edit animations in a scene You can test and reset an animation or add a time element Transformation 4 This command menu allows you to change the p
63. ime boxes e Jn the Name field at the bottom of the dialog box type a unique name for the action e Inthe Start Time field type the time increment at which the specific action starts Referring to your animation notes for times e Inthe Stop Time field type the time increment at which the specific action stops e Click Store to add each action to the Name List 8 Click Change add the changes to the Animation Ranges box Split Animation Select animation to break from the list below Animation Ranges Clear All Name Start Time Stop Time 9 Repeat steps 6 8 for the remaining portions of this split animation 10 Click Accept to when you are finished dividing the imported animation To review and edit this information later you can reopen this dialog box by choosing Split Animations from the Interaction Animation 3 menu 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 33 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Playing an Animation To play an animation in Scene Builder 1 From the Animation Shift 5 Hierarchy menu in the upper left corner of the screen click the name of the animation you want to play For more on changing Hierarchy menus see About Hierarchy Menu in Chapter 2 B Viewpoint Scene Builder Build 3 0 9 6 Click an animation currently set to Off olx Then click Animation On Off to set it to On This runs the animation Sce
64. ld be converted to Euler coordinate system For details about each animation option in Scene Builder see the section called Animation 3 Menu in Appendix B Organizing Animations Associated with an Imported 3D Model Before you export the 3D model file from the native 3D modeling application be sure to take notes on the animations you ve included In your notes name the individual animation behaviors descriptively and indicate the order and frame ranges in which you want them to occur Then when you import the file using Scene Builder refer your notes to organize your animations by specifying and naming groups of frames To organize animations from imported ase files 1 Import your ase file as described in Importing Files From 3D ASE Behavior Editor blender txt J Modeling Applications in Chapter 4 Animation Ranges The ASE Behavior Editor dialog box opens automatically 2 Referring to your animation notes name each animation and specify its frame range e Inthe Name field type the number of the keyframe you want to specify where 0 is the first keyframe listed in the file 1 1s the next and so on e Inthe Start Time field specify type the time increment at which the action starts e Inthe Stop Time field specify type the time increment at which the action stops e Click Add to add each action to the Animation Ranges list aid Remove Name Start Time Stop Time e Click Done when you are finished
65. le the graphic on the right illustrates how to change from the Instances Shift 1 menu to the Geometries Shift 2 menu Click the name of the Rendering Hierarchy Shift 0 current menu to see a list of all Hierarchy Instances Shift 1 menus Geometries Shift 2 l i Materials Shift 3 Then click the menu Geometries Shift 2 Textures Shift 4 you want to see Animators Shift 5 Repository Shift 6 to display the menu you want 0 MTSRootinstance Textures Shift 4 sextant amp TEXTURE 0 sextant8 TEXTURE 0 sextant8 TEXTURE 0 sextant amp TEXTURE 0 sextant8 TEXTURE 0 Shortcut Press Shift the number indicated to access these menus quickly For example press Shift 2 to view the Geometries Shift 2 menu For more information about using Hierarchy menus see Chapter 7 Managing Scene Hierarchies 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 13 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 3 Getting Started Scene Builder Minimum System Requirements Scene Builder runs under the following minimum system e Microsoft Windows 98 Windows 2000 e 30MB available hard disk space Windows Millenium Edition Windows NT 4 x e TrueColor display 24 bit recommended or Windows XP e 1024x768 monitor resolution e Pentium 166 MHz processor e 128 MB RAM Installing Viewpoint Scene Builder Important Before installing a new version of Sc
66. ling On saves rendering resources by rendering only the part of the object that faces the camera If Backface Direction is On you won t see the changes made by Flip Polygons or Backface Culling The default is On Crease Angle mU EET Corresponding XML tag BackFaceCull CORE Invert Normals affects how objects are rendered When it is On the direction that the polygons faces are rendered in the selected geometry changes by reversing all scene is reversed Choose Off to see the interior of the selected object in your scene This option takes visual precedence Flip Polygons and Backface Culling that is if you turn this option On you won t see the changes made by Flip Polygons or Backface Culling The default is On Invert Lighting inverts polygon orientation in a scene by flipping all polygon normals 180 degrees without inverting surfaces This affects the model physically and changes the description of the affected geometry in the scene s MTS file This 1s used primarily as a tool for debugging converted geometry If Backface Direction is On you won t see the changes made by Flip Polygons or Backface Culling Antialias applies antialiasing to selected geometries in a scene where 1 means never antialias 0 means antialias based on performance and 1 means always Antialias For the selected object this option overrides the Antialias option in the Global Parameters 5 menu Corresponding XML tag Antialias
67. lp Resources and Feedback Lists other Viewpoint resources available to you e Appendix B Scene Builder Menu Options Lists and defines each menu option in Scene Builder s Commands menu including menu options for Procedural Lightmaps and Texture Lab e Appendix C Resetting Elements of Your Scene Describes how to reset scene defaults menu by menu or for the entire VET scene e Appendix D Keyboard Shortcuts Lists shortcuts you can use with Scene Builder e Glossary Defines terms used in this guide Related Documents You ll find these related documents on the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com e Foran introduction to VET and related concepts read Viewpoint Experience Technology Getting Started e Fora description of advanced concepts and techniques see other Viewpoint documentation including these e Creating 3D Rich Media Web Applications 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 7 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide e Viewpoint Experience Technology Technical Overview e Viewpoint XML Reference Guide About Viewpoint Experience Technology Viewpoint Experience Technology VET is Viewpoint Corporation s unique technology that streams rich media over the Internet via Viewpoint Media Player a web browser plug in VET allows you to combine all types of rich media including 2D photos and drawings 3D models animation ZoomView images
68. mand menus on the right side of the screen Shift 0 through 6 Tab through the Hierarchy menus on the left side of the screen M View scene data such as polygon count fps memory usage and so on R Reset camera position W Tab through the camera modes Right click Drag Moves the selected geometry When Pass Events to Scene is On zooms the camera in and out Drag amp drop Apply a texture to a geometry Ctrl Drag amp drop Apply a lightmap to a geometry Shift Drag amp drop Apply a bumpmap to a geometry PorP Publish the scene Camera Shortcuts Click Drag Moves the camera position based on the camera mode selected Ctrl Alt Click Drag Change the perspective of the camera Right click Drag When Pass Events to Scene is On zooms the camera in and out When Pass Events to Scene is Off moves the selected object Hierarchy Menu Shortcuts Shift 0 through 6 Tab through the Hierarchy menus on the left Click Drag To an item on the Instances tab Drag an instances below another instance to make it a child Alt Click On an item on the Instances tab Shows all information about an instance Click a texture name Display the texture in the Object Info window Double click an element name Allows you to rename the element 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 67 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Additional Shortcut Keys Use this
69. menu to specify how you want your mtx file saved e Use the Image Quality the slider to adjust the image quality and compression high numbers mean high quality and low compression e Use the Lightmap Quality the slider to set the lightmap quality and compression high numbers mean high quality and low compression e Use the Geometry Setting slider to set the geometry quality and compression high numbers mean high quality and low compression e Click TrixelsNT to set it to Off if you don t want to use Viewpoint s proprietary wavelet compression to create high quality 3D in manageable file sizes Click Save MTS Specify a name for your mtx file and click OK To publish your scene in HTML 1 2 3 4 From the Publish 0 menu verify that the Generate HTML option is set to On Specify the HTML template you want to use Click Publish Scene Builder will prompt you for an MTX filename Type a name for the mtx file and then click Save 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 46 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide 5 Typea name for the html file and then click Save 6 Double click the icon for the newly created html file to view it in your default web browser Publishing for Stream Tuning Studio Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio contains settings and options that improve the visual presentation of a streaming 3D scene while dramatically reducing the overall file size Scene B
70. metries Shift 2 Hierarchy menu in the upper left corner click the name of the object to select it 2 From the Globals 5 menu click Lightmap 3 Click Load 4 Select the image file you want to apply and click Open To apply an image as a local lightmap 1 Right click to select the geometry to which you want to apply the lightmap 2 From the Textures 6 menu click Lightmap Edge Rendering Default Edge Bias 100 a Seno Material Opacity 100 4 Select the image file you want to apply and click Material Color Diffuse L3 Open Texture Lab Shortcut To quickly apply a lightmap press the Ctrl key and drag and drop a JPEG image file onto a geometry About Procedural Lightmaps The term procedural refers to scene elements you use such as lightmaps primitives and hot spots that are automatically generated by VMP Procedural scene elements add very little to overall file size of a VET scene Lightmaps are typically created when external texture images JPEGs are applied to a scene and stored in the mts scene resources file However you can use Scene Builder to create a procedural lightmap for your VET scene Procedural lightmaps have a smaller file size than regular lightmaps With procedural lightmaps you can Change lightmap colors point by point for each of ten light points Set specularity and intensity for each of ten light points Add a background JPEG to a lightmap You can apply a procedural lig
71. mine the finest details without special graphics cards or a high speed Internet access You can use Viewpoint Scene Builder to enhance ZoomView scenes with hot spots and 3D objects For more information see these documents available from the Viewpoint Developer Central website at http developer viewpoint com Creating 3D Rich Media Web Applications for information on exporting 3D models from applications other than those mentioned in this chapter See Chapter 2 of the Creating 3D Rich Media Web Applications guide for information about preparing your 3D model to use with VET See Viewpoint Media Exporter for 3ds max User Guide for details about exporting ase files from 3ds max See Viewpoint Media Exporter for Maya User Guide for details about exporting mtx files from Maya See Viewpoint Media Exporter for LightWave 6 5 User Guide for details about exporting mtx files from LightWave To import an mtx file from a 3D modeling application 1 2 From the Load 1 menu click Open MTX Select the mtx file you want to open and click OK To import an ase file from a 3D modeling application 1 2 From the Load 1 menu click Import ASE Select the ase file you want to open and click OK Show MTX Errors Off The ASE Behavior Editor dialog box opens automatically For details about organizing your model s animations see Organizing Animations Associated an Imported 3D Model in Chapter 6 1999 2002 Viewpoint Cor
72. n calls to the Viewpoint Media Player VMP rather than calls to an external file such as a JPEG file Procedural scene elements add very little to overall file size of a VET scene Attributes of a media atom Also see media atoms QTVR Apple Computer Inc s proprietary technology for creating cylindrical panorama and object movie files mov format that allow viewers to be immersed in a 360 environment The transformation of 3D data into 2D frames for display on a computer screen To move an object around a specific center and axis The default highest level parent object in an mtx file To resize an object along one or more axes X Y and or Z Toggles the shadows in the scene between shadows that blend with an environment and those that are projected onto the ground plane A shadow s intensity The highest level of the VET hierarchy MTSScene tag in XML Scene contains all elements of the mtx and mts files The Macromedia Flash movie file extension May be pronounced swif Defines an object s shiny highlights When an object is rotated how much it reflects depends on the material properties The color of this reflection is defined by the specularity Specularity determines how sharp or diffuse an edge the light has at the selected light point and sets the shininess at that point by determining how much light is reflected Decomposing a complex surface into a series of simple ones that approximate the complex sur
73. ne Commands l Quit Restart Clear Scene Reset Camera Trigger Animation Editing Mode Off Help F1 2 From the Interaction Animation 3 menu click Animation On Off and set it to On to run the animation 3 Optionally e Click Animation On Off again while the animation is still playing to set it to Off and pause the animation e Use the Reverse Direction option to change the direction of the animation e Use the Rewind option to return to the beginning of the animation Note A single animation will typically consist of several timelines Each timeline is in turn an individually addressed animation For example if you made an animation corresponding to the rotation and translation of an object it will open up as an animation with two timelines You can trigger them and view the spline path individually 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 34 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Manually Playing an Animation with Time Scrubber Time Scrubber allows you manually run an animation so you can inspect it frame by frame and view the changes to values in the Object Info window To play an animation manually in Scene Builder 1 From the Animators Shift 5 Hierarchy menu in the upper left corner of the screen click the name of the animation you want to play 2 From the Animation 3 menu click Manual Time Control to set it to On To play an animation with Time Scrubber
74. near interpolation for textures that may improve the quality of texture rendering Select the material for which you want to adjust this setting 1 means never apply 0 means apply based on performance and 1 means always apply Corresponding XML tag Filter Alpha Channel marks the texture as having an applied alpha map Alpha channel 1mage is loaded through Texture Lab Default is Off Corresponding XML tag HasAlpha Mip enable or disable Mip mapping which prefilters an image by antialiasing using multiple resolutions of the original texture Mip mapping creates a blurring effect that eliminates artifacts for selected materials when artifacts appear on tiled textures The default 1s Off Corresponding XML tag Mip Mip Bias sets the strength of Mip mapping when Mip is set to On Corresponding XML tag MipBias Select Object Materials selects all materials of the object in the current selection An object in a scene can have more than one material With this tool you can select all materials instead of one by one Deselect Object Materials deselects all materials of the object in the current selection This tool clears all selections of materials of the selected object 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 59 of 76 V i ew p O i nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Hot Spots 7 Menu Tab HotSpots 7 Show Hot Spots displays On or hides Off hot spots as you work in a scene Thi
75. nimation render on the foreground select the SWF animator on the Hierarchy Animators Shift 5 menu and then on the Animation 3 menu click Render Animation and choose Post 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 70 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To load a swf file as a diffuse texture 1 Select the material 2 Onthe Materials 6 menu open the Texture Diffuse dialog 3 Select your swf file and load it The material must have UV coordinates To load a swf file as a bumpmap Use the Bumpmap function on the Materials 6 menu The material must have a diffuse texture already loaded To load a swf file as a lightmap Use the Lightmap function on the Materials 6 menu The lightmap swf file must have resolution of 256x256 pixels Q How is Publish for Tuning Studio different from Publish When you Publish for Tuning Studio textures and lightmaps are saved with maximum quality no compression This is done to avoid repeated JPEG or Trixel NT compression of images first in Scene Builder and then in Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio Set the texture compression type and level of compression in Stream Tuning Studio Q My textures look fine in the modeling application but when I bring the model into Scene Builder they disappear A Most likely the geometry does not have explicit UV coordinates Scene Builder requires that all textures be UV mapped See your modeling application
76. nly surfaces closest to the camera are rendered Farthest 1 means all occluded surfaces will also be rendered and Center 2 means the rendering criteria depends on the relative position of centers of bounding boxes Corresponding XML tag SortRule Toggle Panorama shows or hides the panorama image in the scene The default is On Corresponding XML tag TogglePano Set Background Color displays a palette from which you can select a scene background color Corresponding XML tag BackColor Global Parameters 5 Menu Camera Settings The following options from the Global 5 menu are visible when Show Camera Constraints is On Camera Rotation X 90 90 180 Camera Rotation Y Camera Rotation Z 180 Min Camera Scale 0 2 Min Camera Distance 0 Cam Nearest X 1e 007 Cam Nearest Y 1e 007 Cam Nearest Z 1e 007 Reset All Constraints 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved Camera Rotation X limits the rotation in the negative direction of the X axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMinX Camera Rotation X limits the rotation in the positive direction of the Z axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMaxX Camera Rotation Y limits
77. ns of the ASE exporter The default settings of the ASE exporter work fine in most cases producing smooth animations with a reasonable number of keyframes The timeline re sampling might occasionally result in large published file sizes or an inaccurate animation path The dramatic example of the latter is when the original animation contained a section of frozen motion in the middle of it when played in VET the animation might never perfectly freeze In this case you should export the ASE file with an excessive number of keyframes and then use the Simplify Timeline tool to reduce the number of keyframes Q When I open a file with an animation I m not sure how to play that animation A To start an animation choose it on the Animators Shift 5 hierarchy menu on the left and then click Trigger Animation on the Scene Commands menu on the right Q Is it possible to constrain users from walking through walls with the camera Can I create collision objects in Scene Builder A Scene Builder does not support collision detection and it is not possible to constrain users from walking through walls Of course you can limit some camera interaction but if you want true collision detection you should take a look at Adobe Atmosphere Note Some collision detection can be faked using the VolumeTrigger tag but you can t really tie that into a camera See an example on Derek Davies s website http cole viewpoint com ddavies Keep in mind that
78. o a scene or to selected geometry in a scene Default Applies the value from Globals Render Mode Edge Rendering Default Texture Textures are rendered but lightmaps are not Eo m Wire Only the wireframe is rendered ge Bias 100 MESURE mm Point Only vertexes are rendered TT o Lightmap Lightmaps are rendered but textures are not d LightmapTexture default Everything is rendered LightmapTexMod Everything is rendered but material color is burned into texture Texture Lab For a specific object this option overrides the Rendering Mode setting in the Globals Lightmap Lab menu 5 Corresponding XML tag RenderMode Bumpmap Strength 1 Enviromental Dither 0 Texture Bilinear Filter 1 Corresponding XML tag EdgeMode Edge Rendering offers rendering options for the edges of the scene s geometries Edge Bias removes edge artifacts jagged edges that may appear when geometry is viewed at close proximity It is most useful for scenes originally created in third party Mip Bias software It does not improve scenes created with procedural geometry only Select Object Materials dine XML EdecBi Deselect Object Materials Corresponding tag PageBias Material Opacity sets opacity of the selected object within a range of 0 to 100 100 makes the object completely opaque 0 makes the object invisible having only a shadow Corresponding XML tag Opacity Material Color Diffuse sets a solid diffus
79. oint Scene Builder User Guide Changing Scene Command Menus In this guide each of Scene Builder s nine menus is mentioned both by name and number For example the menu shown below is the Preferences 9 menu To change Scene Command menus 1 Click the name of the current menu to display Load 1 To change menus click Instances 2 the list of all Scene the current menu s name Builder menus mum o Animation 3l Rotate 0 Transformation 4 2 Clickth f th x M REAL HU APER RGHEENEN o Globals 5 menu you want to use o Then click the name of the E EE next menu you want to use next Textures B l Translate Y 0 Hot Spots 7 For example the graphic on Translate Z meen the right illustrates how to ScdeX 0 ive NI change from the Preferences 9 ScaeY o Transformation 4 menu to the Globals 5 menu Sa sa O o Tip To quickly change between Scene Command menus you can press the number of the menu on your keyboard For example press 4 to display the Transformation 4 menu Setting VET Scene Options in Scene Builder Scene Builder lets you adjust settings for your VET scene The following illustration shows the three ways you can adjust settings in the Scene Commands menu For options that toggle on or off click to change the option setting For options that let you choose from a range of values click and move the shaded
80. ompression format for textures On is the default For a selected geometry Minimum Triangles sets the minimum triangle count by percentage either for the instance if an object is selected or globally if nothing is selected at which the geometry displays when the model is streamed by VMP Corresponding XML tag MinTriCount For selected geometry Retain Normals specifies whether or not to publish normals to the scene s mts file Choose On to correctly publish files with explicit normals The explicit normals can be exported from CAD CAM applications using an obj file format Corresponding XML tag SaveNormals 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 62 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Publish produces two files an mtx file and an mts file Because Publish compresses the scene elements republishing or resaving an mts file results in a loss of visual fidelity 66 99 Shortcut You can press p or P to publish your scene Generate HTML creates an HTML file when you click Publish This feature enables you to test VET content by allowing you to preview it in a web browser Publish for Tuning Studio lets you export an mts file with maximum quality settings that you can import into Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio Stream Tuning Studio converts your mts scene file to the highest quality with the smallest file size Texture Lab Menu Click Load Texture to choose the
81. on procedural properties QuickTime VR render rotate root instance scale shadow blend shadow opacity scene swf specularity tessellation texture A vector that is perpendicular to the surface of a polygon The direction the normal points indicates the outer surface face of the polygon A 3D file format Wavefront Object File that defines the geometry and other properties for objects in Wavefront s Advanced Visualizer These files can also be used to transfer geometric data back and forth between the Advanced Visualizer and other 3D applications Scene Builder imports obj files A way of measuring how much light can penetrate an object In a VET scene 0 opacity makes the object so transparent it is invisible and 100 makes the object completely opaque in other words not at all transparent A panorama is a 360 degree image in which the camera is in the center QTVR and iPIX panoramas can be used in a Viewpoint scene 3D scenes are drawn using polygons or triangles vastly simplifying the computer creation of a 3D world Triangles are defined as three coordinates X Y and Z one for each vertex Polygons generally have one side or face If the polygon gets inverted or flipped which may happen during export import for example its face is not visible to the viewer Also see normal Refers to elements in a VET scene such as lightmaps primitives and hot spots that are rendered based o
82. on vo 3 citybug MESH 0 o 5 Layer2D body v 4 null reposition vo 5 citybug_MESH_1 F 6 null reposition o 7 citybug MESH o 5 citybug MESH 2 o 5 citybug MESH 4 The Instances Hierarchy menu shows the parent child relationship of geometries in a model 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 39 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Editing Hierarchies Scene Builder lets you control the hierarchies in a scene You can use the Hierarchy menu in the upper left corner of Scene Builder to do the following e Rename scene elements to descriptive names e Modify how your scene functions by rearranging the parent child relationships among geometries and instances and among animators Rename Scene Elements You can use the Hierarchy menus to rename screen elements Be sure to use descriptive names so that if you need to modify or troubleshoot the scene or edit the mtx file you can easily identify elements To rename a scene element 1 From the Instances Shift 1 Hierarchy menu right click a geometry to select the part you want to rename The names of the instance and its sub elements textures and materials are highlighted in the Instances Hierarchy menu 2 From the Instances Shift 1 Hierarchy menu double click the name you want to change 3 Type the new element name and press Enter Note Avoid use of spaces in names assigned to elements of your scene hierarchies o
83. ospiMsitzeisndisu mm 13 Chapter 3 coepi o 14 Scene Builder Minimum System Requirement cccccescessssssceesceeceseccecscecseecseeeeeeseeeeeeseeeseeeaeeesecaeceaeeneeeseeeeeeaes 14 Installing Viewpoint Scene Builder iei ini rr eee tie e WEE i erecta 14 Starting and Stopping Viewpoint Scene Builder sese eene nenne 15 Opening EBD nndBub Sui REM 15 Chapter 4 Importing 35 NOCIBIS cse sens dp t RF MATERIE UR RCX FU DUREE REDE tala RE BEN EA MERIT UAR EER rt EENE 17 Preparing 3D Content to Use in Scene Builder ce ccceseescceseceseeeeecseecseeeseeeeseeeneeneeensecaeenaecsaecseecaeseaeseateneeenreeas 17 Creating a VET Scene from an Existing ase or obj File sse eene nenne 17 Importing Files from 3D Modeling Applications essere nnne entire nnne nnns 18 Generating Hot Spots and Animation Ranges through 3ds max sse eee 19 Chapter 5 Managing Geometrie S 52 idpeaos ess OES Eros Ronin peo DI Up es ida E EA pARE FE RUE ERE PO V PR EE MEE EE 22 About Geometries in VET Scenes essere ener aandae peia inai akeni heasgair tenere ener ens 22 About Instances i oen PREH ER REOR EHE RUE MERE dd ee 22 Adding Primitive Geometries 3D Shapes to Your Scene ssesssssseseseeeee eene enne 23 Transforming a Geometry Move Rotate Resize enne enne enne nennen nnns 23 Adjusting th Opacity of a Geometty 5a m ee i E eet eerie e
84. ox has more segments than a cube and behaves differently when transformations are applied Transforming a Geometry Move Rotate Resize To move translate a geometry In the Scene window right click and drag the geometry where you want it to be located in the scene Tip Be sure to look at the geometry from many angles as you adjust its location To change the camera angle from which the scene is viewed click and drag any part of the scene Or In the Scene window right click the geometry you want to move or select a geometry by clicking its name on the Hierarchy menu on the left From the Transformation 4 menu use the Translate X Translate Y and Translate Z sliders to move the geometry along X Y and Z axes You can also double click any of these fields to type a number directly ofpojololololololo o To rotate a geometry 1 In the Scene window right click the geometry you want to rotate or select a geometry by clicking its name on the Hierarchy menu on the left From the Transformation 4 menu use the Rotate X Rotate Y and Rotate Z sliders to change the angle of the geometry in relation to the X Y and Z axes 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 23 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To resize scale a geometry 1 Inthe Scene window right click the geometry you want to scale or select a geometry by clicking its name on the Hierarchy menu on the left
85. pecular light values A higher number of gradations results in smoother transitions between shades of light colors Force Low Black displays the preview model with a black background 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 65 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Appendix C Resetting Elements of Your Scene You can use the following menu options to reset elements of your scene Menu Use these menu items to reset scene elements Main Command Menu Tools e Click Restart to quit your current session of Scene Builder and open a new session If you ve chosen a custom default file it will automatically reload Before clicking Restart be sure to publish or save any work you want to keep Clear Scene deletes an entire scene Deleting a whole scene clears all related animations lightmaps and the like allowing you to start a new scene Reset Camera places the camera in its original orientation to your scene Does not reset Camera Mode see the Animation 3 Menu section above Load 1 Menu Click Load Panorama and then choose None to clear a panorama from a scene Instances 2 Menu Delete Selected deletes from the scene the selected element and its related lightmaps bumpmaps and other applied effects Clear All Collapsed restores any and all collapsed geometry in a scene Animation 3 Menu Rewind rewinds the selected animation in a scene T
86. poration All rights reserved 18 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide To import an obj file from a CAD CAM application 1 From the Load 1 menu click Add OBJ 2 Select the obj file you want to open and click OK To insert an mtx file into an existing scene 1 Open the scene to which you want to insert an mtx file Ea 2 From the Load 1 menu click Open MTX 3 Select the mtx file you want to insert and click OK Generating Hot Spots and Animation Ranges through 3ds max The Viewpoint Scene Builder plug in in 3ds max enables you generate hot spots and split animations in ranges directly in 3ds max version 4 or later This new capability makes it even easier to import and work with 3ds max files in Scene Builder If you need to make changes to your scene in 3ds max you no longer have to re apply all the hot spots and animation ranges to the scene from scratch in Scene Builder because those options become a part of your 3ds max file To generate hot spots in 3ds max 1 In3ds max open the scene to which you want to add hot spots M AIO T 2 Inthe Utilities tool panel on the right side of your screen click Sphere MaxScript o Coles 3 Click Run Script Color Clipboard Dynamics Measure Motion Capture Reset Form MAS cript Open Listener New Script Open Script Run Script 4 Select viewpoint export ms from the folder where you installed MaxScript during the Scene Builder install
87. r comments and suggestions to the Viewpoint Forums You can also visit Viewpoint Corporation s main web page for company news links to websites featuring VET and more Download Viewpoint Applications Guides and Examples Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com is updated continuously with the latest versions of its applications user guides and examples Find links to the following in the left navigation bar Viewpoint Applications You can download Viewpoint applications free of charge Among applications available for download are these e Viewpoint Media Player The web browser plug in necessary to view Viewpoint content with Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer e Viewpoint Scene Builder An application designed to assemble and edit the content of a VET scene before its output to Viewpoint Media Files mts and mtx mtz e Viewpoint Media Publisher A utility that provides a fast and convenient path to the web for Viewpoint content Quickly create VET web applications from Viewpoint media files mtx mtz by embedding them in web HTML pages or running transformations on mtx XML files through built in XSLT support e Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio An application designed to aid in reducing the file size of Viewpoint 3D content e Viewpoint Control Panel A utility designed to aid in the content creation technical support and development of VET enabled websites and software 1999 2002
88. r all collapsed hidden geometries in a scene Also see collapse Viewpoint Experience Technology Viewpoint Corporation s unique technology that streams 3D and rich media content media atoms over the Internet via Viewpoint Media Player VMP The web browser plug in required to view VET content with Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer See Viewpoint Media Player An image compression method See hot spot A representation of a 3D object that shows only the edges of its polygons Extensible Markup Language A markup language for documents containing structured information with instructions for content words pictures and so on and the role that content plays for example content in a section heading has a different meaning from content in a footnote figure caption or database table Viewpoint Experience Technology uses XML to define all properties of a scene A third buffer where depth data is stored that determines which textures are visible and which are hidden 76 of 76
89. r members of hierarchies Use underlines instead Defining Parent Child Relationships in a Scene By setting parent child relationships between scene elements you can organize instances or animations so that settings for a parent element effect the child elements To define a parent child relationship between geometry elements 1 Right click the model to select each part you want the new parenting to affect The names of the instances and sub elements textures and materials are highlighted in the Instances Shift 1 Hierarchy menu 2 From the Instances Shift 1 Hierarchy menu click the element that you want to become the child in the parent child relationship 3 Drag the child element on top of the parent element The child element name is now listed under the new parent element and 1s indented to show that it is farther down the hierarchy To define a parent child relationship between animation elements 1 From the Animators Shift 5 menu click the element that you want to become the child in the parent child relationship 2 Drag the child element on top of the parent element The child element name is now listed under the new parent element and 1s indented to show that it is farther down the hierarchy 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 40 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 8 Setting Other Scene Global Parameters Setting Your VET Scene s Height and Width T
90. r otherwise The entire risk as to the results of performance of the software is assumed by you In no event will Viewpoint be liable for any special indirect consequential punitive or exemplary damages or the loss of anticipated profits arising from the performance of the software or resulting from the loss of use data or profits whether in an action for breach of contract or warranty or tort including negligence arising out of or in connection with the information technology software and documentation The website and publications may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors Viewpoint assumes no responsibility for and disclaims all liability for any such inaccuracy error or omission in the website and documentation and in any other referenced or linked documentation Viewpoint may make changes to the information software website documentation prices technical specifications and product offerings in its sole discretion at any time and without notice Authors Doralee Moynihan Carolyn Gronlund Carla Gray Contributors Michael Petrov Dakshitha Ariyaratne Nicolas Brun Jae Y Lee Barry Paul Software team Scene Builder 3 0 11 was created by Jack Antipin Ales Holecek and Michael Petrov with assistance from Vadim Abadjev Priti Aggarwal Ari Berger Andrew Cook Brian Doherty Christopher Earle Martin Gentry Ben Guihaire Rick Khan Sree Kotay Scott Krinsky Jae Y Lee Nicolas Brun Barry Paul Ed Peters J
91. rated one for opening the laptop and the other for turning on the power Those two animations can be separately triggered by different events such as clicking buttons The ASE Behavior Editor and its complementary Split Animation tool on the Animations 3 menu are the tools for splitting a single animation timeline into several In a typical workflow in 3ds max you could animate opening the laptop in arange of frames 0 100 and the animation for powering up the screen activates in a range of frames 101 200 Then in the ASE Behavior Editor you split one timeline into two the first covering frames 0 100 and the second frames 101 200 Q What s the purpose of the Simplify Timeline tool on the Animations menu A Simplify Timeline tool on the Animations 3 menu enables you to remove redundant animation key frames by interpolating the timeline Removing key frames reduces the file size The tool is primarily designed to overcome the limitations of the ASE file format In an ASE file the animation timeline is sampled at equal intervals thus creating an excessive number of keyframes For example the original animation created in discreet 3ds max might have keyframes at 0 0 15 and 5 seconds When this animation 1s exported into ASE then the original keyframes will be disregarded and new ones created at 0 0 2 0 4 0 6 4 8 5 0 seconds Note that the keyframe at 0 15 sec is now missing The density of new keyframes is defined through the optio
92. renderings by removing jagged stair step edges ASCII Scene Export file format Scene Builder imports ase files from 3ds max formerly 3D Studio MAX 3 0 or greater An imaginary line that represents a dimension in space In 3D space there are three axes X Y and Z The plural of axis is axes A unique alphanumeric string issued by Viewpoint Corporation to companies or individuals licensed to broadcast VET content The string is stored in a text txt file that is referenced by VET enabled web pages VET content without a Broadcast Key displays with a watermark An image that is applied to the texture of a geometry to make it appear not as a smooth surface but as a rough surface that responds to different angles of illumination The view from which a scene is rendered Also called the scene camera To hide a geometry in a scene so that the geometry is still contained within the Scene Builder repository but not rendered This is a cloaking command The angle between two edges To project light over an entire area of an object scattered light Where two adjacent polygons connect Removes edge artifacts that may appear when geometry is viewed at close proximity It is most useful for scenes originally created in third party software Adjusting edge bias does not improve scenes created with procedural geometry only The complete statement of an XML command contained between an opening and closing tag Elements include att
93. res pede E SES EEREN ARS 24 Transparency and Rendering Using Sort Rule for Overlapping Transparent Geometries esses 25 Adding Texture to a Geometry siisii asii eec e e HOC ECTS THERE ER EH EYE E ERE HR P Ed e EE ERa aiea 26 Applying Lightmaps toa Georietry nod RE ee RSEN cee UNE e CREAN ee 26 About Procedural Lightmaps essen ener enne enne nennen nennen tenen nennen enne 27 Applying Bumpmaps to a Geometry sssssssesseseeeen eene enne eene nennen reet enne kass seVe aeiee enne 28 Adding Hot Spots to a VET Scene ssssssssseseeeeeeene eene nennen nnne en enini eren nennen enne 29 Chapter 6 Managing Ana GON Ss sicci mune id axtk Geass c pu teasU anaa S SUu UE RM MEO aaa 31 About ATuiationss eoe e E INDIEN EET LU I 31 Organizing Animations Associated with an Imported 3D Model sse 31 Playing an Animation ccccccccesecesecsceesceeseesseeecescensecacensecsaecsseeecsaeceaecaaecaeecaeseceseesseesaeeneeceaecaeeaecaecsaecaeeeseeeseeeeeees 34 Manually Playing an Animation with Time Scrubber essere enne enne 35 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 3 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Viewing an Animation Timeline 0 cccceccceessessceesceescesecesecsseseceaeceaecseecaeecaesesesseesseeeseseeesaecsaeesaeeaeecseecaeeeseeeneeeneeerseas 36 Simplifying an Animation Timeline sssrinin ieena nr ir
94. ributes and values and may contain nested elements also known as subelements Defines all polygons making up an object Describes properties added to an entire scene Inverts the geometry of a 3D model An area in a scene made up of a procedural shape usually invisible and created in Scene Builder Hot spots are generally used to define a 3D area that when interacted with 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 73 of 76 gt Viewpoint Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide hierarchy instance instancing interactors iPIX lightmap map materials media atoms Mip mapping mtl mts mtx mtz nff displays a text annotation texture or Flash movie For instance when a user points to a hot spot a text based annotation may appear A list of things that are linked together in a parent child structure Each child must have a parent and can in turn have children of its own A referencable element within the instancing hierarchy of geometries and their related textures and other materials See also instancing hierarchy Creating a copy of a specific object in a scene by referencing it Creating an instance of an object that already exists can help maintain small file size since the polygons and textures need only be defined once For example the tires on a car model can be created this way The first tire s mesh and texture is defined and the other three tires are instanced Element
95. roller Output parameters the sampling frequency can be changed VET files do not require uniform timeline sampling The Simplify Timeline tool enables you to re sample the animation timeline and optimize it for VET Thus to most accurately export the animation spline path from 3ds max to VET we recommend that you over sample the number of keyframes in the ASE exporter and then to simplify this animation in Scene Builder To simplify an animation s timeline 1 From the Animation 3 menu click Simplify Timeline This displays the Keyframes Simplification dialog box iewpoint Scene Builder Ef x m E KeyFrames Simplification 0 0 095000 4 390000 0 000000 oO 0 095000 4 390000 0 000000 1 3 444000 11 319000 0 000000 1 60 762001 56 867996 0 000000 2 7 080000 17 839001 0 000000 2 94 129997 26 500000 0 000000 38 10 809000 23 951000 0 000000 3 72 254997 64 831001 0 000000 14 632000 29 653000 0 000000 10 896000 119 035004 0 000000 5 18 549000 34 945999 0 000000 2 43 6552000 115 582001 0 00000 6 22 559000 39 830002 0 000000 amp 6 338000 212 567001 0 000000 7 26 6563000 44 305000 0 000000 7 65 591003 108 125999 0 000000 6 30 860001 48 370998 0 000000 B 73 250000 9 422000 0 000000 9 35 151001 52 028000 0 000000 10 39 535999 55 275002 0 000000 11 44 271999 58 366001 0 000000 12 49 502998 561 441002 0 000000 13 55 056999 64 331001 0 000000 14 50 762001 656 8567996 0 000000 15 66 445999 55 253003
96. roperties of geometries rotation scale and translation Global Parameters 5 This command menu gives you control over most of the scene parameter values You can change shadow properties choose render settings and set camera parameters as well as load global lightmaps and panoramas Materials 6 This command menu allows you to control material properties and rendering mode by the geometry instance You can apply lightmaps bumpmaps and textures as well as create procedural lightmaps and optimize textures Hot Spots 7 This command menu provides you with tools to create and modify hot spots Hot spots sometimes called widgets are 3D areas within a VET scene that users can click or mouse over to display text an image or other media Primitives 8 This command menu allows you to create simple procedural geometric primitives such as spheres cubes and cylinders Preferences 9 This command menu allows you to select or clear a default file and set scene dimensions Publish 0 This command menu allows you to save files Here you can choose global settings for publishing mts and mtx files The Debug D menu offers additional debug options Use these options at your own risk Tip For a complete list of Scene Command menu options and their functions see Appendix B Scene Builder Menu Options 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 11 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewp
97. rved 50 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide The Textures 6 menu allows you to control your object s material properties and rendering mode You can also load lightmaps and panoramas The Hot Spots 7 menu provides you with tools to create and modify hot spots The Primitives 8 menu allows you to add 3D shapes such as spheres cubes and cylinders to the scene The Preferences 9 menu allows you to choose or clear a defaults file The Publish 0 menu lets you control settings for publishing or saving mtx and mts files Load 1 Menu Open MTX opens and displays a scene You can open both mtx and xml files Uncompress MTZ uncompresses an mtz file as an mtx file in the same folder An Show MTX Errors Off mtx file is an editable XML document Import ASE opens an ase ASCII Scene Export file exported from Discreet 3ds max Currently Scene Builder supports only the ase file format from 3ds max 3 0 or greater ASE Animation Options ASE Simplify Animation 0 Click ASE Animation Options to display the ASE Behavior Editor where you can name and edit names of actions as well as specify frame ranges of animation frame sets ASE Simplify Animation allows setting of a keyframe variation tolerance If the variance of a keyframe is between any two keyframes is within the tolerance level that keyframe is removed This helps reduce file size Auto Scale to Unit
98. s Show Hot Spots Off option will not cause hot spots to publish as visible The default is On Add Hot Spot lets you choose the shape of the hot spot activation area and adds a hot meer o spot to the scene Set Show Hot Spots to On to see this shape Double click Rollover Text and then type in your own text This text displays when you 7 point to the hot spot shape on in the Scene window Show Hot Spot Text Off Corresponding XML tag WidgetAssignRollover Click Text Color to choose a text color other than the default gold color Shadow Radius Corresponding XML tag TextColor Click Font to choose a text font other than the default font Corresponding XML tag Font Text Location X ol ai O o Text Location Z 0 Corresponding XML tag TextSize Humo o Show Hot Spot Text makes the hot spot text or texture visible at all times On The O qoam Attach Line Z 0 Click Texture Image to apply a jpg file as a texture to a hot spot The texture will o display in place of any hot spot text o Corresponding XML tag Texture Destination Pin X 0 0 When Shadow is On a drop shadow displays beneath the hot spot text or texture The Pin Source Coord default is On EDEN Dest Coord ADS RES Corresponding XML tag Shadow Shadow Radius adjusts the size of the hot spot text or texture shadow Use the Text Size slider to change the size of hot spot text
99. s that allow the user to alter or interact with the scene by clicking or pointing to certain areas within the scene Interactors are defined by XML code in the mtx file for a VET web application A spherical panorama file format created by Interactive Pictures Corporation that allows viewers to view images that immerse them in a multi dimensional 360 X 360 environment An image that determines how light interacts with and scatters on the surface of an object This image essentially traps the environment around the object and reflects that environment in the object s surface Material properties such as diffusion specularity and reflection are captured in the lightmap The lightmap in any Viewpoint scene is what the camera sees in any reflective materials of an object Any spherical image can be used as a lightmap image To apply a 2D image onto the surface of an object Surfaces added to the mesh to give it a finished appearance unlike wireframe rendering Components of a Viewpoint scene 3D objects material properties sound object movies animators interactors and the definition of the 3D environment that is panoramas or the maps of environmental lightmaps A method of prefiltering an image by antialiasing using multiple resolutions of the original texture Mip mapping creates a blurring effect that eliminates artifacts for selected materials when artifacts appear on tiled textures A text based file that describes the material t
100. scription of these menus and how to navigate them see the About Scene Commands Menus section below e Hierarchy menu This menu is a directory of components in your scene and is divided into seven categories For a description of these menus and how to navigate them see the About Hierarchy Menus section below e Object Information window This window shows the XML code for the object or other scene element you select Right click an object in the Scene window to select it and view information about it such as name position size number of points and UV mapping coordinates in this window Tip You can cut and paste coordinates from the Object Info window into your mtx file for animations Click the line you want this automatically copies the line to the Clipboard and then paste Ctrl V the information into your mtx file using a text editor or XML editor Edit the mtx file as needed eraty ojx Rendering Hierarchy Shift 0 Scene 2e Hierarchy x EB Commands Festat 0 MTSRootinstance Menu Menu Clear Scene gt Deiybug Se 2 null_body_reposition o 3 ciybug MESH 0 Reset Camera Trigger Animation Editing Mode Help F1 o 5 Layer2D body y 4 null reposition v5 5 citybug MESH 1 Show MTX Errors d 6 null reposition o 7 citybug MESH o 5 citybug MESH 2 _ ASE Animation Options o 5 citybug MESH 4 ASE Simplify Animation 0 Auto Scale to Unit Cube On View All on F
101. shows the process publish The following table describes each basic step involved in creating a VET scene from an imported ase or obj file and lists where to go to read more about each step Basic step To learn more read this 1 Export your 3D model from the 3D modeling application Creating 3D Rich Media Web Applications e If your 3D modeling application includes a built in This document is available from Viewpoint export utility export the 3D model as a ase or objfile Developer Central at Do not export the file in a compressed form mts http developer viewpoint com e If your 3D modeling application does not include a built in export utility use a conversion program such as PolyTrans to convert native scenes file to mtx format 2 In Scene Builder load or import ase obj or mtx file from The section below called Importing Files from the 3D modeling application 3D Modeling Applications 3 Organize imported animations by frame set Chapter 6 Managing Animations 4 Addlightmaps transparency bumpmaps or any other effects Chapter 5 Managing Geometries or elements to the scene 5 Publish the VET scene both mts and mtx files Chapter 9 Publishing Your VET Scene Files 6 Add any hot spots to your VET scene Chapter 5 Managing Geometries 7 Resaveonly the scene s mtx file Do not resave the mts file Chapter 9 Publishing Your VET Scene Files 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation
102. so be stored in externally referenced files such as Flash swf files sound files and JPEG image files Scene Builder employs a combination of wavelet technology and procedural materials producing files that are dramatically smaller yet comparable in quality to 2D image formats The resulting Viewpoint scene can be embedded in a web page via the Viewpoint Media Publisher application 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 8 of 76 wy V lew p Ol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide The Role of Scene Builder in Viewpoint Experience Technology With Viewpoint Scene Builder you can put finishing touches on scenes you export from 3D modeling packages and then create mts and mtx files ready to be embedded in a web page To begin you can import ase obj or mts Viewpoint proprietary file format 3D files into Scene Builder Or load an existing mtx file Then you can use Scene Builder to manipulate the layout and Viewpoint relationship of objects within the 3D Application Media 3D scene as well as enhance the Player scene with effects and organize or edit animations mtx files With Scene Builder you can gt enhance your VET scene by RAZOLITH Pe e Adding textures lightmaps m eure O hot spots and background sica es colors images or panoramas 5 pin N 1 e Integrating other media types a Me y mts and mtx wan including 2D images Flash files nae movies audio and text
103. so called tessellation determines the fineness of the segments creating the surface of a model Higher tessellation creates a smoother model Resolution X only slider sets X resolution for the object Resolution Y only slider sets Y resolution for the object 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 61 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Preferences 9 Menu Set Scene Width lets you set the exact pixel width of the Scene window as you want it to display in a web browser Set Scene Height lets you set the exact pixel height of the Scene window as you want it to display in a web browser Load Default File loads a file containing your customized set of defaults Clear Default File resets to Scene Builder s original defaults and clear the custom default file Author Name lets you type your name so it will be added to the scene s mtx file Info Font changes the font of the text in the Object Information window Type the name of any system font such as Arial default Times New Roman and so on Publish 0 Menu Save MTX saves an mtx or an mtz file that contains the scene description referencing an external data file usually one or more mts files Compress File Compress File lets you save the scene to a compressed mtz file On If this option is Verbose MTX Off off the scene is saved to an mtx file Use Resource Names Off as eia Osta In t
104. t point around the X axis Y Light Pos moves the selected light point around the Y axis The Red slider button controls the red value for the selected light point on a scale of 0 to 1 0 The Green slider button controls the green value for the selected light point on a scale of 0 to 1 0 The Blue slider button controls the blue value for the selected light point on a scale of 0 to 1 0 Specularity determines how sharp or diffuse an edge the light has at the selected light point Sets the shininess at a light point by determining how much light is reflected Intensity determines how bright the light is at the selected light point Clamp Diffuse Val sets the value of diffuse light from 0 to 1 0 for the entire geometry At 1 0 diffuse light is reflected off the entire surface At 0 no diffuse light is reflected Blur Image determines the softness or blur applied to the light Load Back Image adds a JPEG image to your lightmap background Overall file sizes are smaller than if you loaded a JPEG lightmap using the Light option 64 of 76 wy V lew p OI nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Spherize Back Image zooms and distorts the background image for a fish eye lens effect Num Diffuse Color sets the number of gradations of diffuse color values A higher number of gradations results in smoother transitions between shades of diffuse colors Num Specular Color sets the number of gradations of s
105. te Y rotates the selected object on the Y axis Rotate Z rotates the selected object on the Z axis Translate X translates moves the selected object on the X axis Translate Y translates the selected object on the Y axis Translate Z translates the selected object on the Z axis ooo ogo 9 909 09 09 Scale X scales the selected object on the X axis B Scale Y scales the selected object on the Y axis Scale Z scales the selected object on the Z axis Uniform Scale scales the selected object proportionally along the X Y and Z axes 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 54 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Global Parameters 5 Menu Render Mode assigns a rendering mode to the entire scene Default Set to LightmapTexture or the value from the mtx file Texture Textures are rendered but lightmaps are not Wire Only the wireframe is rendered Point Only vertexes are rendered Lightmap Lightmaps are rendered but textures are not LightmapTexture Everything is rendered DUET LightmapTexMod Everything is rendered but material color is burned into texture Shadow Radius 1 For a specific texture you can override this setting using the Rendering Mode option on Bound Shadow On the Textures 6 menu Shadow Position Y EmA a Corresponding XML tag RenderMode Shadow Opacity 0 85 Lightmap loads or cle
106. texture you want to analyze and compress Cancel Click Show Channels and then choose from a list of channels in the texture image you want to view RGB RGBA R G B A YCbCr Y Cb and Cr Reset View 000000 If you zoomed in or out on or moved a texture preview click Reset View to fit the texture into the preview window again Invert Alpha oo Add Alpha Channel displays a dialog box allowing you to choose an Alpha channel to HasAlpha ott add to the texture The Alpha channel acts as a mask Invert Alpha reapplies the Alpha Channel as a negative dark areas become light and vice versa TrixelsNT Global Quality 100 Y Channel Quality 400 HasAlpha applies the Alpha channel you selected with Add Alpha Channel to the L loaded texture The value is On if you have added an Alpha channel Choose Off to D0 Cb Channel Quality BEN disable the Alpha channel CF Channel Quality 100 JAlphachannelquaity 100 Click Compression to choose TrixelsNT Viewpoint s proprietary wavelet odate Preview compression or JPEG compression method Reset to Default Quality resets the texture map to its default quality setting Global Noise Use NoiseMap oft TrixelsNT Global Quality adjusts the total quality of the compressed texture image Noiss on Noissmap You can also adjust the compression of each channel using the controls below The n range is 0 to 100 default is 60 Noisemap Size Y
107. the rotation in the negative direction of the Y axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMinY Camera Rotation Y limits the rotation in the positive direction of the Z axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMaxY 56 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Camera Rotation Z limits the rotation in the negative direction of the Z axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMinZ Camera Rotation Z limits the rotation in the positive direction of the Z axis To adjust the setting click and drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 180 to 180 Corresponding XML tag CamRotMaxZ Min Camera Scale sets the minimum range for the field of view To adjust the setting drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 0 1 to 1000 Corresponding XML tag CamScaleMin Max Camera Scale sets the maximum range for the field of view To adjust the setting drag the shaded slider or double click the option and type a numerical value 0 1 to 1000 Corresponding XML tag CamScaleMax Min C
108. then click the shape you want to use for this hot spot Click Show Hot Spot Text to change this option to On Click Displayable Texture and click Load Select any JPEG file as the texture for this hot spot Now instead of displaying text when users point to or click the activation area the JPEG image displays 1999 2002 Viewpoint Corporation All rights reserved 30 of 76 wy View pol nt Viewpoint Scene Builder User Guide Chapter 6 Managing Animations About Animations Animation applications such as 3ds max typically provide a single animation timeline Web animations however usually require multiple timelines For example you might have an animation in 3ds max with a laptop computer opening and the screen turning on in a single timeline However in VET the two animations will be separate one for opening the laptop the other for turning it on With the ASE Behavior Editor you can convert single animation timelines into several enabling you to trigger them individually Furthermore Scene Builder s animation features enable you to organize and test imported animations Scene Builder lets you divide animations by keyframe This allows you to edit or add to the animations using Viewpoint s XML commands in the mtx file You can also test animations in Scene Builder by playing them frame by frame using the Time Scrubber option Note VET does not support wildcards for animations that use quaternions Such animations shou
109. thest sort rule forces all occluded surfaces to be rendered For the Center sort rule the visibility criteria depend on the center positions of bounding boxes Q What are the advantages of procedural lightmaps and how can I generate them A Procedural lightmaps add very little to the overall scene file size because they are created with X Y positions and RGB colors of up to ten lights that are scripted in the mtx file Regular lightmaps are 256x256 JPEG images that increase overall file size You can use an additional image as a background for a procedural lightmap but then the files size advantage might disappear Scene Builder includes a Lightmap Lab a simple authoring solution for procedural lightmaps Q Can I change the shape of an existing hot spot A Scene Builder does not provide such functionality You can easily change the hot spot shape for instance change a box to a sphere by manually editing an mtx file in a text or XML editor Q How do I load SWF animation files A You can use Macromedia Flash swf files as a background or foreground of the scene as a texture as a bumpmap or as a lightmap You cannot use them in alpha channels To load a swf file as a scene background 1 Click on an empty part of the background to make sure that no scene objects are selected 2 Click Load SWF on the Load 1 menu to add the Flash file By default the loaded swf file is rendered on the scene background 3 Tomake the SWF a
110. uilder User Guide Load Panorama loads one of three types of panoramic JPEG images e Cylindrical panoramas are generally converted from the QuickTime VR mov file format e Spherical panoramas are JPEGs converted from iPI X panoramic images e Flat panoramas are JPEG images used as a still scene background Load SWF loads a Macromedia Flash swf file Open MTX from URL enables you to open a VET scene directly from a URL Instances 2 Menu Delete Selected deletes from the scene the selected element and its related lightmaps bumpmaps and other applied effects Delete Selected Make Instance creates identical iterations of a selected object in the scene Any changes you make to one instance apply to all instances of that object Using this tool Clear All Collapsed for duplicated objects can reduce file size dramatically Collapse hides an instance and its subtree in a scene so that it is still contained within the Scene Builder repository but not rendered This is a cloaking command Corresponding XML tag Collapsed Clear All Collapsed uncollapses all geometries to make them visible in the scene Edge Antialias Visible works much like the collapse function above however you can also make the selected object invisible and remove it from a scene entirely Corresponding XML tag Visible When Backface Culling is Off the selected geometries are treated as doubled sided polygons Backface Cul
111. uilder offers some scene optimizing features but for more control over texture by texture settings and triangle count and to test streaming as various settings you can bring an mts file through Stream Tuning Studio For files you intend to optimize with Stream Tuning Studio publish with only the compression necessary to convert it to the MTS format To publish for use with Stream Tuning Studio e From the Publish 0 menu click Publish for Tuning Studio For more information see the Viewpoint Stream Tuning Studio User Guide available from the Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com You can also download the Stream Tuning Studio tool for free from this the Viewpoint Developer Central website http developer viewpoint com In the upper left corner click Create Content click Authoring and then click Authoring Tools to see links for this tool Creating a Default mtx File The Preferences 9 menu gives you the option to load or clear an mtx default file The most common use of a default file is to save custom global settings for reuse In other words your default file can be used as a template The default file can be a blank scene that has default parameters such as anti aliasing no lightmaps textures already set saving you time to configure those options every time you open a new file To save and load a custom default file 1 In Scene Builder set the global settings you want to save For instan
112. vely for the source of the pinned hot spot Corresponding XML tags SrcPinX SrcPinY Destination Pin X or Destination Pin Y sets the X or Y offset respectively for the destination of the pinned hot spot Corresponding XML tags DstPinX DstPinY Pin Source Coord and Pin Dest Coord specifies absolute or relative coordinates for the source and destination of the pinned hot spot Corresponding XML tag PinSrcCord PinDestCord Reset to Default Values resets hot spot settings to their original values Primitives 8 Menu Sphere creates a sphere in the center of the scene Cube creates a cube in the center of the scene Box creates a box in the center of the scene A box has more segments than a cube and behaves differently when transformations are applied Cylinder creates a cylinder in the center of the scene Cone creates a cone in the center of the scene Pyramid creates a pyramid in the center of the scene XZ Plane creates a horizontal plane in the center of the scene IRBSblution X and Y 20 l BEE olution X only 20 l XY Plane creates a vertical plane in the center of the scene MBBoiution Y ony 20 Show Resolution Options shows or hides the following three resolution options Be sure to set these options before you create a primitive from the options above Resolution X and Y is a slider that sets both X and Y resolution for the selected object Resolution al

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