Re: MultiGen templates, Perfly and pfBillboard

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Marcus Barnes (marcus++at++multigen.com)
Wed, 21 Feb 1996 12:14:27 -0800

On Feb 20, 11:23pm, Lamar Harrell wrote:
> Subject: MultiGen templates, Perfly and pfBillboard
>
> Hello Performer Types,
>
> I'd like to know how to create a pfBillboard in MultiGen which will
> rotate about a point in Perfly (Performer 1.2 or 2.0).
>
> By turning on the template/axis flag in the polygon attribute pages
> in Multigen, vertical pfBillboards that rotate about the Z axis work
> fine in Perfly. However, I cannot seem to get the template/point
> flag to work.

The "template point" flag is not supported by the loader. A complete feature
list is in its documentation file:

    /usr/share/Performer/src/lib/libpfdb/libpfflt/README.FLT.R14_2

This is because OpenFlight has only one "point" type and I've yet to get a
concensus on which kind of Performer point billboard should be created:
PFBB_POINT_ROT_EYE or PFBB_POINT_ROT_WORLD. My feeling is to support
PFBB_POINT_ROT_WORLD since I believe this is the more common usage. Email
response to me on this feature is welcome :)

... and expect the next version of OpenFlight to support both point types :)

> My goal is to make a couple words that always face the viewpoint in the
> virtual environment. Words that lay flat on the terrain but rotate
> themselves about the Z axis with respect to the viewer would also be
> lovely.
>
> Might there be a special code I can put on the Multigen polygon
> attribute page (so I don't have to alter perfly or the loader yet)?

Partly, yes. Model your point billboard polygons as "template axis" under a
unique object. In the object comments, specify the kind of rotation, axis, etc
that you want. In your application enable the loader's callback function
(PFFLT_REGISTER_NODE) and when you encounter a CB_OBJECT case with your
comments simply make calls to the associated pfBillboard node to change it from
axis to point according to the information you parse from those object
comments.

> Lamar
> harrell++at++vsl.ist.ucf.edu
> ___________________________________________.
>
>-- End of excerpt from Lamar Harrell

Regards.

--
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