RE: Animations and performer
Tanaka Ken H Contr AFRL/BNG (Ken.Tanaka++at++williams.af.mil)
Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:28:00 -0700
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Soren Vorre Therkildsen [SMTP:svorre++at++daimi.au.dk]
> Sent: Thursday, April 29, 1999 1:53 AM
> To: info-performer++at++sgi.com
> Subject: Animations and performer
>
>
> Hi All.
>
> I need some advice.
>
> If I would like to show an animated model in
> my performer application ex. a vrml2.0 model,
> what would be the best way to reach this goal.
>
> Has anyone out there successfully loaded and
> "played" an animated a model (in Performer)
> made by a commercially available program like
> ex. 3D-studio?
>
> I have looked at a package from OpenWorlds for
> loading vrml models, which is a bit EXPENSIVE,
> there must be other options.
>
I've had good results in animating aircraft instruments with Performer. The
actual geometry was mainly created with Centric Software's Designer's
Workbench, a 3D modelling program. Rather than use Centric's runtime
animation option (which incurs a runtime licensing fee) we provide all the
motion ourselves with Performer. Designer's Workbench lets us design and
group nodes in a fashion that is the same structure as if we had created it
purely with Performer library calls. This includes naming nodes
(descriptively and uniquely) in DWB during design. During runtime we load
in the .dwb model and can use Performer's find capability to locate nodes of
interest by name. At this point we insert DCS nodes between the main model
and the geometry to be animated. During execution, pointers to the inserted
DCS nodes are passed to subroutines that turn our variables into appropriate
instrument movements.
The motions we want are fairly simple, but I don't see why the same
technique wouldn't work for more complex animations.
Ken Tanaka
Air Force Research Laboratory Phone: 602 988 9773 x 413
Raytheon/Boeing/Lockheed-Martin Fax: 602 988 3556
Email: ken.tanaka++at++williams.af.mil
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on Thu Apr 29 1999 - 10:28:25 PDT