#Real 3D ???
To those of you particularly interested in Real 3D's scripting ability:
Even though I'm very interested in seeing the prog, I'm pretty happy with
Imagine (if they would just get ver 3 out the door… ). One thing for those
of you currently using Imagine to check out, if you need mathematical motion
and have programming experience is the "Imagine Staging language" (version 1.4
or higher). It's freeware, I believe, and should be available on some DL here
(I got mine on Portal).
The program is in 2 parts: one "decompiles" an Imagine staging file
into an ASCII text file that is pretty easy to read; the second bit of code
"recompiles" the text file to a staging file. Even without programming
routines to write text files, it's very useful. Example: need to adjust the
timing on 15 objects, or replace a slew of lo-res "actors" with the final
versions? Just generate the ASCII file, and do a search-and-replace with a
text editor (no more hours of mouse-clicking). And it takes about 5 seconds to
de- or re- compile a complex staging file (on an '040).
The big possibilities are in writing not-to-difficult code (even in
AREXX) to generate as many keyframe tweens, FX, or whatever as you need to
model physical properties. It won't change object structure, though, so I
guess fluid dynamics would be a bear. But even without programming, it's a
utility any Imagineer should try.
Jeff Brown, Fire Mist Media