CompuServe Messages

Mike, MK> I guess there's then no way to do flybys or other such stuff Vistapro has the ability to render sequences of images from an ascii based scripting language similar (but not the same) to 3DS's .VUE files (see pages B-8 through b-10 in the 3DS manual). I plan to make a utility that will translate 3DS's .VUE format scripts to Vistapro's SCR format. This will give you the ability to render from exactly the same camera positions in each program. Using a Vistapro DXF file as a matte in 3DS gives you the ability to have objects disappear behind parts of the landscape (the matte). Anywhere the matte is "visible" (not obscured by a foreground object) will be transparent — you will see Vistapro's background image. Anywhere an object disappears behind the matte it will appear as if it's disappearing behind the background Vistapro image. The disappearance of objects won't be perfect since Vistapro will render with small details that aren't in the DXF file, but it should be accurate enough for many situations. The current shipping version of Vistapro is 3.05. It does NOT have the DXF export code. 4.0 (which will have the DXF code and much more) won't ship until sometime next year. In the interim VRLI may make available a version with the DXF output (and some of the other enhancements I mentioned before) for 3DS users. There's no release date set yet — it depends, in part, on what new features 3DS user's require. VRLI will probably charge a small amount for the DXF release. John.