CompuServe Messages

Hello from the Sony Monster Sound Machine at Epcot in Orlando! This is where the Autodesk press reception is tonight. About 300 of us are here, scarfing down little poopoos and swilling bear. What are we here for? What else? The future of all software is in component technology. That said, we've created a new Release of 3D Studio that is entirely component-based. "3DSr4… The Plug-In Release" R4 demonstrates Autodesk and the Yost Group's deep commitment to the IPAS plug-in philosophy. A very powerful set of new applications have been created to give 3DSers tools that they've been asking for since R3 was launched in October, '93. Robust Inverse Kinematics, Built-in Scripting, Spline-Patch Modeling, Perspective Matching, and Interactive Previewing were the five top items on the wishlists we've received. Plus, the IPAS interface to 3DS (now upgraded to IPAS4), has been significantly enhanced. Wishlist items from developers around the world have been implemented to make new types of IPAS routines possible in 1994 and 1995. These are feature-rich production tools… each one an entirely new and complete application. I'm heartened by all the IPAS developers who are showing their plug-ins at Siggraph this year. The 3DSr4 plug-in release is just one of a big family of extremely cool IPAS routines that you'll see soon. Interactive puppeteering, bone-based skeletal animation, dynamics simulations, image processing etc etc have made all the work that we've put into implementing the IPAS interface worthwhile. That said, I thought you'd like to see what R4 has in store for you. Check it out! – G 3D Studio Release 4 — Preliminary Feature Set — 7/25/94 Inverse Kinematics KXP Plug-in – Manipulate a chain of linked objects with true 3D inverse kinematics functionality in real-time. – Both sliding and revolving joints can be specified – Uses full 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) kinematics, for position and roll, pitch and yaw. – Any DOF can be limited to a range. For example: -10.0 to 10.0 for position or -45deg to 45deg for rotation. – Eases can be specified for each DOF so objects can slow down towards their constraint point – Precedences can be set for each DOF to provide an order for all the DOFs in the chain. The DOF with the highest precedence is used first in the attempt to solve the optimal end-effector kinematic solution. – Each DOF has its own 'damping' factor. This attenuates the motion of the DOF so that other DOFs with lower precedence can contribute to the solution. – Establish keyframes dynamically while moving the kinematic chain in real-time – Copy joint parameters from one hierarchy to another – The IK solution can be affected by global parameters such as maximum iteration and threshold – Joint constraints can be interactively set while viewing and manipulating the entire rendered hierarchy in real-time. – Supports "end effector association" for precise mechanical motions, with absolute or relative association – Allows automatic object tracking so your objects can be constrained to "look at" other objects – Adjustable frame-per-second playback speed for precise motion tests – Eliminates unnecessary track complexity through keyframe reduction technology – Stores all the IK joint constraint data within the .3DS or .PRJ file – Key reduction and inverse kinematics computation can be controlled by the user. – View objects in skeletal, box, wireframe mesh or gouraud- shaded form, with or without their axis tripods displayed – Complete viewport controls for viewing, panning, rotating, changing viewports, plus fast keyboard equivalents Bezier-Patch Modeler PXP Plug-in – New modeling module with full screen interface which matches the look and feel of the original 3D Editor – Ability to rapidly sculpt complex 3D forms from rectangular or cylindrical patches – View-dependent tessellation mode for dynamically refining object geometry based on camera distance. – User-adjustable detail level for fine control of mesh display while modeling – Bezier patches can be tessellated into polygons – Patches have their own Snap and grid controls – Patches can be deformed with local control – Selection sets of control vertices are supported – Patches can be snapped to existing 3D Studio geometry – Adjacent patches can be "stitched together" without gaps – Supports optional automatic (in addition to parametric) texture map assignment – Combine patches with existing polygonal meshes in 3D Editor – Bezier patch data is saved within the .3DS or .PRJ file. Keyframe Scripting Language KXP Plug-In – Compose command scripts using BASIC-like interpreter – More than 80 functions are included. – Extends the built in text editor of 3D Studio with new drop- down menus and icons – Functions for collision detection are built-in. 4. Any combination of the 6 possible DOFs can be 'turned on' thus allowing the joint to move in correspondence with that DOF. – Sample scripts demonstrate: elementary physics, collision detection, and macro robotics – A sample morph target manager (with lip sync assistant) application is included – Three buffers included — two for scripts and a third for console input – Scripts can be embedded into individual objects. For example, multiple scripts which control the behavior of an object or hierarchy can be formally attached to the geometry, which can then be merged into any scene intact. – Unlimited numeric and string variables are supported. – Numerical arrays can be up to three dimensions. String arrays can be up to two dimensions. – Supports user-definable data structures (much like "C"). Structures can contain any data type (including arrays) and the structures themselves can be arrayed. – Numerous commands for controlling structure flow (e.g. Input, For/Next) – Ascii and binary disk i/o is supported for file manipulation under script control. – Automatic dialog box creation using 3D Studio dialog box UI. – Supports canned, high-level UI dialogs (ie, a generic INPUT dialog, file selector, object selector, material selector, color selector, etc.) – A lower-level function library for supporting any type of custom interfaces created with the 3DE.EXE resource editor freeware (available on Compuserve) – Ability to move, rotate, position, hide or morph objects, set eases, continuity, tension, looping, etc. – Complete control over all types of keyframes for all types of entities – Collections of heavily documented, portable subroutines ready to be pasted into your own scripts are also included. Fast Preview Rendering KXP and PXP Plug-Ins – Works in both the Editor and Keyframer, for modeling or animation previews – Supports wireframe, flat, and Gouraud shading (with Phong highlights) – Establish new camera position interactively while viewing the rendered scene. – Can quickly create full-color preview flics in the keyframer. – Near real-time performance (dependant upon dataset size and system cpu type) – VTR style controls allow you to view animation conveniently EPS Postscript Output Plug-in – Outputs an EPS file as a raster result – Can include TIFF image for preview – User controls over dimensions and units – Works transparently by just specifying .EPS output extension Perspective Matcher – Lets you easily set up 3DS cameras for rendering models over scanned photographs with matching camera perspective – Easy-to-use interface lets you graphically position perspective lines over digitized photographs Speed optimizations and Vibrant Support – 100x speedup in the 3D Editor when copying, arraying, moving, deleting, hiding and unhiding large numbers of objects. It's now practical to work with over 1000 active objects in the system at once, even on a 486/33. – A new "null" display mode can be used to 3DS to run as a background process under Windows with all display cards. – Dozens of new display drivers are included. INSTALL additions – Separate options for installing all of 3D Studio, support files and sample files separately – ideal for network installations. – New sample files for above plug-ins. New CD-ROM version available so the program can be installed automatically off the CD New Configuration options – Switch to set the Keyframer into Field mode instead of Frame mode (to visualize each field of an animation) – Ability to set IPAS routines and network project files to read-only status for Lantastic networks to enhance performance – Text Editor command options for compatibility with commonly- used Windows editor cut/paste commands. IPAS enhancements – The Renderer's Z-buffer is now available for IXP's to use for depth-of-field and other distance-based image-processing effects. – Z-buffer information can be exported as a bitmap file. – All viewport info, such as resolution, dimensions, and type can be acquired by the plug-in to emulate 3DS viewports exactly. – Plug-ins can automatically do a Hold or Fetch operations to auto