CompuServe Thread

My Wishlist…

16 messages in this thread
#92876From: David StinnettMar 22, 1994 7:17 PM
Wishes part 2… (continued) – a modify material command that you can select, then click on an object or element and it A: sends you to the material editor and automatically loads the object's material, or B: brings up a mat selection if theres more than one material in the object, then sends you to the mat edit. – would prefer it if the material assign's conformation box had a choose button that would let you change the material, then assign it right there, instead of having to select choose and then assign. (the only time you need to choose a material is if your going to assign it, right?) – A "view" button in the select material box that could render a sample sphere right there on your main display would be very cool, I think. – the ability to display a bitmap proxy on a mapping icon, and toggle it on and off with a key. This would be an immense help in lining up tex maps. – a flip option (vert and horiz) for bitmaps in video post. Actually, in general, I'd like to see more control over things like RGB values and brightness at the individual entry level in VP. – it would be great to be able to move objects in a camera view. – have a user selectable background color for the mat edit sample boxes. This would give a much better feel for the material in the context of the scene, especialy with transparent materials. – in the track info, an on-off or enable-disable button that would turn a selected key(s) on or off, and therefore have the KF ignore those keys until turned back on. This would make it easier to tweak an animation and view it from different angles, before commiting to deleting keys. – be able to switch to box mode while the key or track info dialogues are open. (I always forget to make sure I'm in box mode before making changes, until I hit play and then have to cancel out, switch to box, then make the changes again, just to see the anim full speed before commiting to changes. – an option to render the subtree when doing a "render object". – in the mat edit, it would be nice if the rendered samples weren't cleared before the next render. It would be easier to see small changes if the sphere overwrote the previous one like a normal framebuffer render. – be able to change a spotlight view into a like user view, like you can do with a camera view. – having the present 3ds or prj filename displayed on top of the screen would be helpful, instead of having to select "save" or something to see what file is open. – on bend operations, it would be great to be able to bend something in one direction, and then be able to bend it back without having it distort. Maybe there's some way to remember the last bend so the next bend doesn't start from scratch with the new bounding box for the object or verts or whatever. – this one may be tough, but it would be a wonderful thing (at least for me). Have video post be able to read the differences in bitmap backgrounds from frame to frame, and put out fielded final frames of that background. – in the KF, have alt+> (next keyframe) skip keyframes of hidden objects. Well, that's it for now. I'll probably have a few more by apr. 1st. Thanx, David
#92942From: David J. MarksMar 23, 1994 8:42 AM
Wow! Well thought and very useful wishes. Based on everyone's wishes we should have one heck of an R4. (Gary's crew has a lot of work ahead!)
#92945From: David RhotenMar 23, 1994 8:53 AM
My, my. A "whale" of a wishlist! <groan – sorry> Some good ideas! Dave
#92960From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]Mar 23, 1994 10:00 AM
David, << more wishes pg 2 >> got it. jonas[adesk]
#93732From: Richard CookMar 27, 1994 11:20 AM
Jonas, A couple more for your list <g>… 1) being able to specify text to be a specific font-size. At the moment the definition is purely the y-height of the text, and so varies dependon on whether what you're typing does/does not have ascenders or descenders. 2) rather than having Pivot Points, being able to specify a Pivot *Line*. I know of very little in the world that pivots around a point – most things pivot around a hinge LINE, or a conbination of lines. And you can guarantee that these lines aren't parallel with the current x/y/z axes! Ta muchly, RAC (at 16:17 BST 27-Mar-94)
#93992From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]Mar 28, 1994 11:54 AM
Richard, << wishes … >> got 'em.. jonas[adesk]
#94610From: Marion K. MarksMar 30, 1994 5:29 PM
Agreed about your #1 (font sizing)! Re: your #2: the Pivot Point is actually the intersection of three Pivot Lines. And in reality, all the rotations you do to an object in a given rotation key work out to a single rotation around a Pivot Line formed by connecting the Pivot Point and a point at coordinates relative to it and specified by the X, Y, and Z fields in the Key Info dialog. The actual rotation occurs "Angle" degrees about that Pivot Line. What's needed is a way to make this a lot more accessible in the KF's user-interface.
#95336From: Richard CookApr 4, 1994 1:02 PM
Marion, <more accessible> is certainly the key here! When I consider most man-mad structures, most of them use hinge-lines inherent in the structure, so what I'm after is something sort of built-into the structure I create in 3DS, to mimic these! I'm getting p******d off trying to rotate a flap or a door around 3 axes when really all I want is to swing it in a plane that ain't X/Y/Z! Now in see-what-happens-in-R4 mode <g>. RAC (at 18:38 BST 04-Apr-94)
#95367From: Marion K. MarksApr 4, 1994 3:40 PM
Oh! Richard, are you familiar with the difference between local and global coordinates? You can rotate a door or hinge or flap or whatever in the 3D Editor at the Element, Face, or Vertex level (but not at the OBJECT level), and the local coords will remain in their proper position for X/Y/Z rotations in the KF! Let's say you have a door you've built in the Editor by Creating a Box. You want to rotate it on its edge where hinges would go. You also want the door itself to be at an angle relative to the rest of the scene (say, the door is in a wall that is at a 30-degree angle to the room). If you use Modify/Object/Rotate to rotate the door 30 degrees in the Editor, the door will be offset 30 degrees to the KF's Object/Rotate command. But if you use Modify/Element/Rotate instead, then the local coordinates are rotated with the door, and the KF's Object/Rotate commands will rotate the door around its OWN ORIGINAL axes!
#95770From: Richard CookApr 6, 1994 3:30 PM
Marion, I'm in *I'm not sure what you mean but I'll try it* mode! It takes a bit of translating of what I think 3DS thinks is an object, and now calling it an element! I think the fact that we both have these problems, and that the ways around them are so obscure, really says it's an are that needs addressing in R4. If Gary and the rest start looking at Inverse Kinematics at all, they're going to HAVE to look at pivot/hinge-LINES anyway, so maybe we'll be lucky <g>!! Ta for the pointer tho' RAC (at 20:15 BST 06-Apr-94)
#95424From: John K. JordanApr 4, 1994 10:05 PM
>>rotations around an arbitrary axis… Richard, if I understand you correctly, there is an easy way to rotate something around and arbitrary axis. Say you have a rudder on the tail of an airplane that is angled somewhat with respect to everything. You don't mention if you are wanting to rotate in the Editor or the Keyframer, so I'll assume you're talking about animating in the KF. *IF* you've built your rudder relative to an ortho view (with the hinge oriented to a std axis, say vertical) and have nudged it around into position on the airplane and now you want to swing it on its hinge to animate, simply choose Hieararchy/Object Pivot, click on the object, choose the view that looks *down* the hinge, and click to reset the pivot point in the middle of the hinge. Then Rotate away. If your object was NOT created with the hinge parallel to X/Y/Z axis, you can Rotate Absolute in a user view in the keyframer by setting the user view so it is looking down the hinge. Since the KF is missing a Display/UserView/Align, you can rotate by eye till it looks right. However, what I usually do in this case is (having made sure I've built at least one face in the object perpendicular to the axis of the hinge) align a user view in the Editor to that face, click on the user view icon and remember the H&V values at the top of the screen, then go to the KF and rotate the user view until the H&V match those of the Editor. Now set the pivot point in the user view and Rotate Absolute. This sounds more confusing that it actually is! J K J
#95771From: Richard CookApr 6, 1994 3:30 PM
John, This is exactly the stuff that I'm trying to do! If you consider an aileron, it's swept up by the dihedral and swept back by the wing-sweep, so its hinge-line has got NO relation to any x/y/z axis – and then there's the one on the other side as well! Add in aircraft pitch/roll/yaw, and it gets real complicated! Especially when it could be as simple as Object Rotate AboutCentrePoint AboutHingeLine AboutPivotPoint and then supply the number of degrees – make the computer do the maths, that's what it's there for! Ta for the pointer, I'll try your method and Marion's, while waiting for R4! RAC (at 20:22 BST 06-Apr-94)
#95785From: Gus GrubbaApr 6, 1994 5:28 PM
>> If you consider an aileron, it's swept up by the dihedral and swept >> back by the wing-sweep I have solved that exact problem but I do it through a KXP. I collect data from a flight recorder and duplicate the several movements (aircraft position, control surfaces, etc.) in the keyframer.
#95425From: John K. JordanApr 4, 1994 10:18 PM
>>rotation addendum… Richard, I forgot to mention one thing. If you need to rotate an object that wasn't created with its hinge aligned with an X/Y/Z axis or one whose Xform has been modified, you can easily realign the Xform then use the easier first method I mentioned. Just align a user view looking down the hinge, create a box IN the user viewport, attach the object to the box and then detach the box and delete it. This resets the Xform of the orig. object to that of the box (aligned to the user view). Then you can place the pivot point in the KF and Rotate (not absolute) in any view. Holler if you can't get this to work or if there is more to your story! J K J
#95772From: Richard CookApr 6, 1994 3:30 PM
John, Looks like I've got a busy few days ahead! Ta, RAC (at 20:23 BST 06-Apr-94)
#92996From: MARK A. MEIERMar 23, 1994 12:26 PM
Those were GREAT suggestions. R4 will be much better if your ideas are incorporated. I was gonna single out a few, but I like them all! Mark