#SwivelScript-X Section
11 messages in this thread
Hi Bruce,
As you found, the Excel Export Option in Swivel only gives the position of
objects in the World, and does not provide any information about the actual
construction of the objects. The pathform info is stored only in the Swivel
native file, in the resource fork of the file, in binary format….I do not
know how to access this data in a meaningful way. (But I'm open to suggestions!
😉 )
However, if you want to just bring the overall shape of the object into a
spreadsheet, instead of its cross-sectional pathform data, then there is a way
to achieve this. If you export your data in RIB format, a text file will be
produced which can be imported into Lotus 1-2-3 and also, I believe, Excel. Two
tips would be to import it as space-delimited text (ie, each "space" character
would mark a new column in the spreadsheet), and you might want to first open
the RIB file in a text editor to delete the header and shader info.
What you'll be left with is a series of rows, each row consisting of a series
of XYZ triples that describes each polygon that makes up the object. This data
can then be manipulated and brought back into Swivel via the PolyList option in
the Swivel Command Script.
This is a fascinating topic…what are you trying to accomplish?
Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Tech Support
There is 1 Reply.
John,
Thanks for your prompt reply. The first and most basic thing I would like to do
is create a shape in Canvas,e.g., and import it into Swivel through
Swivelizer. However, Swivelizer, places the pathform off center, that is, one
corner vertex of the converted pathform polygon is placed at the center of the
cross section window. This could be OK except I frequently chamfer the corners
in the top and side sections. This can make a weird surface. What I thought I
would try if I can get the pathform polygon points in a spread sheet and then
create a macro the would add a derived bias value to each point to move the
polygon to the center of the window. Also, I was thinking of trying some math
tricks to indulge some fantasies. I will try your suggestion and see if I can
get what I want.
Thanks again,
Bruce Sawyer
There is 1 Reply.
Hi Bruce,
Yes, I see what you mean…Swivelizer can be useful, but it's not as flexible
as using the Swivel Command Script. Hmmm…I wonder what would happen if you
took spreadsheet data that changed over time into Swivel this way, to create a
series of models that could morph in Macromedia Three-D…whew! Animated 3D
spreadheets!
Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Tech Support
There are 2 Replies.
In effect, this (animated spreadsheets) is what the never-released program
MICKEY did/does. And a bit like Wavefront channel math.
There is 1 Reply.
Was Mickey your project, Kevin? What was its main goal, features?
No Mickey was a program that was made by a fellow in San Diego ~~it was a
modeler and aniomation program with an interface that was clearly
spreadsheet-related. It was to be sold by… oh, what was that company down
there that made transputer boards for the Mac?
kb
Hi John,
Can you actually use a spreadsheet file to manipulate a file in Swivel? I'm
currently working on getting my FORTRAN vehicle simulation to manipulate a 3d
Swivel model of the vehicle to show actual vehicle behavior. It would be a lot
easier if I could just import spreadsheet data to animate the model.
Larry Furnari
P.S. Missed you guys at MacWorld!!! Why the no show?
There is 1 Reply.
Hi Larry,
Yes, external info can be brought into Swivel to manipulate both geometry and
motion. The key is the small white booklet "Swivel 3D Script Command Set" that
ships with the package.
Most, if not all, of Swivel's commands can be specified in a simple text file
that's imported as a "Swivel Command Script." This script is written in a text
editor, and can incorporate data either copied or imported from a spreadsheet.
Page 45 shows a small example of Command Scripts in use…it's a very powerful,
although littleknown option.
btw, if you're doing actual motion simulation, have you looked into a package
called "Working Model" from Knowledge Revolution? They're the folks who
produced "Interactive Physics." WM was released 2-3 months ago, for both
animators and mechanical engineers. Its motion scripts can be brought into
Macromedia Three-D, and Swivel models can then be animated and rendered. If
your work involves Xpos, Ypos, Zrot movement, then Working Model is very cool.
Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Tech Support
PS: Although Macromedia didn't bring its booth to MacWorld/Boston this year,
folks were all over the place showing MacroModel 1.5, Director, Smart 3D and
others…did you catch any demos of Smart 3D?
Thanks for all the info. I knew about the Script Command Set and am
in the process if modifying my FORTRAN simulation to write an output
file that I can then import into Swivel to animate a 3d model of my
vehicle. I just got confused when you talked about importing
spreadsheet data and thought there might be an easier way to do it
directly instead of writing the script command file.
I already have Working Model, but I haven't figured out how to get it
to output info such as absorbed power that I need. Also, it runs WAY
too slow to be able to model a complex vehicle, even on an 040. The
FORTRAN simulation takes around 2 minutes to simulate 20 seconds of
real time measuring every .001 seconds. But I have used it on
smaller models though I haven't linked to MM3d.
Is there a script command set for MM3d similar to Swivel? Can I write
the script files myself instead of having Working Model write them?
I'd like to animate MacroModel models brought into MM3d rather than
Swivel models since they look a lot better.
I didn't see demos of any of your software at MacWorld, even though I was there
for the whole show. I'm bummed that I missed Smart 3d. Where was your stuff
being shown?
Larry Furnari
There is 1 Reply.
Well, it *is* possible, in a way, to write directly for Macromedia
Three-D…take a gander at any 3D Works file. It's in text format.
The first section describes the default attributes of various
objects. The latter section describes how they act over time.
The action is in the lines that begin with a "k", for keyframe. This
is where positional data (as well as all other types of data) are
stored for each frame. There are also a few other parameters that
store type of tweening (linear, spline, etc), ease-ins, etc for each
keyframe.
I've only done a little bit of work with this stuff, but it's the
same approach that the Knowledge Revolution folks take. The
formatting is the tough part, although this would just take patience
to implement. Unfortunately, I don't know of a full documentation of
the file format…I've just doped parts of it out, by twiddling the
3D Works interface, saving, and seeing what the text file says.
As far as MacWorld/Boston, the only booth I remember is the NEC
area…I think there were three or four others, too.
Have you considered contacting Knowledge Revolution directly? They
might have a lead on the absorbed power problem…may save a bit of
effort, and I'm sure they'd also be interested in the work you're
doing.
Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Tech Support
There is 1 Reply.
An important additional thing to remember is that some parts of a MM3D
script just don't seem to matter. Zero, one, eleventy-jillion… the
values are just ignored and MM3D will just write "0" or whatever on
every output. Some values ARE preserved, yet still seem to be
ignored. And some values are used, but recalculated by MM3D so who
cares what you write in there.
Conversely, it also possible to set some useful values in the
script file that you just CAN'T set from within the MM3D program
itself… go figure. kb