#VRML with CDK.
9 messages in this thread
Is anyone out there working with VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)
in CDK? Or does it not make sense to develop in CDK (I am still a little green
on all of the details for VRML.)
I have read that Autodesk is planning to give an IPAS plug-in for R4 of 3DS
that will allow the creation of VRML environments (before the release of MAX.)
Hi there,
I've been surfing around looking for VRML software. Autodesk has already made
the VRML.PXP available at their www site, calling it the "3D Studio R4 to VRML
1.0 converter", and it works quite well (as in simple and easy), and the files
it produces are actually viewable in VRML viewing programs (unlike some other
file types which seem to crash or lock up a lot). The release I downloaded was
version 1.1 of Aug 15/95, it may have been updated since then. It was only 49k
file size.
It may even be in the Compuserve IPAS library, but I don't know for sure. Drop
me a line if you can't find it or can't get on the web, and I'll send it to
you.
regards, Gary
Thanks for the info. Gary….
I am going to search the web sight (which I have not yet done) after
checking the compserve IPAS section.
Guess I should have done my homework. 😐
Thanks again!
Gary,
I just checked the IPAS section on compuserve and it did not have the
IPAS VRML…. come to think of it, I remember checking for all keywords
releated to VRML, and the only match that comes up is for Microngreen down
in florida (which by the way, is a developer using CDK.)
* You mentioned that you have a VRML viewer… can you lend me a tip on
where I might download a viewer? Are you working with Autodesk's CDK?
* I am starting a center in Minneapolis for creating full scale mock-ups of
machine designs' & architecture using CDK & 3DS.
Hi Kerwin,
The site with the most comprehensive list of VRML sites that I've found is:
http://www.paperinc.com/architec.html
This page has a lot of interesting links that will take you quite a while to
check out.
I haven't really found a viewer that I'm happy with yet, altho' I'm still
fooling around with a bunch. You could even try downloading VISCIS, the virtual
viewer for Compuserve, tho it's not VRML as such.
I'm fiddling with WebFX, the CDK Navflyer (from Microngreen), and Homespace
Builder at the moment. I don't have the CDK, so I've been looking for ways to
create worlds without paying money up front (virtual cheapness, buying 3DS blew
the budget), that's one reason why I like the VRML.PXP program, since it links
to 3D Studio, which will hopefully negate any need for another modelling
program.
Your center in Minneapolis sounds interesting. I think VRML has a great
potential for allowing architectural and engineering clients to view their
projects on their own, at their own convenience and location, or in
collaboration with the arch/eng's,. And when we can go surfing through the
cable t.v. bandwidth, this field will really explode. Right now everything I've
seen, even running locally on my hard drive, seems pathetically slow, but then
I'm nuts for fast computer visuals.
If you're going to run any of this stuff under Windows 3.1 you'll need to
upgrade with WIN32S and WinG if you haven't already. If you're on any other
platform I can't help other than in principle. <g>
Anyway, that's about it for now. If you have any other questions, or need some
help, let me know. Any wild discoveries on your part or mine would be nice to
be shared…
Although it would be preferable IMHO to keep this thread going in this forum, I
don't check my Compuserve account as often as my Internet account, so if you
had anything time-sensitive or private you could also e-mail me at:
Gary_Sim@mindlink.bc.ca
I hope to have a VRML web site up there in the next few weeks, as part of my
home page design project in the works.
Bye from Vancouver, Canada,
Gary
<< The site with the most comprehensive list of VRML sites that I've found is:
>>
3D Studio R4 to VRML 1.0 Converter Release 1.1 Product Information
Please check out http://www.autodesk.com/prod/mm/vrmlconv.htm.
Become a Convert
This is the home of Autodesk's 3D Studio to VRML 1.0 Converter. It's an IPAS
module that runs only under 3D Studio Release 4. The VRML 1.0 Converter
converts 3D Studio objects (including meshes and lights) into VRML 1.0 standard
format.
jonas[adesk]
Hi there,
thanks for jumping in! I downloaded VRML.ZIP and installed the IPAS, it works
great! Plug-ins win again…
I'm trying to go cheap on VRML and save up for MAX, so solutions like VRML.PXP
are just the ticket for me right now…
Regards, Gary
PMFJI
I saw you were checking out our VRML support on NAVFlyer. I would be very
interested for some feedback, if you could email me your phone number I would
like to chat for a few minutes. Of course performance speeds are at the top of
my list.
We have some nice projects going currently with a few architects building some
3D pages on their web site that can be accessed through our web page soon (as
soon as they are through final approval suposedly this friday) so keep an eye
out for them. One is an interesting one of a Brain Center addition to a
hospital with a large portion of the surrounding area included. Since NAVFlyer
supports downloading either VRML, DXF or 3DS files I am not sure which format
they will end up using on the posted version, I suspect 3DS instead of VRML.
But ALL these file formats can be used with Netscape and NAVFlyer. You must
configure Netscape to use NAVFlyer as a browser whenever you download a DXF,3DS
or WRL (VRML) file from someones HTML page. Then NAVFleyr launches directly
from Netscape when the 3D file is "clicked on". Let me know if you need help in
doing this.
Thanks for the interest and please email me if you would like to chat.
Angela Pate
MicronGreen
Hello Angela
No worries about jumping in, we need as many people as we can get huddled
around the VRML campfire out here on the frontier!
I've been cruising around the net downloading misc. browsers and trying them
out, but real life keeps getting in the way, especially recently. I work for a
firm of architects in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Interestingly, much of our work
is in healthcare, we've done everything from entire hospitals down to renos
which include Open Heart Surgery suite, angiography, CAT scan rooms, and so on.
We've been really busy recently, so I confess I haven't done much about using
your browser since downloading it. I installed it and took it for a spin, but
that's about it. That aside, I'd be happy to talk to you about it or VRML in
general. I've been using 3D Studio for 3 years, and have modeled a number of
our projects with it, including a $13,000,000.00 addition to a hospital in
Williams Lake, and various other healthcare and commercial jobs.
I have an Internet account ( Gary_Sim@mindlink.bc.ca ) but I'm still in the
process of building my home pages. I guess I'm being stalled by
techno-overkill, since I want to not only have graphics, but sound, animations,
and VRML models, and getting it all figured out and authored is taking longer
than I would like. Sigh.
I won't have a problem getting Netscape to work with VRML browsers. Time is the
problem. I've downloaded the Netscape 2.0 browser, haven't even gotten around
to installing it and taking it for a spin!
For my purposes, 3DS would be the ideal format for a VRML browser, but I
suspect that it would be a niche market on the Net in general.
Anyway, I'd be happy to talk to you about any of this. My number at work is
(604) 669-2224, home is (604) 688-1644. We just cranked a couple of projects
out to tender, so my time is free-er for the moment than it has been for some
time. Our office is days away from opening its own Internet account, for which
I'm working on some WWW page designs. Since some of our clients are in Europe,
I'm going to try and get a VRML file or two up and running in this account as
well. I think that having our clients fly themselves through their projects
would be Tres cool!
I'd be interested in seeing any VRML pages you have up and running
architecturally, a demo might well help me with my cause at the office (heh,
heh, architects can be so Parallel-ruled…)
Thanks for writing,
Regards, Gary Sim