After not really concentrating on this project for the last month or so since the previous project deadline was set, I have not really progressed as far as I would have liked. There are many things I want to be able to do but I don’t have the time / desire / knowledge to execute them.
So far I have imported my model into Vizard I managed to control of the ball you use to move over the cubes. I followed the move tutorial on the WorldViz but had to change the ‘move’ instruction to ‘translate’ so that it adds a number to its position rather than move it to a specified point each time. So you have free roaming environment.
Next on the list of things to do is get some kind of collision detection going on between cube and ball, then once that has been achieved I can work out how to get the cube to change colour and play a sound.
A few options are available for navigation of this, what I want to do is have a fixed camera position and you control the ball from a bird’s eye position. All I have managed to do so far is create a ‘window’ that looks down on the environment. This is a small updating image located in the top right of the main window.
I wanted to have 3D sound so as you move through the environment playing sounds, they appear to go behind you. Problems with this include no adequate speakers in the 3D projector room and the facet that the control system with the ball would have to change so the camera is a fixed distance behind the ball and translates through the environment accordingly. The sound itself is not complicated as their is a specific tutorial addressing 3D sound.
One more problem I have just realised is that my model of many cubes is interpreted as a single model, so currently I am re-importing a single cube and placing instances of it around the environment.
I may end up just having one cube that does some stuff but not very well… which is not really what I want but lack of anything better may preclude the possibility of a good final presentation.
I have just finished messing around in 3DS Max for the day. It’s very early in the morning but it seems to be when I do my best work. I created some illuminating shapes using V-Ray and then managed to create chrome and glass materials and apply them to some objects. What I can’t figure out is why there is a cloudy effect on the plane underneath. I thought it was because of refraction through the glass as when I advanced the material more, the clouds suddenly appeared. Strange. I don’t like them.
Anyway, here is what I’ve done.
Thanks to a tutorial from Russell Smith here I have finally been able to create a very nice reflective effect in 3DS Max. Now I’m just messing about with materials, colours and looking at V-Ray which I have just installed. Sooo many options!
Here’s what I’ve done so far, the third one using V-Ray and the last one using Mental-Ray.
So when I should be coding php or learning Python (on my own) I am in fact just pissing about in 3D Max. I managed to get hold of the V-Ray rendering engine and followed some tutorials of glass and things. Really I just wanted to make a cool wallpaper…
I’m still working on that, but here’s what I’ve come up with so far.
Here are some more image renders from 3DS Max including a ball baring to show a character involved in the scene.
Since these images I have been informed that the camera will be the character and moving the camera around will be the only visual interaction with the scene – to the best of my understanding.
A concept I was thinking about incorporating is the ‘Super Monkey Ball’ style of control whereby you move the environment around and the ball moves over it.
Without knowing what is and isn’t possible within the constraints of the programme, its REALLY difficult to come up with viable concepts.
Get ready for many more pun-laden post titles as a new project begins.
‘Virtual Environments’ sounds like a lot of fun, using the CAVE 3D projector and imagining different ways to use the 3D landscape while trying to incorporate user interaction into the mix too.
I wanted to use sound in my design so I was thinking about ways to make that sound interactive as opposed to just have it louder or quieter depending on where you are within the scene. After a few initial concepts have been discussed, I am going to pursue a cube related theme whereby the user will be in control of a small character who runs and jumps across cubes within a 3D field. When it runs over a surface it lights up and plays a sound.
The options to consider are whether that sound is an instrument, a loop of one instrument or a loop of many. I have also been thinking about using single words so that the user is able to create phrases and sentences or if each surface plays a clip from a speech.
All these things have to be decided on so while I am thinking about those I’m using my new found 3DS Max skills and creating some basic prototypes and visual concepts to help me decided on the scene the cubes will be set / arranged in.
Here are some images of today’s work:
