Exploring Director 3D: The Future of Interactive Technology and Online Standards

1. CO42002 MT4 Unit 5 Director 3D compared to Web3D

2. Is Interactive Dead? • http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/interactive.html (Issue 1.01 - Mar/Apr 1993 accessed 3/2/2003) was published ten years ago, and describes a fairly crass vision of the future. • Do you think our understanding of what users want from interactive technology in the home has changed?

3. De Facto or De Jure Standards on the Internet • The Web has a history of giving things away for free to establish standards. • Read the Dialogues2000 Convergence (1995) Report pp19-20 • How right did they get it? • In business would this report be more, or less relevant/useful than academic literature? • Think about Macromedia Flash • Ubiquity? Usability?

4. Schedule • What makes for an online standard • Overview of Director 3D tutorial • 3D constructs supported in Director • Break • Havoc – Physics meets 3D • Future Developments in Web3D, X3D • Tutorials – Director 3D

5. Learning Outcomes • By the end of this unit you should be able to • Implement and deliver a simple 3D world in Director • Contrast Director 3D with VRML & X3D • Evaluate how online 3D standards will evolve • Which contributes to the module learning outcomes • Analyse trends in the architecture of WWW browsers and plug-ins (assessed in both coursework and exam) • Design, produce, test and evaluate a multimedia educational application including 3D and audiovisual content and deliver it through a browser (assessed in the coursework). • Interpret the effects that new technologies will have in facilitating e-Commerce (assessed in the exam)

6. Director 3D – a new standard? • “…an excellent approach to 3D on the Web that combines a well-structured 3D definition with a powerful programming language, Lingo. Due to the large Shockwave user base, this may push 3D on the Web to the mainstream again. The only disadvantage I can find is that it is not an open standard like VRML and OpenGL, but nobody's perfect. “ • http://www.lighthouse3d.com/w3d/index.shtml (accessed 15/2/2003)

7. Macromedia’s W3D • SDK can be downloaded for free, after agreeing lengthy NDA, and supplying lots of details, so you can write your own player or exporter for any platform • Playback through basic Shockwave player by using File, Publish. • This creates a short html file with the embedded Director object

8. Sample HTML file (from tutorial) • The following code was generated within Macromedia Director 8.5 by Tom McEwan selecting File, Publish command • <OBJECT classid="clsid:166B1BCA-3F9C-11CF-8075-444553540000“ codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/director/sw.cab#version=8,5,0,0" • ID=3D Tutor for Dir User tgm WIDTH=500 HEIGHT=330> • <param name=src value="3D_progbar.dcr"> • <param name=sw1 value="3D Tutor for Dir User tgm.dcr"> • <param name=swStretchStyle value=fill> • <param name=swRemote value="swSaveEnabled='true' swVolume='true' swRestart='true' swPausePlay='true' swFastForward='true' swContextMenu='true' "> • <PARAM NAME=bgColor VALUE=#BBBBBB> <EMBED SRC="3D_progbar.dcr" sw1="3D Tutor for Dir User tgm.dcr" bgColor=#BBBBBB WIDTH=500 HEIGHT=330 swRemote="swSaveEnabled='true' swVolume='true' swRestart='true' swPausePlay='true' swFastForward='true' swContextMenu='true' " swStretchStyle=fill TYPE="application/x-director" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/"> • </EMBED> </OBJECT> • http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~tommc/modules/co42002/unit2/

9. The examples from the Director 3D tutorials • In each case • HTML file: 2Kb • 3D_Progbar.dcs: 12Kb (“loading”) • Intro (from a Director movie of 152Kb) • 3DIntro.dcr: 52Kb • The ORB example (Projector 3.5Mb): • 3D Tutor for Dir User.dcr: 5Kb • Orb.w3d: 170Kb • These are remarkably small files – compiled code rather than the ASCII of Web3D/VRML files

10. Where do you begin • Look for tutorials supplied by companies to encourage adoption by industry • E.g. Basics (and don’t try to skip over!) • http://www.macromedia.com/support/director/3d_basics.html • Then move into Intermediate: • http://www.macromedia.com/support/director/3d_intermediate.html • Read all the tech notes/bugfixes etc as well

11. Director 3D tutorials • Director 8.5 3D tutorial for Director usersThis tutorial familiarizes Director users with 3D... • Director 8.5 tutorial for 3D usersThis tutorial familiarizes 3D users with the basics of Director … • Getting oriented to 3DUse the example movie included in the article to understand the internal structure of 3D cast members. • Extruding 3D text with LingoConvert 2D text to 3D and create 3D text from scratch with Lingo. • Moving models and camerasuse Lingo transform() and translate() commands on models and cameras in 3D cast members.

12. Basics of Director 3D Tutorials • Controlling the surface appearance of modelsmanipulate surface appearance - shaders & textures. • Using backdrops and overlaysPlace 2D images between a 3D scene and its camera and in the background of the 3D scene. Truman Show! • Using primitivesCreate simple 3D shapes with Lingo: boxes, planes, etc • Optimizing 3D performanceTroubleshooting 3D rendering performance with HW & OS. • Preparing 3D content for Shockwave 3DGuidelines for creating 3D content for Director movies, including 3D Studio Max Shockwave 3D Exporter

13. Initial Observations • With VRML & Player, • navigation seems to be in the player, • content in the VRML file for user to explore. • (In fact this is a over-simplification) • With Director 3D • The content is pre-generated in other tools • The navigation and control is added in Lingo • (Also a misrepresentation/simplification)

14. Following the Lingo • Sprite – an instance of a cast • Entity.object.action (data) • sprite(1).camera.translate(10,0,0) • Take Sprite 1 in the Score • Move its camera 10 units along the X-axis • We then assign that script to the … • on mouseUp me • …condition of a piece of text in another cast member on the stage

15. Standard Director • You can refer to the cast members either by name or by number • Member("Orb").resetWorld() • Does the same as • Member(3).resetWorld() • If the internal cast member 3 is called “Orb”

16. The 3D Member of the cast • Member("Orb").model(1).etc • There can be more than one model within the cast member • 3DIntro adds several models to the world • tMember.model("newSphere") • tMember.model("newBox")

17. Initialise everything • if voidP( sprite(1).member.model("newSphere")) then • --if sprite 1 doesn’t already have a newSphere, create it (first the sprite, then the member, then the model • tSprite = sprite(1) • tMember = tSprite.member • tTempModel = tMember.newModel("newSphere") • --create a tSphereResource with everything it needs to be a sphere, and give it a radius of 60 • tSphereResource = tMember.newModelResource( "newSphereResource", #sphere) • tSphereResource.radius = 60

18. Link it up, add it to world, centre it, then next section • tTempModel.resource = tSphereResource • tTempModel.parent=tMember.group("world") • tTempModel.addToWorld() • tCenterPoint = point(sprite(1).width/2, sprite(1).height/2) • tPointToVector = tSprite.camera. spriteSpaceToWorldSpace(tCenterPoint - point(tSprite.left, tSprite.top)) • tMember.model(tTempModel.name). transform.position = tPointToVector • go next • end if

19. 5 mins break

20. More websites • Havoc – Laws of Physics meets Director 3D • http://www.macromedia.com/support/director/3d_intermediate.html • http://www.director-online.com/accessArticle.cfm?id=1021 • http://oldsite.havok.com/xtra/ • http://oldsite.havok.com/xtra/demos/demo-cardemo2.html • Note the site name above! • http://www.havok.com/company/index.php

21. So, your boss says to you… • Should I invest my company’s future in Macromedia’s vision? • http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/director/articles/dir_3d_faq.html#whichapps(accessed 7/3/2005) contains the answers to a number of typical questions about Director's 3D and other tools • ftp://download.intel.com/labs/media/3dsoftware/3dshockwave.pdf (accessed 13/2/2003 - no longer available – see webct cache) lays out the territory that Intel and Macromedia have decided to occupy. • Do you notice any notable omissions from this document?

22. You will search in vain: • For VRML/Web3D substance on Macromedia’s site: • Mainly passing references like: • http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/3d_approaches.htm (accessed 13/2/2003) • For Shockwave 3D, on the Web3D and X3d sites: • Only to compatible tools like Meshbox • http://www.meshbox.com/english/eng_press/%20eng_pr021028.htm (accessed 17/2/2003) • Yet some interesting developments • http://www.kaon.com/Kaon3DPDF.pdf • http://www.web3d.org/x3d/publiclists/x3dpublic_list_archives/0509/msg00091.html • http://earth.google.com/kml/whatiskml.html

23. How wide is your audience, how deeply do you reach them? • John Dowdell highlights • Don’t just focus on, eg, accessibility for all, • Instead understand the priorities and target them. • http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/jd_forum/jd015.html (accessed 3/2/2003) • Two useful links from that page cover interesting digressions – • “There's a linguistic axiom that "The meaning of a message is the response it elicits." Even mere text has marked differences in effectiveness. People who write direct-mail copy have been the leaders in actually measuring …”

24. Will there be convergence? • http://www.intracomm.com/products_services/product_detail.cfm?ID=72 (accessed 7/3/2005) describes a tool that allows you to create both VRML and .w3d files • http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/XmlToolRelationshipsForX3d.pdf (accessed1/3/2007) described XML Tool Relationships for X3D • http://www.amabilis.com/products.htm

25. X3D – an organised approach? • http://www.web3d.org/TaskGroups/x3d/meetings/retreat-27-29september1999/notes.html (23/2/2003 - no longer available) described how X3D team arrived at a very much smaller core functionality than VRML • Extensions supplying the rich functionality required by VRML (and others). • "Componentisation" chosen to achieve this. • Note the participants • Note comparison between different languages and their approaches. (ECMAScript = Javascript)

26. Analysis of the weeks • Wks 1-3: “level up” everyone’s knowledge & skills • Templates, libraries, • WebDAV, SMIL • SVG v Flash • Ensuring competency in Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks • Wks 4-7 To ensure that everyone completes an adequate coursework • Learning about VRML and Director 3D how to use each • Standards, tools for educational multimedia • Coursework testing and evaluation • Wks 7-12: online digital media commerce • XML, XrML, MPEG 4,7,21, DMAM, SMIL • Wks 13-14: review/exam preparation