| Construct Models |
Introduction
|
| Constructing
models is the second step and perhaps the most
labor intensive. Not all of your buildings have
to as carefully modeled as the one below. Simple
buildings with a flat roof are easily constructed
from a box while buildings with more complexity
require a more delicate treatment.
You construct your models in
a modeling package. Three of the most popular
modeling packages on the market for real-time
design are Maya,
MultiGen
Creator, and World
ToolKit. Additionally, Cosmo Worlds and Vizx3D
are more simplistic packages and less expensive.
A copy of Maya is available in the GCUDV lab,
in the basement of CUPPA. Maya and Cosmo Worlds
are available in the NewSpace (Passion Pit) lab
in the Art and Design building. Creator and WorldToolKit
are available in the EVL lab located in the Engineering
building. |
 |
| Partly textured model of 400 56th
street, Kenosha, Wisconsin constructed in Maya.
|
A Simplistic Approach
|
| The
most simplistic modeling package of the above
mentioned software is Cosmo Worlds. Cosmo Worlds
has been discontinued for purchase but has remained
very popular among interactive designers. It is
available in the NewSpace lab and is appropriate
for design to output to both VRML and the CAVE.
If you are not going to attend AD 409 at UIC,
or any other subsequent modeling class, then you
should start by learning Cosmo Worlds.
In Cosmo, you can construct simple
boxes and apply textures to them. The image below
shows a series of boxes with PNG (pronouncedping)
textures applied to them. The actual geometry
appears in the second image, which shows the boxes
rendered without the photographs applied to them.
The third image below shows a wire frame of the
buildings.
Cosmo Worlds is a modeling tool as well as
an interface for programming interactivity in
VRML. If you are designing for the CAVE or any
other projection system other than the web,
then you will only utilize Cosmo for the modeling
aspect of your project. Construct each building
separately in Cosmo and export it as an .iv
(Open Inventor file). You
will then import each model separately into
YG. The most efficient way to load your
models into the CAVE is to convert them to pfb
after you have exported them from the modeling
package. Perfly each model after converting
them. Export each model as one the following
formats from the modeling package for the CAVE:
pfb - IRIS Performer fast binary format
.flt - MultiGen OpenFlight format
.iv - SGI Open Inventor format
.wrl - VRML version 2.0 format
.obj - Wavefront Technologies data format
.3ds - AutoDesk 3DStudio binary data
.dxf - AutoDesk AutoCAD ASCII format
.lsa - Lightscape Technologies ASCII radiosity
data
.lsb - Lightscape Technologies binary radiosity
data
If you are designing for VRML to be shown over
the web, you will construct your scene in Cosmo
and utilize the interact graph within the software
package.
|
 |
| Boxes in Cosmo Worlds with textures
applied to them. |
 |
| The same boxes above without any
textures applied. |
 |
| A wire frame view of the boxes
above. |
For
more complex geometry, you will need to turn to
a more complex modeling package. Maya, WorldToolKit,
and MultiGen Creator are well suited for these
tasks. When you construct a model in these packages,
you can export them to VRML. This will enable
you to import the model into your scene in Cosmo.
Entire scenes can be constructed in the complex
modeling packages and exported to VRML. |
| Disclaimer |
For simplicity,
this manual does not cover MultiGen
SiteBuilder 3D and Model Builder 3D. These
programs are plug-ins for ESRI ArcView and
require all the data be in GIS and in workable
form. Workable form means that the data
in the GIS consists of closed polylines
and polygons appropriate to three dimensional
extrusion. These programs also require advanced
knowledge of ESRI GIS. |
|
|
 |
|
