home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- *********************** 3D UTILITY ***********************
-
- THIS TUTORIAL ILLUSTRATES VARIOUS OPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION
- "3D UTILITY" IN GROUPS AREA.
-
- FIRST, LET US CREATE A SIMPLE 3D MODEL.
- <end>
- HERE IS A TRANSPARENT GRID WITH NO THICKNESS. NOW LET US
- DRAW A FEW 3D BLOCKS ON TOP OF THIS GRID. NEXT WE WILL
- CREATE A VIEW POINT AND LOOK AT THE MODEL IN 3D.
- <end>
- FOR BETTER 3D REPRESENTATION LET US REPLACE THE GRID WITH
- ANTHER GRID MADE FROM LARGER SQUARES.
- <end>
- NOW THAT WE HAVE A 3D MODEL LET US EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS
- OPTIONS OF THE "3D UTILITY".
- <end>
- THE OPTION "HIDDN" CREATES A PERSPECTIVE REMOVING ALL
- HIDDEN LINES. SELECTING THIS OPTION IS EQUAL TO PRESSING
- KEYS ALT F2.
- THE RESULTING PERSPECTIVE IS PLACED ON THE PASSIVE TABLE.
- IN THIS CASE TABLE TWO (TV02) REPLACES IT'S CONTENTS.
- <end>
- ********************** IMPORTANT *************************
-
- BE SURE THAT ANY VALUABLE DATA ON THE PASSIVE TABLE (TABLE
- NOT CURRENTLY IN USE) HAS BEEN SAVED PRIOR TO ACTIVATING
- THE "HIDDN". THE CONTENTS OF PASSIVE TABLE IS ERASED THEN
- REPLACED BY THE PERSPECTIVE.
- <end>
- NOTE THAT UPON COMPLETION OF THE HIDDEN LINE REMOVAL OPER-
- ATION, THE SCREEN AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED FROM TV01 TO TV02.
- TO RETURN TO TV01 PRESS "/", OR ON THE STATUS LINE PRESS THE
- BUTTON TV02.
- <end>
- THE OPTION "WIREF" (WIREFRAME) CREATES A WIREFRAME PERS-
- PECTIVE IMAGE WITH OUT IT'S HIDDEN LINES REMOVED.
- <end>
- "ANIMS" CREATES AN ANIMATION SEQUENCE WHERE ALL FRAMES ARE
- ON ONE SINGLE SCREEN SAVED IN A SINGLE FILE (VERSUS MULTIPLE
- FILES FOR LARGE ANIMATIONS). TO CREATE AN ANIMATION THERE
- MUST BE MORE THAN ONE VIEW POINT (CAMERA). USE "SEE.S" (SEE
- SINGLE ANIMATION) TO SEE THE ANIMATION.
- <end>
- 5 VIEW POINTS ARE NOW ON THE SCREEN. THE 5TH ONE IS ON TOP
- OF THE FIRST TO CREATE A LOOP. NOW LET US TELL FLASH! TO
- CREATE 100 FRAMES BETWEEN THESE VIEW POINTS (CAMERA
- LOCATIONS). THIS PROCESS TAKES SOMETIME.
- <end>
- THE ANIMATION FRAMES HAVE BEEN CREATED. LET US TAKE A LOOK
- AT THEM ON TV02 BY PRESSING "/" KEY, OR SELECTING THE TABLE
- BUTTON ON THE STATUS LINE.
- <end>
- TO SEE THIS ANIMATION LET US SELECT "3D UTILITY" FUNCTION.
- <end>
- THE ANIMATION BEGINS UPON SELECTION OF "SEE.S" (SEE SINGLE
- ANIMATION). ANIMATIONS RUN INDEFINITELY UNTIL STOPPED. TO
- STOP THE ANIMATION PRESS ANY KEY.
- <end>
- THE ORIGINAL MODEL IS STILL ON TABLE ONE. LET US RETURN TO
- THE MODEL ON TABLE ONE (TV01).
- <end>
- LET US GO TO TV02 AND LEARN SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT
- MEMORY USAGE.
- <end>
- AS YOU CAN SEE, AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN
- THE 100 FRAMES HAVE TAKEN UP 10.2% OF THE AVAILABLE MEMORY
- OF THIS TABLE. THE MEMORY USAGE OF ONE TABLE HAS NO RELATION
- TO THE MEMORY USAGE OF THE OTHER TABLE.
- <end>
- SPECIFYING MORE FRAMES AND A MORE COMPLEX MODEL WOULD USE
- UP MORE OF THE AVAILABLE MEMORY.
- <end>
- IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO CALCULATE THE MEMORY USAGE BEFORE
- CREATING ANIMATION FRAMES TO AVOID EXCEEDING THE MEMORY.
- CALCULATE THE MEMORY USED BY ONE FRAME (HIDDEN LINES
- REMOVED) AND MULTIPLY IT BY THE NUMBER OF FRAMES YOU
- DESIRE. TRY NOT TO EXCEED 60% MEMORY USAGE.
- <end>
- UP TO 400 FRAMES OF ANIMATION MAY BE SPECIFIED FOR THIS
- SIMPLE MODEL SINCE 0.15% OF THE MEMORY IS USED FOR ONE
- FRAME. SEE LOWER RIGHT CORNER BELOW.
- <end>
- TO CREATE ANIMATIONS WITH MORE FRAMES, OR AN ANIMATION
- OF A MORE COMPLEX MODEL, THERE IS A BUILT-IN FEATURE THAT
- AUTOMATICALLY SPREADS THE REQUESTED NUMBER OF FRAMES
- AMONG MANY FILES AND KEEPS THEM ALL ON THE HARD DISK.
- <end>
- THE OPTION "ANIMM" (ANIMATE TO MANY FILES) CREATES FILES
- WHOSE NAMES BEGIN WITH THE SAME 5 CHARACTERS AND EACH
- ENDS WITH A THREE DIGIT NUMBER BETWEEN 001-999. EACH FILE
- CONTAINS ANIMATION FRAMES BETWEEN TWO SUCCESSIVE VIEW
- POINTS (CAMERA LOCATIONS). LET US SPECIFY 50 FRAMES TO BE
- STORED IN FILES THAT BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS:ANIMA .
- <end>
- FLASH! HAS CREATED 4 FILES CONTAINING ANIMATION FRAMES
- (BETWEEN 5 VIEW POINTS). TO SEE THE ANIMATION LET US CHANGE
- TABLE TO TV02.
- <end>
- SELECT "3D UTILITY" AND CHOOSE THE OPTION "SEE.M" (SEE ANI-
- MATION STORED IN MANY FILES). SPECIFY THE FILE NAME "ANIMA"
- AND THE ANIMATION BEGINS. THIS ANIMATION WILL RUN UNTIL
- INTERRUPTED BY PRESSING ANY KEY.
- <end>
- AT EACH CAMERA POINT A FILE WITH ANIMATION FRAMES WAS LOADED
- AND DISPLAYED VERY QUICKLY. IN THIS FASHION VERY LONG ANI-
- MATIONS MAY BE CREATED ONLY LIMITED BY YOUR HARD DISK.
- <end>
- THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION OF CALCULATING THE MEMORY USAGE OF
- EACH FRAME AND MULTIPLYING IT BY THE NUMBER OF FRAMES HOLDS
- VALID FOR ANIMATIONS CREATED WITH "ANIMM". THE MORE VIEW
- POINTS YOU SPECIFY THE SMOOTHER THE ANIMATION, AND EACH FILE
- WILL CONTAIN FEWER FRAMES FOR FASTER LOADING AND LESS NOTIC-
- ABLE PAUSE BETWEEN EACH CAMERA POSITION.
- <end>
- END OF TUTORIAL 011
- <end>