HOME SPACE BUILDER 1.0 (tm)
===========================
Restricted Beta2 Version
==================
Home Space Builder 1.0 is the first inexpensive and powerful 3D+W3
authoring tool for middle- and low-end computers. It brings rich
content and easy-to-create 3D metaphor of Home Space to millions of
World Wide Web builders. Home Space Builder 1.0 conforms with
VRML 1.0 (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) standard. We foresee
the following principal uses of our product:
- 3D Home Page Builder: design 3D Home Pages viewable by any
VRML browser,
- 3D Personal Web Organizer: create your own unique views of
Web Village, and of Web Life within a natural and convenient
3D paradigm,
- 3D Personal Desktop Organizer: create your own 3D Program
Manager, 3D On-Line Help, arrange files and documents within
your 3D Home Space,
- General: design your own Home Spaces for fun, education,
presentation, and other purposes.
ABOUT THIS VERSION
------------------------
This is a restricted version of Home Space Builder 1.0 Beta2. It enables you to learn and
perform all loading, viewing, and building operations, but does not allow you to save home
spaces, though you can learn how to save MUS and WRL files.
You can purchase full version of Home Space Builder 1.0 Beta2 following links at
ParaGraph's Web site
http://www.paragraph.com/whatsnew/homespce.htm
ABOUT THIS MANUAL, AND THE ON-LINE HELP
=======================================
This manual describes the features of Beta2 version which can
be ordered at ParaGraph International’s Web Site
http://www.paragraph.com/whatsnew/homespce.htm starting July
20. Beta2 Version is supplied with comprehensive On-line Help. All
versions of Home Space Builder also contain “on-the-fly help”. Help
string on a certain screen element appears in the bottom row of one of
the on-screen windows when you position cursor over the element.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
=====================
Home Space Builder 1.0 requires at least 386/33, 4MB RAM, color
monitor with 256 colors or more. To achieve better rendering
performance, you will need 486/33 or higher, 8 MB RAM.
Program files (.EXE, .DLL) take about 1.5 MB of disk space.
Home Space Builder 1.0 runs on Windows 3.1 and later versions,
Windows NT, Windows 95.
MUS and WRL FILES
=================
You are building your home spaces in the internal format of Home
Space Builder and save them as .MUS files. As soon as your job is
completed, you can export home space into VRML format and save it
as .WRL file. Any consistent VRML browser should be able to load
this .WRL home space from your 3D Web Site, and to view the scene.
Please, notice that export VRML format will loose many multimedia
and attachment features of Home Space Builder which are not
supported in the current VRML standard. As soon as these features
appear in the standard, we would include them in the export function.
ADVANCED FEATURES OF BETA2 VERSION
==================================
We included in Beta2 of Home Space Builder many new multimedia,
embedding, and other features:
- Drawing Walls and Faces,
- Applying textures with transparent colors,
- Sound attachments, and Sound Recording,
- Attaching and Playing Movies,
- Creating and replaying Walking Shows,
- Making extended attachments (including embedded home spaces,
executable modules), Multifunction attachments
We also supply Beta2 with extended set of textures, pictures, and
sample home spaces. An important improvement made in Beta2 is the
Save as VRML function which is now in strict conformance with
VRML 1.0 Final SPEC.
Many people who tried our free Beta1 version asked the same
question, “What about shapes?” This will come soon. The idea behind
our product is “let us first build home spaces, and then settle them”.
Each of home spaces you create with Home Space Builder 1.0 will be
ready to receive visitors.
INSTALLATION
============
Program modules, and Manual:
----------------------------
Copy a directory HSB and all its content to your hard disk.
This includes the following files:
MANUAL.TXT - This file in the plain text format
HSB.EXE - Home Space Builder 1.0 program
HSBHELP.HLP - On-line help
ACCUSOFT.DLL - DLL file
CTL3D.DLL - DLL file
HTTPC16.DLL - DLL file
NS16.DLL - DLL file
TREGION.DLL - DLL file
LICENSE.TXT - License Agreement
Sample Home Spaces:
------------------------
They are located in subdirectories of the directory HSBDEMO on CD-ROM.
You can either load these samples from CD-ROM or copy them to your hard disk and
load them from that disk.
WHAT YOU SEE ON YOUR SCREEN, and HOW IT WORKS
==============================================
User Interface to Home Space Builder 1.0 is very simple. It includes
the following six windows:
- VIEWER WINDOW (also, MAIN WINDOW or 3D WINDOW)
- PLANE WALKER WINDOW (also, PLANE BUILDER WINDOW) with HEIGHT SCALE
and CAMERA
- WALKER TOOLBOX
- BUILDER TOOLBOX
- CHOOSER WINDOW (COLOR, PICTURE & WALLPAPER TOOLBAR)
- IMAGE WINDOW
Here is what are these windows about:
- navigate through your 3D scene in the VIEWER WINDOW using
the WALKER TOOLBOX buttons; sometimes, you also use the
CAMERA to adjust viewpoint and view direction,
- you can speed up navigation, jump to any place in the scene, and go
through the walls moving PINOCCHIO button in the PLANE WALKER window,
- build home spaces on the PLANE WALKER window using the
BUILDER TOOLBOX buttons, and adjusting height with the laths of
HEIGHT SCALE,
- paint walls, applying textures, hanging pictures in the VIEWER
window; select textures, pictures, and palette in the CHOOSER
window,
- move, resize, delete, zoom pictures in the VIEWER window by
using additional buttons from the WALKER TOOLBOX.
- edit your pictures in the IMAGE window
MASTER MODE and GUEST MODE
==========================
In the GUEST MODE, you can only view and navigate home spaces.
Therefore, the BUILDER TOOLBOX, and the CHOOSER window do
not appear on the screen. You can activate them either from the
WALKER TOOLBOX or by setting MASTER MODE in the menu.
MORE ABOUT NAVIGATING/VIEWING HOME SPACES
=========================================
The four upper rows in the WALKER TOOLBOX provide you with
15 self-explanatory navigating/viewing buttons:
- the six arrows allow you move forward/backward/left/right, and
turn left/right,
- three little fellows help you move up/down, and return to normal
height position,
- small cameras let you tilt view axis, and return to horizontal view,
squares allow you to change view focus (tele/wide/normal),
When you press any of these buttons, the PINOCCHIO button and the
CAMERA in the PLANE WALKER window follow your actions. PINOCCHIO and
CAMERA give you an alternative way to navigate
and view:
- dragging PINOCCHIO by the end of his nose is a fast-moving
substitute for all arrow keys;
- moving CAMERA up and down, and tilting it by the handle are
the substitutes for little fellows and small cameras;
- pressing and holding Tele and Wide buttons gives the same effect
as pressing squares.
The difference is that the restless PINOCCHIO can go through the
walls and jump. Click anywhere on the PLANE WALKER WINDOW, and
PINOCCHIO will appear right there, quickly changing your viewpoint.
The WALKER TOOLBOX BUTTONS can do none of these.
You can also use keyboard to navigate in the VIEWER WINDOW:
7 , Home - rotates left;
9 , Page Up - rotates right;
8 , Up Arrow - moves camera forward;
5 , 2, Down Arrow - moves camera back;
4 , Left Arrow - moves camera left;
6 , Right Arrow - moves camera right;
+ (Keypad Plus) - moves camera up;
- (Keypad Minus) - moves camera down;
Insert - tilts the camera up;
Delete - tilts the camera down;
Press Ctrl with any of these keys to double speed of the corresponding
motion.
BUILDING HOME SPACES
====================
Building home spaces is similar to sculpture work when you take a
piece of material and cut off all unnecessary parts. There are three
buttons on the BUILDER TOOLBOX that allow you create shapes.
One is ADD BOX TOOL, another is REMOVE BOX TOOL, the last one is
DRAW WALLS TOOL. When ADDING a box, you place it into space which
is virtually unlimited in height and width, whereas its height range
is bounded by current Lower/Upper Height Level settings of the
HEIGHT SCALE. The box is solid and transparent from inside, and the
only non-transparent sides are those which contact the outside space.
So far, if you create a box from scratch without prior adjustment of
its height, the box will only have the outer surfaces of the walls -
no floor, no ceiling. Moreover, if you drag PINOCCHIO into box, you
would only see the empty space all around. REMOVING a box, you create
inner walls inside the previously built construction. To make the floor
and the ceiling in a building, don’t forget to adjust height laths
before you remove a box so that the removed box will be within the
added box. After the walls are ready, you can cut doors and windows
by adjusting the height laths and removing boxes from the existing
home space. Alternatively, you can draw walls by first pressing
the DRAW WALLS TOOL and then drawing walls of in the PLANE BUILDER WINDOW
keeping the Left Mouse Button pressed. To complete drawing, click the
PINOCCHIO button on the BUILDER TOOLBOX. Drawing Faces is a new feature
which is for now not fully implemented. You can access the Draw Face
feature from the Menu associated with upper left square button in the
PLANE BUILDER WINDOW. The difference between walls and faces is that
(a) a wall is always parallel to a coordinate axis, whereas a
face can have any direction, (b) a wall is solid and visible from both
sides, whereas a face is one-sided: it is visible when the triangle
camera-->starting-point-of-a-face-->ending-point-of-a-face has a clockwise
orientation.
Coordinates
-----------
All the three dimensions: x and y on the PLANE WALKER, and z on the
HEIGHT SCALE, are measured in the same units. You can think of this
unit as a meter, foot, whatever. Tile size on the wallpapers is
measured by the same unit. When you drag the mouse cursor along the
PLANE WALKER , you can see its coordinates. When drawing a box, you
can see the x, y coordinates of the current mouse position and the
current size of the box.
How To Add/Remove A Box
-----------------------
In order to set vertical size/position of the box, drag upper/lower
laths on the HEIGHT SCALE. When one of the ADD/REMOVE BOX buttons is
pressed, click in any place within the PLANE WALKER WINDOW to select
the upper left corner of the box, and draw a dashed rectangle keeping
the Left Mouse Button pressed. As soon as you release the
Left Mouse Button, the plane size of the box is set. Press Left Button
once more to fix the box on the plane (the bounding line becomes solid).
Please, don’t forget to click the PINOCCHIO button on the BUILDER TOOLBOX
as soon as you finished adding/removing boxes: otherwise, you remain
in the ADD/REMOVE mode and are expected to continue drawing operations.
If you want to undo the job before you fixed the box, just press the
PINOCCHIO button on the BUILDER TOOLBOX. If you have already fixed the
box, use the Undo button on this toolbox.
How To Build A Multi-Level Construction
----------------------------------------
In order to make two neighboring levels strictly adjacent, click a wall
of the already built level. You will see the TOP LEVEL MARK of this
wall on the HEIGHT SCALE. Move the laths of the height scale so
that the bottom lath fits this mark, and then start building the upper
level.
When you build a multi-level home space, its plan may well become
very complicated. There is an important feature that lets you simplify
the plan. If you click the SET button on the BUILDER TOOLBOX,
change the Lower/Upper Height Level settings, and choose the Show
Only Current Level option, you will only see the plan of the vertical
layer of your building in the PLANE WALKER window.
How To Increase Available Height Of The Building
-----------------------------------------------------
Click the SET button on the BUILDER TOOLBOX, and change the
Upper Height Level.
Pictures, Colors, and Wallpapers
-----------------------------------
It is difficult to build a really beautiful home space without painting,
papering, and hanging pictures on the walls. In Home Space Builder
1.0, it’s easy to perform each of these actions:
- click one of the Picture, Color, Wallpaper buttons in the
CHOOSER WINDOW,
- select the needed item,
- drag and drop it on the surface.
Notice that you can apply Wallpapers to any surface (walls, floor,
ceiling, lids, whatever), but you can hang pictures only on vertical
surfaces.
To load pictures or wallpapers from a different location, click the
desired item’s button (Picture, Wallpaper), press the Select Directory
button at the right of the CHOOSER window and choose the needed
directory with images.
Image File Formats
------------------
Currently, Home Space Builder 1.0 supports the following popular
image formats both for pictures and wallpapers (listed alphabetically
by extensions): .BMP, .DCX, .DIB, .EPS, .GIF, .JPG , .PCT, .PCX,
.RLE, .TGA, .WMF, .WPG
Handling Pictures
-------------------
Four additional buttons on the WALKER TOOLBOX are helpful to
handle pictures:
- to move/resize a picture, press the Double-ended Arrow button,
target the Two-arrow Picture cursor on the picture, and perform
the needed action:
- to move a picture, hook it with straight arrow near the down left
corner;
- to resize a picture, hook it with the tilted arrow near the upper
right corner.
Note that pictures, unlike wallpapers, can only be resized
proportionally.
- to delete a picture, press the Crossed Picture button and then click
on the picture,
- to look closer on a particular picture, press the Target button
either on the WALKER TOOLBOX or on the VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar,
and click on the picture,
- to get a full-screen image of a picture, press a Magnifier Button
either on the WALKER TOOLBOX or on the VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar,
and click on the picture. The image will be loaded into the
IMAGE WINDOW. You can then make some manipulations with an
image (zoom/unzoom, change brightness, contrast, and gamma-factor,
and save the updated image), and have to close the IMAGE WINDOW
to return to home space.
The difference between the same buttons on the WALKER TOOLBOX and on
the VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar is that the former set a mode which will
perform the action as soon as the tool is selected, while the latter
perform a one-time operation after the picture is selected.
To reset any of the above modes, press the Tilted Arrow button on the
WALKER TOOLBOX.
Handling Wallpapers
-----------------------
Before you apply a wallpaper to a surface, you can adjust the tile size
and the wallpaper offset . Click on the Details button (“D” on the
CHOOSER TOOLBAR), and type in the desired figures. If the tile size
is greater than the wall, you will see only part of the enlarged
wallpaper. If the Tile checkbox is not marked, tile size does not apply,
and the whole wall is covered by a single tile, with its size transformed
to fit the wall.
In the current version, “the parts remember the whole”. So, if you
create a box (ADD BOX TOOL), cut it into two disjoint pieces
(REMOVE 3D BOX MODE), and then apply a wallpaper to any part
of an outer wall (cut into pieces), you will see that the other part is
also covered by the same wallpaper.
If you want to make a moving wallpaper:
- select the Details menu,
- select the Slide Direction checkbox,
- click any point on the Crossed Circle that will appear to the
right to indicate the slide direction.
After you apply the wallpaper, it will be moving. You can stop it by
pressing the Undo button or by unselecting the Slide Direction
checkbox.
How To Create And Use Albums
----------------------------------
Hang several pictures one above another on a wall (when moving the
Hang Picture cursor, center the small cross-like target on the
successfully hung up pictures). To leaf through the album, click the
Leaf Through Selected Album button on the VIEWER WINDOW
Menu Bar or select the Leaf Through Album tool on the WALKER
TOOLBOX and click the desired album. Selecting the Leaf Through
Album tool on the WALKER TOOLBOX and double clicking the
picture, you involve automatic sequencing. To regulate the sequencing
frequency, click the Picture Attach Editor button and type in the
desired Exposure Time. Please, notice that the time is measured in
relative units depending on the performance of your computer: so you
will need experimenting to set the proper value. To stop automatic
sequencing, repeat double click on the album.
How To Create And Use Movies
----------------------------------
Movie is a sequence of two or more 2D image files in the same
directory that have file names with the same prefix followed by a
sequence number. For example, Home Space Builder interprets the
following image files as eleven frames of a movie:
myflik01.gif myflik02.gif myflik03.gif myflik04.gif
myflik05.gif myflik06.gif
myflik07.gif myflik08.gif myflik09.gif myflik10.gif
myflik11.gif
To put movie on a surface of a home space click the Movie button in
the CHOOSER WINDOW.
All movies present in the current directory will be displayed in the
CHOOSER WINDOW in the order of their frames. Pasting, deleting,
dragging along walls and resizing movies are similar to the same
Picture operations. When placed on the wall, it immediately begins
rolling. The movie can be stopped by pressing the Show Next Album
Picture button on the WALKER TOOLBOX and making a double
click on the movie’s frame in the VIEWER WINDOW. Double click
again to restart the movie. To roll movie in the reverse direction,
double click on the frame with the Tab key pressed. Repeating double
clicks, you subsequently roll the movie in the direct/reverse direction.
ATTACHMENTS
===========
To any picture, album or movie, you can attach Text, Sound Clip,
Function or List of Functions (Multifunction). You make all
attachments in the Picture/Album/Movie Attach Editor Window,
which is activated by pressing Picture Attach Editor button on the
VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar. When a picture (album, movie) has
attachments, cursor over the picture turns into a finger. You can
double-click on a picture to execute attached function (or list of
functions). With an Album, you can attach text, sound, and functions
both to the whole album (default) and to each Picture. To switch
between these options, select the appropriate radio button Album
Attach Editor or Picture Attach Editor at the top of Album Attach
Editor Window. By default, when cursor is over an Album, a text
attached to the whole Album is displayed in the Info row at the bottom
of the VIEWER WINDOW, and Album functions are performed. To
see the text attached to a picture, and to execute functions individually
attached to a Picture, press the Tab key, and click on the picture.
In what follows, we briefly describe all attachments and functions.
How To Attach Text
------------------
Click on the picture and press the Picture Attach Editor button on the
VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar. Enter the text into the upper left area
of the Picture Attach Editor Window (the text can have multiple rows).
How To View Attached Text
-------------------------
When you drag the mouse cursor over a picture, you see the first row
of the attached text in the Info bar under the VIEWER window. To see
the whole text in a special window, point the mouse cursor on a
picture and click the Right Mouse button.
How To Attach, Play, And Record Sound Clips
-------------------------------------------
Sound Clip is a Windows .WAV file. You can attach .WAV files to a
picture, albums, and movie. To attach a .WAV file click one of the
above objects to select it and then click the Picture Attach Editor
button in the VIEWER WINDOW Menu Bar. You can either select
prepared sound fragment pressing the Browse button in the Picture
Attach Editor Window or immediately record any sound
accompaniment pressing the Record/Stop buttons. Duration of the
recorded fragment should not exceed 30 seconds (follow the recording
time indicator). Press the Play button to listen to the attached
fragment. You can repeat recording, in which case previous fragment
is automatically deleted. To enable playing attached .WAV files, select
the object and click the Play Sound button in the VIEWER WINDOW
Menu Bar. In Master Mode, you can also press the Play Sound button
on the WALKER TOOLBOX. In this mode, cursor in the left corner
of the Info bar in the VIEWER WINDOW indicates sound
attachments for pictures. To play sound attachment, click on the
picture.
How To Select and Play Background Music
---------------------------------------
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard for
electrically connecting instruments to a computer, and for storing
music in computer files. A MIDI sound sequence is a list of two or
more MIDI files that are played in order. To create MIDI-file list,
choose the Midi Player item in the VIEWER WINDOW Menu. Set the
required directory in the Select MIDI File Dialog Box, and
subsequently select and Add .MID files to the Play List. To delete a
file from the list, select it in the Play List column and press the
Remove button. To delete all files (to clear up the list), press the Clear
button. To each home space, a single Play List can be connected; it is
saved together with the home space and is automatically replayed after
you loaded .MUS file. To start playing a Play List which consists of a
single MIDI-file, press the Start List button in the Select MIDI File
Dialog Box. To stop playing, select the Midi Player option in the
VIEWER WINDOW Menu and press the Stop button in the Select
MIDI File Dialog Box. You can pre-play MIDI-files pressing the Play
button in this window.
The following is a brief description of all Functions that can be
attached to a picture, album, and movie.
None
----
Deletes all functions attached to a picture
Conditional Exit
----------------
HSB quits with prompt.
Unconditional Exit
------------------
HSB quits without prompt.
Load 3D Space File
------------------
When this function is executed, HSB closes the currently open 3D
Space and opens another 3D Space. When you select this function in
the Picture Attach Editor Window, you are required to browse MUS
files and select desired 3D Space that will be loaded when the function
is executed. Full path to this file is then displayed in the Parameter
row of the Picture Attach Editor Window.
This function gives you unlimited opportunities to link Home Spaces
together on your computer or on a local network.
There are several additional options you can use when loading new 3D
Space from inside the existing 3D Space:
- You can open new 3D Space in the Default Mode (as defined in
the Settings, see below), in the Master Mode or in the Guest Mode
- You can Enable Walking Show associated with a new 3D Space,
and if enabled, you can Cycle Walking Show
- You can prohibit resizing of current VIEWER WINDOW
- You can disable HSB Title associated with a new 3D Space
- You can disable the following windows for a new 3D Space:
PLANE WALKER/BUILDER, CHOOSER, WALKER TOOLBOX
To involve these options, check the Advanced Options box in the
Select 3D Space File Window when attaching the function to a
Picture, Album or Movie.
Load Any Program
----------------
HSB starts the specified program with any parameters entered in the
Parameters row. When you select this function in the Picture Attach
Editor Window, you are required to browse EXE; PIF; COM; BAT
files and select needed executable module which will be launched
when the function is executed. You can pass parameters to the
executable module by typing them in the Parameter row of the
Picture Attach Editor Window.
This function enables you to design your Home Space as a 3D
Program Manager.
Create New 3D Space
-------------------
HSB opens new 3D Space as if the New button on the BUILDER
TOOLBOX was pressed.
Activate “Open 3D Space” Dialog
------------------------------------
HSB opens the same dialog box as is invoked by choosing the Open
3D Space item in the menu, and offers you to select a Home Space that
will then be loaded instead of current Home Space.
Activate “Save 3D Space” Dialog
-----------------------------------
HSB opens the same dialog box as is invoked by choosing the Save 3D
Space item in the menu, and offers you the same actions.
Activate “Copy All” Dialog
--------------------------
HSB opens the same dialog box as is invoked by choosing the Copy
All item in the menu, and offers you the same actions.
Switch to “Master” Mode
-----------------------
Switches current HSB mode to the Master Mode.
Switch to “Guest” Mode
----------------------
Switches current HSB mode to the Guest Mode.
Activate Image Window
---------------------
HSB opens the IMAGE WINDOW and loads into it a picture to which
the function is attached or the currently displayed picture of the
album or frame of the movie.
The next four functions are self-explanatory:
Play Attached Sound
-------------------
Stop Playing Sound
------------------
Start Playing MIDI List
-----------------------
Stop Playing MIDI List
----------------------
Play .AVI or .FLI files
-----------------------
HSB starts playing one of the standard Windows movie files (.AVI or
.FLI). When you select this function in the Picture Attach Editor
Window, you are required to browse AVI; FLI files and select the
needed one (its name with full path will be displayed in the Parameter
row). Unlike the “native” HSB movies, these files are replayed in a
separate on-screen window.
Link to Universal Resource Locator
----------------------------------
HSB opens the Select URL Dialog Box, allowing you to type in or
paste URL Name which appears in the Parameter row.
How to Link To URLs
-------------------
Home Space Builder 1.0 is neither a VRML nor a HTML browser, but
it can communicate with HTML browser Netscape 1.1. When you
double click on a picture with the attached URL (as always, there is a
“finger cursor” indicating that the picture has an attached URL), this
URL is transferred to Netscape 1.1. If the URL is correct, Netscape
loads the resource. We do not guarantee proper communication with
any other HTML browser. Please, remember: when running Home
Space Builder with Windows NT, Netscape 1.1 must be open when
you are linking to an attached URL.
This feature gives you unlimited opportunities to create your own
views of WWW within a convenient 3D environments. A simple
example of home space serving as Personal Web Organizer is shown
in our sample file WEBORG1.MUS.
Multifunction
-------------
The Multifunction attachment is an indispensable feature to create
Walking Shows (see below). When Selecting the Multifunction item in
the Picture Attach Editor Window, HSB displays the Multifunction
Editor Dialog Box. You form and/or modify the list of attached
functions. using the Add Function To Selected List, Delete, Clear All,
Up and Down buttons. To play the whole list of functions in their
order, double click on the picture.
You can use several additional functions in the Multifunction Editor
Dialog Box (all of them are self-explanatory): Stop Movie,
Reverse Movie, Show Next Album Picture, List
Through Album, Show Last Album Picture, Show
Album As Movie, Multifunction: Stop Executing,
Multifunction: Wait The End Of Played Sound.
Delay Executing Of The Function Queue
-------------------------------------
HSB displays the Select Delay Window so you can define the Execute
Deferment in seconds. When Multifunction Attachment is replayed,
this function suspends execution of the list.
WALKING SHOWS
=============
As soon as your Home Space is ready, you might want to demonstrate
it in some special way. This is possible with Walking Show feature,
enabling you to record and replay sequences of “walking” actions
within a Home Space. These actions include:
- Navigation with WALKER TOOLBOX buttons and the
corresponding keyboard keys (navigation with PINOCCHIO,
CAMERA, and any operation with HEIGHT SCALE, as well as any
building and decorating operations will NOT effect walking
show and can cause errors)
- Selecting pictures, activating IMAGE WINDOW, executing
attached functions and lists of functions (Target button
for close view is disabled during Walking Show)
- Playing attached sound
To start recording Walking Show, press the Footprints button on the
WALKER TOOLBOX. Perform all needed actions and press the Footprints
button to stop recording. All actions are automatically saved
to the file with the same name as current Home Space and extension
.WLK. To start Walking Show, choose the Walking Show item in the
menu. Alternatively, you can launch Walking show when loading a
Home Space by checking the Enable Walking Show box in the Open
3D Space Dialog Window. Once you check this box, you can
additionally check the Cycle Walking Mode box to make Walking
Show repeat. To stop Walking Show, press any navigation key on the
WALKER TOOLBOX (it is also canceled by any Load and Save
operation).
LOADING AND SAVING FILES
========================
Loading Files
-------------
Home Space Builder 1.0 (Beta2) can load only .MUS files (not .WRL
files!). Select the Open 3D Space item in the VIEWER WINDOW
Menu Bar, and select the desired file. To start building home space
from the scratch, press the New 3D Space button. Two additional
checkboxes, Enable Walking Show, and Cycle Walking Mode in the
Open 3D Space Dialog Window let you launch and repeat Walking
Show immediately after loading a Home Space file. You can preview
accompanying text and title for the Home Space pressing the 3D
Space Info button in the Open 3D Space File Window when loading
Home Space.
Saving Files
------------
There are two modes to save home spaces: the Copy All mode, and
the Save 3D Space mode. When designing your own home space, you
probably use lots of pictures and textures located somewhere on your
computer and also, maybe, on a network. If you assume that all this
will be available next time you load the museum, simply select the
Save Museum item and indicate the directory and filename for the
destination .MUS file. All textures and pictures will acquire absolute
references (paths) to the existing files. Thus saved home space is
actually your local copy: you cannot expect that it will be portable to
any other computer. If you want to make a portable copy, select the
Copy All item and perform the same operation. All pictures and
textures will be copied to the destination directory of your .MUS file
(you can see “progress” windows), and all references to picture/texture
files will be relative to this directory (no paths will be indicated in the
.MUS file).
In any case, you have to select the desired file format before saving
your home space.
File Formats
-------------
Home spaces can be saved in three formats:
- .MUS files (the only files that can be loaded by Home Space
Builder 1.0),
- .WRL files (can be loaded by any VRML browser compliant with
the VRML 1.0 final SPEC),
- .D96 files (export to the advanced ParaGraph’s file format; you
will need this conversion for future products in the Home Space
product line).
NOTE. Some VRML browsers process Carriage-Return Line-Feed sequence incorrectly.
To change this sequence for Line-Feed symbol only, you can run the program
CRLF2LF.EXE which is included in the package. In the command line or with Microsoft
Windows Run, enter
CRLF2LF.EXE