This sounds extremely odd. No mesh with 1000 triangles should take 20 seconds to parse on any normal machine, regardless of the format. Are you counting in the actual compile-time? If you run the SWF file simply by double-clicking it, does it take 20 seconds from the point where the window appears until the mesh has finished parsing? If so, please send me the files I can have a look at what's causing this.
Thanks for your input about file formats. We have researched this pretty extensively and while there will indeed still be a place for exporting content as AS3 even in the Away4 era, there will be a lot of situations where it simple does not work. In those cases (and most other cases as well, like if you do not use Prefab) AWD will be a great replacement. One of the strengths of AWD is also it's backwards and forwards compatibility, meaning that even if the engine changes substantially (or you replace the engine entirely), the file will still load. This is not the case for AS3. All parts of the AWD tool-chain, including all official exporter plug- ins, will be open-source and licensed under the same Apache 2.0 License as Away3D. Cheers /R On Feb 21, 1:40 pm, Arkadianen <[email protected]> wrote: > == How can you be parsing a collada model at compile-time? > > Yeah, it is parsing at initialisation of the SWF, not at the compile > time, but the effect is the same because it is going on right after > compiling. Sorry for misleading info. > > The model is small, less than 1000 polygons. > > And if I use ActionScript generated by 3Ds Max plug-in or by PREFAB, > it is going in a normal speed. And when I use embed Collada file, it > is taking tens of seconds on SWF initialisation. > > Thats why I am asking about the formats and the ActionScript native > language models. > > It is obviously to me, that in native language it is going much > faster. > > It looks to me that when you use embed AS code, it is being compiled > from start, and thats why it is being parsed so much faster than an > External Format model ((== this is for embed models, I didnt test it > with loading models==)). > > Thanks for making the 3Ds Max plugin, it is vital for me and some > thousands of 3Ds Max designers. Is it open-source? > Hope to see it soon in action. > > On Feb 21, 2:09 am, richardolsson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi, > > > See my responses below. > > > > My personal test shows that parsing Collada to Whatever Internal > > > Format in Flash is around 20 seconds, and accessing ActionScript code > > > model is around 0.05 seconds which is much faster. > > > 20 seconds!? How huge is that model? Or are you actually including the > > load (e.g. via HTTP) time as well? What exactly are you measuring? > > > > ==> I made this test with embed Collada file in Flex. It was parsing > > > at compiling time. I dint make same test with loaded and parsed at > > > runtime models, but I suppose at runtime it would be slowly also, and > > > even at compiling time 10-20 seconds is a very big time. > > > How can you be parsing a collada model at compile-time? > > > > Did you test the parsing speed? Please keep in mind that in Away 4 > > > the parsing work will be done by CPU. We must clearly separate CPU and > > > GPU work in runtime. > > > I'm assuming you're asking about AWD. Of course I am benchmarking the > > parsing speed, which is great. Obviously parsing can't be done on the > > GPU. Parsing happens in the AVM just as it has always done. > > > > My tests shows that in Away 3 the ActionScript code models rules > > > against Collada but it has some UVW mapping issues while parsing. > > > You get UV issues when using models encoded in AS3? There is no reason > > for that to happen, since there is no loss in precision, so if you're > > having issues with UV coordinates in Collada meshes or those encoded > > in AS3 that's probably something that you or the exporter are doing > > wrong, rather than something that is inherent to one method or the > > other. > > > > I want to ask - can I participate in testing AWD plug-in for 3Ds Max? > > > This is one of major elements for many designers and developers and I > > > would be glad to help in this project. > > > > Also I could participate on improving PyAWD as I know Python. > > > I'll let you know when there is an exporter for 3dsmax that you can > > test. PyAWD is not written in Python, it's written as C++ extension > > using the Python C API. I'm not in need of help right now, but I'll > > keep you in mind. > > > Thanks! > > > /R > > > On Feb 21, 12:29 am, Arkadianen <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi Richard > > > > Thank you for the password. I started adding some documentation and I > > > will expose all the difficulties I will face during cool 3D games > > > development. > > > > My personal test shows that parsing Collada to Whatever Internal > > > Format in Flash is around 20 seconds, and accessing ActionScript code > > > model is around 0.05 seconds which is much faster. > > > ==> I made this test with embed Collada file in Flex. It was parsing > > > at compiling time. I dint make same test with loaded and parsed at > > > runtime models, but I suppose at runtime it would be slowly also, and > > > even at compiling time 10-20 seconds is a very big time. > > > > Did you test the parsing speed? Please keep in mind that in Away 4 > > > the parsing work will be done by CPU. We must clearly separate CPU and > > > GPU work in runtime. > > > > My tests shows that in Away 3 the ActionScript code models rules > > > against Collada but it has some UVW mapping issues while parsing. > > > > I want to ask - can I participate in testing AWD plug-in for 3Ds Max? > > > This is one of major elements for many designers and developers and I > > > would be glad to help in this project. > > > > Also I could participate on improving PyAWD as I know Python. > > > > On Feb 20, 7:39 pm, richardolsson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hi Arkadianen, > > > > > Please excuse me in advance if I seem to be jumping to conclusions, > > > > but I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean, so I have to > > > > make some assumptions. > > > > > First of all, if you browse to the wiki atthttp://www.away3d.com/wiki > > > > there are instructions on the main page in large letters saying the > > > > following: > > > > "To edit pages (but not the front pages), please use the password > > > > 'editwiki' (without the quotes)." > > > > > If you go to any page on the wiki except the front page (which is > > > > locked) and click edit, you can edit the page after having entered the > > > > password mentioned above. > > > > > With regards to AWD, correct me if I'm wrong but you seem to think > > > > that a file that is loaded into a Flash app running Away3D gets > > > > converted to AS3 at runtime, and that because of this using AS3 > > > > directly is faster than using another format. This is incorrect. First > > > > of all, at runtime there exists no notion of "AS3" anymore, since > > > > everything has been compiled into byte code inside the SWF. But even > > > > disregarding this, the internal representations of meshes, animations > > > > and any other data inside Away3D are still just data chunks in memory > > > > like in any other programming language. To generate a representation > > > > of for example a mesh in memory, whatever code is responsible for > > > > creating it has to instantiate classes and pass them the correct data. > > > > > Regardless of whether you are generating an AS3 file that you then > > > > compile into byte code that does this instantiation, or use a parser > > > > like the AWD parser to read a file and do the instantiation from what > > > > is in that file, you are still doing the same thing. Granted, the AS3 > > > > approach leaves out the reading/parsing so it's most probably faster, > > > > but the gain in performance is not of relevant magnitude (a matter of > > > > milliseconds per 10 000 triangles in a mesh, or something like that.) > > > > > Thanks for offering your help! We already have team members looking at > > > > creating an exporter for 3dsmax, but in case you want to do your own > > > > implementation or just follow the development of AWD, you can have a > > > > look at the project page at Google code:http://code.google.com/p/awd > > > > > Cheers > > > > /R > > > > > On Feb 20, 6:23 pm, Arkadianen <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Yes, onwww.away3d.com/wiki > > > > > > Why ? Because the official documentation sends you to this page. > > > > > Is this the official dochttp://away3d.com/livedocs/fp10/Away3DLite/? > > > > > > I couldnt find instruction for Wiki editing, just asking a password > > > > > when trying to access it. > > > > > > Here is the page where instructions are supposed to > > > > > behttp://away3d.com/away3d-wiki > > > > > > And here is the page with password and ""The > > > > > Registration"".http://away3d.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage?action=edit > > > > > > Could you give me a password to edit Wiki or its left blank > > > > > intentionally ? > > > > > > About AWD - > > > > > > As I know all the parsers generate AS(ActionScript) from AWD. I can > > > > > understand that animation can be extracted by frames, but for static > > > > > models it is not possible, only full box extracting to AS. > > > > > And generating AS from AWD takes a lot of processor time in runtime, > > > > > as generating AS from any other external format. > > > > > Is it right ? > > > > > > I have the source for 3Ds Max parser plug-in. > > > > > If you give me the specifications I could make an external plug-in > > > > > parser for 3Ds Max. And later we can check the UVW for all the > > > > > parsers. > > > > > > On Feb 20, 3:20 pm, richardolsson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > @Arkadianen: > > > > > > What wiki are you referring to? The one on Google code, or the one > > > > > > atwww.away3d.com/wiki?Thelatterhasinstructionsonthe home page for > > > > > > how to edit it. None of them are really used to any great extent > > > > > > though, and that's one of the issues that we can focus on addressing > > > > > > in some way once Away4 is out. > > > > > > > Exporting data as ActionScript works great as long as that data is > > > > > > fairly uncomplicated. As complexity grows, so do the AS3 files, very > > > > > > quickly, and soon they become more or less impossible to use. > > > > > > Compile > > > > > > times increase enormously, and if you try to open the AS3 file, the > > > > > > editor will grind to almost a complete halt. I tried exporting some > > > > > > heavy meshes as AS3 from Blender a while back, and ended up with an > > > > > > AS3 file with 140 000 lines of code that was extremely frustrating > > > > > > to > > > > > > work with. > > > > > > > I'm not sure I understand your suggestions, but bottom line is that > > > > > > AS3 is great for storing simple stuff, but AWD is gonna be the best > > > > > > all-round format, being both light-weight, fast to parse and > > > > > > scalable. > > > > > > You export the AWD file from Prefab or another editor for which > > > > > > there's an exporter, and then you load it at runtime using the > > > > > > Away3D > > > > > > loading framework, or embed it into your SWF file. > > > > > > > Cheers > > > > > > /R > > > > > > > On Feb 20, 2:04 pm, Arkadianen... > > read more »
