----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on MumbaiUserGroup
----------------------------------------------------------- From: Vinil Message 3 in Discussion Hi Balkrishna, You have mentioned: i have a project to develop a software for modular kitchens. my client wants that he will only give dimensions and whole 3D model will be ready. the soft also sould give facility to make "walk thru" and can rotate, zoom, chage texture , etc. Now lets look at the requirements: 1. Dimensions would be User input 2. Software should allow "walk through", rotate, zoom, change texture etc. According to me, the best solutions here is to use VRML! Why? Lets discuss the pros and cons: VRML Stands for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. VRML is an industry standard for creation of Virtual Worlds (complete with 3D, animation, transitions, music, events etc.) Its a markup based language. You create WRL files, which will be then loaded and rendered either in a browser or in some standalone player. You would need to load the plugin, get hold of an IE5 or IE4 installer directory (maybe in some old magazine CD like PCquest or Chip), there would be an exe names MSVRML*.exe. Run that (yes its compatible with IE6), and the plugin for IE would be installed (DONT REINSTALL THAT IE, JUST RUN THE MSVRML.EXE TO INSTALL THE VRML PLUGIN!) Alternately, you can download the CosmoPlayer plugin ( I personally use only the IE plugin provided by MS.) Then, you host the IE control in your C# application (download the IE managed control from MS downloads) and "navigate" (thats a method of the IE control) to the wrl file which contains the VRML code for the Kitchen Model. The plugin has to be installed on the client systems. The advantage here is that, the plugin takes care of all your panning, rotation, movement, zooming needs! That's inherent in VRML! Additionally, if the user needs to change the dimensions of any portion of the VRML World, its a text manipulation for your C# program. Just change the values of x,y,z or say, texture associated with a surface by changing the BMP or JPG in the WRL file from say stucco.jpg to woodpanel.jpg, and refresh the IE control, and the changes would be done (this doesn't mean only x,y,z or texture are the modifiable properties)! Now coming back to the DirectX based approach. You'd start by downloading the managed directX sdk so that directX can be used from C#. After that, you'd choose to store your model details in say an XML file, which would be loaded by your program and when the user selects say the Render option you will invoke first the parse mechanism to create the Direct3D structures and display it. Then you would need to program the animation sequences, namely rotation, scaling, panning, zoom etc. Additionally, you would need to check for events, mouse hits, z-buffers and all the pains that go into making a game! I'd say its an unnecessary overhead! Let me know what your thoughts are on these, but I'd like to end with this point - DirectX (with Direct3D) is an API for graphics programming in general, whereas you need a customizable, modeling environment! HTH, Regards, Vinil Teach yourself VRML in 21 days is a good book. There are other ones, but this one is a gentle introduction, by one of the designers of the spec. Some more stuff I wanted to share about WRLs: A WRL file first defines the world, the objects and the relationships of the objects with respect to each other, say a table is composed of a flat box (with red color and woodpanel texture applied) and four upside down cones (with their ends chopped off to give the resemblance of a tapering table leg) - all of these objects placed at appropriate x,y,z coordinates. These primitive objects would aggregate into one composite object known as the table. A table can have properties and interaction procedures. Moving a table moves the box with the four cones! To do this is DirectX is NOT easy! ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/mumbaiusergroup/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member Services. http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page. http://groups.msn.com/contact If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you received this message by mistake, please click the "Remove" link below. On the pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click "Send". Your e-mail address will be deleted from this group's mailing list. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
