Peter,
Thank-you for the quick response.
*> KirstenLee Cinquetti is the SME for this. *
It makes sense, because I saw her name in the Viewer credits. I figured as
much. Yes, I had previously stumbled across her personal blog, but I had
saw that she had "ceased development" so that's why I was a bit concerned.
I'm hoping that she follows this thread, and can give me a bit of a hand
"getting my feet wet" with realXtend browser development.
I really do think that we should probably have a small "Browser/viewer TEAM"
(with at least 2 or 3 developers on the Team), so that way we can slowly
take all the workload off of one person.
I'm sure KirstenLee is probably up to her eyeballs in coding right now (for
the OS X platform and other versions, I had heard she was working on an
R16.1 release?).
Again, I would really need to sit down and chat with her, to find out what
she's doing, where she is headed, and how I could even help.
I'm not trying to "reinvent" the wheel, because I think she is doing a fine
job, but I do think there are a LOT of other platforms that the browser
needs to be ported for (i.e. OS X, Ubuntu/Linux, iPhone, Blackberry, G-1
(Android), etc.) There are also a small number of additional features that
would be good to add.
I truely believe we need a wide range of "cross platform" browsers. Later
we can make additional "customized browsers" with additional customized
features for specific purposes.
For example a "Student/Academic/Business" type version that would include a
Whiteboard feature, and support for a "Town Hall microphone" feature, and
possibly even a "in-world" PDF and PPT (Powerpoint) viewer built into the
browser.
This would be good for online/virtual instruction and education (Academic
use, as well as having online collaboration meetings).
Would these features be important to the heavy gamers? Probably not. But
that's why we'll build a separate "High end gaming" browser (designed
specifically to support the latest NVIDIA drivers, and possibly a more
advanced graphics engine, and the browser would require a much higher end
system, and possibly even DirectX 10?). Who knows, but I can see that the
gamers would want these extremely high end graphics features, but let's not
"cripple" ourselves by ONLY having a "high end" browser.
To take advantage of the "Super high end" graphics, then users will be
required to have a "high end gaming" browser (capable of supporting such
higher end graphics), and they would also need a high-end system (computer)
with the hardware capabilities (fast enough processor, certain amount of
recommended RAM, and particular higher graphics cards) to take advantage of
the high-end graphics browser support.
But for most users (interested in just social networking) the basic browser
(based on KirstenLee Cinquetti's work) should suffice.
Sure we can add some additional features to the browser (for the
Education/Academic/Business world), but the majority of our users will just
want something that is easy to use, simple, yet somewhat powerful, but most
of all CROSS-PLATFORM.
The extremely high-end browsers will probably be machine (and operating
system) specific. A high end browser supporting DirectX 10, will probably
be limited to Microsoft Operating Systems (duh), but certain worlds can
require certain versions of browsers.
The default would be something like the R15, but in high end gaming worlds,
a region owner may specify "for best performance use..." and request that
users download and use a specific high-end gaming browser (to support the
higher end graphics and minimum system requirements necessary to access this
high-end graphics/gaming region).
It won't be the "norm", but at least the gamers could continue to work on
gaming, and not really affect the overall "usability" of the rest of the
world.
As long as they keep their "high end' stuff in private specific gaming
regions, then it should be fine. We'll have to work out all the details and
specifics later, but the point is to try and make both sides happy. We want
to appease the gamers, but at the same time we want to appease the general
population (that don't have the super high end gaming platform computers, or
super fast internet connections). So we will need various different
versions of browsers.
I like the work that "KirstenLee Cinquetti" is doing, she is doing
incredible work, but we need to extend upon it. I believe the first step is
just making it a "cross platform" browser (capable of working on multiple
operating systems and multiple platforms) to include OS X, Ubuntu, and
iPhone, Blackberry, and G1 (Android) support. Once we have reached a "cross
platform" status, then we can move more towards browser customization
(specific additional features & functionality added to the different
versions of the browser).
For example, a student/instructor/academic/business version (with support
for a "Town Hall Microphone", and PDF/PPT viewer, and a built in whiteboard,
and possibly even a streaming video feed/video teleconference camera feed)
would be good for teaching, instructing, and conducting business or
collaboration meetings.
This would probably be my next step (after we reach a "cross platform"
status). So I believe "Cross platform" is our first step, and then
"additional functionality" is our second step.
Because many of these additional functions will only work on particular
hardware platforms (mainly Windows based). For example the high-end gaming
browsers, will probably end up supporting DirectX 10, which is a windows
based technology.
I would really prefer to stick with OpenGL 2.1, or something similar, but
unfortunately ATI is no longer going to be supporting OpenGL with their
drivers. This causes a problem, because certainly we won't have the
resources to begin writing OpenGL drivers for every new graphics card
produced.
So we may be forced to "drink the cool aid" and move over to a DirectX 10
support in the browser (for high end gaming). I would need to think about
this further, and we would need to work with other OpenSource groups in
trying to get DirectX 10 support implemented in various other hardware
platforms (to include Linux/Ubuntu/OS X, etc.)
If you look at OpenGL 2.1, you may be surprised at how good the graphics
really are. My only fear is ATI discontinuing driver support. I would need
to head over to ATI and "bang on their bees nest" and remind them the
IMPORTANCE of continuing OpenGL support.
No, OpenGL is NOT dead! I have heard so many people say that, or try to
tell me that, but it just shows thir ignorance. OpenGL is a very viable
solution, and it's cross-platform (unlike DirectX 10). So I really think we
need to "stay the course" with OpenGL support.
The next step is to get NVIDIA and ATI to "stay the course" as well. They
need to produce BOTH DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 drivers for their high end
graphics cards.
So I'll head off in that direction if need be (because NVIDIA and ATI still
do produce high end OpenGL drivers specifically for the U.S. Government used
specifically for Satellite imagery/high end battlefield visualization).
Again, I can't say too much other than that (in an open thread), but the
OpenGL drivers are still being produced, my only question is, why would they
discontinue distributing them to consumers?
So I'll need to check into this, and talk to some of my contacts (ATI &
NVIDIA government contractors), and be sure to "press them" in continuing
OpenGL support. I do believe OpenGL support would be beneficial to having
high-end cross-platform gaming browsers (and even realistic worlds using
satellite imagery as map/ground textures).
Mark
P.S. Again, I can not speculate as to whether the U.S. Government has, uses,
or owns ANY satellites (communications satellites, imagery satellites, or
anything of the such), nor can I even speculate on ANY types of sensors that
any of these platforms (or various other "air breather" assets) may have.
Again, I know nothing, I see nothing, I sign no sworn statements. ;-)
Just protecting myself there. But anyone with half a brain can walk into
the Smithsonian and see the "Corona" on display, and possibly even an old
aging SR-71 dinosaur legacy platforms hanging from the ceiling. Again, I
can't confirm nor deny anything, but I'm just speculating on the various
technology platforms (and why OpenGL support continues to be necessary).
Not only for high-end government/military use, but also for civilian use
(such as 3D Virtual Gaming/Social Networking worlds).
Again, look at this link and you'll see that OpenGL 2.1 is very real, and
yes I believe that OpenGL 2.1 is better than DirectX 10.
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13647
Again, that could be my biased opinion against Microsoft's proprietary
"closed" standards, but take a look for yourself, and you'll see that OpenGL
2.1 is pretty amazing.
As far as FBX is concerned, I'm pretty sure that FBX is dead, and that it
has been superseded by COLLADA. I have talked to several people in the
industry about this, and many seem to agree that FBX is dead and COLLADA is
the way of the future.
http://www.ogre3d.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=319009#319009
Even the thread above (over at Ogre) confirms the fact, so we may need to
look more towards supporting COLLADA.
There are Collada plugins for Autodesk Maya here:
http://www.collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/ColladaMaya_NextGen
There are Collada plugins for Autodesk 3DS Max here:
http://www.collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/ColladaMax_NextGen
There is also a Collada Asset Manager here:
http://www.collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/COLLADA_Asset_Manager
On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 7:53 AM, Peter Quirk <[email protected]>wrote:
>
> KirstenLee Cinquetti is the SME for this.
> She is also a member of this group (search members for KirstenLee).
> -- Peter
>
>
> On Dec 14, 3:35 am, Mark Malewski <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I've combed through all the message lists, all the posts, and I've
> > been unable to find a topic covering Browser Branding and Browser
> > Customization builds.
> >
> > I'm looking for a "subject matter expert" (P.O.C.) for the realXtend
> > browser builds, just so I can get a few questions answered, and
> > possibly begin working on a tutorial (for customized Browser branding
> > and customization builds).
> >
> > I'm still getting my feet wet with realXtend, and I have a handful of
> > questions, but I would eventually like to try and begin work on
> > porting the viewer/browser to a wide variety of platforms (to include
> > Blackberry Storm, iPhone, and G-1 Android). I believe having a cross-
> > platform browser would be extremely useful.
> >
> > I just have a handful of questions, and need someone from the
> > realXtend browser/viewer team to at least give me a hand getting
> > started. Help point me in the right direction, and someone that I can
> > bounce questions off of, as I begin working on these projects. I just
> > need someone experienced in this area, just to help me get started a
> > bit, and someone that I can use as a "mentor" to just bounce questions
> > off of as I work.
> >
> > I'd like to document everything as I go, just so in the future we'll
> > have some detailed documentation on doing browser builds (and cross
> > platform builds).
> >
> > Again, if someone experienced in doing the realXtend browser builds
> > could please contact me, I just have a handful of questions to ask
> > concerning browser builds/browser customizations. If someone could
> > please just point me in the right direction and help me get started, I
> > would really love to write a tutorial, and begin documenting these
> > things on the realXtend WIKI.
> >
> > Thank-you,
> >
> > Mark
> >
>
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