Intro RWX, AW University
Log for Tuesday October 6th, 1998
Note: the models mentioned here can be seen in AWUniv at
34.5S 37.0W 2.3a 320.
===================================================================
Immigration Officer: Welcome to the AWUniversity! Please
check our website for the schedule of classes. http://www.awcommunity.org/awu.
Jakknife: You fal thru, blooms?
Magine: howdy all
Jakknife: Hi Magine
random: hi Jak ......hi Blooms...hi Magine
Magine: everyone get the new awb?
Blooms: lol
Blooms: I don
Jakknife: Hiya random.
Magine: no, neither do i....it DL's then tells me it can't upgrade
because some file isn't the same, sigh
Jakknife: yes I'm beta tester
Jakknife: hmmm
Carre: mine updated ok
Blooms: I 'm in the room where the table and the chandlier
Magine: siiiigh
Jakknife: ahhh
Jakknife: there you are
Blooms: Everything is better
Blooms: :)
Jakknife: great.
Blooms: HI
Magine: hi blooms
Blooms: I fell asleep lol
Jakknife: :)
Jakknife: I drank coffee to fight sleep
Jakknife: Hi Paul
Magine: well, any questions from last time?
Blooms: Here
Blooms: is the bird
Paul: hi
Blooms: HI
Magine: actually, this will probably be the last class session
for this "semester"
Immigration Officer: keny would like to join you. Type 'y'
to accept this request, or 'n' to reject it.
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by keny.
Paul: Thought there were to be 5
Jakknife: When does next semester start?
keny: am i late?
Magine: originally there were going to be 4 sessions, but the last
time i ran there were so many questions that we didn't get to the session
2 stuff til the 3rd week
Jakknife: Hi keny
Blooms: HI
Magine: you haven't missed anything keny
keny: *9ok good
Magine: but we went thru all the last time pretty quickly, so i'm
about out of things to discuss, unless there are questions
keny: i still need the program
Jakknife: I ned to look up a question I hd..
keny: this is my friend
Magine: i'll hold class again next week if people want, but it
will be just question and answer
keny: doctor1
Magine: so, kney, what it the problem you're having with downloading?
Magine: first of all, what web browser are you using?
Paul: I'm curious as to how people are making the 3D trees.
I can't believe they are doing it all by hand (so to speak).
doctor1: ok nice to meet you
Jakknife: cool I'll prepare a uestion list of terms I don't understand.
;)
keny: i dont know where to get it from
Magine: ok, jak :)
Magine: keny, what web browser are you using? netscape of internet
explorer, or something else??
keny: mangin?
Magine: yes keny?
keny: e explorar
keny: internet explorer
Magine: paul, as for the 3d trees...i don't know how people
are doing them (by hand or modeler) but if you mean the ones i think, it
looks like they're just making the trunk, with masked pictures for branches,
similar to the 3d trees here
Magine: keny, just type the name of the file you want into the
IE where it says "Address"
keny: ok
keny: what file do i want?
Magine: didn't you get the email with the list of materials for
class?
keny: yes
Magine: just type ftp://ftp.pipeline.com/users/magine and
you'll see the directory
keny: i need rwxmod?
selda: hi...sorry I'm late.
Magine: the files you want were listing in the email, keny
Jakknife: hi selda.
selda: hi Jak
Magine: also you want rwxmod, i also gave the address for that
in the email,
Magine: or you can got to cof's support page and get it from there
Magine: hi selda
selda: hi Magine.
Immigration Officer: SmUrF9900 would like to join you. Type
'y' to accept this request, or 'n' to reject it.
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by SmUrF9900.
SmUrF9900: hi magine
SmUrF9900: i want to be in ur class
Magine: hi smurf
keny: i cant get it
Magine: well here you are :)
SmUrF9900: sorry i am late
SmUrF9900: i totally forgot
Magine: can someone tell keny how to download the files?
keny: please?
Magine: smurf, do i have your email address?
SmUrF9900: no
SmUrF9900: it is chloe@weblaunch.com
Magine: chloe? :)
SmUrF9900: yes
SmUrF9900: that is my name
Paul: If your using IE, just click on the link to the file and
save to disk
Magine: but not the chloe of awhs?
SmUrF9900: no
SmUrF9900: ok so will u teah me?
SmUrF9900: umm what is this class agian??
SmUrF9900: lol
Magine: intro rwx
SmUrF9900: oh yeah
SmUrF9900: ok i want to do that
SmUrF9900: will u teach me?
random: Keny and Paul, most versions of IE have a glitch in them....you
have to right click on the download link and choose "save target as"
keny: i guesse i will just quit
Paul: I've never had to do that.
keny: i need those files??!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SmUrF9900: magine will u teach me?
Magine: sure smurf
SmUrF9900: ok
SmUrF9900: how do i start?
random: i have used most of the versions and upgrades Paul there
are only a couple versions where you dont have to,,,,and somtimes it depends
on the link also..even windows 98 works better if you choose save target
Magine: this is actually the next to last class, but since we've
just about covered everything, maybe we could do some review....depends
on how the rest of the class feels abotu that...
SmUrF9900: oh ok
SmUrF9900: how many classes r therye?
keny: magine?
keny: i need those files
Magine: smurf, this class has 4 or 5 sessions depending on how
many questions people ask :) this is session 4 tonight
Paul: Something wrong with your system, random. I've used everthing
from win 95 beta and IE2 to IE4 and never had that problem
Jakknife: Review would be good.
keny: oh hi random
keny: magine!!!?!?!?!
Paul: In fact I just now did it
Magine: keny, i don't want to be mean, but if you can't figure
out how to download some files, i don't think you're going to be able to
deal with rwx...
selda: reviewing gets my vote:-)
Carre: lets review, yes
Magine: i don't know what else to tell you keny...you have the
list of files in the email i sent, all you have to do is type the name
of a file into your web browser
keny: if i could find the place to download them from i could download
them
Paul: Keny, go to www.activeworlds.com and select Support and click
on the underlined files that you need.
random: Paul I have worked fifteen different computers in the last
two years...most of them had it...you might have a version with the patch
keny: random come down here
Paul: If left doesn't work, then follow random's advice and right-click
and safe file as
Paul: save files as
SmUrF9900: ok everyone who want a revies say i
Magine: alright, any questions about what we've discussed so far?
if not, i'll do some review for the newcomers
SmUrF9900: reveiw i meant
Jakknife: I
Carre: I
SmUrF9900: like me!!:-)
keny: what files do i need?
Magine: keny, i think you're putting me on :)
Carre: Keny, subject close, on to review
Magine: ok...review.....
keny: i just need the names of the files
Magine: keny, LOOK IN THE EMAIL I SENT YOU :)
Jakknife: Magine, is there a more advanced rwx clas than this?
SmUrF9900: magine is this the class where u learn how to build
ur own object?
SmUrF9900: bfvk?
SmUrF9900: u here?
Magine: i don't know, jak, you'd have to look at awu's page for
the class list...
Magine: smurf, that's right
Jakknife: ok
SmUrF9900: good
SmUrF9900: bfvk u here?
BigFatVudooKitty: this is cool
BigFatVudooKitty: this is cool
SmUrF9900: yep
SmUrF9900: this class is about to do a review
BigFatVudooKitty: hello
Paul: I need a couple of hurricanes.
Magine: ahem, review.... :) ....terminology:
renderware is a set of DLLs that programs can use to create 3d graphics.
the active worlds browser uses renderware to create all that you see here
in active worlds...
BigFatVudooKitty: where do i go???
SmUrF9900: just stay here
SmUrF9900: with me
SmUrF9900: where r u?
Magine: mostly, it uses renderware scripts, = rwx files,
which contain instructions for renderware (rw) on how to draw a particular
model
BigFatVudooKitty: Where are u all???
SmUrF9900: come to 34s 36w
Magine: rw models are made entirely out of flat polygons
BigFatVudooKitty: im here
SmUrF9900: ok
SmUrF9900: fly up
Magine: ...like this green polygon here
SmUrF9900: come up hee
SmUrF9900: where mag?
Magine: polygons can have 3 or more sides, or "edges"
SmUrF9900: oh
SmUrF9900: n/m
Magine: the bluegreen one here
Magine: this blinking one, now
keny: random!!stop
SmUrF9900: i don't see it
BigFatVudooKitty: brb
Magine: a polygon with 3 sides in a triangle, and a polygon with
4 sides is called a quad
keny: magine?
SmUrF9900: ok
Magine: a polygon with more than 4 sides is just called a polygon
:)
keny: i just downloaded them all
Magine: yes keny?
Magine: good for you
keny: ok?
random: keny you wanted the addys ...I sent them...your welcome.
Magine: now polygons are composed of connected points in space,
called vertices
Magine: the blinking blue spheres here show where the vertices
are on this polygon
BigFatVudooKitty: wait
SmUrF9900: what polygon
SmUrF9900: ?
"infinity": why does no one like me? :(
Magine: the green polygon with the blinky blue vertices :)
SmUrF9900: the green one?
Magine: yes
SmUrF9900: oh
SmUrF9900: i see
"infinity": just becasue I nkow more about AW than anyone here
doesnt mean you shoud hate me :(
BigFatVudooKitty: where are u?????
Magine: (im going kind of quickly here since this is review for
most of the class)
SmUrF9900: no we hate u cause u r snobby and consided
BigFatVudooKitty: i like u
"infinity": I'm sorry, what's going on here?
Carre: listening magine, thanks
SmUrF9900: i know more about aw then everyone ?
Magine: to continue.....vertices are defined by 3 numbers called
coordinates
SmUrF9900: i am listen'
Magine: that define the vertex's position in space
Magine: the coordinates are called x, y and z
BigFatVudooKitty: AH
Magine: these crossbars show how the coordinate system works
Magine: the first coordinate, x, tells the vertex's position in
terms of left-right
SmUrF9900: i get it
Magine: the second coord is y, and describes up and down position
BigFatVudooKitty: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
Magine: the third is z and describes "toward" and "away" position
SmUrF9900: i get it
Magine: you can think of the coordinates as three lines, one for
each direction
BigFatVudooKitty: i kinda see u now
Magine: with 0,0,0 in the center
SmUrF9900: we r 13.4 meters up high
SmUrF9900: ooohhhh i get it
Magine: to the left, or below, or away, is negative; to the
right, up or toward is positive
SmUrF9900: ok
Magine: a rwx script will use vertex and polygon commands to describe
the model
Magine: each rwx file starts out with "modelbegin" and ends with
"modelend"
Magine: also, every script needs at least one "clump"
Magine: a clump is just a way of dividing a model up into parts
Magine: and many models may have only one clump
Magine: each beginning with "clumpbegin" and ending with "clumpend"
Magine: you can put clumps inside other clumps, but only the first
or main clump will be solid in the awb
Magine: you can click on that blue sign over there with your web
browser open for example scripts, at www.pipeline.com/~magine/rwx_examples.htm
Jakknife: ?
Magine: jak?
Jakknife: didn't understand the clump statement.
SmUrF9900: oh i get it
Magine: what part didn't you understand?
Jakknife: only one solid?
Magine: yes, if you have multiple clumps, only the outmost one
will be solid here in aw
Paul: Nested clumps
Magine: paul, yes
Jakknife: what happens to others?
Paul: Sequential clumps are all solid
Magine: they are visible, just not solid
Jakknife: ok.
Magine: which can be useful actually, because you can't have more
than 64 vertices or polygons in the main clump, or it will have solidity
problems
BigFatVudooKitty: I just cant do any thing at all right now
Magine: sorry, vudoo, you kind of arrived in the middle of the
semester :)
SmUrF9900: y bfvk?
SmUrF9900: no she has been here
Magine: anyway....
BigFatVudooKitty: ok i have heard u said
Magine: since figuring out how to position vertices can be tedious,
it's often advantageous to use graphics primitives commands instead
Magine: these are commands like "sphere", "cone", "cylinder" and
so forth
Magine: you can look them up in the rwapi.hlp file, that i mentioned
in the intro email
Jakknife: I understand the vertex commands and quad commands, but
not the polygon command, like polygon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 etc.
Paul: Thanks for that file. It comes in handy.
Magine: ok, jak..polygon command is the same idea as the quad or
triangle command
Magine: only since a polygon can have many sides, you also give
the number of sides as the first number in the list
SmUrF9900: hey magine can u just teachme some other time or please
try to e-mail me the directions!!!!!
BigFatVudooKitty: cool
Magine: for instance, "triangle 1 2 3" is exactly the same as "polygon
3 1 2 3"
Magine: or "quad 3 6 12 9" is the same as "polygon 4 3 6 12 9"
Magine: see?
Jakknife: Still linking vertes points?
SmUrF9900: i get it
Magine: yep, jak, just the same as triangle and quad....
SmUrF9900: i g2g e-mail me magine ok!!!!!!!!??????????????????????
Jakknife: ok thx ;)
Magine: ok, smurf
SmUrF9900: e-mail me the irections or the next class for brginner
SmUrF9900: bye bfvk
Magine: ok...
Magine: ....an example graphics primitive command would be "cone
1 .4 6" which would make a cone 1 unit high, .4 units wide, and with 6
sides
Magine: since everything is made of polygons, even a smooth-appearing
cone actually has sides
Magine: the more sides, the smoother it will look, but the longer
it will take to "render" (to be drawn by rw)
Paul: Hints hint is one of
Container, HS or Editable. Can you explain
each parameter?
Magine: ok, paul...
Magine: "addhint container" tells rw that the model is going to
have othe things inside it,
Magine: "addhint hs" tells rw that the object has hidden surfaces,
Jakknife: Like what?
Magine: and "addhint editable" tells rw that it's ok to modify
the model after loading it into memory
Magine: hm, well let me see...
Magine: just any model where one part will be obscured by another...however,
don't take the hints too literally...
Paul: Sure woud be nice to see examples of each.
Magine: i've found that "addhint editable" seems to work most often,
when there are problems with t model
Magine: well to tell the truth, paul, the rw book is a little vague
about the hints :)
Paul: I figured it probably was.
Paul: COBtoRWX allways add Hints Editable
Jakknife: does cube have a gp?
Magine: basically, don't use them if you don't have to, because
they can slow down rendering; but if a model looks wrong, like having parts
behind other parts incorrectly, just try the hints and see if they help....and
in my experience,
Magine: editable helps most often.
Magine: there is a "block" gp, jak, yes
Magine: as you see them here, there are disc, block, cone,
sphere, hemisphere and cylinder
Magine: to continue rapid review :) ....gp's can't be textured,
but you can convert gp
Magine: s (graphics primitives) to vert and polys using rwxmod
Paul: Does AW use MaterialBegin End or Materialmodes?
Magine: materialmode double, yes
Magine: materialbegin..end i haven't tried...
Paul: What about polygonext?
Magine: polygonext and polygon are exactly the same
Paul: How is ti different from polygon
Jakknife: we didn't discuss block o hemsphr gp's.
Magine: apparently in old versions, you had to use polygonext if
you have UVs etc
Magine: jak, i figured you'd look those up in the rwapi :)
Jakknife: ok
Magine: but they're the same as the others, really
Jakknife: do you have a hemisphere?
Paul: Have you ever tried TextureGammaCorrection
<mode>
Magine: block command is "block <width> <height> <depth>,
Magine: hemisphere is "hemisphere <Radius> <density>" ...density
is the same kind of thing as for sphere; higher = more polygons
Magine: no paul, i havent
Magine: i have tried texturemode filter...not a bit effect, but
if kind of blurs textures close up
Magine: not a big effect, i meant to say
Paul: Wonder if that's like bi-linear filtering.
Magine: i believe gamma correction has to do with lighting...adjusting
for the display...not sure, i haven't seen it used here
Magine: sorry, i'm kind of pooping out this evening....
Magine: how about homework? anyone work on anything new? jak, i'm
ULing yours for us to look at here...
Jakknife: no you're not.
Jakknife: ok ;)
LaurieAnn: When does this class start again?
Magine: i'm not sure, laurieann...check the awuniv page....
Magine: i'm not planning on teaching again for a month or so, need
to take a break
LaurieAnn: k
Paul: There may be a link at ground zero also
Jakknife: Well deserved, Magine.
Magine: whoa
Magine: large, whatever it is, jak :)
Jakknife: lol
Magine: punkin wall
Carre: halloween
Blooms: Yes
Carre: trick or treat, lol
Magine: here's the other....
Magine: did the textures appear the way you wanted, jak?
Jakknife: They're meant to go together ;)
Jakknife: yes.
Carre: good arch, like the dripping letters
Magine: punkin treat or tricky skull
Jakknife: the black top has eyes, but they're real small
Carre: lol, I prefer the treat
Magine: me too....
Magine: so...question for everyone...what is the one model you've
most wanted to make?
Paul: 3D trees
Blooms: avator that can sit at will
Jakknife: A ship
random: anything that works *L*
Magine: heheh
Magine: ok, then next week will be a workshop....
Jakknife: cool
Magine: maybe you can't make the perfect model on the first try,
but you can make a start :)
Blooms: magine, I can't build:(
Magine: sure ya can blooms :)
random: great
Magine: avatars are pretty complicated, i've never made one entirely
from scratch yet, but i can tell you some of the principals, bloom :)
Paul: Why Blooms?
Magine: blooms, have you tried to make anything yet?
Blooms: A cone with lots of help :)
Magine: lol, lots of help?
Jakknife: She has built a house to
Magine: you just need some confidence, it sound like to me
Jakknife: too
selda: how hard is it to build avatars?
Magine: just hard to make realistic shaped body parts, mainly
Magine: should be easy to make a stick figure av
Magine: i was thinking of making a skeleton for halloween....
Paul: What might help, Blooms, is to download some simple AW models
( a Panel, Wall, etc) and look at the file while you view it in RWXMod.
selda: that would be interesting
Magine: someone did make a skeleton, but they used modeling software
and it has lots and lots of polygons
Blooms: I will make a stick if it can sit down and stay sitting.
and not roll around on the floor lol
selda: typically what's consider a good range of polys?
Paul: <64
Magine: under 64 if you want the object o have proper solidity
Magine: if an object has more than 64 verts or polys in the main
clump, then the object will act as if it's a solid block
Magine: for instance, you've seen the standard archways in aw,
right?
selda: yes
Magine: if those had more than 64 verts/polys, then you would not
be able to walk thru them
Paul: Everybody email Roland and tell him you want the limit raised
to 80 to 150 or so.
Magine: roland no can do...it's a renderware thing :)
Paul: Yes he can to
Magine: can he?
Paul: It not renderware it an aw limit
Magine: ah, well then :)
Blooms: does it affect movement?
Magine: movement? movement around the model, like i said
LaurieAnn: render time
Magine: more polys always slows down render time
selda: what if you don't want someone to be able to move thru and
object (no shift keys)?
Magine: you can check how fast something renders in rwxmod, i believe
Paul: 80 to 100 or so won't make much difference
Paul: It's the 1000's that kills you and Avatars are in the 100's
to 1000's
Magine: yes....however, if you go someplace where there are no
other objects....you can see avs more very quickly, like an animated cartoon....
Paul: That's why Av's at ground zero always slows you down
Magine: yeah
selda: If anyone is interested in building objects, the Avatar98
conference need volunteers for basic things:-))
Magine: the reason games like doom etc can move so much faster
than awb, is because the backgrounds aren't as dynamic...they're gimmicked
for fast rendering
Paul: Blooms, do you have a 3D modeling program?
Magine: what is that, selda?
Blooms: Nope
Blooms: I just want to sit down:)
selda: It's an online conference about 3D virtual worlds.
This year it's online (as opposed to RL)
Magine: that's hard, blooms, it's in the seqs, not the avatars
themselves
Magine: where do i find out more, selda?
Blooms: :)
Digigardener: hi folks
Blooms: Hopefully some day :)
Digigardener: it will be on nov 21st
Magine: i'm afraid i don't know anything about seqs, except that
you can make them with lifeforms (software)
Digigardener: we expect hundreds of visitors to the AV98 world
Magine: av98 world here? cool
LaurieAnn: url?
selda: add Digigardener to your contact list for the moment, and
take a look at www.ccon.org
Digigardener: www.ccon.org
Blooms: sorry, I opened a can of worms
Digigardener: yup!
selda: oops...there he is
Digigardener: sorry to interrupt the class, this looks excellent
Digigardener: hahaha
Magine: it was just about over, anyway, DG
Paul: I've heard you can't really make an Av sit because you can't
stop the main seq for long
Digigardener: love this falling water, who made it?
Magine: carre build most of this building, DG
Magine: based on frank lloyd wright's desgin
Magine: design
Digigardener: would she or you like to contribute objects to the
av98 event?
Blooms: That makes sense Paul:)
Jakknife: Applause for Carre ;)
Magine: well, i'm working on our halloween ghost castle right now,
so not much time....but after oct31 i could
selda: when will your ghost castle be ready?
Jakknife: Sam here ith Halloween.
Magine: only the ghosts know :) hopefully a week or so before halloween
Digigardener: ok, folks, if you get signed up on the Newsfeed at
www.ccon.org/conf98
Digigardener: you will get all the updates
Digigardener: you can even enter the avvy awards
Digigardener: and win prizes
selda: avvy awards?
Digigardener: (end of speech :)
Blooms: :)
Digigardener: the annual avatar awards for the contact consortium
selda: nice skeleton
Magine: it is
Digigardener: anyhow bye guys
Digigardener: an thanks for your attention
Magine: bye bye digigardener
Blooms: wow
Paul: I found a nice 3DS skeleton, Magine, but it has several 10's
of 1000's of polygons.
Blooms: very good
Magine: yes, here it is, paul :)
Paul: is that it?
Magine: someone contribued this one to awu
Paul: I couldn't get it to convert properly.
Magine: that can be tricky, yep...
Magine: i'd like to make this one into an avatar, if i could figure
out how to cut down on the polys
selda: couldn't you texmap some of it?
Magine: you mean, use texture instead of polys? absolutely
Magine: the rib cage, for instance, could be a stretched sphere,
with mask texture for bones
Magine: oh btw, for those who are interested...i finally got around
to making a windows version of fixrwx...renamed rwxlint...
Magine: you can use it to number vertices, flip polys, that sort
of thing
selda: where can we find it?
Paul: It's extremely detailed.
Magine: ftp://ftp.pipeline.com/users/magine/rwxlint.zip
Jakknife: great, although I had no trouble with fixrwx
Magine: i didn't do the help file for it yet though, heheh
Magine: but it should be pretty self-explanatory....
Magine: you can either process a file, or use the clipboard
Magine: wellll, that's all folks....next time, workshop, make your
dream model, hehe
Jakknife: Anything we should do to prepare for next week's workshop?
random: thanks Magine
Blooms: Thankyou Magine, I enjoy the lessons, even if I don't understand
most of it :)
selda: thanks magine:-)
Blooms: bye
Paul: Have fun with your castle, Magine
Magine: g'night all....email if you have questions...see ya, poof!
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