Export to VRML question

[Anonymous]

Hi,

A client wants to walk around in a building we are working on and I tried exporting VRML to use in Octagon VRML player (http://www.octaga.com/download_freeplayer.html). It works fine but with a big problem....I can only move around in "examine" mode. I can't walk or fly or anythinh like that. I don't know if the settings are wrong when I export the VRML-file. There are hardly any settings btw...
If anyone has experience with this and can help me I would be very grateful.

Best regards,

Mats

[Djordje]

mathome wrote:
A client wants to walk around in a building we are working on and I tried exporting VRML to use in Octagon VRML player

Did you try the Shockwave exporter? Not free ...

http://www.dunako.com/archishock3d.html

[Anonymous]

The Unreal web page is very promising. No way will architectural modelling/rendering programs such as ArchiCAD be able to avoid this future development. If they don't think of it at the office, they will experience it at home.

I have a son who loves to frag me every chance he gets, usually happens when I an admiring the built environment for a second, WHAM two barrels of plasma gas to the back of my head!

All I can add to this discussion is my all time favorite real-time demo:

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/demo_lastchancegas.html

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:

mathome wrote:
A client wants to walk around in a building we are working on and I tried exporting VRML to use in Octagon VRML player

Did you try the Shockwave exporter? Not free ...

http://www.dunako.com/archishock3d.html

I tried it and it is promising, though doesn't meet my wishes at the moment. I will stick to the v8 demo version of ArchiCAD which is an excellent browser if you're prepared to spend just a little time with the interface.

I was on a meeting yesterday with the purpose of finding out how we could use the 3D model as a decision support material for the manufacturers of prefabricated concrete elements. We hope that they will understand the geometry better from the 3D model (and that the different manufacturers will understand the geometry in the same way... so that we can have a fair chance at evaluating the different offers both moneywise and qualitywise...).

We have 3DS Viz at the office and I will try to export vrml through 3DS even if I think 3DS is a great time consumer....

:)Mats

[stefan]

mathome wrote:
We have 3DS Viz at the office and I will try to export vrml through 3DS even if I think 3DS is a great time consumer....
:)Mats

If you have VIZ, then do try that road. It doesn't have to be too spectacular to be very usefull.

Just make sure that it end up on the right scale, meaning one "unit" in VIZ will be translated into one "meter" in the VRML model.

You can set your VIZ system unit to one meter and then make sure the export from ArchiCAD uses 1000 mm as unit settings. When importing, let VIZ "convert units". That way, both the units & measurements in VIZ will be correct. This also makes sure that radiosity rendering uses the correct units. When that is fine, the model is on scale in VIZ and through the VRML export.

[Anonymous]

stefan wrote:

mathome wrote:
We have 3DS Viz at the office and I will try to export vrml through 3DS even if I think 3DS is a great time consumer....
:)Mats

If you have VIZ, then do try that road. It doesn't have to be too spectacular to be very usefull.

Just make sure that it end up on the right scale, meaning one "unit" in VIZ will be translated into one "meter" in the VRML model.

You can set your VIZ system unit to one meter and then make sure the export from ArchiCAD uses 1000 mm as unit settings. When importing, let VIZ "convert units". That way, both the units & measurements in VIZ will be correct. This also makes sure that radiosity rendering uses the correct units. When that is fine, the model is on scale in VIZ and through the VRML export.

Thanks Stefan! I will try 3DSViz with your tips. (wish I had more time...)
:)M

[Anonymous]

mathome wrote:

mathome wrote:
I will stick to the v8 demo version of ArchiCAD which is an excellent browser if you're prepared to spend just a little time with the interface.

:)Mats

Yes, an excellent point Mats. Why in the world won't Graphisoft just package the 3-d window browsing capability of ver8 as a stand alone, non-editing viewer. Include a beginner GUI, perhaps recorded paths, cameras, etc so that we can direct the viewer also.

Mark

[Ralph Wessel]

mathome wrote:
A client wants to walk around in a building we are working on and I tried exporting VRML to use in Octagon VRML player (http://www.octaga.com/download_freeplayer.html).

Have you tried the Cortona VRML viewer? It's available as a browser plugin from http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona/.

[stefan]

An example of an ArchiCAD model, exported to VRML (by passing through 3ds max).

http://www2.asro.kuleuven.ac.be/asro/English/HOME/SBs/tutorial/3dcourse/VR/rw.wrl

The model has a scaling issue and at the back of the building, there are a few faces flipped. But it was never specifically built for realtime browsing...

In an animation tool, it's possible to add opening doors and moving things and even let it be triggered by the used (by clicking or by coming close enough).

VRML is old but still has it's uses.

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I'm looking closer to Cult3D, AXELEdge, Wirefusion, EON and a few others at the moment, but time is always a problem.
If you buy 3D-World Magazine, you receive a (non-commercial) license for Wirefusion 3.2 Personal Edition and the WF3D-plugin, so you can load VRML-models. This is a nice technology, enabling 3D-interactive content in a JAVA-applet, so you don't even need to install a plugin to be able to view it. And this time, the authoring software (written in Java, I think) is available for MAC's as well 😉

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Expect realtime shadows, reflections, bump mapping and other nice rendering tricks in these tool in a few years. The technology is here (graphic-cards with pixel shaders and CG-language and OpenGL- or DirectX realtime shaders), games allready use it and more and more VR-tools are starting to enable it (e.g. Quest3D, the new generation of EON-products).