| Creating a ModelResource |
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- Click on the ModelResource-TAB.
The TABs can be identified quickly by the help of Tooltips,
which appear when moving the mouse over the Tabs.
After clicking on the ModelResource-TAB, the 3DPI will display
all ModelResources that exist in the selected shockwave3D member.
Currently only one ModelResource exists: the "DefaultModel",
a plane. But because a plane is quite boring, lets create a
new ModelResource of type #box.
- Click on the "New" Button to open the dialog for creating
a new ModelResource.
A dialog will open, asking for a name of the ModelResource and
for the type. Of course you can change the name, but you can
also leave it like suggested by the 3DPI, which in this case
is "box_1".
- Select the "box" Radio Button within the dialog for
the type.
- Click "OK" to close the dialog and to create the ModelResource.
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TIP:
When clicking on the "New" Button while keeping the
option key (= alt key) pressed, the dialog will be skipped.
The new ModelResource will be created immediately and automatically
named by the 3DPI: "ModelResource_1", "ModelResource_2", and so
on. The type of the ModelResource will be automatically the same
like it was choosen last time within the dialog.
On PC the dialog can also be skipped by clicking with the right
mouse Button on the "New" Button.
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The new ModelResource of type #box is created.
Within the 3DPI it now appears in the name list, and it is automatically
selected, which can be recognized by a white hilite.
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| Viewing the properties of the ModelResource |
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Finally you would like to see, how the thing looks like, don´t
you?
Click on the "display resource" Button in the right bottom corner
of the 3DPI: there it is! |
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In the bottom part of the 3DPI are now listed alot of new informations:
this are the properties of a ModelResource of type #box, and their
current values. One now could open the Director help and start reading
the informations about all those properties, but in most cases it´s
much simpler with the help of the 3DPI: one can quickly change the
value of a property and immediately see the result, and understands
the meaning of the property. |
For example the properties about the dimension of the box ModelResource:
height, width and length. One can change the values by typing a
new number inside the field, or even more simpel, click on the wheel
(the endless slider beside the field), keep the mouse Button pressed,
and move the mouse to the left and right. The dimensions will increase
and decrease, and the Preview in the right bottom corner of the
3DPI will display the new result in realtime.
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TIP:
While changing a value with a slider or a wheel (the endless slider)
and pressing the shift key, scrolling will accelerate (10x), and
while pressing the option key (= alt key) scrolling will decelerate
(0.1x).
While scrolling, the original value can be reached quickly again,
by simply moving the mouse far away from the slider/wheel. (For
horizontal elements the vertical distance to the mouse is decisive,
for vertical elements the horizontal distance.)
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A ModelResource is only an object, which keeps geometrical information.
For viewing such a thing in the world or on the stage, one needs
to create a model and to assign a ModelResource to it:
- Click on the Model-TAB.
After clicking on the Model-TAB, the 3DPI will display all Models
that exist in the selected shockwave3D member.
Currently no Model exists, so lets create a new one.
- Click on the "New" Button to open the dialog for creating
a new model.
A dialog will open, asking for a name of the model and for the
ModelResource, that optional can be assigned to it. You can
leave the name like suggested by the 3DPI or change it in e.g.
"myCube".
- Select "box_1" from the PopUp at "Resource" within
the dialog (or however you named the ModelResource).
- Click "OK" to close the dialog and to create the model.
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TIP:
When clicking on the "New" Button while keeping the
option key (= alt key) pressed, the dialog will be skipped.
The new Model will be created immediately and automatically named
by the 3DPI: "model_1", "model_2", and so on. No ModelResource will
be assigned to the model that way, but this can be changed later
easily.
On PC the dialog can also be skipped by clicking with the right
mouse Button on the "New" Button. |
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The new model is created.
It now appears in the name list of the 3DPI, and it is automatically
selected, which can be recognized by a white hilite.
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| Viewing the properties of the Model |
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The bottom part of the 3DPI is now full of informations. This
are model properties, and their current values of the new created
model.
One of this properties is responsible for keeping the information,
that the ModelResource "box_1" (or however you named the ModelResource)
is already assigned to the model. This property is called "resource"
and the 3DPI offers a popUp to change the resource again.
When clicking on the Button on the left, you will come back to
the ModelResource-Tab and will find the "box_1" selected.
These Buttons are always working as hyperlinks, and additionally
will select the object that is displayed beside the hyperlink
Button.
Before analyzing all the model´s properties, it´s
time to watch your model!
You can simply doubleclick the shockwave3D member in the cast
window to get a first idea. But if you want to see the changes
that you are doing with the 3DPI in realtime, it´s better
to move the member on the stage and start the movie:
- drag the shockwave3D member from the cast window on the stage
- open the control panel from the Menu "Window"
- switch the loop playback on (the Button in the right upper
corner of the control panel)
- click on the "Play" Button
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The model appears on the stage, but only one side is visible.
Play around with the wheels beside the rotation values, and you
quickly have a nice view of your model.
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Beside of the transform property (position, rotation and scale)
and the resource property, the next important one is the #shader
resp. #shaderlist property. But let´s go to the next chapter
where the Cube will be colorized...
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