3D Animation Workshop: Lesson 87: More Cult3D Interactivity | 2

Lesson 87 - More Cult3D Interactivity - Part 2

Using these drag-and drop tools, you can go very far toward creating a fully operational virtual consumer gadget. The following represents the final state of the project (with some modifications) and is worth considering in detail.

As with all interactive applications, there must generally be some kind of initialize function in the Cult3D player that sets things up for the viewer, and a finalize function that performs any necessary housecleaning before the application shuts down. Cult3D calls these "World Start" and "World Stop" and they are iconified as green and red traffic lights, respectively. Note how the scene is first initialized by the connected icons at the top of the window. A specific camera (different than the default camera) is chosen to view the scene, and the small icon beneath the green traffic light (World Start) initializes an arcball to permit the user to rotate the object for observation. The arcball is linked to the Minidisc object, which is the null object grouping all of the components of together—in effect, the entire product.

Now look at the middle group of linked icons. This is an extension of the sound-playing capabilities already introduced. Clicking the Stop button on the Minidisc will stop the sound file from playing. The red traffic light (World Stop) performs a necessary finalization function, turning off the sound when the user leaves the scene.

The primary animated feature of the project involves ejecting and inserting the CD media. All this interactivity was constructed using the lowest group of interconnected icons. Clicking on the eject lever on the side of the Minidisc player triggers an animation of the Minidisc Media, causing it to translate out of the body of the object. We saw how these simple translations are timed and constructed in the previous lesson. Note that the object that you click on (the lever) is not the object being animated. Once the CD media is ejected and visible, you can click on it to start a translation in the opposite direction, inserting it back into the Minidisc player. Compare the connecting lines to understand this concept. On the left side, clicking on the lever animates a different object—the media. On the right side, clicking on the now-ejected media animates that very object. This is reflected in the triangular connection of lines on the right side.

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Created: Feb. 28, 2000
Revised: Feb. 28, 2000

URL: https://webreference.com/3d/lesson87/part2.html