INTRO to CODING VRML by HAND

INTRO to CODING VRML by HAND

When I first discovered CT, I was completely blown away by the 3D thing. It didn't take long for me to develop an overpowering, even urgent, desire to want to make these 3D objects. Since then, I've noticed that many folks who join CTR develop the same 'problem' *wink* Just gotta gotta learn how to do this stuff ! And better yet, since we have a Mall - just have to get one's own creations in there. What a thrill to have others buy & appreciate our artwork ! Making 3D objects for upload to the Mall is a wonderful way to share ourselves with others.

For me, the road was long & tortuous. It took quite a while to find out that objects were made by most creators in a prog called Spazz. It was a major disappointment when Spazz wouldn't function properly on my comp. There went my dreams - right out the ( browser ) window lol ! I turned to the Homebuilder houses as an artistic outlet - creating packages of themed textures for use in them. As it turned out in the end, this was a good path to have followed since I had about zero ability to make textures. Doing textures for the HB houses in CT allowed me the opportunity & the time I needed to learn how to use my graphics programme & how to make effective textures for use in 3D. VRML work is about 50% form & 50% texture most of the time so having good textures to work with can really enhance an object. Eventually, I discovered that objects could be created by handcoding them & I have not looked back since :) Handcoding is not impossible to learn. Learning its basics will provide you with the tools you need to edit the files you make in a variety of progrs, build completely with handcoding, or use a combination of the 2 in your creations.

In these tutorials, the focus will be on learning, not just how to handcode, but how to create objects that will perform well when added to 3D worlds, whether that be an art canvas or a complex doohickey. As we go along, I'll be mentioning objects that correspond with coding examples & are located in the club.

DETAILED TUTORIAL INDEX

1. GETTING STARTED - the things you'll need to get together before you begin the journey
2. SHAPES - all the basic shapes ( box, sphere, cone, cylinder + extrusions, elevation grids & IFSs, followed by stars & hearts )
3. MATERIALS - diffuseColor, emissiveColor, specularColor, transparency, ambientIntensity, shininess
4. ISSUES INVOLVED in MAKING OBJECTS - CTR positioning, restrictions
5. CREATING a CANVAS - canvas, frame, alternative presentations for artwork
6. TEXTURES - .jpg, .gif, coding, scaling, pixel texture, copyright issues
7. FINISHING TOUCHES - pointLights, spotLights, animating material attributes, using text geometry
8. ANIMATIONS - sensors, interpolators, routes, grouping, sliding door, opening door, pocket doors
9. ADVANCED CODING - collision, push animation, wave animation, fountains
10. FINAL PREP - pricing, thumbs, file sizes for wrl & texture & thumb, uploading process