Minas Tirith Project || Part 2

Kope · 2007-04-06 06:38:50 UTC

Here’s my second tiling diffuse preview. It’s 29 tilings… Happy Easter

Pjanssen · 2007-04-06 14:15:35 UTC

Update week 14

Design Document:

This week I’ve been working some more on the design for the design document and started making the html/css template. Emiel is currently revising and adding some things, and when that’s done I can continue with the php part of it. I hope to have the system finished somewhere next week.

Website:
The design document for the website is almost done. That means that we can soon begin the production. Because the design document is rather extensive and well thought through, the time that production will take should be much less. It will still take quite some time though.

Old Website Domain:
With Wilco’s help I’ve transferred the old MT domain (www.minastirith-project.com) to the new host. This is so that people had the old address in their favorites, or followed old links wouldn’t get a 404. The old domain is redirected to the domain that we’ll use from now on (www.minastirithproject.com)

Textures:
Kope and softdistortion have been working on the first couple of generic textures for the project as you have seen in previous posts. This is in advance of the design document, but as far as I can see now it’s definitely going to be useful.

Viewer:
Flavien is still working on the viewer v12 release. It should be finished somewhere next week.

Pjanssen · 2007-04-08 14:35:30 UTC

Today I’ve been working on the Flash 3d Viewer:

The preloader may act a bit odd, I don’t really know why yet.

edit: I’ve fixed the preloader. It turned out that there was a problem with the fact that the http protocol handles only one request at the time. The preloader relied on loading all files simultaneously. That’s why it worked fine on my pc locally, but didn’t online.

I've also been restructuring the maxscript so that it won't interfere with other scripts' variables. There are still a couple of bugs to fix and some small features for the flash part and then I think I can call it finished :)

digitalputty · 2007-04-08 14:55:45 UTC

Wow. How did you make it interactive like that?

Pjanssen · 2007-04-08 15:03:09 UTC

Thanks
It basically works like a stack of images, where the visible one is controlled by the mouse position.
The maxscript renders out a whole series of images, rotating the camera a bit with each frame. This results in a series of images showing all sides of the model. In flash, only one of these is visible. As soon as you click and drag, the topmost image is swapped by another. Which one this is, is determined by the movement direction/position of the mouse.

digitalputty · 2007-04-08 15:37:27 UTC

Awesome.

Is the maxscript included in Max or is it something you developed? (noobie question ay?)

Pjanssen · 2007-04-08 15:44:06 UTC

I wrote it. Take a look at this earlier post for more details: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=4260845&postcount=2172
(it was called 3d To Sprite script, and the stitching part is no longer in it)

Simon is writing a maya version at the moment.

JonnyLightning · 2007-04-08 22:22:11 UTC

Hello, nice to see the project is back up and running, if you still need a concept artist I’m still available at jam51191@comcast.net, and it would be nice if I could get a reply this time

Pjanssen · 2007-04-09 04:03:25 UTC

I believe I did reply to you, but I’m sorry if I didn’t.

There isn’t a great lot of work to do for concept artists at the moment. Most of the building areas have quite sufficient concept art. Other areas that might require concept art have still got to be decided on in the design document. So I don’t really have anything you could do until the design document is completed.

Aranel · 2007-04-09 04:19:03 UTC

MT Library Exterior:

MT Library Interior:

M

JonnyLightning · 2007-04-09 15:19:47 UTC

Alright then, good luck with the project, can’t wait to see it completed, you guys are doing a great job

Kope · 2007-04-10 04:07:10 UTC

Idea of library is nice but I’d make it bigger. As for the stairs maybe a double helix ones? The library internal could be divided in reading place and big archive… Let’s say at least few hundred ancient volumes? What do you think?

Pjanssen · 2007-04-13 12:19:49 UTC

[b]Update week 15

  [size=2]Design document:
  [/b]Emiel has been rewriting the HTML and CSS part for the Design document template (my html/css skills aren't all that strong). For a preview, click here:
  [http://213.46.54.224/mt-project/mtwiki/](http://213.46.54.224/mt-project/mtwiki/)
  I hope to start working on the PHP part this weekend, and finish it next week (I wonder how often I've already had planned to have it finished 'this week'...)
  
  [color=DarkOrange][b]Website:
  [/b][color=#fffffe]Emiel and I are still working on the design document for the new website. It's not going very fast I must admit, but somehow we can't really manage to just hurry up and finish it. It's going to be a fairly complex system, and so it's important that we write things down before actually starting the production. Tim will start working on the design as soon as the document is finished.
  The doc must be finished early next week. (no 'hopefully' here, this is a serious goal we're going to work on ;))
  
  [color=DarkOrange][b]Viewer v12:
  [/b][color=#fffffe]I got an update from Flavien today, about the status of the oncoming viewer release. It isn't done yet, but he's working hard on it. There were still some issues with object instances, and some bugs due to an updated collision system.
  The object instance problems will be ignored for this release, in order to save time. The physics problem are more serious though, and will need debugging.
  
  [color=DarkOrange][b]3d Viewer:
  [/b][color=#fffffe]The 3d viewer is done and ready to be released!
  I'll post the details in a seperate post, following shortly after this one.
  While testing, I've made another complete 3d viewer version thingie: (click on the image)[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/size][[size=2][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/size]](http://www.minastirithproject.com/3dViewers/Cart/Cart.html)

[size=2][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe][color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe]
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/size]

Pjanssen · 2007-04-13 12:46:08 UTC

[b]Flash 3d Viewer 1.0

[/b][font=Verdana][size=2]The Flash 3d Viewer enables you to create a (prerendered) interactive 3d viewer of a 3d model. The rendering is done with a maxscript (MEL script for maya will be made by Simon), the interactive viewer is made with Flash. The big advantage is that it will work on every pc with the flash plugin installed. No other obscure plugins are needed.
The rendered data created by the maxscript is relatively compact, ranging from about 100kb to 4mb, as long as you use reasonable settings. This makes it suitable for online use.

The package includes:
[/size][/font]

[ul]
[li]The maxscript installer, usable in 3dsmax 7 - 9.[/li][li]The maxscript source code.[/li][li]The flash 3d viewer.[/li][li]The flash 3d viewer source code.[/li][li]A short description of the installation and usage.[/li][/ul]The maxscript and flash viewer and source code may be adjusted or used for personal projects, not for commercial use.

[font=Verdana][size=2]Download link: Right click here -> Save as

[color=DarkOrange]Main Window
[color=#fffffe]
Rotation Settings - Horizontal
1. Active.
This checkbox enables or disables the horizontal rotation of the camera.
2. From Angle.
[0 - 359] This spinner controls the starting point of the horizontal camera rotation. Looking from the top, 0 degrees is at “12o’clock”, 45 degrees is at “3o’clock” etc.
3. To Angle.
[1 - 360] This spinner controls the end point of the horizontal camera rotation. Looking from the top, 0 degrees is at “12o’clock”, 45 degrees is at “3o’clock” etc.
4. Steps.
[4 - 360] This is the amount of steps the camera will make to achieve the full rotation. Note that 36 steps means 37 frames.

Rotation Settings - Vertical
5. Active.
This checkbox enables or disables the vertical rotation of the camera.
6. From Angle.
[1 - 179] This spinner controls the starting point of the vertical camera rotation. 0 degrees is at the top, 180 degrees is at the bottom.
7. To Angle.
[2 - 180] This spinner controls the end point of the vertical camera rotation. 0 degrees is at the top, 180 degrees is at the bottom.
8. Steps.
[4 - 180] This is the amount of steps the camera will make to achieve the full rotation. Note that the amount of frames is always the amount of steps + 1.

Rotation Settings - Statistics
9. This shows the total number of frames that will be rendered. Note that with a full 360 degrees rotation, the last frame is left out, because it is similar to the first (0 degrees = 360 degrees).

Render Settings - Camera
10. Camera.
This dropdownbox lets you pick the camera you want to render with. This can only be a target camera. If there’s no camera in the scene, this field will show ‘Create a target camera !’ and you won’t be able to start the render. The list will be updated when you add or remove a camera to/from the scene. Brazil target cameras are supported too.

Render Settings - Output Size
11. Width.
[10 - 10000] This is the output width of an individual frame. The default value is the width as set in the 3dsmax render dialog.
12. Height.
[10 - 10000] This is the output height of an individual frame. The default value is the height as set in the 3dsmax render dialog.
13. Lock aspect ratio.
This button locks or unlocks the aspect ratio. If enabled, the height or width spinner will automatically update when you change one.

Render Settings - Process settings.
14. 3dsmax Priority.
[low - Normal] This dropdownbox lets you set the 3dsmax process priority. Because a ‘high’ priority actually means ‘highest’, this can lead to unwanted hangups. Therefore, this option is left out.

Render Settings - Output Settings.
15. Generate HTML File.
When this option is enabled, the script will automatically generate an HTML file for the flash 3d viewer. This is highly recommended.
16. Generate XML File.
When this option is enabled, the script will automatically generate an XML file for the flash 3d viewer. This is highly recommended.
17. Copy Viewer SWF.
When this option is enabled, the script will automatically copy the flash 3d viewer SWF to the output directory.

18. Resume previous render.
When this checkbox is enabled, the rendering will continue from the point where it was cut off in a previous render. When a render is started, a .INI file is created with the render settings and progress for that scene. If this file is found and if it shows that the rendering was not completed, this checkbox can be enabled. Otherwise it’s disabled. The .INI file is automatically removed when rendering is completed.
19. Preview.
This starts the ‘rendering’ process in a preview mode. This means that in stead of rendering each frame, a screenshot of the viewport is taken. This gives you a fast preview of the scene. Apart from this, the procedure is the same as the render process.
20. Render.
This starts the rendering process. First, a ‘save file’ dialog will open, allowing you to set the directory and filename for the output.
Once the dialog has been closed the render window will open and rendering will begin.[/color]

The rendering window

[color=DarkOrange][b]Last Frame

[/b]This shows the last rendered frame.

Rendering Progress
2. Current Task.
Shows the current task being executed.
3. Progress bar.
Shows the progress of the whole progress.
4. Frame.
Shows which frame is currently being rendered and the total amount of frames.
5. Last Frame Time.
Shows the time it took to render the previous frame.
6. Elapsed Time.
Shows the total elapsed time.
7. Estimated Time Remaining.
Shows an estimate of the remaining time.

Settings
8. Horizontal Rotation.
This gives an overview of the horizontal rotation settings.
9. Vertical Rotation.
This gives an overview of the vertical rotation settings.
10. Render Settings.
This gives an overview of the render settings.
11. Frame Settings.
This gives an overview of the frame output settings.

12. Stop.
To cancel the rendering process, press the ESC key on your keyboard. (This doesn’t work in preview mode.)
When the rendering is cancelled, the button will change into an enabled ‘continue’ button. Clicking this continues the rendering process at the frame where it was stopped.
Rendering can also be resumed later, even after a reboot or crash.

[/color]
[/size][/color][/font][font=Verdana][size=2]Download link: Right click here -> Save as
[/size][/font]

Pjanssen · 2007-04-16 02:43:30 UTC

The previous post contained an invalid link to the flash 3d viewer, I’ve updated it.
Thanks to linkCG for pointing out that it didn’t work.

LinkCG · 2007-04-16 02:46:47 UTC

oh, thanks to you.

Pjanssen · 2007-04-17 12:46:11 UTC

Somewhere this week I’ll make a new version of the flash 3d viewer. It will fix some bugs and will add some new features as well:
Features:

[ul]
[li]Rotate target or camera. Rotating the target will give the ability to look around rather than rotating around an object.[/li][li]Right now the SWF is compiled for flash 8, but I don’t think that this is strictly necessary. I will lower that if possible.[/li][li]I’m going to try to make a little program in C# or C++ that will write a SWF file from the rendered frames. This would make the seperate JPEGs and XML file obsolete, and will make the uploading and handling of the viewer much easier. [/li] I’m a complete newbie when it comes to programming in C, so I wonder how that will go
[/ul]Bugfixes:

[ul]
[li]Update of ‘current task’ when writing HTML file and copying SWF.[/li][li]Active camera is sometimes not correctly selected in the dropdown box.[/li][li]The resume function does some odd things sometimes. It looks like it doesn’t always skip enough frames. I suspect that this is a minor calculation problem with the completed horizontal steps.[/li][li]When loading the frames the preloader percentage goes to 101% rather than stop at 100%.[/li][/ul]

Kope · 2007-04-20 15:09:11 UTC

I modeled double helix stairs that bring from ground floor to the archive level.

Pjanssen · 2007-04-22 05:40:02 UTC

[b]Update week 16

[/b][size=2]A bit later than usual, and a bit shorter than usual, but an update all the same :)[b]
       
       Website:[/b][/size]
Emiel wrote a 22 page long document for the website structure last week. This means that we can finally start development the coming week. Tim will start working on the design, while Emiel and I will create the core of the system.
For those interested, here is a schematic of the modules and tables in the database that the website will contain (not including the underlaying core structure!), and a small flowchart for the uploading of media:
[[img]http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9535/mtsiteoverzichtmq9.th.png[/img]](http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9535/mtsiteoverzichtmq9.png)  [[img]http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/4581/uploadmediacy7.th.png[/img]](http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/4581/uploadmediacy7.png)


[b]Viewer v12:
[/b]A quote from [[color=DarkOrange][color=#fffffe]Flaviens GameDev journal](http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/mod/journal/journal.asp?jn=263350) :
[i]"I'm working on the release for Minas Tirith v12 ( a side project using the I-Novae engine ), so it's consuming a bit of time. I have upgraded ODE (the physics engine) from version 0.6 to 0.8, but for some reason I get strange slowdowns when some box bodies are not well placed. I must also investigate some strange crashes in ODE ( some bodies get a NaN - Not-a-number - in their positions or velocities ). It will likely keep me busy the whole next week.. and maybe more, so expect slower updates."

[/i][b]Flash 3d Viewer 1.1:
[/b]The flash 3d viewer 1.1 is now done. I'm now going to create a nice installer for it, which is easier to use than the .mzp.
I've succeeded in making the C# program, so the output is now one .f3dv file, containing all data for the viewer. For online use, this is enough (that is, in combination with the 'general use' 3d viewer .swf). For offline/standalone use, the program can create a modified version of the viewer swf, which loads the created .f3dv automatically.
More about all this in a future post, probably later today.
[/color][/color]

Pjanssen · 2007-04-23 14:12:15 UTC

Flash 3d Viewer 1.1

I’ve posted everything here: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=4346022

An example of one of the new features, rotating the cam-target around the camera: