Where to start with BIG projects?

#61

Hey iC4, is that your modeler “eve”? Looks quite interesting!

-=GB=-

#62

hey ngrava, would you mind posting the links to the tutorials you’ve found about selecting objects in the 3D view? I need something like that myself right now and I though maybe you could save me some time :slight_smile:

#63

there is allready a link in this thread.

and www.gametutorials.com and http://nehe.gamedev.net have also selection tutorials.

@ngrava: yup, thats my modeler, but didn’t have much time in the last weeks :frowning:

#64

thanks alot. hmm, must have missed that link :frowning:

btw, as I was just reading through this thread in search of this link I came across another thing: some of you were talking about using Python with C++ for GUI issues and other things. But: How do you integrate Python with C++ and vice versa? :blush:

#65

Here’s those links you asked for:

http://www.dev-gallery.com/programming/opengl/picking/picking.htm
http://frustum.org/3d/
http://www.lighthouse3d.com/opengl/picking/
http://nehe.gamedev.net/data/lessons/lesson.asp?lesson=32
http://www.gametutorials.com/Tutorials/opengl/OpenGL_Pg3.htm
http://www.dcc.unicamp.br/~lmarcos/courses/mc603/redbook/chapter13.html
http://www.codeproject.com/opengl/openglmousesellection.asp
http://users.frii.com/martz/oglfaq/selection.htm
http://www.helsinki.fi/~tksuoran/selection.html

Thomas, Nice menus! Care to fill us in? How are you handeling text?

-=GB=-

#66

oh sorry, but the picture in my avatar is a concept image made in photoshop :slight_smile:

but I think tomorrow they will look like this picture.

here is an actual shot:
http://www.cgcube.de/eve3d/menus.jpg

the right menus are “marking menus”, which only show when you hold down a specific key (or right mouse button). first button is highlighted because the mouse is on it. (print doesn’t print the mouse…)

all I have to do now is to put an image on top of the button and I will have the look from the avatar.

at the moment I’m using bitmap fonts with display lists. works pretty good for me.

#67

ok…so here it is
www.cgcube.de/eve3d/menus2.jpg

if anybody is interested in this, just drop me a line

the marking menu above is created with this:


MMenu markingmenu;

//menu with 6 entries, buttonwidth 70, height 20,  hotkey is number 6
markingmenu.initButtons(6, 70, 20, 0x36, hdc, "Arial", 14, 400);

markingmenu.setButton(0,"button1",0);
markingmenu.setButton(1,"button2",1);
markingmenu.setButton(2,"hallo",2);
markingmenu.setButton(3,"test",3);
markingmenu.setButton(4,"sdf",4);
markingmenu.setButton(5,"abcd",5);

markingmenu.checkState(hwnd);
#68

thanks for the links, ngrava. exactly what I’ve been looking for :slight_smile:

#69

hey iC4-, just checked out your eve3d page, but I’m not sure if I get that whole voxel thing right. I mean, it sounds really cool and I’m excited how it turns out to be, but could you explain this voxel thing to me? What do you mean by ‘voxel’? AFAIK voxel stands for ‘volumetric pixel’ (or something like that :)) but I never heard it being mentioned in a modeling context…

#70

Jep, a voxel is a volumetric pixel. Let’s say you have a simple poly cube. The idea is, that when you convert it into a voxel object it get completly filled with voxels. That means that you will have xyz voxels for the cube, depending on your settings. But since I don’t need a volume object I will just use a voxel-skin. So there are no voxels inside the cube. Now you have for example 100x100 voxels for each face. With different brushes you can now add or remove voxels and an algorithm calculates this voxel skin back into a poly object.

#71

ok, think I got most of it… :wink: but there are still some questions if you don’t mind…

Am I right to assume that this is basically like Maya’s Artisan with the exception that Artisan works on vertices? If so, what is the advantage of using voxels over directly manipulating polygon vertices?

#72

as you allready said you can only manipulate existing vertices, this means you can’t add any details (can’t add geometry).

the advantage here is, that if you add voxels the algorithm will calculate new polygons, so you are adding real geometry and you are not only re-positioning the vertices. With artisan you are limited to your face count, so you can’t add for example veins if your model isn’t subdivided high enough. With the voxels I can set a value which says how detailed the end mesh will be. The algorithm will calculate faces from the voxels, and depending on a value it will skip “single voxels”…hm…hard to explain in english :slight_smile:

#73

:slight_smile: ja, ja… mit dem Englisch hab ich auch immer so meine Probleme… aber ich glaub ich hab’s so ziemlich kapiert. Ich werd noch mal drüber nachdenken und falls es Dir nix ausmacht einfach fragen, weil die Idee hört sich echt gut an. Bin gespannt was dabei rauskommt… :wink:

ciao, Martin

#74

Hi, I heard voxel modeling is used to
design complicated free-form object such as cell phone.

ngrava,
Thanks for the link to Hitman: Codename 47’s simulation engine algorithm. It’s quite interesting.
Just one thing. If you are making oasis for money, beware of patents.
For example Alias has parents for dependency graph.

#75

And marking menus are their IP too iirc.

#76

hmm…but when is a menu a marking menu and when is it just an extented pop up menu?

does this mean that you are allowed to create a pop up menu, but you aren’t allowed to use “zones” in this pop up menu? or aren’t you allowed to display a pop up menu with a key pressed instead of the right mouse button? :slight_smile:

#77

Originally posted by iC4-
hmm…but when is a menu a marking menu and when is it just an extented pop up menu?

In legal terms a marking menu is only a marking menu if it fits the specific criteria of the patent. If it doesn’t fit… it’s a popup menu or something ‘new’.

does this mean that you are allowed to create a pop up menu, but you aren’t allowed to use “zones” in this pop up menu? or aren’t you allowed to display a pop up menu with a key pressed instead of the right mouse button? :slight_smile:

It’s been a long time since I read through the actual patent description itself but I recall it was very specific towards only a few of the features which included the way the line of direction would intersect with a function on the markingmenu, it’s layout style and appearance, and its drag-intersect-release mechanism. Other than that it’s really just another popup menu. :slight_smile:

Some patents are worth the effort, other just seem frivolous. Like, for example, the tabbed containers of Adobe with its tab-attach and window-detach functions.

#78

i wonder how strong the patent on the alias dependency graph is…


considering how abstract it is, you could easily pick out quite a few applications that could be violating this.
it’s picky to the extreme about what defines a dependency graph, but still, depending on how you look on it, it’s a damn wide patent as well, since connections between software components with specified attributes is something people… tend… to… use? :wink:

what they’re really wanting to protect, data dependecy graphs, hasn’t it been done for a loooong time in houdini, digital fusion and others? if it has, would it hold up in court?

jens.

#79

Originally posted by jashiin

what they’re really wanting to protect, data dependecy graphs, hasn’t it been done for a loooong time in houdini, digital fusion and others? if it has, would it hold up in court?

I haven’t looked at the details of the patent but in general a patent means absolutely nothing and is worth nothing if you are not ready to defend it in court. Having patents but not having the strength and determination to enforce it means you have patents that are financially worthless.

If, in court, you can prove that others have infringed on the patent as well (assuming here that the broad scope of the patent does indeed cover many other implementations in other products) and that the holder of the patent knew about it and didn’t enforce the patent then the patent would not hold up in court. Having patents means having the responsibility to defend them. Not doing so will ultimately render patents that are infringed on useless (at least as far as legal remedies go).

#80

Originally posted by hohehohe2
[B]Hi, I heard voxel modeling is used to
design complicated free-form object such as cell phone.

ngrava,
Thanks for the link to Hitman: Codename 47’s simulation engine algorithm. It’s quite interesting.
Just one thing. If you are making oasis for money, beware of patents.
For example Alias has parents for dependency graph. [/B]

I’m not too worried about that. You can’t really patent a dependency graph since it’s been used in hundreds of applications all over the world since the 60’s. The patent has more to do with the specifics of how it’s used.

By the way, Gamasutra has a great article about dependency graphs here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20030829/vanderbeek_01.shtml

Thanks for the advice though.

-=GB=-