Just as you can create an HTML file out of your hotlist, this should be
possible... if you want some way of specifying that files in a
3D-file-system-representation appear as sheep when the VRML author
expressed them as goats, that's a little beyond the scope here. :)
> But for now, I'm just trying to visualize a scene made with VRML, so I'm
> looking for the following:
>
> (1) VRML browser software that will run on my Linux Box or DOS/Windows.
Windows software should be released within a month, if the press releases
are to be believed. QvLib should compile on a Linux box, but it's
primarily a programmer's tool at this point.
> (2) 3DS-2-VRML converter.
> I'm willing to be a beta tester for VRML browser or for the converter.
*shrug*.... 3DS?
> (3) Some info:
> - Does VRML (and VRML worlds) support any kind of Interaction?
No. None right now. Work-in-progress.
> - Can I change other person's "worlds"? Can others change the world I made
> available? (in real-time, meaning when they are accessing it?) How?
Consider HTML sitting on a web site. In most cases, can you change it?
No. However, there are places on the web where the content is created by
participants - I created such a system for the discussion areas on
HotWired (http://www.hotwired.com/Piazza/Threads/), but others have done
it as well. Collaborative applications will be very big very soon, and
even though VRML is a static scene description language programs can
generate VRML dynamically just as HTML is generated dynamically.
> - How can I visualize a scene using NCSA's browser or Netscape? (or I can't?)
Not yet - but Watch This Space (tm).
> - Can I atach behavior to the "objects" represented on the scene? How? (or
> they are just plain simple and static? with no action atached (like, .e.g.
> a search mechanism?)
Not yet. It's a Very Big Problem, so we've chosen not to solve the
world's problems and find a solution to world peace at the same time, and
be pragmatic for now. But once the browsers are out there you will see
people clamoring for this - as VRML is based on Open Inventor there is
something of a path for this to take as well.
> - Am I still making sense? Are these stupid questions?
Definitely not - they may be ones that long-time followers of the list
may not be asking but do bear repeating frequently (whoa, a FAQ seems
like a good idea now...)
Brian
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