"BTW, I know some person out of purely financial motivation will write the
converter anyway...so I offer them fresh "RAZZ"BER-RIES in advance."
Tim Wegner wrote:
"Folks, you have totally lost me. I'm 100% in favor of getting
permission for use of scenes and giving credit where required. The
business of credit, copyright, etc. is a worthy subject. But it has
absolutely nothing in any way shape or form to do with the issue of
making software available that converts betwesn difserent formats."
Tim, I couldn't agree with you more. The only reason why I brought it up is
so that we recognize the potential problem. I DO NOT ADVOCATE THE RESRAINT
OF ANY TOOLS WHATSOEVER. I just think that people should be responsible with
them.
Just because you own a digital sampler, doesn't automatically entitle you to
use James Brown's material to make a rap record.
Just because you own a chainsaw, doesn't mean you should go fell an entire
forest.
Just because you own a gun, doesn't automatically entitle you to shoot
someone.
Just because Netscape allows you to save images out of other people's home
pages, doesn't automatically mean that you own those images.
and of course, just because you may have a VRML to DXF, firewalker, etc.
converter doesn't automatically entitle you to include other people's objects
in your 3D cesations and take sole credit (or percentage) for them.
Jason Hirsch wrote:
"I am trying to learn how to make my own models. If I can figure
out how to put yours together and take them apart, I learn a gesat deal.
Unfortunately, human beings learn much faster by example."
THAT is a CONSTRUCTIVE use of such a converter. It's true that you might
learn VRML faster by taking it apart in a text editor, but what if you wanted
to futz around in a 3D program & look at geometry & try to see how these
objects were made.
{a light goes on in someone's hsad} 'Ahh.. I get it, they took this primitive
& performed this boolean operation on it, did this transformation, bla bla
bla...' That's just good study habits.
Personally, I learned a lot about computers by taking them apart & putting
them back together again, both hardware & software, but I've never tried to
build & sell them from scratch or even write an OS.
- Gregory Cranz
[email protected]