atmosphere.book Page 1 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM Online Help version Adobe Atmosphere 1.
atmosphere.book Page 2 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe® Atmosphere™ Builder This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated.
atmosphere.book Page iii Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM iii Contents Atmosphere Builder Basics About Atmosphere Builder ............................. 1 Creating and opening worlds Working with views ........................... 1 .................................... 2 Navigating in wireframe views Navigating in Browser view Using the Actor object Using palettes .......................... 3 ............................. 5 .................................. 6 ....................................
atmosphere.book Page iv Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM iv CONTENTS Locking objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Showing and hiding objects Resizing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Transforming objects Adding Textures and Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
atmosphere.book Page 1 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 1 Atmosphere Builder Basics About Atmosphere Builder The Atmosphere Builder application provides tools for building virtual three-dimensional worlds and publishing them on the Web. Users can explore published worlds on the Web using the Atmosphere Browser.
atmosphere.book Page 2 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 2 Atmosphere Builder Basics Working with views The document window displays a view of the objects in a world. You can choose one of three wireframe views to see a blueprint representation of your world called a wireframe; or you can choose Browser view to see your world with its surface textures, colors, and lighting. Browser view shows you how your world will appear when viewed on the Web in the Atmosphere Browser.
atmosphere.book Page 3 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 3 User Guide Browser view Shows a rendered, three-dimensional view of your world that you can move through and explore. You use Browser view to apply surface textures and colors to the objects you created in wireframe view, and to adjust the lighting in the world. Keep in mind that what you see in Browser view is what users will see on the Web. B A C D A. Browser view B. Top view C. Side view D.
atmosphere.book Page 4 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 4 Atmosphere Builder Basics Scrolling wireframe views If the area of the wireframe you want to work on is not visible in the document window, you can scroll to bring that area into view. To scroll a view: Select the pan tool ( ), and drag in the document window. Rotating wireframe views You can rotate a wireframe view in the document window to see the objects from a different perspective.
atmosphere.book Page 5 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 5 User Guide To zoom out by clicking: Select the zoom out tool ( to reduce magnification. ), and click a point in the wireframe around which you want Centering wireframes in the document window After navigating in the wireframe views, you can quickly display all of the objects in the wireframe and center the view in the document window. To center a wireframe in the document window: Choose View > Fit All.
atmosphere.book Page 6 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 6 Atmosphere Builder Basics To set move tool options: 1 Select the move tool ( ). 2 Display the Tool Inspector palette. (See “Using the Object Inspector palette” on page 16.) 3 Select or deselect the following options: • Collide to specify whether or not you can move through objects. If you select Collide, objects in the world, like walls, floors, and so on, will block your passage.
atmosphere.book Page 7 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 7 User Guide 4 If necessary, rotate the Actor object until it is pointing in the direction you want to face in Browser view. (See “Rotating objects” on page 40.) 5 Switch to Browser view. Using palettes Atmosphere Builder features a variety of palettes that you use to perform different tasks, including selecting tools and views, adding objects to a world, and setting the properties of those objects.
atmosphere.book Page 8 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 8 Atmosphere Builder Basics To resize a group window: Drag the lower right corner of the window. To collapse a group of palettes to a tab at the right edge of the screen: Ctrl-click the title bar of the group window. To expand the group window, click the tab at the right edge of the screen.
atmosphere.book Page 9 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 9 User Guide Publishing a world Publishing accomplishes several tasks to ensure that your world will function correctly when you post it on the Web. First, the Publish command copies all of the files required to open a world, including its referenced texture files and Viewpoint objects, into one folder. The URL of each texture file is updated to its new location.
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atmosphere.book Page 11 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 11 Building Worlds About building worlds There are two main aspects to building the structure of a world. The first is creating objects; the second is laying out objects in relation to each other. Creating objects Objects are the building blocks of a three-dimensional world—you use objects to define space and give form to your vision. Atmosphere Builder provides tools for creating basic geometric forms called primitives.
atmosphere.book Page 12 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 12 Building Worlds Although you can create an infinite variety of objects using constructive solid geometry, there are some objects that you cannot create in Atmosphere Builder. Organic shapes, such as the human form, and spheres may only be approximated using the available primitives. This is where 3D objects saved in the Viewpoint file format come into play. Importing Viewpoint objects provides a way to add additional detail to a world.
atmosphere.book Page 13 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 13 User Guide As you add objects to a world, the relationship between objects becomes more complex. For example, if you want to increase the length of a room, all of the room’s components (the floor, walls, and ceiling) must change. Connectors let you link objects to each other and maintain their spatial relationships. Think of connectors as the bolts of your world.
atmosphere.book Page 14 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 14 Building Worlds Importing objects Importing lets you bring additional 3D content into the Variable Tools palette. You can import two types of content: Atmosphere content and content saved in Viewpoint file format. • Atmosphere content comprises any world (or portion of a world) that you create and save in Atmosphere Builder. Creating Atmosphere content makes it easy to reuse objects between worlds.
atmosphere.book Page 15 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 15 User Guide Specifying where to add objects When you work in Top view or Side view, objects are represented in two dimensions. For example, if you place a box in Top view, you can see the object’s width and depth but not its height. Similarly, if you place the same box in Side view, you can see the object’s width and height but not its depth.
atmosphere.book Page 16 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 16 Building Worlds 3 Select the select tool and drag the yellow square on the Axis Reference object to the desired location. The location that is specified by the Axis Reference object depends on two factors: the type of object you add and the view in which you position the Axis Reference object.
atmosphere.book Page 17 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 17 User Guide Creating floors A floor object is any flat, horizontal surface in an Atmosphere world. In the real world, we define a floor as something we walk on; in Atmosphere, you can also use a floor object as a ceiling or as any other flat horizontal surface such as a patio or deck.
atmosphere.book Page 18 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 18 Building Worlds Creating walls A wall object is any flat, vertical surface in an Atmosphere Builder world. You can connect wall objects with floor objects to build rooms. You can also use a wall object by itself as any other flat vertical surface, such as a door, a picture frame, or a fence. Wall objects always remain vertical in a world, no matter how you adjust their connectors.
atmosphere.book Page 19 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 19 User Guide To add and connect walls using the Extrude Walls from Floor command: 1 Select a floor object. 2 Choose Edit > Extrude Walls from Floor. A wall object is automatically connected to each edge of the floor. Creating slabs and trislabs A slab is a four-sided object that can be slanted at any angle from 0 to 90 degrees, relative to the ground in your world.
atmosphere.book Page 20 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 20 Building Worlds • Visible in Wireframe Views to show the object after you create it. (See “Showing and hiding objects” on page 38.) • Hide in Browser View to create a hidden object, such as a hidden luminous object. (See “Creating hidden luminous objects” on page 54.) • Locked to lock the object. (See “Locking objects” on page 37.) • Subtractive to use the object to cut through another object. (See “Creating openings in objects” on page 26.
atmosphere.book Page 21 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 21 User Guide Creating boxes A box is an object that has six faces: a bottom, four sides, and a top. You can use box objects to represent solid objects such as cabinets, refrigerators, or other appliances. The box tool lets you create an object that is a cube with six equal sides. After you add a box, you can change its sides to be unequal lengths by dragging the box’s connectors.
atmosphere.book Page 22 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 22 Building Worlds Before you create a cone or column, you can specify how many sides (called faces) you want it to have. If you increase the number of faces, the column or cone becomes increasingly circular and the surface becomes smoother. If you decrease the number of faces, the column or cone becomes increasingly angular and the surface becomes rougher.
atmosphere.book Page 23 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 23 User Guide Creating stairs Stairs are an object that contain one or more steps. The shape and size of a stairs object is determined by the location of its two top and two bottom connectors. Atmosphere Builder uses the distance, slope, and width between the top and bottom connectors to automatically determine the number, size, and shape of the steps.
atmosphere.book Page 24 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 24 Building Worlds • Hide in Browser View to create a hidden object, such as a hidden luminous object. (See “Creating hidden luminous objects” on page 54.) • Locked to lock the object. (See “Locking objects” on page 37.) • Subtractive to use the object to cut through another object. (See “Creating openings in objects” on page 26.) 3 Click in the document window.
atmosphere.book Page 25 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 25 User Guide • To make the top and bottom steps a different width, drag each of the connectors at the top or bottom step. Atmosphere Builder automatically adjusts the width of each step between the top and bottom step. To change the shape of a stairs object: 1 Select Top view or Isometric view.
atmosphere.book Page 26 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 26 Building Worlds To create an object from an intersection: 1 Create and place individual objects to form an intersection. 2 Select all of the objects, and choose Object > Group. 3 Select the group. 4 In the Object Inspector palette, select the Junction option. 5 Select the Browser view to see the resulting object. Creating openings in objects You can create openings in objects, such as doors or windows, using subtractive objects.
atmosphere.book Page 27 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 27 User Guide Exporting and publishing objects You can export any object or group of objects and use them in other worlds. By exporting the objects you frequently use, you can create object libraries that save you time when building new worlds. For example, you can create a library of objects that you use for building a room.
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atmosphere.book Page 29 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 29 Working with Objects About working with objects Once you get the hang of working with objects, building a world is easy. Even in a complex world, you can use different techniques to simplify the workflow. For example, you can use the Objects palette to view all the objects in a world (see “Using the Objects palette” on page 29).
atmosphere.book Page 30 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 30 Working with Objects Using the Tool Inspector palette The Tool Inspector is a context-sensitive palette that displays options for the currently selected tool in the Tools palette. Some tools do not have options, in which case the Tool Inspector palette is empty. To display the Tool Inspector palette: Choose Window > Tool Inspector. Selecting objects Before you can work with an object, you must select it.
atmosphere.book Page 31 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 31 User Guide To select a single object or connector: 1 Select the select tool ( ) or the group select tool ( ). 2 In the Tool Inspector palette, specify the selection type: • Objects to allow the selection of objects or groups only. This option prevents the selection of connectors. • Connectors to allow the selection of connectors only. This option prevents the selection of objects and groups.
atmosphere.book Page 32 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 32 Working with Objects To select objects based on their hierarchy: 1 Use the group select tool ( ) to select any object. 2 Ctrl-click to select all remaining objects in the current group. Each additional Ctrl-click selects all objects in the next group in the hierarchy. Selecting objects in the Objects palette The Objects palette lists all the objects in an Atmosphere world.
atmosphere.book Page 33 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 33 User Guide Moving objects The composition of a world depends on the position of objects relative to other objects. You can reposition objects by dragging them to a different location in the document window. To move an object or group: 1 Select a wireframe view: Top, Side, or Isometric. 2 Select the object or group you want to move. (See “Selecting objects” on page 30.
atmosphere.book Page 34 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 34 Working with Objects Aligning and connecting objects After adding objects to a world, you can connect the objects. Connected objects are bound together as if nailed or bolted. When you drag an object that is connected to another object, the objects move together as a unit or change their shape as necessary. If you drag one of their common connectors where the objects are joined, the shapes of both objects will change.
atmosphere.book Page 35 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 35 User Guide To disconnect objects: 1 Select the object you want to disconnect in a wireframe view. 2 Select either the select tool ( ) or the group select tool ( ). 3 In the Tool Inspector palette, deselect Connect Objects. When this option is deselected, you can disconnect objects that were previously connected. 4 Drag one of the objects away from the other object.
atmosphere.book Page 36 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 36 Working with Objects 3 In the Tool Inspector palette, enter a value for Closeness. This value specifies the radius of connectivity (the minimum distance required for one connector to snap to another). The lower the closeness value, the smaller the yellow halos are around the connectors of the object you’re moving. You must move a connector closer to another connector in order to connect the objects.
atmosphere.book Page 37 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 37 User Guide Locking objects You can prevent accidental changes to objects or groups by locking them. You might want to lock finished objects in a complex wireframe that are near or above other unfinished objects. After you lock an object or group, you can’t select it with the select tools or make any direct changes to it in the wireframe views.
atmosphere.book Page 38 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 38 Working with Objects Showing and hiding objects You can hide an object or group to make it easier to work in a crowded area. To hide an object or group: 1 Select a wireframe view: Top, Side, or Isometric. 2 Select the object or group you want to hide. (See “Selecting objects” on page 30.) 3 Do one of the following: • In the Object Inspector palette, deselect Visible in Wireframe Views.
atmosphere.book Page 39 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 39 User Guide 3 Drag a connector on the object to change the size or shape of the object. If you select more than one connector on an object, the orientation and length of the lines between the selected connectors become fixed. Shift-drag the selected connectors to move them together as a unit. To change the thickness of an object: 1 Select the floor, polygonal floor, slab, or wall object you want to change.
atmosphere.book Page 40 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 40 Working with Objects • The transform object tool and the rotate object tool perform their transformations in relation to a fixed point on or around the object. This fixed point is called the point of origin. The point of origin is wherever you click in the wireframe after selecting the transform object tool or the rotate object tool.
atmosphere.book Page 41 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 41 User Guide 6 Drag in the direction you want to rotate the object. As you drag, the green line moves around the circle to indicate the amount of rotation. The red line remains fixed and indicates the original orientation of the object. You can cancel the rotation by dragging the pointer back inside the yellow circle. 7 When the object is rotated to the desired position, release the mouse button.
atmosphere.book Page 42 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 42 Working with Objects • To enlarge and distort the object both vertically and horizontally, Ctrl-drag in any direction away from the center of the circle. To reduce and distort the object both vertically and horizontally, Ctrl-drag in any direction toward the center of the circle. 7 When the object is scaled or distorted as desired, release the mouse button.
atmosphere.book Page 43 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 43 Adding Textures and Colors About surface textures and colors In an Atmosphere world, you can add textures and colors to the objects you create to make them look as real (or unreal) as you want. Applying a texture adds a 2D image to the surface of a 3D object, giving the appearance that the object is composed of the material in the texture image. Applying an RGB value creates a solid-colored object.
atmosphere.book Page 44 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 44 Adding Textures and Colors • If you’re creating a texture that will not be tiled, image size and resolution are more important. Make sure the source file has enough resolution to display the texture image on the surfaces at the desired size—the more pixels, the bigger the image.
atmosphere.book Page 45 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 45 User Guide 3 Select one or more textures you want to import. A texture must be a GIF, JPEG, or PNG file. 4 Click Open. To copy a texture from a surface: 1 Select Browser view, and use the move tool ( ) to navigate to the surface you want to work with. 2 Select the get texture tool ( ), and click the surface.
atmosphere.book Page 46 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 46 Adding Textures and Colors Applying colors You can apply an RGB color to the surface of an entire object or a single face of an object. To apply a solid color: 1 Select Browser view, and use the move tool ( ) to navigate to the object you want to work with. 2 Select the paint bucket ( ) in the Variable Tools palette.
atmosphere.book Page 47 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 47 User Guide Scaling modes When editing textures in the Object Inspector, you have a choice of two modes for the Scaling Type—Pixel mode and Tile mode. In Pixel mode, the physical size of an image is determined by the number of pixels—the more pixels, the bigger the image. In the Objects Inspector, the Scale values are the size of a single pixel, expressed in length units. The Offset values are specified in numbers of pixels.
atmosphere.book Page 48 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 48 Adding Textures and Colors 5 Specify a scale value by dragging the Scale U and Scale V sliders, or entering values in the Scale U and Scale V text boxes. Note: Changing the scale of a texture in the Variable Tools palette does not affect the scale of existing textures in a world. To scale a surface texture on an object or face: 1 Select Browser view, and use the move tool ( ) to navigate to the object you want to edit.
atmosphere.book Page 49 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 49 User Guide 4 Specify a value for Rotation by dragging the slider or by entering the value in the text box. The value you specify is the decimal representation of the degrees of rotation, where 90.00 is 90 degrees of rotation, and 180.00 is 180 degrees of rotation. To rotate a surface texture on an object or face: 1 Select Browser view, and use the move tool ( ) to navigate to the object you want to edit.
atmosphere.book Page 50 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 50 Adding Textures and Colors 3 Click the object or face whose surface texture you want to edit. 4 In the Object Inspector palette, make sure the Scaling Type is set to the mode you wish to edit in. See “Scaling modes” on page 47. 5 Specify an offset value by dragging the Offset U (horizontal) and Offset V (vertical) sliders, or entering values in the Offset U and Offset V text boxes.
atmosphere.book Page 51 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 51 User Guide When you publish a world, Atmosphere Builder makes a copy of each texture file, places the texture files in the same folder as the world file, and updates the URL of each texture file to its new location. If you don’t want the URL for a texture to be updated, you can select the Absolute Path option in the Object Inspector palette. This option is particularly useful if you want to include dynamic textures in a world.
atmosphere.book Page 52 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 52 Adding Textures and Colors To hide textures and colors in a world: 1 Select Browser view, and select the move tool ( ). 2 Deselect Use Textures in the Tool Inspector palette. Only the luminous surfaces in the world are displayed with textures. To enhance texture quality: 1 Select Browser view, and select the move tool ( ). 2 Select Smooth Textures in the Tool Inspector palette.
atmosphere.book Page 53 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 53 Adding Lighting About lighting When light rays strike an object in the real world, the object’s surface reflects them. This reflected light is what enables us to see objects. The light an object reflects goes on to illuminate other objects. This effect is known as radiosity. Atmosphere Builder’s lighting environment is based on the real-world principle of radiosity.
atmosphere.book Page 54 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 54 Adding Lighting About luminous surfaces There are three types of luminous surfaces in Atmosphere Builder: • The sky is the default luminous surface in a world. If you’re building an enclosed structure, the sky becomes a visible light source when you create openings, such as doors and windows. The default color of the sky is light blue; however, you can change the color of the sky to any RGB value. (See “Applying colors” on page 46.
atmosphere.book Page 55 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 55 User Guide To create a hidden luminous object: 1 In a wireframe view, create the object you want to make luminous. (See “Creating new objects” on page 13.) 2 Switch to Browser view, and apply the desired texture or color to the object you created in Step 1.
atmosphere.book Page 56 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 56 Adding Lighting 3 In the Object Inspector palette, specify values for Red, Green, and Blue by dragging the color sliders or by entering numbers. 4 Click the sky to apply the color. To apply a color or texture to a hidden luminous surface: 1 In Browser view, select the move tool ( ), and select Show Hidden Objects in the Tool Inspector palette. 2 Navigate until you can see the hidden luminous surface, and apply a color or texture to it.
atmosphere.book Page 57 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 57 User Guide To display the Lighting Control palette: Choose Window > Lighting Control. Applying lighting Each time you apply lighting, Atmosphere Builder recalculates how much light nonluminous surfaces receive. You can apply lighting to a face of an object, an object, or every surface in the world. In addition, you can stop the lighting process at any time.
atmosphere.book Page 58 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 58 Adding Lighting 3 Click the face. If you use the light object tool or the light face tool while a lighting pass is in process, the object or face is processed first. This makes it possible apply lighting to key surfaces of a world at any point during a lighting pass. To stop a lighting pass: 1 Select Browser view. 2 Click Stop Lighting in the Lighting Control palette.
atmosphere.book Page 59 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 59 User Guide 2 In the Tool Inspector palette, do one of the following: • To turn lighting on, select Use Lighting. • To turn lighting off, deselect Use Lighting. Resetting lighting When you reset lighting, only the luminous surfaces in the world are visible. Keep in mind that resetting lighting is different than turning lighting off.
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atmosphere.book Page 61 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 61 Creating effects with JavaScript About working with JavaScript If you know how to write JavaScript, you can add effects to your world using the Atmosphere JavaScript API (Application Program Interface). These effects can be simple or complex—ranging from adding a sound effect to creating an interactive animation. The possibilities are limited only by your ability to implement your ideas in JavaScript.
atmosphere.book Page 62 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 62 Creating effects with JavaScript Using the Atmosphere JavaScript API The Atmosphere JavaScript API comprises a set of modules that cover a broad range of functionality—from adding buttons to the Atmosphere Browser to applying transformations to an object. The following topics describe some of the things you can do with the Atmosphere JavaScript API. Note: The Atmosphere JavaScript API is under continual development.
atmosphere.book Page 63 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 63 User Guide For example, the following code defines the parameters for rendering with fog: // Set the fog color to bluish white fog.color =[0.5, 0.6, 0.8]; // Specify quadratic drop-off with distance // This is softer than linear fog (1) fog.dropOff =2; // Set the distance away that fog starts fog.near = 1.0 // Set the distance away that the fog becomes completely opaque fog.far = 400.0 // Now make the fog appear fog.
atmosphere.book Page 64 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 64 Creating effects with JavaScript Getting feedback about user position and orientation The Actor module provides methods and properties for getting feedback about user position and orientation. For example, you can write a script that executes an animation when a user navigates to a given position in the world. For example, the following code tests the player to see if it is within 10 world units of a target vector.
atmosphere.book Page 65 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 65 User Guide Working with subworlds A subworld is a world that is loaded into the parent world. For example, an avatar is considered a subworld. A subworld has the same functionality of a parent world, with the exception of users being able to navigate inside of it. In addition, subworlds can be moved around (or move themselves around) dynamically, whereas the parent world is static.
atmosphere.book Page 66 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 66 Creating effects with JavaScript Transforming objects The Vector, Rotation, and Transform modules provide methods and properties for transforming subworlds and imported Viewpoint objects. You can use the Vector module to move (translate) objects, the Rotation module to rotate objects, and the Transform module to translate and rotate objects at the same time.
atmosphere.book Page 67 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 67 Connecting Worlds, Users, and the Web Creating gateways Gateways let users move from one 3D world to another. A gateway consists of an entry point object and a portal object. An entry point specifies the point where users enter a world; a portal specifies where users exit a world. Creating an entry point When you publish a world, Atmosphere Builder establishes a default entry point based on your position and orientation in Browser view.
atmosphere.book Page 68 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 68 Connecting Worlds, Users, and the Web To create an entry point: 1 In Browser view, navigate to the position and orientation in which you want users to enter your world. 2 Select a wireframe view: Top, Side, or Isometric. 3 Select the entry point tool ( ) in the Variable Tools palette. 4 In the Object Inspector palette, do the following: • Enter text in the Entry Point Title text box to assign a name to the entry point.
atmosphere.book Page 69 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 69 User Guide Creating portals is easy if you know the world URL and name of the entry point you want to connect to. But what if you don’t know this information? Atmosphere Builder provides an easy way to deal with this situation. First, explore different worlds on the Web using Atmosphere Browser. When you find a world you want to create a portal to, create a bookmark. Then, import the bookmarks into Atmosphere Builder.
atmosphere.book Page 70 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 70 Connecting Worlds, Users, and the Web Creating links to Web sites You can add hypertext links to a world using JavaScript. To add a hypertext link to a world: 1 Create a text file that contains JavaScript code for creating a hypertext link. For example, the following script launches the Adobe Web site when a user clicks the object that it is attached to: this.onClick=function(){ launchURL(“http://www.adobe.
atmosphere.book Page 71 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 71 User Guide • World Name to specify a name for your world as you want it to appear in the title bar of a Web browser. • Reference URL to allow all people to access to your world concurrently even if your world is mirrored on different servers. Specifying the user count The user count determines the occupancy limit for a world. When a world reaches the specified limit, a new instance of the world is created.
atmosphere.book Page 72 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 72 Connecting Worlds, Users, and the Web 2 If necessary, enter the primary location of your world in the Reference URL text box. The Reference URL is only entered for worlds that are mirrored on multiple servers and enables users to be in the same community space regardless of the server they used to access the world.
atmosphere.book Page 73 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 73 Building Avatars About avatars When users enter a world that is connected to the Adobe community server, they are visible to each other in the form of avatars. Users can choose a standard avatar provided by Adobe or create their own avatar. You can also provide avatars to users by making them available on a Web server. To use an avatar, users specify the URL of the avatar in their Atmosphere Browser preferences.
atmosphere.book Page 74 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 74 Building Avatars Creating avatars You can model avatars in Atmosphere Builder or another 3D application; however, you must save avatars in Atmosphere format in order to use them in Atmosphere Browser. To create an avatar: 1 Do one of the following: • Create the avatar in Atmosphere Builder using basic primitives. Apply surface textures, colors, and lighting as desired.
atmosphere.book Page 75 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM ADOBE ATMOSPHERE 75 User Guide Making avatars available to users You can make avatars available to users by placing them on any Web server. Keep in mind that you need to let users know the URL of the avatar file. One way to do this is to prepare a pre-entry Web page for your world that provides the information. Or you can add a link to such a Web page from inside the world. (See “Creating links to Web sites” on page 70.
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atmosphere.book Page 80 Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:14 PM 80 Viewpoint format 74 creating 1 Viewpoint objects opening 1 about 12 publishing 9 importing 14 scripting 65 views Y YACP protocol 71 about 2 centering 5 Z zooming 4 magnifying and reducing 4 navigating in Browser view 5 rotating 4 scrolling 4 selecting 3 Views palette 3 visibility, of objects 38 W wall tool 18 WAV format 62 wireframe view.
