[X3D-Public] Beyond Viewpoint: X3D Camera Nodes for DigitalCinematography

[Joe D Williams]

> > This paper describes four candidate X3D extension nodes: Camera, 
> > Shot, Movement and OfflineRendering.

Real Nice, Don and Jeffery,
tho, esp. in the beginning text, I don't think you guys gave enough 
credit to the basics that were there to build from:)
One line missing in there is :
All the basic features to allow this cinematic camera automation/frame 
capture approach are already in the standard.
You guys are elevating some fundamental tools to abstract a specifc 
coreographic task of the guided storytelling, along with some 
time-tested best practice vocabulary, techniques, and authoring 
smarts.
In "3. CURRENT X3D FUNCTIONALITY
...User navigation around these scenes is either driven by user input 
or driven by placing the viewpoint under a Transform node that is then 
animated. ...".
The author can do a "drive by" that way, and  later you clarify to 
directly use viewpoint position and orientation as the 'best' driving 
choice rather than 'under a transform node', and follow through with 
that into Camera properties.
I would like to see a nice diagram of the default viewpoint position 
and orientation in the X3D coordinate system, and since you mention 
'roll, pitch and yaw of the camera' later in the paper, maybe show 
that also.
Thanks for the opportunity to look more closely at this.
Good Luck and Best Regards,
Joe