[x3d-public] X3D-Edit release announcement: Cobweb support, rotation calculator, more

Thu Dec 31 16:15:48 PST 2015

X3D-Edit is a free, open-source Extensible 3D (X3D) Graphics authoring tool for simple high-quality editing, authoring and validation of X3D scenes.

        https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit

It has been a busy year!  X3D-Edit version 3.3 has now seen over 100 build releases... still with more to do.  Many of these milestones have only been possible due to the contributions of many people in the X3D Working Group, the Web3D Consortium, and the Web3D community.  Special thanks for helping to achieve this latest release go out to Holger Seelig for deep-dive Cobweb sleuthing plus unsung heroes Roy Walmsley and Vince Marchetti.

Download and auto-update instructions:

        https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit/#Downloads

This release includes multiple improvements for author support using new panels.  Screenshots attached for your convenience and for the mailing list archives.

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a. Improved X3D-Edit author workflow includes HTML5 DOM export (using either X3DOM and now Cobweb).  Hooray!

https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit/images/X3D-EditToolbarButtons3.png

Cobweb is different than X3DOM with lots of great capabilities, especially X3D prototypes.  X3D-Edit toolbar buttons now launch a new HTML5 DOM export panel that exposes the various switches on the X3D element when it is embedded in an HTML page.  The X3DOM export produces an .xhtml page with the X3D scene fully embedded.  The Cobweb export produces an .html page that links to a local scene via url list - currently tested satisfactorily under the latest Firefox browser.

https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit/images/X3D-EditX3domCobwebLaunch.png

My hope is that we will continue to correlate and align the various attributes on the X3D element as we continue to progress towards full HTML5 support of X3D version 4 via the DOM.  This conversion panel is designed to track and facilitate v4 experimentation for the expected evolution of X3DOM, Cobweb and other browser-based environments in the coming year.

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b. Rotation Calculator enables authors to list multiple SFRotation values and compose them into a single rotation.  Buttons are provided throughout the tool wherever an SFRotation field is available for authoring.

This composition is equivalent to nesting multiple Transform nodes one within another, each applying a different rotation.  Authors can enter individual SFRotation values or append a corresponding Euler axis-angle.  Normalization takes care of degree-to-radian conversion.  Order of rotations is important, so the up/down arrows in the table can help with experimentation (sometimes called hacking!) until the sequence is correct and displayed results looks right.  A helpful child comment which contains that list of rotations is also saved so that authors can re-use the list later, continuing to edit and fine-tune the composed rotation values.

https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit/images/RotationCalculator.png

The following example was developed to illustrate that it works.  You can change values yourself in the left (nested) and right (composed) transformation trees.  Note that some perspective parallax occurs, and so a pair of Viewpoints are also provided on both sides to help visually confirm confirm exact matches between techniques.

http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/Animation/#RotationCalculatorExample
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/Animation/RotationCalculatorExample.x3d
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/Animation/RotationCalculatorExample.html
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/Animation/RotationCalculatorExample.xhtml

General information on how rotations work is available in the book _X3D for Web Authors_.  Accompanying tutorial chapter slideset/videos and corresponding examples are freely available online at

http://x3dgraphics.com
http://x3dgraphics.com/slidesets/X3dForWebAuthors/Chapter03-Grouping.pdf
https://www.movesinstitute.org/Video/Courses/X3dForWebAuthors/X3dForWebAuthorsVideo.html#3
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForWebAuthors/Chapter03-Grouping

My hope is this tool will assist the Humanoid Animation (H-Anim) working group as we proceed towards direct conversion of BVH motion-capture data files into corresponding H-Anim humanoids and X3D behavior interpolators.

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c. Axis Lines RGB as a scalable XYZ axis-display option on the Shape interface.  I often find that adding axes is helpful while modeling, so this feature in the Shape interface is a helpful complement when rotating and translating geometry.

http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/GeometricShapes/AxisLinesRGB.x3d
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/GeometricShapes/AxisLinesRGB.png
http://x3dgraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling/GeometricShapes/AxisLinesRgbInterface.png

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d. An improved geoSystem Panel helps to make sense of primary settings and secondary options.  The geoSystem field is applicable to all of the X3D Geospatial nodes.

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e. Updated X3D Schema, DTD and Schematron validation checks for Quality Assurance (QA) as well as X3D Tooltips are also included.

	http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dResources.html#QualityAssurance
	http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dResources.html#Tooltips

The latest validation improvements are also added to the X3D Validator, both internal to X3D-Edit (use the checkmark button in author workflow) and online using the X3D Validator:

	https://savage.nps.edu/X3dValidator

Continued Xj3D improvements are also possible and released in tandem.  Latest greatest is checked into SourceForge trunk, details at

        https://sourceforge.net/projects/xj3d
        https://savage.nps.edu/Savage/developers.html#Xj3D

The running inventory of X3D node support by X3D-Edit, X3DOM, Cobweb and Xj3D are maintained in the X3D Node Inventory Comparison spreadsheet.  Slowly the totals keep creeping higher...

	http://www.web3d.org/specifications/X3dNodeInventoryComparison.xlsx
	http://www.web3d.org/specifications/X3dNodeInventoryComparison.pdf

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Questions, corrections and suggestions are always welcome.

It has been quite a year.  2016 will likely be just as eventful with continuing progress in X3D JSON, X3D Object Model, X3D Efficient Binary Encoding and (most of all) X3D version 4.  Backing up proposed improvements with shared examples, implementations and evaluation has always been the key to X3D progress.

Wishing everyone a happy new year.  Have fun with Cobweb, X3D-Edit and X3D!  8)

all the best, Don
-- 
Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman

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