[x3d-public] Mantis 1530: Avoiding exhaustive EXPORT statements within HAnimHumanoid skeleton

[GPU Group]

Q. does anyone need DEFs for joints?
- HAnimMotion nodes can lookup the name field
- when animating with interpolators, there can be a new node type
HAnimMotionInterpolator and the interpolators route to the
HAnimMotionInterpolator which can do the name lookup. like HAnimMotion node
does.
-Doug

On Sun, Apr 26, 2026 at 10:49 PM Don Brutzman <don.brutzman at gmail.com>
wrote:

> This is a request for X3D browser implementers.
>
> Joe and I are making good progress on building models that add additional
> bones/teeth/cartilage, providing a new LOA-5 for HAnim.  LOA-5 keeps
> building on progressive Level of Articulation (LOA) 0..4 ranging from
> simple to sophisticated HAnim models.
>
> We will soon be able to test EXPORT and IMPORT of HAnimHumanoid models in
> full detail for use with multiple interpolator sets.  Our goal is to
> demonstrate simplified sharing and composition of HAnim models in X3D.
>
> A recent improvement to X3D4 v4.1 draft was to deprecate USE nodes at the
> top level of an HAnimHumanoid since they are superfluous, verbose, and
> potentially error prone if defined incorrectly.
>
> Based on current efforts, we'd like to recommend something similar.  If a
> HAnimHumanoid model is EXPORTed and then IMPORTed, the corresponding EXPORT
> and IMPORT of every contained joint, segment and site is similarly
> superfluous since such nodes are detectable automatically without
> ambiguity.  HAnim naming conventions for matching prefixed DEF labels with
> the corresponding name field in each given node are quite strict.  Thus
> manually redefining hundreds of predictable EXPORT and IMPORT statements
> for each re-use seems unnecessary.
>
> Thanks for considering this coding task.  It will have a notable
> improvement on authoring simplicity, humanoid portability and model
> robustness.
>
> The Mantis issue describing this proposal follows.
>
>    - Mantis 1530: Avoiding exhaustive EXPORT statements within
>    HAnimHumanoid skeleton
>    - https://mantis.web3d.org/view.php?id=1530
>
> Description Any HAnimHumanoid skeleton can have a lot of HAnimJoint and
> HAnimSegment and HAnimSite children. For LOA-5, it is hundreds of such
> children.
>
> These child nodes are always carefully identified, with pairwise DEF and
> name fields that match exactly according to HAnim requirements.
>
> If an X3D model with an HAnimHumanoid includes an EXPORT statement
> allowing re-use by other X3D scenes, then browsers need to automatically
> EXPORT all of the subordinate HAnim nodes.
>
> Similarly, if a HAnimHumanoid is IMPORTed for animation re-use in a
> different X3D scene, browsers need to automatically IMPORT all of the
> subordinate HAnim nodes.
> Additional Information Example:
> - X3D Example Archives: Humanoid Animation, Bones, All Bones LOA 5
> Skeletons
> -
> https://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/HumanoidAnimation/Bones/AllBonesLOA5SkeletonsIndex.html
>
> see the EXPORT statements beginning at line 3286:
>
> https://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/HumanoidAnimation/Bones/AllBonesLOA5Skeletons.html#3286
>
> 3286 <!-- right-side HAnimHumanoid -->
> 3287 <EXPORT localDEF='hanimMesh_AllBonesSkeleton'
> AS='AllBonesSkeletonMesh'/>
>
> 3288 <!-- left-side HAnimHumanoid -->
> 3289 <EXPORT localDEF='hanim_AllBonesSkeleton' AS='AllBonesSkeleton'/>
>
> 3290 <!-- propose eliminating requirement for EXPORT statements
> corresponding to child HAnimJoint HAnimSegment HAnimSite nodes, similar to
> removing requirement for definition of USE nodes for HAnimHumanoid children
> -->
>
> 3291 <EXPORT localDEF='hanim_c1' AS='AllBonesSkeletonMesh_hanim_c1'/>
> 3292 <EXPORT localDEF='hanim_c1disc'
> AS='AllBonesSkeletonMesh_hanim_c1disc'/>
> 3293 <EXPORT localDEF='hanim_c2' AS='AllBonesSkeletonMesh_hanim_c2'/>
> 3294 <EXPORT localDEF='hanim_c2disc'
> AS='AllBonesSkeletonMesh_hanim_c2disc'/>
> (etc. etc. approximately 400 EXPORT statements follow which exactly match
> the skeleton example)
> Tags  HAnim v2.1,  ,X3D v4.1
> Attach Tags (Separate by ",")    Existing tags1356apacheCD Ballot commentDocument
> styleExamplesfileHTML5JSONMantisMetaverseSAISchemasecurityserverspamuploadV3.3
> CommentV4.0V4.0 ResolutionValidationWebsiteWebXRX3DUOM
>  Activities
> <https://mantis.web3d.org/view.php?id=1530#>
>
>  brutzman <https://mantis.web3d.org/view_user_page.php?id=10>
>
>  2026-04-23 10:55
>
> administrator    ~0003889
> <https://mantis.web3d.org/view.php?id=1530#c3889>
> This issue is similar to the USE nodes in HAnimHumanoid - duplication by
> authors is tedious, error prone, and a superfluous task that a browser can s
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> Have fun with HAnim and X3D! 😁
>
> all the best, Don
> --
> X3D Graphics, Maritime Robotics, Distributed Simulation
> Relative Motion Consulting  https://RelativeMotion.info
>
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