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Marty Plumbo

Marty Plumbo

www.martyplumbo.com

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Shockwave3D Camera Basics and 3D World Setup
  3. Simultaneously Using Multiple Camera Views
  4. Switching Between Multiple Camera Views
Created:
2 February 2004
User Level:
Intermediate
Products:
Director

Using Multiple Cameras in Shockwave 3D Worlds

One World, Many Perspectives

A defining aspect of working with interactive 3D is that once you've created 3D worlds, users can then observed them from an infinite number of locations and perspectives. This is one of the biggest differences between traditional sprite-based animation and animation based on real-time 3D; the power of it is hard to overstate. Let's say for example that you want to create an interactive 3D animation that demonstrates how a jet engine works. You've decided to show air as it flows through the various parts of the engine. To do this in 2D, you will need to create sprite graphics that represent not only every animated element, but each will have to be created as viewed from the various angles that it is to be shown. In 3D, on the other hand, you only need to create one animated 3D model of the jet entire engine and then simply provide the user with a means of changing the position and orientation as they view it.

Two Multiple Camera Techniques

In previous articles, you may have seen how you can view objects in a real-time 3D world from various perspectives as you rotate and translate them in space and you saw how you could view the 3D world from different perspectives and locations by moving the virtual camera from within the 3D world. In this article, I review two common approaches to using multiple static cameras in a 3D world, using a simple real-time 3D jet engine demonstration like the one described above.

Requirements

To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software and files:

Director


3DPI Xtra


Familiarity with the basics of Shockwave3D, 3D Lingo, and the 3DPI property inspector

 

Tutorials and sample files:


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About the author

Marty Plumbo is an assistant professor of design at the College of DAAP School of Design in Cincinnati, Ohio where he teaches courses in interactive design and programming for various mediums, 3D modeling and animation, and information design. He has published and presented on subjects including the design, development and use of interactive 3-dimensional content; interactive educational software development; and the use of networked multi-user environments for teaching and collaboration. Feel free to email any questions or comments directly to Marty at martyp at martyplumbo dot com.