I know this subject has been brought up before, but I think this is a good
time to begin discussion of a binary format for VRML. Whatever we decide
upon will be several times more efficient than ASCII, and that will quickly
become a very important issue.
As there is no published standard for the binary format of OI, we have no
easy solution; I would suggest that we solicit proposals from the
membership, which can be evaluated at leisure at the VRML*Tech web site.
I'll set up a page for this at http://www.eit.com/vmrl/binprop.html on
Wednesday, and this can serve as a focal point for the discussion.
I bring this issue to your attention because, as I'm beta-testing one of the
soon-to-be-announced VRML sites, I've noticed that worlds are averaging 300
- 400 Kbytes. Working in the XOF format (which is a possible candidate for
a binary shape format), I've been able to get worlds of similar complexity
in 80 - 150 Kbytes. That's the difference between one minute and five at
14.4 Kbps, and the difference between success and failure to us.
I look forward to your comments on this question.
Mark Pesce
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Pesce
General Partner,
The Community Company * tcc@net.org * 415.621.6390
mpesce@netcom.com * http://www.hyperreal.com/~mpesce
I AM * 31 ~ 418 ~ 2012 * That's AL