Re: LANG: VRML Transforms

Stephen Chenney (schenney@CS.Berkeley.EDU)
Fri, 6 Oct 1995 17:01:38 -0700 (PDT)


> On Oct 5, 5:38pm, Stephen Chenney wrote:
> > Subject: Re: LANG: VRML Transforms (fwd)
> > ...
> > This highlights something I've meant to gripe about for some time.
> >
> > The VRML spec as presented assumes knowledge about Inventor. The
> > transform example is one case. Another is how the camera is aligned.
> > It seems unacceptable for me to expect people to know about Inventor
> > in order to use VRML. It is counterproductive to the aim of establishing
> > VRML as the standard for web 3D.
>
> Relax.

I have. ;-)

> First of all, Inventor is not the enemy. We are at VRML Version 1.0 - the
> VERY FIRST release. Many smart people are working very hard to get the
> information in the spec to stand on its own. Until then there is a book
> from Addison Wesley on Inventor so you can try to fill in some of the
> holes. There are also books on VRML now which can help, and a FAQ and
> information flying around in this group. For now we all have to pull
> together to move forward with the information at hand, not poke sticks in
> the spec to try to start flame wars.

My complaint is not against Inventor itself. Nor against the people working
on VRML.

I seek to point out that the "get a book about Inventor" fix is not an
acceptable solution to the problem of lose specs. I should not have to
buy anything, because I can't afford it. My access to VRML should not
be restricted because I do not have enough money. That is a fundamental
issue. I have something to offer to VRML, but I cannot offer it because
the resources I need aren't available. Hence the whole VRML community
suffers because people just give up and go away.

My case specifically: I have a free modelling package that could support
VRML. In fact, to some extent it now does. But when I try to export a scene,
and need to spend many hours trying to figure out how some part of the spec
works, I get disillusioned and walk away. I put my energy into better
supporting Renderman. So the world is without an authoring tool for UNIX/X
systems.

Another case, which should be obvious. Some scene works fine on your browser,
but mine doesn't render it correctly. I download my first VRML scene and
get junk, or a poor quality image. I say "This is a waste of time" and
cease to use VRML. One less user in the world. Things on this front are
looking to get even worse.

> Breath deeply and savor the freshness...

At the moment if I breath too deeply I choke. Or maybe I have asthma,
and can't breath in all I'd like. ;-)

Steve.


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