Subject: Re: your mail

From: BGXF000 <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 94 10:05:30 EDT

Hi!  This is my first entry on the discussion, and as a matter of
fact I'm a VR beginner.  I've just sent a letter to PCVR to get a
copy of rend386, and in the meantime, what I was wondering is this:
can I import scanned photographs, or 3d objects that have been created
elsewhere into rend386?  I'm interested for two reasons - firstly,
I am working on a cognitive social psychology experiment that requires
subjects, who are visually immersed in VR, to manipulate photographs;
secondly, I am involved in a project with a photographer, in which
we will create a 'virtual installation piece', an environment
consisting of her photographs, through which the viewer can fly through.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

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From: Kevin MacCuish <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 1994 21:16:18 +100 (BST)

On Mon, 13 Jun 1994, BGXF000 wrote:

> elsewhere into rend386?  

REND386 doesn't handle objects / images in the same way in which more 
conventional graphics utilities do.  Each object in rend386 consists of a 
text file describing a set of coordinates that the object occupies in a 
three dimensional grid as well as color, texture, and scale attributes.  
For example, a simple cube can take anywhere from 10 or so to 20 - 30 lines 
of code to produce on screen (depending on the complexity of the cube).  
REND386 then reads the text file and creates a representation of the 
object based on the data in the text file.  

Because of this method of representing objects and virtual worlds, it is 
not possible to import a scene or object from a pcx, gif or similar file 
type scanned or otherwise.  

As for 3d objects that were created elsewhere, it depends on what package 
was used to create the object originally.  While I have not yet tried it, 
I understand that some objects created with the software "3D Studio" can 
be adapted for use with rend386.