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Old 02-08-2001, 04:03 AM   #126
Jim Sachs
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Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,768
Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST

Yes, I am busy wrestling with DX8, but I had a real breakthrough today, and am back to forward progress.

Regarding all these camera angle suggestions:
Digital Lungfish is right, the objects which will make up the 3D background will have no backs. If there is one underlying principal which makes the Aquarium possible it is limited scope. When you write a 3D program, you must create an entire universe. By limiting the size of that universe, it is (just barely) possible for one person to create the illusion of reality, but it is EXTREMELY difficult. The camera angle and viewport, size of the objects, size of the bitmaps used for textures, distance from the camera, lighting, colors, and many other things must be exactly right, or the illusion is broken.

How many 3D programs have you seen where the camera is allowed to get too close to something, and the object gets blurry, or the camera passes right through it? That is the type of problem that I avoid by maintaining a tight control over a limited environment.

Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this."
Doctor: "Then don't do that."

--- Jim Sachs
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
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