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VRML Editing Tools

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Section Overview Editors for Virtual Worlds Ligos V-Realm Builder

Section Overview

There is more than one way to create a virtual world described with the VRML code. For example, you can use a text editor to write VRML code directly, or you can use a VRML editor to create a virtual world without having to know anything about the VRML language. However, you need to understand the structure of a VRML tree to connect your virtual world to Simulink blocks and signals.

For a description of the tools to view virtual worlds, see Viewing Virtual Worlds.

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Editors for Virtual Worlds

A VRML file uses a standard text format that you can read with any text editor. Reading the text is useful for debugging, automated processing, and directly changing VRML code. Also, if you use the correct VRML syntax, you can use any common text editor to create virtual scenes in the same way you create HTML pages.

Many people prefer to create simple virtual worlds using their favorite text editor. However, the primary way for you to create a virtual world is with a 3-D editing tool. These tools allow you to create complex virtual scenes without a deep understanding of the VRML language.

These 3-D editing tools offer the power and versatility necessary for creating many types of practical and technical models. For example, you can import 3-D objects from some CAD packages to make the authoring process easier and more efficient. For VRML authoring, there are basically two types of 3-D editing tools:

• General 3-D authoring packages that can export into VRML format

• Native VRML authoring tools

General 3-D Editors — General 3-D editors do not use VRML as their native format. They export their formats to VRML. There are many commercial packages, such as 3D Studio, SolidWorks^®, or mantra4D, that can do this. These tools have many features and are relatively easy to use. General 3-D editing tools target specific types of work. For example, they can target visual art, animation, games, or technical applications. They offer different working environments depending on the application area for which they are designed. Some of these general 3-D editing tools can be very powerful, expensive, and complex to learn, but others are relatively inexpensive and might satisfy your specific needs.

It is interesting to note that the graphical user interfaces for many of the general commercial 3-D editors use features typical of the native VRML editing tools. For example, in addition to displaying 3-D scenes in various graphical ways, they also offer hierarchical tree styles that provide a good overview of the model structure and a convenient shortcut to 3-D element definitions.

Native VRML Editors — Native VRML editors use VRML as their native format. This guarantees that all the features in the editor are compatible with VRML. Also, native VRML editors can use features that are unique for the VRML format, like interpolators and sensors.

Unfortunately, there are currently few advanced VRML editors of commercial quality. Most native VRML editors are in the development stage and are harder to use than a general 3-D editor. The Ligos V-Realm Builder interface is one of the exceptions. It is one of the most advanced VRML editing tools currently available for personal computers. The Ligos V-Realm Builder application is available only for Windows operating systems.

For PCs, the Simulink 3D Animation software includes the Ligos V-Realm Builder application as a native 3-D editor. For more information, see Ligos V-Realm Builder and Deformation of a Sphere Example.

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Ligos V-Realm Builder

The Ligos V-Realm Builder application is a flexible, graphically oriented tool for 3-D editing and is available for Windows operating systems only. It is a native VRML authoring tool that provides a convenient interface to the VRML syntax. Its primary file format is VRML. Its graphical user interface (GUI) offers not only the graphical representation of a 3-D scene and tools for interactive creation of graphical elements, but also a hierarchical tree style (tree viewer) of all the elements present in the virtual world.

These structure elements are called nodes. The Ligos V-Realm Builder interface lists the nodes and their properties according to their respective VRML node types, and it supports all 54 VRML97 types. For each type of node, there is a specific tool for convenient modification of the node parameters. You can access node properties in two ways:

• Using dialog boxes accessible from the tree viewer

• Directly, using a pointing device

In many cases, it is easier to use the tree viewer to access nodes because it can be difficult to select a specific object in a 3-D scene. The tree also lets you easily change the nesting levels of certain nodes to modify the virtual world according to your ideas. In the tree viewer, you can give the nodes unique names — a feature necessary for working with the Simulink 3D Animation product.

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Virtual Worlds

Deformation of a Sphere Example

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