360 degree view angle?
 

Hi,

I love the screnescreen saver, looks so sexy and well fluid but there is something i think that could enhance it even further, although i am not sure how possible and how likely this is?

sometimes i feel it would be wonderful to slightly rotate my viewing angle so i am not looking square on at the tank and being able to take a look at the fish and surroundings from a different perspective, also probably getting a sense of feeling of greater depth to the tank and surroundings. i feel it would be great to see fish pass over a rock or or slip under a rock (or even the pass by via man-made products like shipwrecks with holes for the fish) from one the left of the screen over to the right as opposed to fish behind the rocks and them coming to the forefront of the rocks.

Hope this makes sense? I'm not sure if its been mentioned before but I think having the ability to view the tank on say a turning circle with completely 3d objects... now that would be some feat!

Regards,


Buzzin

The 3D coral is built in such a way that it can only be viewed from one angle. View it from any other angle and the illusion completely shatters. The pieces of coral literally fly apart.

The background is like a Hollywood set - the illusion only exists from a very narrow camera angle.

thanks guys for the speedy replies.

its no big deal i was just looking at possible ways of making an already great product possibly better.

i accept what you are saying especially from when i read on here quite a while back about jim taking all the photos etc which must have been extremely time consuming. i'm guessing the only way to get past the hurdle of being quite flat would be to have a 3d rendered model which would be insane to create i bet especially for all the objects that would need to be created from scratch.

btw, i'm extremely excited about your other projects such as the butterflies etc.

Regards,


Buzzin

Butterflies ? ..... Take a look back in here, in about 10 or 20 years..... ;) ..... (Or more!)

All the objects in MA3 are 3D rendered models. Press the W key to see the polygons.

jesus i've just done that jim, looks very complex lol!

so what would it require to get those 3d objects viewable in some form of different angles or on a swivel?

Regards,


Dean

I think Jim and Morgan have just answered that, haven't they?
.... "... what would it require to get those 3d objects viewable in some form of different angles or on a swivel?" ......... A B****Y MIRACLE!


ps.... I think Jim only performs miracles once every Preston Guild...

BN,

Those models are only "built on one side", so to speak. And the viewing only works looking at them from one angle. Imagine everything in the tank needing to be placed in exactly the right spot so that each piece that is built can be seen properly, without seeing any part "that isn't there".

Now if you move your head then you will see holes in the illusion. It took years to build what you see here and get everything working properly. Changing viewing angles or wandering around the tank just cannot be done without starting over from scratch and fully making each piece all over again and taking allot more time....................

If I went too deeply into the details, I might miss out on the fun of watching so many others try and fail to compete with the Aquarium. Suffice it to say that it has to do with the edges of irregular objects. If an object has 50 edges from one angle (MA2.6), and 100 edges from two angles (MA3), how many edges does it have from an infinite number of angles?

My head hurts!

The secret answer is hidden on the next line.

8

Hint - turn you head 90 degrees to reveal the answer.

Good, Bob :)

Symbol for infinity
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/41700/417...y_41717_lg.gifhttp://www.charlespetzold.com/blog/2...yAnimation.png

What was that again, Pat? - I couldn't quite see... ... Haven't you got a bigger one? :p :rolleyes:

See a bigger what? ??

Subtle, isn't he? ;)

The expression starring a brick to the back of the head springs to mind! :D

Fish are 3D but not environment?
 

I'm new to marine aquarium 3 so please excuse my newbie ignorance. The fish appear to have the ability to rotate 360 deg. in the z axis and all x/y/z variations so then it seems that if the aquarium tank were shaped like a snowglobe it could rotate the same way as the fish? They (the fish) don't require infinite number of edges? Tom

The fish are completely done in 3d, therefore they can rotate, everything else that you see is not, only the parts you are seeing are. For instance take an apple and cut it in half vertically. Now squat down exactly at eye level and look at the uncut side. There is nothing there to tell you that the other half of that apple on the back isn't there, but it isn't. :)

You cannot and will not be able to rotate the tank. I don't think people really want Jim to spend the next 5 years working on corals just so you can rotate the tank to the exclusion of everything else? ;) :)

Welcome to the forum Tom.

[quote=Jav400;113159]
You cannot and will not be able to rotate the tank. I don't think people really want Jim to spend the next 5 years working on corals just so you can rotate the tank to the exclusion of everything else? ;) :)

Amen to that!

Only 5 years?? ...... Mmm.... I was thinking more like 50 for that class of miracle..... :)

OK. It sounds like the easiest method to emulate 360 deg. rotation would be to match the graphic objects at each end of the tank so seamless panning in one direction is possible. Probably not worth the effort. Thanks for the replies. Great program.

The thing that makes the fish fairly easy to display in full-3D is the fact that saltwater fish are so thin (almost 2-dimensional). That's why I chose a marine tank as my subject. The jagged, irregular outlines of the fish only really show up from the left or right sides. Try rotating an irregular piece of coral, and the smooth polygon-based nature of the object quickly becomes apparent. Again, I'm not going to talk about the secret way around this except to say that it's incredibly time consuming.

If you have an excellent graphics card and PC, you might be able to get 1 frame per second with true 3D on this complex scene. Or, in 10 years, you might be able to buy (at reasonably-affordable prices) hardware that would do reasonable frame rates.

I think bump-mapping would help a lot...

Uuuuummmmm, sound like a task for Einstein,
I must not be too hard to please because I just love it as is. I am watching it for my pleasure and not to scruntinized it, I leave that to Cliff. He is really good at it.

Please don't.:sad:

Assuming - from a theoretical perspective that it were possible to rotate the aquarium, think of the complexity of the simultaneous rotation and motion changes of the fish swimming in the aquarium which already have complex movements.

Possibly the best practical solution would be perhaps be a few alternate fixed views of the aquarium background, but even this presents myriad technical issues such as photographing a real model of the aquarium without the fish but containing the other fixed objects for processing - lots of work for the small return I should think.

As it is, I think the saltwater aquarium with 30 fish is an incredible accomplishment in 3D. To get anything more realistic would require video rather than 3D and the file sizes would be huge and could not have nearly the versatility which is offered with the present model.

Best regards,

Lin

Sorry, been traveling so late to this party, but just realize that the corals were photographed, modeled, and built from one side. To rotate the camera more than about 15 degrees would reveal this as everything would "fly apart".