Opt Viewer Progress

[Bios Boy]

I just thought I would keep you up-to-date with the status of my Opt Viewer program.<P>So far its gone through beta testing and I have had suggestions back from all the testers. For some reason I have had no word from Executor32?<P>The program did well in the tests with only a few minor changes. Some of the changes have not been as easy as I would have liked so some changes have actually not been possible but the program will still be improved.<P>As soon as I have finished these changes then the program will be available to all.

[DataDroid]

Will it be an OPT creator as well as a viewer, or is it just for testing the integrity of OPTs?

[Bios Boy]

Originally I wanted to make an opt creator program but I didn't have enough knowledge of the opts and their structure so I started to do some research.<P>The research grew and grew so I turned it all into a viewing program which is now Opt Viewer. I figured out prety quickly that I needed prety graphics too so I had to go off and learn DirectX as well, even tho I ended up using a 3rd party DirectX engine.<P>To answer your question no it won't be an opt creator program its just a viewer. I have plans to make a opt creator program after I have released Opt Viewer.<P>There is a lot of integrity checks in my Opt Viewer program but most are checking that the opt structure is formatted correctly and that the model is structured correctly to be viewed with DirectX.

[Executor32]

Yeah, sorry about that Bios Boy. I've been grounded for the past few weeks, so I've had no access to my computer for the past couple weeks. You've still seen me around, though, because I've been posting from school. I've sent you my testing report from my new email addy, executor@eberon.net.<P>------------------<BR>There is no peace, there is anger. <BR>There is no fear, there is power. <BR>There is no death, there is immortality. <BR>There is no weakness, there is the Dark Side.<BR>-Dark Side Code<P><A HREF="http://executor32.homestead.com" TARGET=_blank>Executor32's X-Wing Alliance Depot</A>

[Bios Boy]

Thanks for your help in testing Executor, some of the things you said have been fixed now and others will be added later.

[DataDroid]

Will it be able to fix "almost vertices" where the points don't quite match up because of the funky way Rhino saves sometimes?

[Phoenix]

That is due to the rather low accuracy RHino uses, I think it is only to 3 sf (i.e. if the point is 34.532543 it will be rounded to 34.5, and itf it is 4556.756324 then it will be rounded to 4560.0000) While that would be quite a nice feature, It may get it wrong and connect 2 points that should be separate. On the other hand, it could show the points in question and ask if it is ok to fix, that could work. To program it you just have to work out how to specify a dynamic range to check. Does that make ANY sense?<BR> <P>------------------<BR>Star Trekkin' across the universe, <BR>Only goin' forward because we can't find reverse!!

[DataDroid]

Actually, Rhino 1.1 saves to an accuracy of about 4 decimal places, unfortunately, it sometimes sets the points off just a little. I think this has something to do with the fact that computers are binary and real numbers are not.

[Bios Boy]

If you join the faces then you don't get that problem.<P>To your question no, the program is only a viewer it will not modify your opt.

[DataDroid]

Actually, that's not true, if I join them, I still get points that don't quite match up. I suppose it doesn't really have much effect in the game, but it's still annoying.

[Hawkeye1]

I've been doing a lot of work with those kind of problems lately, and I think I've found a way to correct those "almost vertices," or at least predict where they are and prevent them before even saving the dxf. In Rhino, under the polygon tools, there is an option called "weld polygon mesh." (After this, use the "unifymeshnormals" command to even out the funky shading you may see) Basically this option joins all the equal points, and smoothes out the mesh in the shade/render view. Any unjoined points will be easy to find because they will show up as edges- they won't smooth out. <BR>Beware though, there is no way to completely explode a welded mesh. Once you do it, and check for errors, undo it again so you can delete or add faces as needed. Also, if you do it before you save the model, the individual faces won't have their points mangled. The only thing it doesn't work on is where meshes meet. Meshes cannot be smoothed between, and this is where errors will appear, right along the places where they meet.<P>BTW, this is also a good way to check for places where lighting errors are likely to appear. I wish I'd known this before I made my Enterprises and new Hornet. If a face apears weirdly shaded even after you've unified the mesh normals, remake it, and several faces around it. That should help to correct the problem before it happens.

[DataDroid]

Thanks, that helps

[Defiant]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DataDroid:<BR><B>I think this has something to do with the fact that computers are binary and real numbers are not.</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>LOL

[DataDroid]

I was referring to real numbers in the mathematical definition of real numbers, usually represented by a capital R with a bar on the left.<P>------------------<BR>Member of the <A HREF="http://coruscant.x1.nl/" TARGET=_blank>Imperial City Project</A>

[Defiant]

So what you're saying (for clarification) is it's because conceptually a real number has infinite precision, whereas a 32-or-64-bit floating point number has limited precision?

[DataDroid]

Exactly, I run into this kind of stuff a lot when I'm programming.

[Bios Boy]

But there are data types in programming that can do loads of decimal places?<P>Anyway back to the topic, I will release my Opt Viewer on Monday sometime. Please note I am in the UK.<p>[This message has been edited by Bios Boy (edited 15 February 2002).]