| Q&A |
 Clive
Jackson
CEO Pelican Crossing, Inc.
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"Blink
3D has a number of core engines each with a proven track
record in AAA game titles. For graphics, Blink 3D uses
the Ogre graphics engine which is one of the most, if
not the most sophisticated graphics engines available
today on the PC. For physics, Blink 3D uses the Ageia
PhysX engine which is arguably the number one commercial
physics engine available today."
<
Blink 3D in FireFox Browser |
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| Q1 |
Could
you please tell me what are the key new features of Blink 3D
v 1.1? |
| A1 |
The
main features of Blink 3D 1.1 are support for video and HTML
as materials. With the video you can stream common video formats
using HTTP or RTSP into the 3D environment and then apply the
video image as a material onto 3D objects. You have full control
over the material just as you would if the image source were
a .jpg or .png file. We are particularly pleased with the small
impact on the FPS. You can also stream MP3 files using either
HTTP or RTSP.
Streaming of HTML as a material works pretty much
the same way that the video material works. However, the HTML
page can be either a static one time image or it can be live
so you can see Flash animations for example. You can also
interact with the HTML page. Using the BlinkScript API you
can send it mouse clicks and execute JavaScript. This means
you can effectively drive a 2D Web page from within a 3D environment
and see the results. We plan to add in more features to make
this process even easier.
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| Q2 |
Applying
an HTML page as a texture is a cool idea. What kind of new applications
can we build with this feature? |
| A2 |
 We
are only just beginning to understand the possibilities ourselves.
It obviously enables mashups between things like Google Maps
or Google Earth and virtual worlds. Flash animations can be
played as textures on objects. Basic searching or blogging can
be incorporated into an environment as well. |
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| Q3 |
What
is the best way to learn using Blink 3D? |
| A3 |
I
think I would have to recommend first watching the Getting Started
video on our home page, then install the trial version of the
Blink 3D Builder and then, dive in and get your feet wet. The
interface for the Blink 3D Builder is easy to understand. Once
you have added and configured one object, you have essentially
learnt the basic workflow. If you run into problems, the forum
is the best place to find answers. We have an active and friendly
community who are very helpful and responsive to newcomers. |
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| Q4 |
How
can a graphic artist import 3D assets in Blink 3D? Is it an
easy process? |
| A4 |
The
process is pretty straight forward. Depending on the 3D modeling
package you are using, you may have support for exporting to
.mesh format built in already or you can use exporters that
work with 3DS Max, Maya, Blender, XSI, Lightwave, Milkshape
and AC3D.
Once the exporter is installed, it is a simple matter
of exporting your model and its material to a directory. Then,
in Blink 3D there is a New Model Asset wizard that will guide
you through specifying the needed files. The Model Asset is
then created and available for use in your project.
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| Q5 |
Creating
interactions such as a running character, or physics animations
normally require special skills. Can anyone build an online
game with Blink 3D? |
| A5 |
It
really depends on the sort of game you are trying to build.
We are adding new Behaviors all the time to make it easier for
non-programmers to create animations and add interactivity.
However, we have a ways to go before people will be able to
build their version of Half-Life II without writing any code.
Using Blink 3D’s Behaviors are fine for casual games but
you will need to do some programming if you want to go beyond
this.
The Blink 3D Behaviors are very useful for triggering
animations, creating physics joints, playing sounds, detecting
access to specific areas, etc. However, we have not yet created
Behaviors to help with AI, scoring or inventory control. If
you are a programmer, you can add this yourself.
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| Q6 |
In
a tutorial video on your web site, you show how to create a
physic animation between a cube and a wall with few clicks.
Are all interaction so easy to implement? |
| A6 |
Yes,
the basic approach is the same, add a Behavior and then configure
it. All the properties have defaults and valid ranges. Where
a name is required, you can only choose from a list and the
only includes objects that are valid in that context. So it
is pretty hard to go wrong and, as a result, it encourages you
to explore and experiment. |
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| Q7 |
Are
modern rendering techniques such as shadows, shaders, HDR can
be used with Blink 3D? Are all of those stuff available on line? |
| A7 |
Yes,
Blink 3D supports shaders and 5 different shadowing techniques
including custom shadows using shaders. You can program your
shaders using: Cg, DirectX 9 HLSL, OpenGL GLSL and ASM. HDR
can be easily achieved with Blink 3D’s compositors which
are full screen post processing effects. Other effects that
are available out of the box include: Bloom, Embossed, Black
And White, Glass, Invert, Laplace, Old Movie, Old TV, Posterize,
Sharpen Edges, Tiling, Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur and Heat Vision. |
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| Q8 |
Is
Blink 3D a good product for developing serious games? Is it
stable enough? |
| A8 |
Yes,
very much so. Blink 3D has a number of core engines each with
a proven track record in AAA game titles. For graphics, Blink
3D uses the Ogre graphics engine which is one of the most, if
not the most sophisticated graphics engines available today
on the PC. For physics, Blink 3D uses the Ageia PhysX engine
which is arguably the number one commercial physics engine available
today. Again, this engine is used in a number of high profile
commercial games. Blink 3D also supports the Ageia PhysX Accelerator
card so you can maximize your physics usage. For 3D sound, Blink
3D uses OpenAL which is also used by many top quality games.
Blink 3D ties all this together in a format that is suitable
for the Web and is scriptable using JavaScript. The Blink 3D
Builder is used as a level editor allowing you to add in Behaviors,
lights, sensors and animations, etc. |
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| Q9 |
Blink
3D has capabilities in Internet/network. Is this area not "dead"
with products such as VRML that do not succeed? Do you believe
in 3D for collaborative applications (chats, games, communities...)? |
| A9 |
Quite
the contrary, 3D on the Internet/Web is making a resurgence.
One only has to look at what’s taking place with online
3D environments such as World of Warcraft, RuneScape and Second
Life and that others are going down similar roads to see that
virtual worlds are finally becoming very popular. A recent report
stated that virtual worlds in the West are currently worth $1bn.
Some of this is going to be on the Internet and some of it is
going to be on the Web. Pelican Crossing believes that the majority
will be Web based
3D, but we also support Internet based 3D environments. Just
to clarify here, for us Web based 3D means running inside a
Web browser, Internet based 3D means using a custom viewer but
delivering content across the internet. |
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| Q10 |
Blink
3D does not produce very compressed file, is it a problem for
Internet purposes? |
| A10 |
Actually
I have to disagree, Blink 3D’s environment files (.env)
are highly compressed and use the standard ZIP compression technique.
I think you would be hard pushed to compress them any more.
Our meshes are stored in the common .mesh binary format which
is compressed but can be compressed more. Of course images files
like .png and .jpg are already highly compressed and do not
really compress any further, the larger and more images you
use the bigger the file will be. Other files in a typical Blink
3D environment are text based such as JavaScript programs and
material files which compress very well. For example, one project
I have here is 13MB uncompressed on disk but in .env format
is only 8.7MB. When compressed using the RAR technique the same
files compress down to 8.6MB as you see not a very big saving. |
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