>>
I'm not qualified to get into the best way of capture and/or
modelling a 3D model of your boat lift, but sounds like it has potential.
Most discussion I have seen, seems about capture, but not delivery.
I would be interested to hear what people believe will be the most
likely open technology for presenting the output of such models,
especially on the web to end-users.
>>
In theory there is an open standard technology called WebGL which
lets you show 3D content on the web.
Here's a demo which runs just about ok on my Chrome browser with
perky graphics card:
<http://codeflow.org/webgl/deferred-irradiance-volumes/www/>http://codeflow.org/webgl/deferred-irradiance-volumes/www/
But:
1) It's not ready yet. The standard is missing all the bits you need.
It uses Javascript which, even with all the latest speed ups isn't
fast enough. The tools to create content are very primitive.
2) Browsers don't support it. As ever, browser support is patchy and
different for each browser. Microsoft have said they won't support it
because they see it as a security risk
3) Mobile devices are very under powered so would need 3D content
tailored specifically for them - even if they could run WebGL, which
currently they can't.
All this will improve with time but given these issues I would say
you're probably looking at 3-5 years before you can rely on using
WebGL to reach an appreciable audience.
You don't mention why you're so keen on an "open" solution and how
you define "open". The web has always been made up of various
components with various degrees off "openess". Most of us view the
web on a "closed" operating system. Museums have happily reached
millions of people using things like flash which are "closed source"
but an "open standard". If you want deliver 3D content in the near
future the two best options are probably either Unity3D or Flash.
1) Unity3D has been around for a while on the web but you need to
download a separate plugin which not many people have. The graphics
quality is pretty good. It doesn't work in the browser on mobile
devices but you can use the same content to make apps.
Here's a demo of Unity content. It will only work if you have the
Unity3d plugin installed:
<http://unity3d.com/gallery/demos/live-demos>http://unity3d.com/gallery/demos/live-demos
2) Flash has only recently got the ability to do 3D but as its
installed on pretty much all desktop computers, its looking most
popular with professional game developers. Several of them are
planning big releases on Flash in the next 6 months so it's worth
keeping an eye on them to see how well they're received. As with
Unity it doesn't work in the browser on mobile devices but you can
use the same content to make apps. Here's a demo of the Epic Games
"unreal" engine running in Flash
<http://www.unrealengine.com/flash/>http://www.unrealengine.com/flash/
So although I would agree that it would be nice to have a very "open"
delivery mechanism. I think that currently the best solutions, that
they would let you reach most people with the least amount of
technical grief, are "closed". As with everything you need to make
your own mind up which to choose.
Cheers
Joe
Joe Cutting
Digital exhibits and installations
www.joecutting.com
35 Hospital Fields Road, York, YO10 4DZ
01904 624681
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