Apple's QuickDraw 3D website has a Virtual Worlds Gallery of interesting scenes you can try at: <http://quickdraw3d.apple.com/Gallery/3DWorlds.HTML>
Features
You can open any 3DMF file from the Open menu item. I've also included some sample files that you can double-click on.
The windows have a QuickTime VR-like interface. This means that you drag the mouse in the window to look around, and that the option key will move you forward while the control key will move you backward. In addition, the arrow keys will move you "sideways", shift-option will roll you clockwise (and the scene counter-clockwise) and shift-control will roll you counter-clockwise (and the scene clockwise.)
The shift-arrow keys rotate you in the same ways that dragging the mouse in the window do, but with less control.
Note that random dragging (especially dragging in circles) in the window will often leave you with a residual roll you have to correct with shift-control and shift-option. Choosing Stabilize Horizon from the View menu will fix that by choosing your current horizontal as the prefered one. Note that:
• The visual horizon should be level and centered in your view when you turn this on.
• Rolling with shift-cammand and shift-option will not stick when you go back to dragging the mouse.
• Trying to look straight up or down while your horizon is stabilized will do strange things.
Stabilize Horizon is on by default whenever you open a new file.
The "Thrust" slider will control how fast you will move through the scene. Turn the thrust down to get finer control over how you move. The minimum thrust is 1/100th of the maximum. The maximum thrust is fixed by the size of the scene.
The View menu will move you to one of several predefined places.
• From Front places you on the +Z axis.
• From Back places you on the -Z axis.
• From Left places you on the -X axis. (Audience left when facing front.)
• From Right places you on the +X axis. (Audience right when facing front.)
• From Top places you on the +Y axis.
• From Bottom places you on the -Y axis.
• From Center places you in the center of the scene, looking in the +Z direction.
• Look Toward Center turns you toward the center without moving you.
The vehicle has two headlights, which you can control with the Lights menu. There is also an Extra Light option if you find the scene to be too dim.
Motion Summary
Translation
The speed of the translation is controlled by the "Thrust" slider.
You can also "feather" the motion by tapping the keys rather than holding them down.
Rotation
The speed of the rotation is controlled by the distance of the drag.
The speed of the rotation keys is not controlled by the "Thrust" slider, but you can "feather" the motion by tapping the keys rather than holding them down.
Things to try
• You can go inside the objects you see. Some scenes will start you out inside an object. If you turn down the thrust, you can get inside some very small features.
• A good place to try out the Light Menu items is one of the TriGrid Box sample files. The sides of these boxes have been made from lots of little triangles so that they will catch the light more realisticly than the other cube sample models do.
• See how well you can "steer" with the mouse while going forward with the option key.
• If you drag with the mouse in one direction, and use an arrow key to move in the other direction, you'll end up moving in a circle. See if you can "orbit" the scene. If you turn down the thrust, you can make smaller circles. See if you can "orbit" a small feature of the scene.
When making models for Fly Through
If you have the tools to create your own 3DMF files, there are some things you might want to keep in mind.
• The scale of the model shouldn't affect your ability to navigate it. Fly Through adjusts itself to the scale of the scene, as measured by the diagonal of the scene's bounding box. The headlights, on the other hand, fall off with distance, and will have less effect in larger models. Headlights seem to work best in ranges of 1 to 10 units.
• If you want the View menu to be reasonable, aim the "front" of your model in the +Z direction, with "up" in the +Y direction.
• You can set the background color by adding a ClearImageColor to the file's ViewHints.
• You can set the initial camera placement by adding a camera to the ViewHints. The other camera parameters are ignored.
• You can also add lights to the ViewHints.
Version History
Version 1.1.2, May 14, 1997:
Fixed rare slider hilite bug. Fixed "Quickdraw 3D not installed" alert.
Version 1.1 (final), March 29, 1997:
Recompiled without debugging code.
Version 1.1b2, March 19, 1997:
The "built-in" scenes that I used for testing are now available as separate files, and the New sub-menu that used to build them has been removed.
Version 1.1b1 (first beta), March 12, 1997:
Can now read 3DMF files. Lots of interface tweaks and bug fixes.
Version 1.0, September 30, 1996:
A "proof of concept", but little more than a demo. Could only display built-in scenes.
