Q: What software does Cosmus use on GeoWalls?
After a period of trial and error, the software we use to run our
stuff on GeoWalls (i.e. what you need to get to run our content) is:
To make content, we use the following software.
- Partiview. Free.
- Pokescope. Excellent for
aligning stereo pairs of photographs. $100.
- Macromedia Director. Allows
you to combine audio and visuals in any way you want. Great for using
on a digital museum floor, as is done at Adler. $600 academic license,
well worth it.
- Polytrans: A very
powerful program that converts between numerous different formats,
including Maya (OBJ), VRML and DXF (used for CAD drawings). The demo
version is free, but intentionally removes a fifth of the polygons in
the final model. The full version costs $500 or $600, and is worth it.
Note that other software is available, often for free.
Here are some flowcharts Stephanie Andrews made to show the process
of developing exhibits for the Web
(Technical,
General)
and for GeoWalls
(Technical,
General).
Using Walkabout
Q: What is Walkabout?
A: For our purposes, it is a browser for 3d models that
works on GeoWalls. It is written by Andy Johnson at the
University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Lab. Go
to the Walkabout
Page for more information and for downloads.
Q: How do I navigate in Walkabout?
A: Currently, this is keyboard only. Move with the arrow keys, press W
and F to switch between Walk and Fly modes, E and C make you look up
and down (i.e. craning your neck), G+right arrow during the
Fly mode does a nice rotation around a point.
Using Wallview
Q: What is Wallview?
A: It is a slide show
viewer for Geowalls written by Russ Burdick. For more information, go to the
Wallview site.
Q: How do I navigate in Wallview?
A: After you click on the icon and two pictures appear side by side,
left-click once on either of the pictures. After that, page down (or
space) and page up move between pictures. The left and right mouse
buttons permit translation and zooming. Wallview starts on a photo at
the same place where the photo was stopped the last time it was viewed
(if that makes no sense, you'll understand when it happens...)
Using Partiview
Q: What is Partiview?
A: Partiview is an open source 4d viewer written by Stuart
Levy of the NCSA.
Q: How do I navigate in Partiview?
A:
The key is to press a mouse button down, move the mouse, and
release the mouse button. Navigation is inertia-based, so whatever you
were doing when the mouse button is released continue to happens. If you want to stop movement, click once, without moving your mouse during the click.
If you see buttons in your demo, click them to turn parts of the demo off and on.
Q: How do I right click on a Mac when my mouse only has one button?
A: Press CTRL while you press the mouse button.
Q: What else has Partiview been used for?
A: Check out the Digital
Universe at Hayden Planetarium in NY, and how it's used for information visualization and machine learning by Dinoj Surendran.
Partiview for Developers
Partiview has two user guides, one from Hayden
and one from Maryland. Everyone
should read the first at some point, developers should also read the
latter. Bear in mind though that Partiview has a lot more features
than are actually documented.
[FEB 07] Perl scripts and utilities
[FEB 07] Flypathmaker : Perl scripts for making flypaths and creating files for rendering in mono, stereo or fulldome environments.
How to use Partiview on a GeoWall
Making flypaths and wf files
How to make
MPEG movies with Partiview on Linux.
