Rune <run### [at] mobilixnetdk>
> How was this done? One mesh per frame? How long was the animation? And how
> much disc space did it take?

The horse movement was created in Poser. It's cyclical and uses 24 frames.
Each mesh was exported and converted (using the batch procedure of 3DWin).
There was 50 Mb of meshes. The POV procedure loads each mesh and puts it
where it should be. I never finished it for time reasons and the best I did
was a 400 frame animation of the whole herd which is far from perfect. I
plan to redo it with a mocap file anyway.

> Would it have been possible to make the horses run over a height field and
> other such demanding interactions with the surroundings?

Running on a height field can be possible using the trace function. Other
interactions could be simulated within Poser using dummy props and then
exported.

> And yes, I *do* believe quality character animation can be done writing
> numbers in a text editor. With the proper macros of course.

My own *** limited *** experience with animation indicates that it's already
very difficult to do with a GUI, as you need precise visual references to
adjust the speed and movements, and for the most complicated stuff a mo-cap
file becomes necessary. A Povray-only boning system could certainly be
implemented and fun to use but only for a limited number of users in a
limited number of situations (movements that can be described
algorithmically). For starters, I suggest that you try animating a
walking/running dog-like quadruped (not a biped !) using simple cylinders to
see what I mean. And make it a system flexible enough to be adaptable and
usable by other people...

Now, if Povray was able to communicate smoothly with apps providing this
sort of service, that would open very different perspectives.

G.

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