"Gilles Tran" wrote:
> The horse movement was created in Poser. It's cyclical and
> uses 24 frames. There was 50 Mb of meshes.

50 MB for just one second of animation seems like a pretty inefficient
solution to me!

> Running on a height field can be possible using the trace function.

Well, didn't mean a smooth flat height field but one with a rather bumpy
ground so each foot have to adapt to the ground...

> Other interactions could be simulated within Poser using
> dummy props and then exported.

Again, I think this works only in a limited extent...

> 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

Well, users could choose to animate the bones in a different program and
then export the animation of the bones to an include file. The mesh
deformation in POV-Ray would then be controlled by the bones in that include
file. The advantage here is that it would only require about 10 to 50 lines
of code per character per frame, much much less than exporting a whole mesh
per frame.

I'm sure the proper converter programs would pop up over time.

> in a limited number of situations (movements that can be
> described algorithmically).

Splines are available in POV-Ray.

> 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...

I've already made a walk and a running cycle for a biped, but not yet for a
quadruped. To make it usable by other people is something I'm working hard
on.

Rune
--
3D images and anims, include files, tutorials and more:
Rune's World:    http://rsj.mobilixnet.dk (updated June 26)
POV-Ray Users:   http://rsj.mobilixnet.dk/povrayusers/
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