Recent changes to Objects

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 09:30:44 -0000

--- v13
+++ v14
@@ -1,76 +1,4 @@
 [TOC]
-
-##Add vector geometry##
-
-Expects a polygon shapefile with certain attributes. Depending on the given attributes geometry is created and rendered in Biosphere. 
-
-In the layer properties, an **altitude offset** can be set, to place the geometry higher or lower.
-
-The colors-strings that are used below are comma-separated rgb-triples to specify the red, green and blue color part, each in the range from 0 to 255. Some examples:
-
-- **red**: 255,0,0
-- **yellow**: 255,255,0
-- **white**: 255,255,255
-- **black**: 0,0,0
-- **dark gray**: 50,50,50
-
-###Water surfaces###
-
-This layer type uses shapefile polygons to create water surfaces. The following attributes are available:
-
-- **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "water" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a water surface
-- **waveLen** - a double value for the wave length, useful values lie between 0.1 and 10 
-- **waveHgt** - a double value for the wave height, useful values lie between 0.001 and 0.1 
-- **color** - a string to specify the water color, see examples above; to animate the color, use the second attribute **colorTo** to blend between the two attributes
-- **evelation** – a double value to set the altitude absolute to sea level in meter, if it’s a 2,5D Shapefile, the attribute value is added to the existing z-values
-- the water height can be animated with the two double attributes **heightFrom** and **heightTo**, if elevation is set, it is added to those two values
-
-If the attributes "waveLen" and "waveHgt" don't exist or if the entries are zero, the values from the global water surface will be used instead.
-
-Water specific layer options in the "**configure vector data**" dialog are:
-
-- **water animation length**: with smaller values, the waves move slower with active animation
-- **disable reflection**: compute no reflection for a faster rendering
-- **disable rotation**: compute reflection as if this surface is a flat one, for small surfaces this may show no visible artifacts, while the computed reflection may be reused for other surfaces which speeds up render times
-
-[[img src=addWaterSurfacesFromShapefile.png]]
-
-###Create building from footprints###
-
-This layer type takes polygons from shapefiles. After placing the polygons on the ground, blocks are created by extruding the polygons upward and downward. Downward extrusion is useful to fill the gap between the polygon and the ground in uneven terrain.
-
-The amount can be controlled with the sliders for the height and negative height in the layer settings. This values effect all polygons in a shapefile, that have no such value specified in its attributes. There are four attributes to customize single polygon:
-
-- **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "building" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a building footprint
-- **height** - a double value for the upward extrusion
-- **negheight** - a double value for the downward extrusion
-- **wallcolor** - a string to specify the wall color, see examples above
-- **roofcolor** - a string to specify the roof color, see examples above
-
-[[img src=blocksFromFootprints.png]]
-
-###Arrows###
-
-This layer type uses point shape files to show arrows in a horizontal plane starting at point location. The following attributes are used:
-
-- **B3DLaTyp** - an optional string attribute with the value "arrow2D" makes sure Biosphere recognizes points as arrows
-- **u** - holds the x component of the arrow direction and length
-- **v** - holds the y component of the arrow direction and length
-- **u1, v1, u2, v2, …** - optional further numbered uv- column pairs to create an arrow animation, time between the columns is set in the layer properties
-
-Arrow specific layer options in the "**configure vector data**" dialog are:
-
-- **arrow length factor**: a scale factor for the given arrow length
-- **time between columns**: if multiple uv-columns are given, the time used to blend between each column pair can be set
-- **single state animation style**: if just one uv-column pair is given, an animation mode can be set
-    - **none** means no animation
-    - with **move**, the whole arrow is moved a bit in arrow direction
-    - with **pulse**, a small band moves over the arrow
-- **single state animation pulse color**: select a color for the small animated band
-- **single state animation length**: set animation speed
-- **color mapping** to color the arrows, as described here [Configure Color Map], the numeric value in that case is the arrow length as given in the shape file
- 
-##3D Models##

 3D models can be added on different ways. Supported formats are Flora3D, Collada Obj, KML and KMZ. KML animations and collada skeleton animations are supported to some degree. A small tutorial on creating simple animations can be read here [Animating 3D models].

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 16:40:39 -0000

--- v12
+++ v13
@@ -156,3 +156,19 @@

 </phong>
 ~~~
+
+###Load water surfaces from collada models###
+
+For materials with a reflectivity value, biosphere specific attributes can be used to create waves on surfaces that use this material. The two attributes **waveLength** and **waveHeight** take the same values as the other [water surfaces](https://sourceforge.net/p/biosphere3d/wiki/Objects/#water-surfaces) or the [global water surface](https://sourceforge.net/p/biosphere3d/wiki/Environment/#water).
+
+~~~
+<phong>
+    <reflectivity><float>0.9</float></reflectivity>
+    
+    <B3D_WaterPolygon>
+        <waveLength>0.1</waveLength>
+        <waveHeight>0.005</waveHeight>
+    </B3D_WaterPolygon>
+    
+</phong>
+~~~

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 07:30:05 -0000

--- v11
+++ v12
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 - **animation length**: set the length for the animation of all model instances that this layer contains in seconds
 - **animation seed**: with a value of zero, the animation starts at the same time for all model instances of this layer, with other values, the animations start at different times for a more natural look, change the value to generate other random start times
 - **show white diffuse color**: if unchecked, geometry with a material that has no texture set and uses a pure white diffuse color is ignored, because it may belong to inner, invisible geometry that may cause render artifacts 
-- **orient models to camera**: if enabled, all model instances of this layer are oriented to always face the camera
+- **orient models to camera**: if enabled, all model instances of this layer are oriented to always face the camera. If the models aren't oriented to the negative y-axis and face the camera at an angle, use the **orientation offset** to compensate.

 ###Open point map###

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 18:13:46 -0000

--- v10
+++ v11
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@
 - **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "water" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a water surface
 - **waveLen** - a double value for the wave length, useful values lie between 0.1 and 10 
 - **waveHgt** - a double value for the wave height, useful values lie between 0.001 and 0.1 
-- **color** - a string to specify the water color (examples) 
+- **color** - a string to specify the water color, see examples above; to animate the color, use the second attribute **colorTo** to blend between the two attributes
 - **evelation** – a double value to set the altitude absolute to sea level in meter, if it’s a 2,5D Shapefile, the attribute value is added to the existing z-values
+- the water height can be animated with the two double attributes **heightFrom** and **heightTo**, if elevation is set, it is added to those two values

 If the attributes "waveLen" and "waveHgt" don't exist or if the entries are zero, the values from the global water surface will be used instead.

@@ -43,8 +44,8 @@
 - **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "building" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a building footprint
 - **height** - a double value for the upward extrusion
 - **negheight** - a double value for the downward extrusion
-- **wallcolor** - a string to specify the wall color
-- **roofcolor** - a string to specify the roof color
+- **wallcolor** - a string to specify the wall color, see examples above
+- **roofcolor** - a string to specify the roof color, see examples above

 [[img src=blocksFromFootprints.png]]

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 16:11:51 -0000

--- v9
+++ v10
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 ##Add vector geometry##

 Expects a polygon shapefile with certain attributes. Depending on the given attributes geometry is created and rendered in Biosphere. 
+
+In the layer properties, an **altitude offset** can be set, to place the geometry higher or lower.

 The colors-strings that are used below are comma-separated rgb-triples to specify the red, green and blue color part, each in the range from 0 to 255. Some examples:

@@ -24,6 +26,12 @@

 If the attributes "waveLen" and "waveHgt" don't exist or if the entries are zero, the values from the global water surface will be used instead.

+Water specific layer options in the "**configure vector data**" dialog are:
+
+- **water animation length**: with smaller values, the waves move slower with active animation
+- **disable reflection**: compute no reflection for a faster rendering
+- **disable rotation**: compute reflection as if this surface is a flat one, for small surfaces this may show no visible artifacts, while the computed reflection may be reused for other surfaces which speeds up render times
+
 [[img src=addWaterSurfacesFromShapefile.png]]

 ###Create building from footprints###
@@ -40,7 +48,27 @@

 [[img src=blocksFromFootprints.png]]

+###Arrows###

+This layer type uses point shape files to show arrows in a horizontal plane starting at point location. The following attributes are used:
+
+- **B3DLaTyp** - an optional string attribute with the value "arrow2D" makes sure Biosphere recognizes points as arrows
+- **u** - holds the x component of the arrow direction and length
+- **v** - holds the y component of the arrow direction and length
+- **u1, v1, u2, v2, …** - optional further numbered uv- column pairs to create an arrow animation, time between the columns is set in the layer properties
+
+Arrow specific layer options in the "**configure vector data**" dialog are:
+
+- **arrow length factor**: a scale factor for the given arrow length
+- **time between columns**: if multiple uv-columns are given, the time used to blend between each column pair can be set
+- **single state animation style**: if just one uv-column pair is given, an animation mode can be set
+    - **none** means no animation
+    - with **move**, the whole arrow is moved a bit in arrow direction
+    - with **pulse**, a small band moves over the arrow
+- **single state animation pulse color**: select a color for the small animated band
+- **single state animation length**: set animation speed
+- **color mapping** to color the arrows, as described here [Configure Color Map], the numeric value in that case is the arrow length as given in the shape file
+ 
 ##3D Models##

 3D models can be added on different ways. Supported formats are Flora3D, Collada Obj, KML and KMZ. KML animations and collada skeleton animations are supported to some degree. A small tutorial on creating simple animations can be read here [Animating 3D models].

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 14:38:09 -0000

--- v8
+++ v9
@@ -43,7 +43,17 @@

 ##3D Models##

-3D models can be added on different ways. Supported formats are Flora3D, Collada Obj, KML and KMZ. KML animations and collada skeleton animations are supported to some degree. A small tutorial on creating simple animations can be read here [Animating 3D models].
+3D models can be added on different ways. Supported formats are Flora3D, Collada Obj, KML and KMZ. KML animations and collada skeleton animations are supported to some degree. A small tutorial on creating simple animations can be read here [Animating 3D models]. 
+
+Model specific layer options are:
+
+- **add (only height) to terrain**: large models like small hills can be included into the terrain, with color and height or just the height of the model
+- **altitude offset**: add a meter offset to place the model higher or lower
+- **map color to height**: move parts of the geometry up or down by setting a material **color** and **alpha value**, geometry vertices that match this settings is moved to a **target height**
+- **animation length**: set the length for the animation of all model instances that this layer contains in seconds
+- **animation seed**: with a value of zero, the animation starts at the same time for all model instances of this layer, with other values, the animations start at different times for a more natural look, change the value to generate other random start times
+- **show white diffuse color**: if unchecked, geometry with a material that has no texture set and uses a pure white diffuse color is ignored, because it may belong to inner, invisible geometry that may cause render artifacts 
+- **orient models to camera**: if enabled, all model instances of this layer are oriented to always face the camera

 ###Open point map###

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:17:42 -0000

--- v7
+++ v8
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@

 This layer type uses shapefile polygons to create water surfaces. The following attributes are available:

-- **B3DLaTyp** – a optional string attribute with the value “water” makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a water surface
+- **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "water" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a water surface
 - **waveLen** - a double value for the wave length, useful values lie between 0.1 and 10 
 - **waveHgt** - a double value for the wave height, useful values lie between 0.001 and 0.1 
 - **color** - a string to specify the water color (examples) 
@@ -26,12 +26,13 @@

 [[img src=addWaterSurfacesFromShapefile.png]]

-###Create blocks from footprints###
+###Create building from footprints###

 This layer type takes polygons from shapefiles. After placing the polygons on the ground, blocks are created by extruding the polygons upward and downward. Downward extrusion is useful to fill the gap between the polygon and the ground in uneven terrain.

 The amount can be controlled with the sliders for the height and negative height in the layer settings. This values effect all polygons in a shapefile, that have no such value specified in its attributes. There are four attributes to customize single polygon:

+- **B3DLaTyp** – an optional string attribute with the value "building" makes sure Biosphere recognizes this polygon as a building footprint
 - **height** - a double value for the upward extrusion
 - **negheight** - a double value for the downward extrusion
 - **wallcolor** - a string to specify the wall color

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:13:42 -0000

--- v6
+++ v7
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@

 A point shapefile that references model files with the following attributes:

-A point shapefile that references model files with the following attributes:
-
 - needed attributes:
     - **model** – relative or absolute path to the model file
 - optional attributes:
@@ -62,8 +60,9 @@

 To make cables work, Biosphere has to know the start- and endpoints of a model. These points are provides via custom kml attributes. They can be added to an existing kml file or another model can be referenced in a simple kml file like the following sample:
 https://sourceforge.net/p/biosphere3d/wiki/Objects/attachment/SimpleExample.kml
+Note that Biosphere uses the kml location as relative position in meter to the actual position given by the point shape.

-Like can be seen in the sample, a single cable section has a start and endpoint, given by x, y and z coordinate. Multiple such sections can be added for more cable connections between models.
+Like can be seen in the sample, a single cable section has a start and endpoint, given by a x, y and z coordinate in meter relative to the model origin. Multiple such sections can be added for more cable connections between models.

 ~~~
 <Cable>
@@ -79,11 +78,18 @@

 ###Open OIX Shapefile###

+A polygon shapefile that references OIX records, that are distributed in the polygons. Two attributes are needed:
+
+- **oixfile** - the absolute or relative path to an OIX file
+- **oixrec** - a record in that OIX file
+
 ###Read model position from KML###
+
+With this menu entry, Biosphere reads the KML location as expected as an absolute position on earth with longitude and latitude in degree.

 ###Open KMZ and read model position from KML###

-KMZ files are compressed KML files. Biosphere simple extracts the content and opens the KML file.
+KMZ files are compressed KML files. Biosphere simple extracts the content and opens the KML file with its absolute location on earth.

 ###Drop collada model here###

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 15:39:00 -0000

--- v5
+++ v6
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
 </Cable>
 ~~~

+
 ###Open OIX Shapefile###

 ###Read model position from KML###
@@ -87,3 +88,25 @@
 ###Drop collada model here###

 Models can be placed right under the camera with this menu entry. A simple kml file is created that references the model. That kml file is than opened.
+
+###Reference models by collada models###
+
+For an exact placement of small models on very large collada models, Biosphere can  place referenced models on geometry, that uses special material attributes. In the following snipped of a phong material definition comes after the first common attribute the two ways of referencing models. A single model can be placed in the center of the geometry with the **B3D_SinglePlant** section, which takes a model file, a scale and rotation. An OIX distribution for the plane of the geometry can be referenced with **B3D_OIXPolygon**, which takes a file and a record.
+
+~~~
+<phong>
+    <diffuse><color>1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0</color></diffuse>
+    
+    <B3D_SinglePlant>
+        <model>Abies_alba_500.flora3d</model>
+        <scale>1</scale>
+        <rotation>30.0</rotation>
+    </B3D_SinglePlant>
+    
+    <B3D_OIXPolygon>
+        <file>randomPlants.oix</file>
+        <record>RandomTreesRecord2</record>
+    </B3D_OIXPolygon>
+    
+</phong>
+~~~

Objects modified by Steffen Ernst

Steffen Ernst — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 14:48:40 -0000

--- v4
+++ v5
@@ -57,8 +57,24 @@
     - **rotation** – the rotation of the model in degree, for multi point sets a range can be given, e.g. 0-360
     - **elevation** – the absolute altitude at which the model should be placed
     - **zOffset** – the relative altitude of the ground
-    - **MastSeq** – to connect models with cables, a order has to be given
-    - **CableSag** – defines a sag for the cable connection of this model to the next one
+    - **MastSeq** – to connect model instances with cables, an order has to be given
+    - **CableSag** – defines a sag for the cable connection of this model instance to the next one
+
+To make cables work, Biosphere has to know the start- and endpoints of a model. These points are provides via custom kml attributes. They can be added to an existing kml file or another model can be referenced in a simple kml file like the following sample:
+https://sourceforge.net/p/biosphere3d/wiki/Objects/attachment/SimpleExample.kml
+
+Like can be seen in the sample, a single cable section has a start and endpoint, given by x, y and z coordinate. Multiple such sections can be added for more cable connections between models.
+
+~~~
+<Cable>
+    <StartX>-4.5</StartX>
+    <StartY>0.7</StartY>
+    <StartZ>25.5</StartZ>
+    <EndX>-4.5</EndX>
+    <EndY>-0.7</EndY>
+    <EndZ>25.5</EndZ>
+</Cable>
+~~~

 ###Open OIX Shapefile###