Adobe Director Basics

ADOBE DIRECTOR BASICS
3D basics
As you rotate the camera in the Shockwave 3D window, you can see two other sets of axes. The behavior on the 3D
sprite executes a statement similar to the following:
member("3D World").debugFlags = 2
This statement shows the position and orientation of all the invisible objects (cameras, lights and groups) in the scene
by showing the axes of each object. What you see in the initial view is the position and orientation of the
group("World").
As you rotate the camera in the Shockwave 3D window, you can also see the axes for a directional light and for the
camera that is used to create the view in the 3D sprite. (You can see the axes for the camera at the top right in the image
above). An ambient light is also present. However, its axes coincide exactly with those of group ("World"), so you will
not see a separate set of axes for the ambient light.
A handy mnemonic device
You can reproduce the directions of these three axes with your right hand.
Hold your right hand up in front of you at the same level as your eyes, with the palm towards you. Point your thumb
out to the right. Point your index finger upwards. Point your middle finger towards your eyes.
Note: Use your right hand even if you are left-handed.
The three fingers indicate the directions of the 3D world's three axes:
x-axis - thumb to the right
y-axis - index finger upwards
z-axis - middle finger towards you
The right-hand rule
The origin of the world
Every 3D cast member contains a group called "World". This group cannot be deleted. By definition, this group is
placed at the center of the 3D space. Its position is defined as vector(0, 0, 0).
By default, all the models, lights, and objects in a 3D cast member are children of group("World"). (You will discover
an interesting technique with nodes that are not children of the World in “Sky box” on page 108). The position of all
these child nodes can be measured from the origin point at vector(0, 0, 0).
Defining a shape in 3D space
A model resource defines a 3D shape in space. In the real world, a three-dimensional object is solid. On a computer, a
simulated 3D object is made of vertex points that are joined together by lines to create triangular faces. These triangular
faces are often called polygons. (Some 3D design applications allow you to create faces with more than 3 sides, but
Director only allows you to use triangles.)
It is not possible to see a model resource. As far as your computer is concerned, a model resource is just a set of
numbers. To see what those numbers represent, you need to create a model from the model resource.
To see an example, download the movie Cube.dir and launch it.
Last updated 8/26/2011
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