Avatar Studio 2

FAQ

Question:

Why are there no avatars on this site ?

Answer:

I have have neither the time or bandwidth to host avatars. However I do have a number of patches, hints and tips so people can make their own unique avatar.

Question:

How do I rescale my avatar in order to make giants or fairys ?

Answer:

Real simple edit the vrml file and look for :

choice DEF WalkingAvatar Transform {

Right after this add : scale 1 1 1
and change the 1's to determine the scale numbers greater than one are larger, less than one are smaller.

Question:

Just wondering why is Avatar Studio v2.0 outputs animated avatar with proto? is there an easy way to get rid of the protos and get a clean avatar out of it? I tried to hand edit it by getting rid of all the proto and nodes and only preseve the shape and texture coordinate nodes.. but when I preview what I have done, the body is in a jumble of parts... is there anyway to reconstruct all that to a fully editable human been so that ppl can edit them in Cosmo World (or any other 3D package)?..

Answer:

Simply put the 3d mesh is stored as a rolled up ball of legs and arms. The "Welder" Script node proforms the calculations to turn this into a default pose or animation.

The only way to get a usable mesh from one of these Avatars is to alter this Script so that it prints its results to the conole.

Find the line:

function G9(t){Gstart(9,t);}

and change it to:

function G9(t){Gstart(9,t);
if (firstRun) {
print ('point '+Vtx.point);
firstRun=FALSE;
}
}

Just below the line: DEF Welder Script {

add this: field SFBool firstRun

now clicking on the avatar will trigger the default (pose) animation the first frame of which will be printed to the console as a new pointset which can be simply pasted over the old one. You can remove all the other code and then keep the Shape node.

One note the result only appears on the Blaxxun Console and for some reason does not appear to work in Cortona due to the large amount of text involved. Settings > Console

Question:

Is there any way of turning the mesh resulting from the above back to an avatar ?

Answer:

Not easily.

Using the H-anim continious mesh standard, together with Vizx3d or maybe 3DS MAX, Character Studio and bitmanagement BS Export vrml plugin.

Question:

Is there any way displaying my nickname somewhere on my avatar ?

Answer:

Here is a cut and paste piece of code which will do that. This finds the actual nickname and displays it above the avatar.

Towards to top of the file find the line which looks something like:
exposedField SFString nickname "lili"
this should be just above a ]

If this line is missing add it.

Now find the line :
DEF vis VisibilitySensor { size 1 2 1 center 0 1 0 }

Right below add :

Transform {
 translation 0 0.3 0
 children [
  Billboard {
   children [
    Shape {
     appearance Appearance {
      material Material {
       diffuseColor 0 1 0
       emissiveColor 0 1 0
       ambientIntensity 1
      }
     }
     geometry DEF NameText Text {
      string ""
      fontStyle FontStyle {
       size 0.2
       justify ["MIDDLE"]
      }
     }
    }
   ]
  }
  Group {
   PROTO __ [
    exposedField SFString string ""
   ]
   {
   }
  }
  DEF xyz __ {
   string IS nickname
  }
  DEF NameScript Script {
   eventIn SFString nickname
   eventOut MFString name
   url "javascript:
    function nickname (val,ts) {
     name[0]=val;
    }
   "
  }
 ]
 ROUTE xyz.string TO NameScript.nickname
 ROUTE NameScript.name TO NameText.string
}

Question:

How do I add sound to an avatar ?

Answer:

Really easy this.

First find a short sound sample you like in wav format. Try searching the net using your favourate search engine.

Then load it into the Sound Recorder utility which comes with Windows.
Hint: look in the Programs > Entertainment section in your 'start' menu.

Using Sound Recorder to edit sound files.

Reduce sample quality and charge compression format.
File > properties > [Convert Now] > select Radio quality from pull down 'name' menu.

Close the various dialog windows by clicking OK on each one.

Now save the wav file ideally with a different name and/or directory.

Now you need to paste in a suitable Sound node and related code. The code below suits wav files but you need to use different code for MIDI files (.mid).

Insert the first code block below the line:
DEF vis VisibilitySensor { size 1 2 1 center 0 1 0 }
Also change the somesound.wav file name used below to match your new wav file.

DEF Sound1 Sound {
 source AudioClip {
  url "somesound.wav"
  loop FALSE
  startTime -1
 }
 minFront 40
 maxFront 40
 minBack 40
 maxBack 40
 intensity 1
 spatialize FALSE
}

then scroll down till you find more lines beginning with ROUTE like the one below and add this:

ROUTE TOUCH.touchTime TO Sound1.startTime

Now when people click on your avatar the sound file plays.