Introduction to CAAD 4D

VRML Construction Session

Preparing the images:

• Take a picture of the building, scan it and save it as .tga or
• take a video and capture the image of the building.
• Open the image in photoshop.
• Select the part of the image you need.
• Use the Image->Effects->Distort menu item.
• Correct the perspective so it looks straight ahead.
• Delete or cover annoying information such as tree branches, wires, etc.
• Clip the area of interest.
• Save the image as .tga (24pixels)

Preparing the model:

• Open formZ and create a simple model of the building
• Go to the surface's palette and click on the empty area at the bottom
• In the pop-out dialog select imagemap, then options, then load, then the .tga file of your image
• Click OK
• Go back to the model and select the object you want to apply the texture
• Select the texture map tool
• In the dialog box make sure that the vertical or horizontal length is equal to the height or width of your object and the the
• if you want to apply a texture only on one face, select the face and then use the texture mapping tool. In this case you can use the flat mapping type
• 
• Do the same thing for all the objects in the scene including pavements, streets, grass, etc.

• When done save the file as VRML.
• Set the options as shown below:
• 
• The resulting .wrl file is in text format so you can open it in wordPad or NotePad
• if you ned to set a background to the scene use and modify the following code:

DEF NavInfo01 NavigationInfo {
  avatarSize [0.25, 1.6, 0.75]
  headlight TRUE
  speed 100
  visibilityLimit 0
}

Background {
skyColor [
0.0 0.2 0.7, 0.0 0.5 1.0, 1.0 1.0 1.0 ]
skyAngle [1.39, 1.571 ]
groundColor [
0.8 0.8 0.8, 0.6 0.6 0.6 , 0.3 0.3 0.3 ]
groundAngle [1.39, 1.571 ]
}

•  
• Use should able to run the .wrl file in Cosmo under netscape (the latest Cosmo and Netscape installers are in the class Public folder)