Remembering VRML....
Dec. 1st, 2008 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1I was going through old files this past weekend, and came across some notes for some projects I worked on from 1997-2000. One of the projects I worked on at that time was for the US Air Force. I was part of a virtual prototyping initiative betwen the Government and the leading-edge players in the aerospace industry -- Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. Each company was already doing CAD (computer-aided design), but used different 3D modeling packages -- if I remember correctly, Boeing used CATIA, someone else used AutoCAD, and Lockheed Martin used a home-developed (and proprietary) system called ACAD.
How would these companies exchange part and airframe information? This was where VRML came in. VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) was selected as the lingua franca between the various players. Companies would export their data to VRML and send it to another company, who would then import it into their system. Companies would use a plug-in to a web browser to view the VRML data. The ultimate goal of this project was to reduce part and/or airframe design time and cost.
So I got to play around with some high-end computers -- a Silicon Graphics O2 workstation, and a Windows NT workstation. Both had the CosmoPlayer VRML plugin for Internet Explorer and Netscape. I was able to view (and demo) a virtual walkthrough of a C-141 cargo plane. I asked about getting a copy of Lightwave 3D to do rendering of 3D models, but the price was too expensive. This was a fun job; I got to "play" while being productive. I even found an online cartoon -- Floops -- that was VRML-based and produced by Silicon Graphics. New episodes were released weekly.
But alas, after a few months, the project was scrapped. I won't get into the specifics as to why, though.
Are companies doing virtual prototyping now? I'm sure they are, but they're probably using the same CAD systems so that they can share part data better. I don't think anyone's using VRML anymore. I did some Googling today, and it appears that VRML has essentially been replaced by X3D, an XML-based 3D object definition language.
I wonder if I should leave VRML on my resume, as it has become an obsolete technology.
How would these companies exchange part and airframe information? This was where VRML came in. VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) was selected as the lingua franca between the various players. Companies would export their data to VRML and send it to another company, who would then import it into their system. Companies would use a plug-in to a web browser to view the VRML data. The ultimate goal of this project was to reduce part and/or airframe design time and cost.
So I got to play around with some high-end computers -- a Silicon Graphics O2 workstation, and a Windows NT workstation. Both had the CosmoPlayer VRML plugin for Internet Explorer and Netscape. I was able to view (and demo) a virtual walkthrough of a C-141 cargo plane. I asked about getting a copy of Lightwave 3D to do rendering of 3D models, but the price was too expensive. This was a fun job; I got to "play" while being productive. I even found an online cartoon -- Floops -- that was VRML-based and produced by Silicon Graphics. New episodes were released weekly.
But alas, after a few months, the project was scrapped. I won't get into the specifics as to why, though.
Are companies doing virtual prototyping now? I'm sure they are, but they're probably using the same CAD systems so that they can share part data better. I don't think anyone's using VRML anymore. I did some Googling today, and it appears that VRML has essentially been replaced by X3D, an XML-based 3D object definition language.
I wonder if I should leave VRML on my resume, as it has become an obsolete technology.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-01 01:33 pm (UTC)Learning the X3D, if you don't already have it down, might make sense. Progamming skills can become obsolete quickly!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 01:29 pm (UTC)I know this all too well. :-(