Electric Rain - Swift 3D and Papervision3D Workflow

Swift 3D and Papervision3D

About Papervision3D

Papervision3D is an open source 3D rendering engine for Adobe Flash, which means that Electric Rain has little or no influence over where it goes in the future. It also means that there will be things that don't always work exactly as we would like. Having said that, we will be in regular contact with the guys developing Papervision3D and it is our goal to make Swift 3D the premier tool for creating Papervision3D projects. They are already giving us great feedback on where we need to take Swift 3D in the near future.

More info on Papervision3D at their blog, along with links to all primary resources: http://blog.papervision3d.org/

What's Ahead for Swift 3D

In the future, you can expect to see many improvements to Swift 3D and its support for Papervision3D, as well as other new 3D engines for Flash. As new features and capabilities are exposed within these engines, expect Swift 3D updates that take advantage of the new possibilities. Papervision3D 2.0 is now supported in Swift 3D v6.0. We have some really mind-blowing ideas and would love to hear your thoughts in the erain forums on what new features you would love to see in the next version of Swift 3D.

Current Workflow

So, just how easy is it to create a Papervision3D project? Well, if you already have a model created, it's a matter of seconds before you will have a real 3D Flash movie with mouse rotation and zooming of your 3D model. View the video for a quick overview, or check out the steps below.
View Example Shown in the Video

Step 1: Export your 3D Model or Scene to Papervision3D

Step 2: Open the Folder that Swift 3D Created:
Inside, you will see all of the files that make up the project.

The com and org folders are Papervision3D folders that you don't need to worry about. You will see any texture files (1Default.png and 7Default.png in the image above). The ERMain.asp file includes all of the actionscript for your scene. The .dae file is the Collada file of your 3D Model or Scene. The.FLA is the Flash file that you're primarily interested in at this point.

Step 3: Open the .FLA file in Flash - You will see a nice little message from us, along with some 3D Nav buttons that you can use or delete if you would like (or redesign to your liking).

Step 4: Hit Cntrl+Enter, or Cmd+Enter and Flash will create a SWF and a preview of your interactive Papervision3D scene. Place the SWF file, textures, and .dae file into the same folder as your webpage to show your 3D project to the rest of the world.