Java For the Rest of Us
|
Jose Maria de Espona,
courtesy of Kinetix
|
By Lee Callister
"Our goal is to put tools in the hands
of artists and designers," says Grant Blaha, "not just the
techie types. We hope artists will use them to make more interesting
web pages."
Blaha is talking about Hyperwire, a new
Web authoring program from Kinetix, a brand new Autodesk division
where he is part of the developer support team.
Kinetix is the name for a new stand-alone
business unit formed from Autodesk's multimedia division.
It's products include the popular 3D studio - used by LucasArts
to create best-selling games like Rebel Assault and The Dig
, the soon-to-be released 3D Studio Max for Windows NT, and
Animator Pro, as well as Hyperwire, and a unique new netscape
plug-in called Topper that can play a clickable 3D animation
in a VRML environment. The new division will relocate to San
Francisco later this year.
The formal announcement of Kinetix's formation
was accompanied by the launch of it's Web site (www.ktx.com)
where you can find information about the new company, visit
a gallery of work created by artists who use their products,
and download pre-beta versions of the new software.
What's a Hyperwire?
Hyperwire is an authoring program
for the Web: the first icon based object-oriented authoring
tool that lets you create both 2D and 3D animation on your
Web site in the form of Java applets without actually writing
any code.
Yes,
folks, just point and click to place objects and assign properties
to them and then draw a line to define a path for the behavior
you want. Hyperwire offers a graphical view of the physical
appearance of the applet and the "wiring" behind it. Java
scripting is happening automatically behind the scenes. Just
tell the program to compile the code you have just created
and you are ready to rock and roll.
Currently
objects can be images, audio files, or sprite animations (no
video because Java's won't let you access helper applications
like Quicktime players for security reasons). The program
comes with a suite of tools and templates for creating clickable
buttons, graphics, and input fields you can use to create
interactive Web titles.
The
program is modular says Blaha, and new modules will be released
on a regular basis. An MDT (Module Development Kit) available
by summer will allow you to add behavior by creating your
own modules. Soon you'll be able to connect your applications
to a variety of relational databases for richer, more information
intensive, data driven Web titles.
Autodesk
acquired the program that became Hyperwire (formerly known
as "Opus") over two years ago with the intention of turning
it into an authoring program that would compete directly with
Director. With the startling growth of the Web and the emergence
of Java the decision was made to leapfrog the current generation
of authoring programs, and build a program that could be used
to create web content in the form of Java applets.
Topper
Topper is a new VRML plug-in for Netscape
that lets you play embedded 3D scenes (which can be exported
from 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max.) A new spec called VRBL
(Virtual Reality Behavior Language) supports the creation
and playback of line-of-sight, proximity, and pick triggers.
This means users can trigger animation and behaviors based
on their location and activity in a 3D scene, (while playing
games over the Web, for example.)
A marriage of technologies
Together the two new toys represent a formidable
package, bringing together Java's animation capabilities and
vrml's ability to create virtual worlds. Most VR Web worlds
allow you to walk or fly through an otherwise static site.
Hyperwire and Topper bring you animated objects within a three
3D environment, and the ability to click on a moving image.
The
price for the new authoring program has not yet been set,
but according to Blaha will probably be quite reasonable in
order to attract a mass market. Taking a page from Netscape's
book, the company will probably continue to allow consumers
to download new beta versions of the software once the product
actually goes on the market.
The
current version of Hyperwire is called a "Sneak Peek" because
titles produced with Hyperwire are slow to download off the
Web. Currently, each object in a Java application is downloaded
one piece at a time from the Web server, with a noticible
delay between each piece. This problem effects all Java applications,
but it is more noticible with Hyperwire because Hyperwire
makes it easy to create sophisticated (and large) Java applications.
Kinetix is working with Netscape and SunSoft to significantly
improve the download times in future beta versions of Hyperwire,
and add faster Java downloading features to the Netscape browser.
But
enough techie talk. This is a tool for us artists remember?
Now the rest of us can do Java too.