* 3D rendering with NGRAIN Mobilizer
Among the huge range of data display formats that the Web delivers is a relatively small niche occupied by 3-D models. Despite all the hype that surrounded this area a few years ago (Virtual Reality Modeling Language and a raft of other de jure and proprietary standards) the market never really blossomed for three reasons: the bandwidth required to deliver serious models, the processor power required for high quality rendering, and the complexity of developing models.
I recently saw a demo of a technology that produces perhaps the best 3-D rendering I’ve seen with real time movement and fantastic shading and texturing. The demo was from NGRAIN (see links below) and the presentation product is called NGRAIN Mobilizer.
Mobilizer can be embedded into HTML content, Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and WinForm-based applications. Macromedia Flash can be embedded along with Mobilizer in an HTML page with Javascript or VBScript providing a data bridge between the applications. This means that you can develop a GUI in Flash to control interactions with the NGRAIN model being displayed with Mobilizer and in return Mobilizer events can trigger actions in Flash.
But what is remarkable about Mobilizer is the sheer speed and quality of the model rendering. You can rotate, move, zoom, draw and take cross-sections as well as assemble and disassemble models part-by-part. There’s support for 3-D animations, the ability to review part properties and support for hyperlinking from model parts to reference materials.
NGRAIN also provides a full suite of tools for developing Mobilizer compatible models: NGRAIN Transformer converts 3-D CAD models to .NGW (NGRAIN World) format and the NGRAIN Knowledge Module allows users to add links, logic, and animation to models without programming.
NGRAIN models are considerably smaller than other 3-D representations typically shrinking CAD models to one-sixtieth of their original size.
NGRAIN Mobilizer requires Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or XP Tablet PC Edition with Microsoft DirectX 8.1 or 9.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6.0 and the Microsoft .Net Framework 1.0 SP2 along with a screen resolution of at least 800×600 pixels.
An outstanding product. Pricing starts at around $15,000.
