英文原文
Extending Blender: Development of a Hepatic Authoring Tool
Abstract -In this paper, we present our work to extend a well known 3D graphic
modeler -Blender -to support hepatic modeling and rendering. The extension tool is
named HAMLAT (hepatic Application Markup Language Authoring Tool). We
describe the modifications and additions to the Blender source code which have been
used to create HAMLAT Furthermore, we present and discuss the design decisions
used when developing HAMLAT, and also an implementation "road map" which
describes the changes to the Blender source code. Finally, we conclude with
discussion of our future development and research avenues.
Keywords Hepatics HAML Graphic Modelers Blender Virtual Environments.
I. Introduction
A. Motivation
The increasing adoption of hepatic modality in human-computer interaction
paradigms has led to a huge demand for new tools that help novice users to author and
edit hepatic applications. Currently, the hepatic application development process is a
time consuming experience that requires programming expertise. The complexity of
hepatic applications development rises from the fact that the hepatic application
components (such as the hepatic API, the device, the hepatic rendering algorithms,
etc.) need to interact with the graphic components in order to achieve synchronicity.
Additionally, there is a lack of application portability as the application is tightly
coupled to a specific device that necessitates the use of its corresponding API.
Therefore, device and API heterogeneity lead to the fragmentation and disorientation
of both researchers and developers. In view of all these considerations, there is a clear
need for an authoring tool that can build hepatic applications while hiding
programming details from the application modeler (such as API, device, or virtual
model).
This paper describes the technical development of the hepatic Application
Markup Language Authoring Tool (HAMLAT). It is intended to explain the design
decisions used for developing HAMLAT and also provides an implementation "road
map", describing the source code of the project.
B. Blender
HAMLAT is based on the blender [1] software suite, which is an open-source 3D
modeling package with a rich feature set. It has a sophisticated user interface which is
noted for its efficiency and flexibility, as well as its supports for multiple file formats,
physics engine, modem computer graphic rendering and many other features.
Because of blender's open architecture and supportive community base, it was
selected as the platform of choice for development of HAMLAT. The open-source
nature of Blender means HAMLAT can easily leverage its existing functionality and
focus on integrating hepatic features which make it a complete hap to-visual modeling
tool, since developing a 3D modeling platform from scratch requires considerable
development time and expertise in order to reach the level of functionality of blender.
Also, we can take advantage of future improvements to blender by merging changes