A Wikipedia Entry Analysis-Technology

My first impression of the page structure of Wikipedia is well-organised, logical and easy to browse for readers. The whole layout is very simple and contents are categorized. In general, there are four tab catagories always appear on the top of the page. 

figure01. tab section on wikipedia webpage

This tab section provides four main features of webpage and directs people to different links where they want to discover more about the topic they are searching for on Wiki webpage.

• “Article”- the main information of topic
• “Disscussion”- it is like a forum where people discuss and write different
• “View source”-People may view and copy the script (source) of the page
• “History”-a list of information of who and when edited that page. It also show what comments or information they wrote

Then the introduction or general background information is usually followed. After that, there is usually a content box on top of  the main information.

This will give you a clear overview of all information on one topic next. “Notes, references, external links and further reading” will be standard features/catagories for every topic on Wikipedia webpage. In addition, there will be functional columns that will lead you to different other links which suit your needs. For instance, you may search another new topic if you wish or interact with wikipedia, or even you can choose different language translation for the page which are extremly handy and effecient. This is also a virtual community for people persuit and update their knowledge and information which include discuss and edit functions. These will allow you to post your comments and ideas, even change others’ inappropriate words so that make the whole wiki webpage more accute and complete.

Individual Contributions for Assignment one (team work)

For the assignment one,The terrain with site buildings and the final video presentation are my major responsibilities. By learning the tutorial of using ColladaCGF on class wiki that Jeremy posted. I followed the tutorial steps and I got stucked for “Goto /Model and right click on the model and convert it to a .CGF”. Then I went through the forum where the original tutorial post is from. I realise the problem is that I need install the pro sketchup in order to covert to a .CGF file.

Before you start, there are a few things you will need to set up first in order to make this work for you. You will need to install a few things in the following order:

1. Install “Python 2.5.4″ (python-2.5.4.msi), which can be found at:
http://www.python.org/download/
2. Install the “Python File Format Interface” (PyFFI-py2.5-1.2.2-windows.exe), which can be found at:
http://sourceforge.net/project/platformdownload.php?group_id=199269&sel_platform=3089
3. Install “ColladaCGF” (ColladaCGF-py2.5-0.3.5-windows.exe), which can be found at:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=235915&package_id=286549
4.You will also need to use an image editor that can create “.dds” image files. I used “Paint.Net”, as suggested on CryMod, which I found at:
http://www.dotpdn.com/downloads/pdn.html

Then, Here is the complete full procedure to export a model from sketch up to the crysis sanbox engine:

-Install ColladaCGF -( Which you should have already done by now)
-Set the sketchup units to Meters under “model info”
-Make your model
-Texture it using proper sized textures. – Powers of 2 (e.g. 64×64, 128×128, 512×512, etc.) I used 1024×1024 pixels.
-Open the “Model info” and go to statistics, cllick “Purge unused”
-Export the model to using “Export to Google Earth” (Not upload to 3D Warehouse)
-Rename the .KMZ to .ZIP
-Unzip the files
-Goto /Model and right click on the model and convert it to a .CGF (the first option)
-Move the material files from the /images folder to the same folder as the .CGF
-Open all the materials and save them as .DDS using Paint.Net or similar
-Open SandBox2 and import the model. ( Put the whole unzipped folder into C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Crytek\Crysis\Game\Objects, then find your object in the RollupBar using the “Brush” button under the “Browser” section.)
-Open the model’s texture file in the material editor
-Replace the .JPG links to point to the proper .DDS files
-Tweak the textures from there

Here are some quotes from the forum and they might be helpful too!

For the final video presentation, I edited and synchronised it with video clips which were recorded inside of cyrsis game engine as well as the background music by Adobe premium pro CS4.

References:

• Wikipaint, Jeremy, 2009 accessed April 2009
  <http://arch1392-collaboration-2009.wetpaint.com/page/Using+ColladaCGF>
• Crymod forum, ZapWizard, 2008 accessed April 2009 
  <http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=19058&hilight=XSI+EXPORT>