We are working on an animation for Engineering Open House, as we did last year. This year's will have a Robotech theme; we're gathering together the models needed to design a storyboard at the moment. The animation is hoped to wow audiences with a soundtrack, too, in contrast to the serene space scene of last year.
Our Virtual Campus model is coming along. A couple buildings are on film and waiting to be chopped up into bitmaps. If you like Photoshop or designing CAD models, we need help gathering wireframe models of buildings on campus, as well as converting pictures to textures. DataRace, a multiplayer game designed after the cyberspace in Neuromancer, is undergoing some changes. We are currently integrating code developed over the summer into the program and finalizing on the program's behavior. Finally, the rendering part of our MARF project works. MARF (what a great name! hope it sticks... :)) stands for Modeling And Rendering for Free. We're currently developing an object-oriented user interface for it.
In the near future we will have a presentation on Microcosm. Microcosm is a complete rendering and animation package, with an object oriented design and interface language. It can render in many different styles, including any that are programmed into a scene by redefining object behavior. SigGraph hopes to buy a copy of Microcosm in the future, for use in the ACM office. Future workshops on general graphics programming and other animation packages are also planned.
We have many new members this semester, so we have a lot of potential to get things done. If you're interested in our current projects or have one of your own, come by and get involved. We meet Fridays at 5pm in 1102 DCL.