Advanced OZ
Avatar motions (gestures)
Figure: 13.19 Oz4zg.jpg
The
OZ Avatar Motions (gestures) palette.
If you are in out-of-body mode, it is fun to watch you avatar
boogie along with gestures. Gestures are called motions in OZ,
and doing them allows you to put on quite a performance for other
users in OZ worlds. Selecting Motions from the Communication menu
will bring up the Motions palette (shown in the preceding figure).
Motions are custom designed for each avatar, and not all the same
motions may be available for every avatar. You can make your avatar
move by picking from this palette or by pressing the keyboard
function keys listed in Table 13.3. The avatar editor (also available
under the Communication menu) also allows you to preview motions.
Avatar gestures and their keyboard keys
| Key | Motion |
| F1 | Walk (go back to normal motion) |
| F2 | Fly |
| F3 | Wave("Greetings earthling!") |
| F4 | Silly jive |
| F5 | Cossack dance |
| F6 | Splits |
| F7 | Ballerina |
| F8 | Funky step* |
| F9 | Punch* |
Table 13.3
*Note: Funky step and Punch do not work for all avatar types.
The avatar editor
One of the most powerful (and coolest) features of OZ Virtual
is the avatar editor. Found under the Communication menu (or by
pressing Ctrl+A), the editor allows you to select your avatar,
its pieces, change its color and scaling, and preview its motions
(gestures). The following figure shows how to select Bzingo,
the little green man avatar. You can navigate by holding down
your left mouse button in the window on the left where Bzingo
is displayed to get a closer look at him.
Figure: 13.20 Oz4x.jpg
I
select the little green man named Bzingo in the OZ avatar editor.
I used the color property page in OZ to change the colors on my
avatar (as shown in the following figure). I then stretched him
out a bit on the scaling property page in the editor.
Figure: 13.21 Oz4z.jpg
Changing
Bzingoís colors in the OZ avatar editor.
.
Making a new avatar
You can create more avatars by pushing the New button in the Avatars
mode of the editor. Select an avatar type from the drop-down menu
and name it. The new avatar will be a copy of an existing form
that you can now shape and color differently. To delete an avatar,
right-click on it and select Delete from the pop-up menu.
Avatar editor specifics
Avatar pieces
Some avatars allow you to select different pieces for the avatar's
bodyódifferent heads for example. The pieces property page
in the avatar editor displays all available pieces and allows
you to select the desired piece from a list. A detailed view of
the piece appears in the window on the right, and you can zoom,
rotate and move the light the same way as in the left window.
The buttons at the bottom of the pieces property page allow you
to select a particular part of the avatar. For humanoid avatars,
for example, there are Torso, Head and Feet buttons. If you select
the Torso button, for example, you can choose from the variety
of different torsos in the piece list.
Avatar colors
In the color property page you can change the color of an avatar
or one of its pieces by clicking and dragging the small spheres
in the color selector in the right window, or by pushing the Color
Dialog button, to select a color directly.
Avatar scaling
After selecting a viewpoint with the Front, Side, Rear, or Top
radio buttons, you can then enlarge and shrink a piece by clicking
the horizontal and vertical plus (+) and minus (-) buttons. You
can reset the scaling by pressing the middle button. You can also
change the size by clicking and dragging the mouse over the right
window. Use scaling to make avatars that are skinny or fat.
Avatar motions
This page doesn't actually change anything; it's just used to
preview the avatar's (or their piecesí) motions. You can
select a motion from the list and watch it play. Start and stop
it with the Start button, and change the speed of the motion with
the slider.
Figure: 13.22 oz5g.jpg
OZís
Mascot avatar: avatars donít look this good…yet!
Building your own world in OZ
OZ Virtual will read any VRML 1.0 and 2.0 files on the Web and
make it a multi-user world. You can then call up your friends,
and have them meet you in your own homeworld!. In the version
of OZ Virtual described in this book, you cannot import your own
avatars into OZ virtual. OZ has plans to provide content developers
with tools that allow for custom avatar creation and insertion
into OZ Virtual. Check OZ Interactiveís home page at http://www.oz.com for
details on importing your own VRML homeworlds into OZ.