Terminology of Movement

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Steve F
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Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 5:28 pm

Terminology of Movement

Post by Steve F »

I noticed in much of your documentation you label the Tx and Ty axes as 'Pan', and Tz as 'Zoom'. This is inconsistent with the english language and standard terminology used in the film industry. The driver configuration screen also mis-uses these terms.

Pan is a horizontal rotation movement. Zoom is a focal length setting.

Using these terms as descriptions of translation causes misunderstanding of user configuration screens in applications that support multi-axis input devices.

I would like to politely request this be corrected.

Steve
ngomes
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Post by ngomes »

Hi Steve F,

Have you considered what the terms should be for a moving camera?
Nuno Gomes
Steve F
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Post by Steve F »

Yes I have.

I am working on extending the view transforms to support NDOF devices in the open source application Blender. I hope to resolve the correct use of view and view movement terminology. For this application and it's use as an art tool, animation tool, and game engine, I want to use appropriate terms.

I am looking at historic and current education in art, animation, and game design to learn what is being taught in these professions. Film industry terminology isn't being used as much as I would have expected and may become a lost dialect as I have found many 3d graphic design applications (i.e., Maya and POV-Ray) are using math terms to define camera setup and movement.

In any case, mine is the difficult problem to solve as users from different professions may not use the same vocabulary while using the same tool (Blender). An input device such as yours should not abstract the axes to industry specific terms. That should be the responsibility of the application.

I would like to see the HIB report list the device's output capabilities in terms of the hardware device itself (Tx, Rx, etc. are good). The driver configuration screen should match the HIB report usage. Then in the application's input device configuration panel I can list the device's axes and buttons using the same terms as the user would be familier with from the driver configuration screen. At that point, and inside the application, the user can map the device's axes to the appropriate functions according to the vocabulary they are accustomed to.

An example can be illustrated where the input device Rz axis is configured to rotate the camera in a horizontal direction and is called 'Pan'. Another mode of the application that rotates a selected object in the scene around it's own vertical axis could be called 'Spin'. All three terms, Rz, Pan, and Spin, mean different things depending on context.

I hope I've illustrated my point well that the hardware device context should avoid use of application specific functions.

In your SDK, including a treatment on the correct use of vocabulary, and maybe a cross reference table of common usage by application function would be in keeping with the kind of industry leading work your company is known for.

Thanks, Steve
ngomes
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Post by ngomes »

Hi Steve,

I understand your point of view and, until recently, that was indeed the case: the driver panel did have that terminology (Tx, Rx).
Hypersonic
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Maybe have the option to display as aeronautical terms

Post by Hypersonic »

Tx - Pan right left - lateral translation
Ty - Pan up down - vertical translation
Tz - zoom - longitudinal translation

Rx - tilt - pitch
Ry - spin - yaw
Rz - roll - roll
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