Flight Without Wings Copyright 1989 by Marvin Landis Hot Air Balloon Objects for use with Turbo Silver 3.0 Hot Air Balloons have always held a special fascination for me. The thrill of silent flight, being suspended in space and floating with the breeze is like nothing else in the world. Having grown up in Albuquerque, New Mexico I fondly remember many autumn mornings when colorful balloons dotted the sky. I still look forward to 10 days every October when Albuquerque hosts the International Balloon Fiesta. Mass ascensions, contests, and balloon glows send over 500 hot air balloons into the sky, creating beautiful views for balloonists, spectators and photographers. These hot air balloon objects have been designed because of the many hours of enjoyment I have received from watching and participating in the sport of hot air ballooning. This disk includes 17 different hot air balloons and a balloonist (this is a modified version of Amiguy, originally created with another 3D object editor, but recently recreated and simplified for use with Turbo Silver). The balloons were created so that you could use them as-is in any of your Turbo Silver scenes, or you could easily modify them to display your own logo or design on the balloon. Some of the balloons have IFF brushes mapped onto them, others rely only on the ability of Turbo Silver to color the faces of an object. Each directory on this disk contains a hot air balloon and any IFF brushes necessary to complete the object. The next section of this document provides brief instructions on loading the object and brushes into a scene. This document also includes a short section containing relevant information about each of the balloons and a listing of all the object names used in each balloon. These names can be used with the FIND command (Right-Amiga-V) to locate parts of the balloon or to locate the entire balloon after placing it in a scene. LOADING A BALLOON INTO A SCENE The balloons are loaded into the Object Editor using the LOAD command found in the SETTINGS menu. Just pick the appropriate directory and the balloon object will be listed (the balloon's name will be the same as the directory name). By selecting the object, the entire balloon wil be loaded as a Group, and by using PICK GROUP, the balloon can be moved, scaled or rotated. If the directory from which you loaded the balloon contains any .brush files, these brushes must also be loaded into the Object Editor. Start by selecting the first available slot under the BRUSH menu (make sure there is a check mark next to the word --unused--) and then pick the LOAD option under the BRUSH menu. Choose one of the .brush files from the file requestor. Repeat this process for all the .brush files in the directory. The last step is to make sure the .brush files are mapped correctly onto the object. Use the PICK OBJECT mode to select one of the axes representing a brush in the scene. These axes can easily be seen from the TOP VIEW, because I have set them out away from the balloon. Once an axis has been selected, go to the BRUSH menu and choose the slot that lists the appropriate brush. Now use the PICK GROUP mode, select the axis again and choose CLUSTER from the SPECIAL menu (Right-Amiga-K). Repeat this process for all the axes that represent brushes. The sections below describing each of the balloons will give any special instructions necessary for that balloon. Because Turbo Silver does not automatically associate the brush files with an object, you must make sure you have correctly completed the steps outlined above. If you render your scene and the brush mapping is wrong, start by reviewing the previous 2 paragraphs and insuring every step was followed. You must remember that Turbo Silver has an upper limit of 8 brushes than can be used in a single scene. Some of these balloons (AcesHigh and WorldBalloon) use 4 brushes apiece, so you must plan your use of these balloons carefully. This is why there are some balloons on this disk that do not use brushes, they can be used to fill up the sky without using any of the precious slots available for brush mapping. HOT AIR BALLOON OBJECTS The next set of balloons all have IFF brushes that are mapped onto one or more surfaces of the balloon. I was never able to achieve consistent results trying to wrap the brush around the z-axis of the balloon, so all of these brushes are mapped onto the object using FLAT X, FLAT Z in the WRAP option of the BRUSH menu. Because of this, many of these balloons have been split into parts, allowing multiple brushes to be mapped onto one balloon, or the same brush to be mapped onto the balloon several times. Each of these balloons uses a slightly different technique to achieve the mapping of the brush onto the balloon. The descriptions below will describe some of these techniques. RISING STAR This is a 20 panel balloon that requires 1 brush. The balloon's envelope is split into 4 sections, each one mapped with the same brush. All 4 brush axes should be assigned to the Rising.brush slot in the BRUSH menu. Here are the names of the objects found in this group: RisingStar, RisingEnvelope1-4, RisingSkirt, RisingBrush1-4, RisingBurner1-2 Changing these balloons to use your own logos in place of mine is VERY simple. Just load your own brush file into the first unused slot instead of my .brush file, then follow the remainder of the directions for brush mapping. You can use the PICK OBJECT mode to select the brush axis, then use the TRANSFORMATION option in the SETTINGS menu to resize and reposition the axis for your own logo. Remember, that any triangles of an object not covered by a brush can be colored using the PICK FACE techniques used in the first set of balloons. Experiment with your own designs, the possibilities are limitless. USING THE BALLOONS IN AN ANIMATION Animating these balloons is really simple with Turbo Silver. Using the object editor, create a path that you would like the balloon to follow, and then give it a name in the ATTRIBUTES requestor. Now load the balloon and any necessary brushes. After selecting the entire hot air balloon, use the STORY command to assign the balloon to the path by typing the name of the path in the appropriate string requestor, then make sure the box labeled FOLLOW ME at the bottom of the STORY requestor is checked. You may also rotate the balloon as it travels along this path by entering a non-zero value in the z-axis rotate requestor. After exiting the object editor, use SOURCE and TARGET commands (make sure the USE STORY menu option is checked) to create all the frames of the animation. Happy Ballooning.