:orphan:

==========================
Animation XML tags for HSF
==========================

**Proposed by:**

| Tech Soft 3D
| Initial release date: January 14th, 2003
| Acceptance date: February 17th, 2003
| Last modification: February 17th, 2003
  
This document describes how to encode behavioral information as XML tags. The syntax/naming-scheme and functional descriptions are still preliminary and should serve as a base for discussion.
  
 
General Concepts
================
  
It is our intention to separate model geometry definitions and behavioral information. This implies that the animation data is stored separately from the model data and in particular is NOT part of the segment tree structure. In a lot of cases the XML tags might still be embedded inside the HSF file (as user data) but they can also be stored in a separate file. As discussed below in some cases the animation data can also reference multiple HSF files.

One goal of the design is to keep the definition simple, functional and easy to grasp with a high degree of reusability for the individual elements to cut down on size. For the first iteration the functionality will also be somewhat limited to let the feature implementation keep up with the XML definition.

This paper does not discuss implementation related issues. It is up to the developer to find a solid class based representation of the various tags for his application. TSA however will provide a fully featured implementation as part of its MVO class library.

Below is a rough overview of the various Tags described in this document and their hierarchical relationship:
  
.. image:: image002.jpg
  
  
Quick Overview
==============
  
A typical behavior definition will consist of the following components:

* "Timeline" - tags that provide a list of time values expressed in ticks. These are used for key-framing.

* "Interpolator" - tags that represent changing values over a time period. These could be positional values, rotation, color, etc. Some of these values will have additional "Modifiers" attached to them which control how the interpolation is performed (linear, bezier, etc).

* "Animation" - tags which connect a timeline with one or more interpolators and applies various attributes to the animation (delay period, initial acceleration, on/off, etc...)

* "Sensor" - tags which define simple (usually mouse based) user interaction with objects on the screen and can trigger/stop animations or other sensors and perform other tasks.


XML Tags
========

<Animdef>
---------

**Parameters:** 

.. raw:: html

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> 
	Name = string (optional)
	Identifier of the animation data 
	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Version = string
	Version number of the format specification

	Vendor = string (optional, default 
	= "")
	Vendor information

	TicksPerSecond = integer (optional, 
	default = 4800)
	Number of individual "time-slices" per second that can be used to specify 
	key frames 
	(tps). All time related values are expressed in ticks.

	FramesPerSecond = float (optional, 
	default = 30)
	Number of frames displayed for every second of real time. This value does 
	not influence
	the overall playback speed of the animation which is defined by the TicksPerSecond 

	Parameter (see above).

	</div>

	<div class=Section1>Delay = int (optional, 
	default = 0)
	Initial Execution delay for this animation block (in ticks)</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	File = string (optional., default 
	= "")
	Path/URL of file that serves as stage for this animation block
	</div>


	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> **Description:**
	This tag encloses all animation specific data. The "File" parameter 
	can be used to load a default environment for the viewer/container. Using this 
	approach the user can use a HSF to define the initial attribute settings within 
	the scene. This could include color settings for geometry within the scene and 
	the initial positioning of lights.</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Example:**
	A set of animation tags is enclosed by this tag. It also specifies a default 
	scene definition loaded from the file "defaultscene.hsf":
	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	<pre><font size="2" face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animdef Name = "firstanim" File = "defaultscene.hsf"></pre>
	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 
	<pre><font size="2" face="Courier New, Courier, mono">	...
	...
	</Animdef></pre>
	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 



	<h3> <Timeline></h3>

	**Parameters:** 

	</div>

	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1> 

	Modifiers = string
	Global Modifier list for this timeline Valid options are currently: (l)inear, 
	(t)cb, (b)ezier (d)iscrete

	<> Array of time values 
	(in ticks) along the timeline

	</div>

	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**
	This tag defines a series of time values (expressed in ticks) used in conjunction 
	with one or more interpolators. The actual time for one frame is determined 
	by the "TicksPerSecond" parameter in the Animdef tag that encloses 
	all animation data. The timeline array can be seen as linear interpolation 
	of time over distance. By using modifiers on an individual timeline element 
	it is possible to change this "velocity curve" and give it non-linear 
	behavior. While it is common in animation to specify "acceleration and 
	deceleration" as part of the "space-curve" definition this 
	approach provides an alternative and more direct control over the "speed" 
	of the animation. 
	See the "Interpolator" description for a more in-depth discussion 
	of modifiers.

	**Example 1:**
	Timeline consisting of four elements:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Timeline Name = "T1"> 
	 0 10 20 30
	</Timeline></pre>

	**Example 2:**
	Timeline consisting of 4 elements. The default modifier is changed to bezier. 
	Element 3 has a linear modifier attached which overrides the default one:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Timeline Name = "T2" Modifiers = "[b]" >
	0 10 [[l]20] 30 

	</Timeline></pre>

	<h2>



	Using Interpolator Tags</h2>

	The following tags provide the 
	key-frame values for the various interpolation types. Additionally each element 
	can have one or more "modifiers" attached to it, which further specifies 
	the interpolation method and other parameters. Syntactically every key-frame 
	value is enclosed into square brackets (which can be omitted only for singular 
	components). Additional modifiers appear inside these brackets. Modifiers 
	can be abbreviated usually by their first few letters (as indicated). 

	Currently the following "Modifiers" 
	are supported:

	</div>

	<ul>

	<li> 

	<div class=Section1>**Linear 

	(l):** Linear interpolation between keyframes </div>

	</li>

	<li> 

	<div class=Section1>**Discrete 

	(d): **"Abrupt" switching between this keyframe and the 
	following with no interpolation between them.</div>

	</li>

	<li> 

	<div class=Section1>** Bezier 

	(b):** Bezier spline interpolation, if no tangent vectors are specified 

	a smooth ease in/ease out between keyframes is assumed </div>

	</li>

	<li> 

	<div class=Section1>**Cardinal 

	Spline (ca):** Cardinal spline interpolation, if no curve tightness 

	is specified catmull rom spline is asumed</div>
	</li>

	<li> 
	<div class=Section1> **Tcb 
	(t):** Interpolation based on tcb-splines. Tension, continuity, bias, 
	ease-in and-ease-out parameters need to be specified</div>
	</li>

	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>**Absolute 
	(a): **Interpolation values are expressed in absolute terms in relation 
	to the last keyframe (default)</div>
	</li>

	<li> 
	<div class=Section1> **Relative 
	(r):** Interpolation values are expressed in relative terms in relation 
	to the last keyframe </div>
	</li>

	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>**Constant 
	Acceleration (co):** Keeps the interpolation speed constant between 
	two keyframes (applicable to spline modifiers)</div>
	</li>
	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>** Channels 
	(c):** Specifies to which of the output channels the keyframe values 
	correspond to. This allows for very compact definitions of 1 or 2-Dimensional 
	Animation values as well as animating channels separately. </div>
	</li>
	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>** Extra 
	Rotation (er):** Take the "long" path instead of the shortest 
	rotation between two quaternions. </div>
	</li>
	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>** (*):** 
	Hold the value from the last keyframe constant to the current keyframe value. 
	This is NOT the same as simply repeating the last value especially for non-linear 
	interpolation.</div>
	</li>
	<li> 
	<div class=Section1>** Rotation 
	Vector (v): **Rotation vector for use with AxisRotInterpolator type.</div>
	</li>
	</ul>

	<div class=Section1> 

	All unrecognized modifiers must 
	be quietly disregarded by any standard parser. The user is free to create 
	his own modifier types however we recommend prefixing them with a "$" 
	symbol to avoid any clashes with future extensions of the format.

	For most interpolation types "*" 
	can be used instead of defining specific values for the output channels. This 
	holds the value of the channels constant from the last keyframe to the current 
	keyframe. If "*" is used in the first item of the interpolation list this 
	indicates that the interpolation should proceed from the currently set value 
	of the target.

	Here is an example of a positional 
	value with various modifier combinations:

	[0.4 0.1 0.2]
	Position only, default modifiers specified by "Modifiers" attribute 
	are used.

	[d 0.4 0.1 0.2] 
	Discrete switching (no interpolation) occurs at this keyframe. "D" 
	does not need a separate bracket as it is a singular value

	[[b 0.2 1.0 0.5 0.3 1.7 2.2] 0.4 
	0.1 0.2] 
	Bezier interpolation is used for this keyframe. Two tangents are defined together 
	with the bezier token.

	[l [c 13] 0.4 0.1] 
	Two Modifiers are used here, the first forces linear interpolation and the 
	second limits the animation channels to the first and the third (x and z)

	[l r 1.2 2.4 3.6] 
	Two Modifiers are used here, the first forces linear interpolation and the 
	indicates that the interpolation from the last to this keyframe should occur 
	in a relative fashion.

	[1 2 3] * [4 5 6]
	The channel values 1,2 and 3 are held constant until the second keyframe value 
	has been reached by the animation. 

	* [4 5 6] [7 8 9]
	The Interpolation starts from the original values of the target object (e.g. 
	as defined by a modeling matrix)



	<h3><PosInterpolator></h3>

	<div class=Section1>
	**Parameters: **</div>

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> 
	Name = string (optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	FollowPath = (1 or 0), (optional, 
	default = "0")
	Adjusts the rotation of the object to follow the path of the keyframe values

	PathVector = [x y z], (optional, 
	default = [1 0 0])
	Directional vector if FollowPath=1
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>Modifiers = string, 
	(optional, default = [l a])
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: linear, tcb, bezier, discrete, absolute, relative, 
	channels, "*" </div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	<> Array of positional 
	values
	</div>

	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**

	Positional values expressed either linear or spline based movement.

	<pre>**Example:**

	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><PosInterpolator Name = "I1" >
	[0 0 0] [0.2 0.6 0.8] [0.1 0.6 0.3] [0.0 0.1 0.2]
	</PosInterpolator></pre>
	<div class=Section1>

	<h3><TrailInterpolator></h3>

	</div>

	<div class=Section1>
	**Parameters: **</div>

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> 

	Name = string (optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object

	Color = string, (optional, 
	default = "white")
	Color of the trail geometry

	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 
	<div class=Section1> 

	Weight = x, (optional, default 
	  = 1)
	  Thickness of the trail

	Style = string, (optional, 
	  default = "----" )
	  Style of trail (see HOOPS documentation for available line styles)

	Type = string ("forward", 
	  "backward", "full"), (optional, default = "forward" 
	  )
	  Path will either extend from target position to last keyframe (forward), 
	  from first keyframe to target position (backward) or from first 
	  keyframe to last keyframe (full)

	<div class=Section1> 
	  <div class=Section1>
		<div class=Section1>
		  <div class=Section1>
			Modifiers = string, 
			  (optional, default = [l a])
			  Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
			  Valid modifiers include: linear, tcb, bezier, discrete, absolute, 
			  relative, channels, "*"  
			   
		  </div>
		</div>
	  </div>
	  <div class=Section1> 

		<> Array of positional 
		  values
	  </div>

		
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>

	  &nbsp;
	</div>
	</div>
	</div>
	<div class=Section1></div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**
	Positional values defining a trail drawn as line segments. The trail is 
	created in a special subsegment (called "trail") of the segment pointed 
	to by the target object of the parent animation. 

	<pre>**Example:**

	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TrailInterpolator Name = "I1" Color = "white">
	[0 0 0] [0.2 0.6 0.8] [0.1 0.6 0.3] [0.0 0.1 0.2]
	</TrailInterpolator>



	</pre>
	</div>

	<h3><ScaleInterpolator></h3>
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>

	**Parameters: **

	</div>

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1>Name = string 
	(optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	Modifiers = string, (optional, 
	default = [l a])
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: linear, discrete, absolute, relative,channels, 
	"*"

	<> Array of scaling values (1.0 = no scaling), only positive values 
	are allowed
	</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 
	**Description:** 
	Linear or non-linear scaling of objects
	**Example:**
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><ScaleInterpolator Name = "I1">
	[1 1 1] [2.0 2.0 2.0]
	</ScaleInterpolator></pre>
	<h3>
	<QuatRotInterpolator></h3>

	**Parameters: **

	</div>

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> Name = string 
	(optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	Modifiers = string, (optional, 
	default = [l r])
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include linear, tcb, discrete, absolute, relative, "*", 
	extra rotation
	</div>
	<div class=Section1><> Array 
	of quaternions ([x y z w])</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**

	Rotational Values expressed as quaternions (x, y, z, w). SLERP interpolation 
	is used between the keyframes.

	**Example:**

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><QuatRotInterpolator Name = "I2" >

	[0 0 -0.5070 0.823] [0 0 -0.3070 0.823] [0 0 -0.5070 0.223] [0 0 -0.5470 0.823]
	</QuatRotInterpolator></pre>
	<h3>

	<AxisRotInterpolator></h3>

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Name = string 
	(optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Modifiers = string, (optional, 
	default = [l a])
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: linear, discrete, absolute, relative,"*", 
	rotation vector
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><> Array of rotation angles 
	(in degree)
	</div>
	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Description:**
	Rotational Values expressed as rotations around a common axis (in degrees). 
	Swinging door, pendulum, etc...</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	<pre><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Example:**

	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><AxisRotInterpolator Name = "I3"  Modifiers="[v 0 1 0]">
	0 45 [[v 1 0 0]90] 180
	</AxisRotInterpolator>

	</pre>

	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 
	<h3>&nbsp;</h3>
	<h3>
	<ColorInterpolator></h3>
	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Name = string 
	(optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Type = string (optional, default 
	= "diffuse")
	Further specifies the color component(diffuse, specular, transmission)
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">GeomType = string (optional, 
	default = "everything")
	Further specifies the geometry type that the color applies to (faces, edges, 
	lines, etc...)

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Modifiers = string, (optional, 
	default = [l a])
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: linear, tcb, bezier, discrete, absolute, relative,channels, 
	"*"
	</div>
	<div class=Section1><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><> Array 
	of color values (expressed as rgb-triplets)</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Description:**
	Color values expressed as rgb triplets.

	<pre><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Example:**
	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><ColorInterpolator Name = "I3">
	[0 0 0] [1.0 1.0 1.0]
	</ColorInterpolator></pre>
	<h3>
	<AttSwitchInterpolator></h3>

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Name = string (optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Modifiers = string

	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: discrete, "*"

	<> Array of segment identifiers 
	</div>
	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> 

	<font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Description:**
	Transition between attribute settings. All attributes of the segments referenced 
	in the keyframe list will be applied to the target segment. Useful for switching 
	rendering modes, visibility, etc. 

	<pre><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Example:**

	<font size="2" face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><AttSwitchInterpolator Name = "I6" >
	"target1" "target2" "target3" "target4"
	</AttSwitchInterpolator></pre>

	<h3>
	<SegSwitchInterpolator></h3>

	**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1>Name = string 
	(optional) 
	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Modifiers = string
	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes
	Valid modifiers include: discrete, "*"

	<> Array of segment identifiers 
	Can be of the following types (see Appendix A for more information):
	TOB, TID, HKEY 
	</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**
	Transition between segments by turning visibility on/off. Simple but fast 
	form of animation.

	**Example:**

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><SegSwitchInterpolator Name = "I6" > 

	"target1" "target2" "target3" "target4"      
	</SegSwitchInterpolator></pre>
	<h3>
	<VertexMorphInterpolator></h3>
	</div>

	<div class=Section1></div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Parameters:** 

	</div>

	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1> 

	Name = string (optional) 

	Identifier of the Interpolator object

	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Modifiers = string, (optional, 

	default = [l])

	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes

	Valid modifiers include: linear, discrete, "*"

	</div>

	<div class=Section1><> Array 

	of shell identifiers </div>

	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description**

	Transition between facetted objects with the same number of vertices. Linearly 

	interpolates between vertex coordinates. Useful for non-rigid body animation. 

	Note that object descriptor can currently only be a tag-id or a key. (TOB, 

	TID, HKEY),

	<pre>**<font size="3">Example:**

	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><VertexMorphInterpolator Name =      "I6">

	"object descriptor1" "object descriptor2" "object      descriptor3" "object 
	descriptor4"
	&
	lt;/VertexMorphInterpolator></pre>

	<h3>

	<ColorMorphInterpolator></h3>

	**Parameters: **

	</div>

	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1> Name = string 

	(optional) 

	Identifier of the Interpolator object</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Modifiers = string, (optional, 

	default = [l])

	Default Modifiers that are implicitly applied to all keyframes

	Valid modifiers include: linear, discrete, "*"

	</div>

	<div class=Section1><> Array 

	of color array identifiers </div>

	</blockquote>

	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**

	Transition between per vertex color attributes to model for example heat or 

	stress proliferation on an object. The object descriptor must point to an 
	array of color values that match the target object.
	<pre>**<font size="3">Example:**
	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><ColorMorphInterpolator Name = "I6">
	"object descriptor1" "object descriptor2" "object      descriptor3" "object descriptor4"
	</ColorMorphInterpolator>

	</pre>
	<h3></h3>
	<h3><Animation></h3>

	**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> 

	Name = string (optional) 
	Identifier of the Animation object

	Target = string (optional)
	Identifier of target object for this animation (see below) 
	The target can be of the following types (see Appendix A for more information):
	TOB, TID, HKEY, SPATH, FILE
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 


	Active = 0/1 (optional, default = 1)
	Animation active 1=yes 0 = no

	Delay = int (optional, default 
	= 0)
	Initial delay before animation starts (in ticks)
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	Loop = integer (optional, default 
	= 1)
	number of loops for the animation. -1 indicates infinite

	RLoop = 0/1 (optional, default 
	= 0)
	go backwards after complete timeline, useful for swinging doors, etc... 


	Accelerate = 0/1 (optional, default = 0)
	Accelerate on start of animation
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	Decelerate = 0/1 (optional, default 
	= 0)
	Decelerate on end of animation

	CurrentTick= int (optional, default 
	= 0)
	currently elapsed tick for the animation. This can be used to start the 
	animation at a 
	particular stage (in ticks)
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>InstanceOf = string 
	(optional, default = "")
	The name of an animation or animation block that will be instanciated by this 
	animation. (See below for more information)</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> **Description:
	**By combining a timeline with one or more interpolators and a target 
	the Animation tag defines a single animation. If the timeline contains more 
	values than the interpolator the remaining timeline values are disregarded. 
	If the timeline contains less values than the interpolator than the number of 
	interpolator values must be a multiple of the timeline values. 

	Timeline values (s): 0, 0.2, 0.8, 1.2
	Rotation Values (degree): 0, 90, 180
	The animation will rotate from 0 to 180 degrees in 0.8 seconds and then stop 
	or restart (according to the loop setting)

	Timeline values (s): 0, 0.2, 0.8, 1.2
	Rotation Values (degree): 0,20,40,60,80,100,120,140
	The animation will go from 0 to 180 degrees in 1.2 seconds. It will be at 
	40 degrees in 0.2 seconds and at 20 degrees in 0.1 seconds.

	Timeline values (s) : 0, 0.2, 0.8, 1.2
	Rotation Values (degree): 0,20,40,60,80,100
	Invalid!!

	An animation can be declared either active or inactive at startup. If inactive 
	it can later be activated by a sensor tag, through scripting or programmatically. 
	An active animation will execute immediately after program initialization 
	with the defined delay time

	With the Loop parameter it is possible to allow an animation to be performed 
	once or any number of times. Alternatively it can also go backwards after 
	going through the complete timeline by setting RLoop to 1. This is useful 
	for a swinging door or any kind of repetitive animation.

	Apart from the delay time that is only executed once it is also possible 

	to define an acceleration time and deceleration time which allows for a smooth 
	acceleration when going from the first to the second (or second last to last) 
	value of the interpolators. This is based on a simple predefined acceleration/deceleration 
	curves. 

	This tag can also be nested allowing for sets of animations that logically 
	belong together. All tags that appear inside an "Animation" tag are defined 
	relative to that block. Sensor tags can access nested animation data by using 
	a hierarchical naming scheme similar to the one used to access elements in 
	the HOOPS segment structure. The same is true for target specifications. All 
	parameters of the enclosing animation block will be inherited by the child 
	animations. 

	it is possible to define an animation "instance" by specifying another animation 
	with the "InstanceOf" Parameter. This facilitates the reuse of animations 
	for different target objects. An example would be an animation block that 
	defines various complex animations which should be applied to multiple objects 
	simultaneously. An "instanced" animation can itself not instantiate another 
	animation. 
	The "Target" Paremter for instanced animations will be ignored and replaced 
	by the Target of the instanciating animation. Also the "CurrentTick" and "Active" 
	Parameter do not apply for instanced animations.


	**Example 1:**
	This animation uses one timeline and two interpolators on the segment "MODEL/car/wheel". 
	It is not active on startup:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A1" Active = "0" Target = "SPATH:      MODEL/car/wheel">
	<Timeline>
	   0 10 20
	</Timeline>
	<PosInterpolator>
	   [0 0 0] [10 10 10] [20 20 20]
	</PosInterpolator></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">	  <ColorInterpolator Type = "transmission">
		[0 0 0] [1 1 1] [0 0 0]
	</ColorInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>

	**Example 2:**
	This example demonstrates the use of two nested animation blocks:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><!�This animation tag encapsulates various others -->
	<Animation Name = "caranimation" Target = "SPATH: MODEL/car"
	<Timeline" >
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	...
	...
	<Animation Name = "wheelanimation" Target = "SPATH: wheel1">
		...
		... 
	</Animation>
	</Animation></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S3">
	<Condition Target = "SPATH: MODEL/car" Event = "ONLCLICK" /> 
	<Action Target = "ANIM: caranimation/wheelanimation" Type = "ACTIVATE" /> 
	</Sensor></pre>



	**Example 3:**
	This example demonstrates the use of two nested animation blocks which are 
	instanciated by another animation:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><!�This animation defines no target. It is essentially treated as a declaration that still needs to be instantiated -->
	<Animation Name = "caranimation">
	<Timeline>
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	...
	...
	<Animation Name = "wheelanimation" Target = "SPATH: wheel1">
		...
		... 
	</Animation>
	</Animation>

	<!�The animation definition "caranimation" is tied to a specific target object by this animation definition-->
	<pre><Animation Name = "Porsche" Target = "SPATH: MODEL/Porsche" InstanceOf = "caranimation" Active = "0">
	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S3">
	<Condition Target = "SPATH: MODEL/Porsche" Event = "ONLCLICK" /> 
	<Action Target = "ANIM: Porsche/wheelanimation" Type = "ACTIVATE" /> 
	</Sensor>
	</pre>
	
	<h3><TargetObject></h3>

	**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1> Name = string 
	(optional, default = "")
	Identifier of target object </div>

	<div class=Section1> 
	Path = string (required)
	Segment path to target object
	It can be of the following types (see Appendix A for more information):
	TOB, TID, HKEY, SPATH, FILE
	</div>

	<div class=Section1>Pivot = [x y z], 
	(optional, default = [ 0 0 0 ])
	Pivot point</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Rotation = [x y z x y z x y z]
	Rotational Components of modelling Matrix
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>Scale = [x y z]
	Scale Components along the three axis</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 


	**Description:**
	This tags defines an alias for a given animation target. It can either enclose 
	one or multiple animation tags or be defined for later use. 

	**Example:**

	**Example 1:**
	In this example the TargetObject tag encloses two animations which do not 
	need to specify a target separately. The Animations instanciate two other 
	animations.

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A1" Delay = 0.5>
	<Timeline>
		0 10 
	</Timeline>
	<PosInterpolator>
		[10 20 30] [40 50 60]
	</PosInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TargetObject Path= "SPATH: MODEL/car1" Pivot = "[0 1 0]">
	<Animation Name = "A3" InstanceOf = "A1" />
	<Animation Name = "A4" InstanceOf = "A2" />
	</TargetObject></pre>


	**Example 2:**
	Here the alias "object1" is simply defined and can later be used by an animation 
	tag.

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TargetObject Name = "object1" Path= "SPATH: MODEL/car1" />
	<Animation Name = "A2" Target = "TOB: object1" InstanceOf = "A1"/></pre>

	<h3><Subtarget></h3>

	**Parameters:**
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> Name = string 

	Identifier of the subtarget object</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	Type = string 
	String can be any one of the following : GEOMETRY, FACES, VERTICES, EDGES.	

	</div>
	<div class=Section1><> Array 
	of subtarget values 
	List of faces, vertices etc. that this animation applies to (for changing 
	individual face 
	colors, move vertices, etc)</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**
	The subtarget tag can be part of the TargetObject tag and further specifies 
	targets for the animation. Those could be individual faces/edges/vertices 
	in a shell or individual shells inside a segment .

	**Example:**

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TargetObject Name = "object1" Path= "HKEY: 123" >
	<Subtarget Name = "st1" Type = "FACES">
		0 5 6 7 22 44 <!--face numbers -->
	</Subtarget>
	</TargetObject></pre>
	<h3>
	<Sensor></h3>
	**Parameters: **
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> Name = string 
	(required) 
	Identifier of the sensor object. </div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	Active = (1 or 0) (optional, 
	default = 1)
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>Delay = int (optional, 
	default = 0)
	Delay time (in ticks) before sensor is active </div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 
	**Description:**


	see below

	**Example:**
	see below

	<h3>
	<Condition></h3>

	**Parameters:**

	</div>

	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1>Target = string 

	Identifier of target object for this sensor (see below). Could be either an 
	object or an animation (for ONANIMFINISHED), if no target is provided sensor 
	can still be executed by other sensor</div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	Event = event associated with 
	the target (optional, default = ONLCLICK). Valid options include: ONTICK, 
	ONLCLICK, ONRCLICK, ONMOUSEOVER, ONCOLLISION, ONANIMFINISHED, ONSENSOR
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>Idle = (0,1) optional, 
	default = "1")
	Event is only executed if target object is idle (not in any animation)</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	**Description:**
	see below

	**Example:**
	see below

	<h3>
	<Action></h3>

	**Parameters:**
	</div>
	<blockquote> 

	<div class=Section1> Target = string 
	(optional, default = "") 
	Animation Identifier, Object Identifier or Sensor identifier</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Type = string

	Action associated with the target.Valid options include ACTIVATE, DEACTIVATE, 

	RESET, RESTART, LOADFILE. 
	</div>

	<div class=Section1>Value = string
	Additional parameters for the defined action, (optional , default = "")</div>

	<div class=Section1> 

	Delay = int (optional, default 

	= 0)
	Delay time (in ticks) before action is activated 
	</div>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1>**Description:**
	The different action type strings have the following meaning:</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> 

	ACTIVATE continues an animation 
	from it's current position
	DEACTIVATE stops an animation at its current position
	INFOTEXT displays text information (e.g. tooltip) at mouse position
	RESET stops an animation at it's current position and rewinds it
	RESTART restarts an animation
	LOADFILE loads a new (hsf) file and places it in the directory defined 
	by the value 
	parameter
	LOADURL loads a specific URL by opening a separate browser window
	</div>
	</blockquote>
	</blockquote>
	<div class=Section1> 

	This collection of tags provide 
	a simple means of triggering animation based on user input or other sensors. 
	It is usually associated with visible geometry that the user can interact 
	with. In a lot of cases this will be the same geometry that the animation 
	is performed on. To chain multiple animations together ONANIMFINISHED with 
	an animation as the target can be used.
	Users can define their own action types/value combinations. All action types 
	that are not recognized will have to be quietly disregarded by any parser. 
	We recommend developers to prefix all user defined types with a "$". 


	**Example:**
	In this example the animation a2 is activated and a3 is deactivated if the 
	geometry contained in the model/car2 segment has been clicked. Also a new 
	file is loaded into the model directory:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S2">
	<Condition Target = "SPATH: MODEL/car" Event = "ONLCLICK">      
	<Action Target = "ANIM: a2" Type = "ACTIVATE" />      
	<Action Target = "ANIM: a3" Type = "RESTART" />      
	<Action Type = "LOADFILE" Value = "filename: plane.hsf,      directory:model" /> 
	<Action Type = "INFOTEXT" Value = "Click here to start animation"      />
	</Condition>
	</Sensor> </pre>

	In this example the sensor gets 
	triggered if the animation a2 has been finished. It then activates animation 
	a3

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S1">
	<Condition Target = "ANIM: a2" Event = "ONANIMFINISHED">      
		<Action Target = "ANIM: a3" Type = "ACTIVATE" />      
	</Condition>
	</Sensor></pre>


	<h1> 
	Complete Examples</h1>
	<h3>Example1:</h3>
	<pre> <font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animdef TicksPerSecond = "20" Name = "firstanim"></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A1" Target = "SPATH: car/wheel"      delay = "5" >
	<Timeline>
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	<PosInterpolator> 
		+ [r 0.2 0.6 0.8] [r 0.1 0.6 0.3] [r 0.0 0.1 0.2]
	</PosInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A4" Target = "SPATH: car/wheel"      delay = "5" >
	<Timeline>
		0 1.0
	</Timeline>
	<ColorInterpolator Type="transmission">
		[0 0 0] [1 1 1]
	</ColorInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A2">
	<Timeline>
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	<QuatRotInterpolator>
		[0 0 -0.5070 0.823] [0 0 -0.3070 0.823] [0 0 -0.5070 0.223] 
		[0 0 -0.5470 0.823]
	</QuatRotInterpolator>
	<PosInterpolator> 
		+ [r 0.2 0.6 0.8] [r 0.1 0.6 0.3] [r 0.0 0.1 0.2]
	</PosInterpolator>
	<Animation Name = "A5" Target = "SPATH: wheel1>
		<Timeline>
			0 10 
		</Timeline>
		<QuatRotInterpolator>
			[0 0 -0.5070 0.823] [0 0 -0.3070 0.823] 
		</QuatRotInterpolator>
	</Animation>
	</Animation></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TargetObject Name = "car1" Path= "SPATH: model/car1" /></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Name = "A6" Target = "TOB: car1" InstanceOf      = "A2" />

	<Sensor Name = "S2">
	<Condition Target = "SPATH:MODEL/CAR1" Event = "ONLCLICK">      
	<Action Target = "ANIM:a6" Type = "ACTIVATE" />      
	<Action Target = "ANIM:a4" Type = "RESTART" /> 
	</Condition>

	</Sensor></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"></Animdef></pre>



	**Example2:**
	A simple example with just one animation:

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animdef Name = "secondanim"></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Target = "SPATH: MODEL/sphere" Delay = "0.5">
	<Timeline>
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	<QuatRotInterpolator >
		[0 0 -0.5070 0.823] [0 0 -0.3070 0.823] [0 0 -0.5070 0.223] 
		[0 0 -0.547 0.823]
	</QuatRotInterpolator>
	</Animation>
	</Animdef></pre>

	**Example3:**
	A simple example with one animation definition that is instanciated for two 
	targets with the second reusing the timeline and interpolator from the first.
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animdef Name = "thirdanim"></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">	<Animation Name = "a1" Delay = "0.5">
	<Timeline> 
		0 10 20 30
	</Timeline>
	<QuatRotInterpolator>
		  [0 0 -0.5070 0.823] [0 0 -0.3070 0.823] [0 0 -0.5070 0.223] [0 0 -0.547 0.823]
	</QuatRotInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>
	<pre>  <font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animation Target = "MODEL/sphere1" InstanceOf = "a1"      />
	<Animation Target = "MODEL/sphere2" InstanceOf = "a1"      /></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"></Animdef></pre>


	**Example4:**
	In this "realworld" example an objects visibility is first turned 
	on, it then rotates 360 degrees around it's center in 8 seconds. After that 
	it fades to invisibility and back to fully opaque in ten seconds total. After 
	that the animation can be triggered again by clicking on the object.

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Animdef TicksPerSecond = "20" Name = "firstanim"></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><!-- using OpenOject we implicitly set the target for the following animations      
	which will all point to the same object. Note that the first two animations      
	are executed in parallel while the third one has a delay that correpsonds      
	to the last value of the first timeline. --></pre>

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><TargetObject Path= "SPATH: MODEL/object1">
	<Animation Name = "A1" Timeline = "T1" Interpolators      = "I1">

		<Timeline>
			  0 40 80 120 160
		</Timeline></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">			<!--This interpolator makes sure than visibility is on for the supplied
		segment. As there is just one value any additional timeline values (2 4 6      
		8 in this case) are disregarded-->
		<SegSwitchInterpolator>
			 "MODEL/object1"
		</SegSwitchInterpolator></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">			<!--This interpolator smoothly rotates 360 degrees around the y axis --></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">			<AxisRotInterpolator Modifiers = "[v 0 1 0] ">
			  + 90 180 270 360
		</AxisRotInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>
	<pre>

	<font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">	  <Animation Name = "A3" Timeline = "T2" Interpolators = "I3" delay = 160 RLoop = "1" >
		<Timeline>
			  0 100
		</Timeline>
		<!--This interpolator changes the transmission settings of the referenced 
		segment from opaque to fully transparent --></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">			<ColorInterpolator Type="transmission">
				[1.0 1.0 1.0] [0 0 0]
		</ColorInterpolator>
	</Animation></pre>
	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"></TargetObject></pre>

	This sensors condition is met afterAnimation 
	A3 has finished for the first
	time. It then turns on the sensor S2 and disables itself

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S1">
		<Condition Target = "ANIM: A3" Event = "ONANIMFINISHED">      
	<Action Target = "SSR: S2" Type = "ACTIVATE" />      
		<Action Target = "SSR: S1" Type = "DEACTIVATE" />      
	</Condition>
	</Sensor></pre>

	This sensor is initially inactive 
	and gets activated by sensor s1 after the animation A3 executed for the first 
	time. Once active it is triggered by a left mouseclick on the target object 
	and restarts animation a2 and a3

	<pre><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><Sensor Name = "S2" Active = "0">
	<Condition Target = "SPATH: MODEL/object1" Event = "ONLCLICK">      
		<Action Target = "ANIM:a2" Type = "RESTART" /> 
		<Action Target = "ANIM:a3" Type = "RESTART" /> 
	</Condition>
	</Sensor>
	</Animdef></pre>
	<h1> 
	Appendix A:</h1>

	Object Type Identifiers:
	</div>
	<blockquote> 
	<div class=Section1> "TOB:" 
	: The name of a previously declared "TargetObject" tag 
	Example: Target = "TOB: object1" 

	"TID:" : A tag identifier which can be obtained from the streaming 
	toolkit while processing the hsf file. 
	Example: Target = "TID: 123" </div>
	<div class=Section1> 

	"HKEY: " : A unique 
	key identifying the object
	Example: Target = "HKEY: 123" 

	</div>

	<div class=Section1> 
	"SPATH:" : A segment 

	path corresponding to the HSF segment structure. SCENE and MODEL are reserved 
	keywords (they refer to the model segment and scene segment as defined in 
	MVO). Specifying SCENE as the segment name can be useful to make global 
	color changes or to do camera movement.

	"CAMERAPOS" and "CAMERATARGET" 
	are reserved keywords that refer to the camera of the scene. Translation 
	and quaternion rotation will be applied to the camera position/orientation. 
	Camera manipulation will usually require separate animations performed in 
	conjunction. One for the camera movement (using the POS interpolator), one 
	for the camera orientation (using QUAT or EULER) and one for zooming in/out 
	(using the scale interpolator). For "orbit" types of camera animation 
	it is usually preferable to animate the cameratarget, while for walkthroughs 
	the camera position should be used. The camera keywords can appear at the 
	end of a target statement. This is useful if multiple cameras in the scene 
	need to be manipulated. 
	Examples:
	Target = "SPATH: MODEL/car/wheel1" 
	Target = "SPATH: SCENE/CAMERATARGET"
	</div>
	<div class=Section1> 
	"FILE:" : The name 
	of an HSF or file who's contents will be treated as
	the object. The object will be loaded into the current scene into a separate 
	segment.
	Example: Target = "FILE: teapot.hsf" 
	"ANIM:" The name of an animation 
	tag
	Example:
	Target = "ANIM: a1"
	</div>
	<div class=Section1>"SSR:" The name 
	of a Sensor tag
	Example:
	Target = "SSR: s1"</div>
	<div class=Section1> </div>
	<div class=Section1>
	</div>
	</blockquote>

