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| Part Two: An Evaluation of VRML Modelling Tools |     
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All the modelling applications were tested on a single platform:
This single platform was chosen as it was considered to be a fairly typical (or a least not unusual) configuration in the Higher Education sector.
- Opus PC with Intel Pentium 166 MHz MMX processor
- 64 MB RAM
- 1024x768 resolution display with 24-bit colour
- Microsoft Windows95 operating system
The first step was to identify the software to be evaluated. To be selected, an application had to satisfy four main requirements:
Seventeen VRML modelling applications were initially identified, using information provided at SDSC VRML Repository (www.sdsc.edu/vrml). However, not all of these packages satisfied the conditions described above. For example, some were only VRML 1.0 compliant, while others just had VRML output capabilities. So, following further investigation, this list was reduced to six. The packages chosen for evaluation were:
- It conformed to our definition of a VRML modelling tool (see Section 1.1).
- The generated output could be saved in a VRML 2.0 format.
- The software was available for downloading via the internet, as either freeware, shareware or in trial form
- It had to operate on the testing platform, i.e. a Windows95 version had to be available.
Caligari TrueSpace 3.0
Ligos V-Realm Builder 2.0
Paragraph Internet Space Builder 2.1
Platinum VRCreator 2.0
Rendersoft VRML Editor 1.3
Sculptware LLC Site Sculptor 1.0
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Graphics Multimedia Virtual Environments Visualisation Contents