HOW TO CREATE A DOOR
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Create a door using Blocks, Surfaces or Models. The door needs to be created in the closed position -
Click on the right side of the program on the Groups tabs and choose the New option. Create a new group and give it a label e.g. Door1.
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Select all objects that make up the door and choose the Group option. From this moment all selected objects will be in the group that you have created.
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Look at the Groups tab, you can see a slider, you will use it to create an animation. Different positions on the slider represent different positions in the animation. You will create a simple animation from point A to point B, where A is the position in which the door was created. Set the slider to the end position and press the New key button.
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While keeping the slider at the new key position, choose Record and you will start to record the group’s movement.
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Translate and rotate group to target position (opened door position).
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Click the Record button to stop recording.
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Slide the animation slider in order to test if the group moves on its track.
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Choose Other objects / Add actor from the program menu and choose the Door actor. The Door actor will be responsible for managing the group animation. Click on the map next to the door to position the Door actor. This actor is not visible while in visualization, in Flow Architect Studio 3D however it is visible so it can be selected to change its properties or to delete it.
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Make sure that the Door actor is selected and choose Other objects / Actor settings from the program menu. The Actor setting dialog will show.
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Choose groupName from the parameter list on the left side of the dialog and then choose the door’s group name from the group list. This will tell the actor which group should it manage. The actor will use this group’s center and when the Player goes near that position, the Door actor will start to move the group along its track’s path. In a similar way, you can also set other actors’ parameters, like e.g. close delay.
DOOR ACTOR PARAMETERS
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groupName – name of the door’s group
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closeDelay – close delay after the Player leaves the opening area, this is given in seconds
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openRange – the opening area range, the lesser the value the closer Player needs to be to the door to open it, the value is specified in centimeters
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openTime – the time in which the door will open and close, specified in seconds
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soundName – the sound for opening and closing the door
DOOR ROTATION PIVOT POINT
The default rotation pivot for a group is the center of its bounding box. You can set a custom rotation point for a group. This can be helpful if you want to create a door with hinges. In order to create a custom rotation pivot for a group, first create a target (Other objects / Add target). Position the target so its in a door’s rotation axis. Then select the target and select a group on the Groups tab in panel on the right side of the program. Then choose the Set target as pivot option from the same tab. From this moment, the selected target becomes the group’s rotation pivot.
DOORS AND PORTALS
The visualization engine uses a portal system for determining run-time visibility. A door (or another group) can block a portal if the portal is fully inside the Blocks of a door’s group (or on their surface) in the current group position. If a model has been used to create the door you also have to create a solid Block that will block the portal. You can see the Vacation House example to examine how this is done.
MULTI ELEMENT DOORS (E.G. SIDE SLIDING)
In order to create doors made of many elements that move separately, you have to create separate groups for each element. Animate those groups separately. Each group should have a name with an ending: _a, _b, _c etc. For example, two-element door group can be named Door1_a and Door1_b. The first name with the _a ending should be used as a parameter for the Door actor. The Actor will search for other groups and will animate them along with the first one.