World Space Modifier Plug-in Overview

Writing a WSM involves creating instances of two key classes. One is derived from class WSMObject. The other class is derived from Modifier. These two classes work together. The object handles the display and management of its user interface parameters, the display of the WSM node in the scene, and provides a world space orientation. The modifier handles the actual deformation of the geometry of nodes bound to the space warp.

The SinWave.cpp example has six plug-ins in a single source file. These are:

• The Ripple WSM Object - Implemented by SinWaveObject derived from WaveObject.
• The Ripple WSM Modifier - Implemented by SinWaveMod derived from WaveMod.
• The Ripple Object Space Modifier - Implemented by SinWaveOMod derived from WaveOMod.
• The Wave WSM Object - Implemented by LinWaveObject derived from WaveObject.
• The Wave WSM Modifier - Implemented by LinWaveMod derived from WaveOMod.
• The Wave Object Space Modifier - Implemented by LinWaveOMod derived from WaveOMod.

The WaveObject class is derived from SimpleWSMObject, the WaveMod class is derived from SimpleWSMMod and the WaveOMod is derived from SimpleMod.

The interface for WSM objects and modifiers is designed to be as general as possible so that virtually any type of space warp is possible. However, a larger number of useful space warp objects and modifiers may be fairly simple, following a standard format. The SimpleWSMMod and SimpleWSMObject classes encapsulates the common behavior of these types of modifiers and objects. This translates to fewer methods that must be implemented by the developer.

The SimpleWSMObject source code can be found in \MAXSDK\HOWTO\SOURCECODEEXAMPLES\SIMPOBJ.CPP and the source code for SimpleWSMMod is available in \MAXSDK\HOWTO\SOURCECODEEXAMPLES\SIMPMOD.CPP .