User manual

11 Conclusion and perspectives
The online system, whose architecture is presented in this document, answers
the initial demands, which is to provide an online client that facilitates programming
of a light show by groups of students in a 3D environment. The programming of lights
by the students should be conducted within a limited time window, and the results of
the programming should be stored in a central location. The light programs saved in
this way will serve as a blueprint for the actual playback of the programmed light show
in the real environment – in this case, as a part of the centennial celebration in
Randers. The present version of the prototype is a result of several months of work by
the development team of BB&S and Seelite employees and Aalborg University
students, and although it features a few bugs and is not yet complete, development
work is still under way and the light show event is expected to take place as planned.
As discussed previously, the solution needs to, first, take into account the
organisation and administration of the database, to be used for user authorisation and
data storage. Hence, the problem outlined above is in fact answered by two websites –
an administration site, aimed strictly at administrating the database, and a user site,
which hosts the 3D application site. In both cases, there are no novel technologies
used per se; however, care needs to be taken in choosing appropriate technologies for
the delivery of the application. On one hand, the aspect of hardware compatibility of
graphic cards with the software solution immediately springs out when talking about
real-time 3D rendering, and this project is no different – especially since a part of it is
expected to be conducted at schools, which might not boast the latest gaming
hardware. For the same reason, developing a custom binary client is avoided as well –
mostly to avoid cross-platform compatibility issues, but also to possibly avoid big
download times and problematic installations, which may be beyond the capabilities
of the primary user target group. In any case, delivery and deployment of the
application should be as short and as trouble free as possible, mostly because of the
short intended time (month or more) of the actual use of the application; not much
time is available for updates and hardware related troubleshooting if problems occur.
Therefore, the development goes into a solution delivered through a web
browser plugin as a more secure approach, and Virtools and Director are identified as
"DMX Director" - Architecture of a 3D light-programming application, in a multi-user Internet environment
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