VIRTUAL PUPPET MAPPING MANAGER

The VPM Manager is where a model is referenced to a texture and told how to appear and animate in Puppet Master. Think of a .vpm file as a little package containing the model, the texture, and the joints. To use the theatre analogy, a VPM file is an actor, his costume, and all of the ways he will move in the play. Think of the animations as the actors lines, or pre-scripted actions. The texture field references a .dtx file for the selected model. The way one interacts with the VPM manager is as follows (and on the diagram). 1. Pick a model body part (determined by the modeller). 2. Pick how it will move in the center. Will it Rotate or Translate? What are the limitations? This is very important for a museum installation, as we don't want the puppets to intersect themselves when guest interact. In what vector will the action take place (this can be more than one selection). 3. Click the arrow to send the part right. A field will appear to name the joint enabled. Name it something that will tell you the part of the body and the way it will move, as shown in the example. This is how you will see it in Puppet Master.

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