Adobe Atmosphere 615193 216265894 2008-05-31T21:45:04Z Frap 612852 /* External links */ {{Infobox Software | name = Adobe Atmosphere | logo = [[Image:Adobe Atmosphere box.jpg|Adobe Atmosphere packaging]] | developer = [[Adobe Systems]] | status = Unmaintained | latest release version = 1.0.216 | latest release date = [[February 2004]] | operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]] | language = [[English language|English]] | genre = [[Raster graphics editor]] | license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] | website = [http://www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere/ www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere] }} '''Adobe Atmosphere''' (abbreviated '''Atmo''') is a [[3D computer graphics]] creation product originally developed by [[Attitude Software]]. In November [[1999]], [[Adobe Systems]] purchased the technology. Adobe released its last version of Atmosphere, version 1.0 build 216, in [[February 2004]], then discontinued the software in [[December 2004]]. The product spent the majority of its lifetime in [[Betaware|beta testing]]. ==Features== [[Image:Atmo portal.png|thumb|left|250px|In Adobe's ''Atmosphere Museum of Art'', each gallery is connected via a system of colorful "portals."]] Atmosphere focused on explorable "[[Constructed world|worlds]]" (later officially called "environments"), which were linked together by "portals," analogous to the [[World Wide Web]]'s [[hyperlink]]s. These portals were represented as spinning squares of [[red]], [[green]], and [[blue]] that revolved around each other and floated above the ground. Portals were indicative of the Atmosphere team's desire to mirror the functionality of [[Web page]]s. Although the world itself was described in the <code>.aer</code> (or <code>.atmo</code>) file, images and sounds were kept separately, usually in the [[Graphics Interchange Format|GIF]], [[WAV]] or [[MP3]] format. Objects in worlds were scriptable using a modified version of [[JavaScript]], allowing a more immersive environment, and worlds could be generated dynamically using [[PHP]]. Using JavaScript, a world author could link an object to a Web page, so that a user could, for example, launch a Web page by clicking on a billboard advertisement (Ctrl+Shift+Click in earlier versions). By version 1.0, Atmosphere also boasted support for [[Adobe Flash|Macromedia Flash]] animations and [[Windows Media Player|WMP]] movies. Atmosphere-based worlds consisted mainly of parametric [[primitive]]s, such as floors, walls, and cones. These primitives could be painted a solid color, given an image-based [[Texture mapping|texture]], or made "subtractive". Invisible, "subtractive" primitives could be used to cut "holes" in other primitives, to build more complex shapes. Many worlds also contained animated [[polygon mesh]]es made possible by Atmosphere's implementation as a subcomponent of [[MetaCreations Corp.|Viewpoint Corporation]]'s [[Viewpoint Media Player]]. However, Viewpoint stopped supporting the Atmosphere subcomponent some time before Atmosphere was discontinued. Unlike the more centralized structure of [[Active Worlds]], in which environments are primarily built within ''AlphaWorld'', Atmosphere worlds were spread throughout the Internet, usually hosted on the author's own Web site as <code>.aer</code> files. (The <code>.aer</code> format was later used solely for building, once the binary <code>.atmo</code> format was created.) As with ActiveWorlds, the user navigated an [[Avatar (virtual reality)|avatar]]; in later builds, an option allowed the user to see his or her own avatar. An early quirk of Atmosphere displayed users whose avatars had not yet loaded as colorful, slanted cylinders, and announced the arrival of users with a "[[bug zapper]]" sound. [[Image:Atmo wireframe house.png|thumb|right|250px|With three-dimensional [[Wire frame model|wireframe]] views and multiple floating tool [[Window (computing)|window]]s, the Atmosphere Builder was reminiscent of both [[Computer-aided design|CAD]] software and professional graphics applications like [[Adobe Photoshop]].]] Whereas in ActiveWorlds it is only possible to communicate with users within a 200-[[Metre|meter]] radius, Atmosphere users could chat with all the users in the world. This was more appropriate for Atmosphere, considering the smaller sizes of most worlds. Technically, users could chat with anyone in the same YACP ''channel'', a reference to the [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]] protocol (see [[#History|below]]). The exception was when worlds would receive too many visitors, as was often the case at ''HomeWorld'': worlds would "clone," creating duplicate channels for the same world, which would often cause confusion for users. Some world developers wrote scripts that limited communication to users within a certain distance, for greater realism. A built-in [[Havok (software)|Havok]] physics engine, detailed rendering, and dynamic lighting (with support for lighting effects like [[fog]]) also contributed to the realism of Atmosphere worlds. Many world authors wanted to create large worlds, in order to build more realistic cities, for example, but such worlds would often take an excessive amount of time to load in the visitor's [[web browser]], especially if the visitor was using a slower [[Dial-up internet access|dial-up]] connection. To alleviate this issue, Atmosphere supported loading sections of the world&nbsp;&ndash; ''subworlds'' or ''models''&nbsp;&ndash; as they became needed; a city could now be loaded [[City block|block]] by block, rather than all at once. One of Atmosphere's problems, however, was excessive [[Computer data storage|memory]] usage, which was exacerbated by the use of advanced features such as embedded models and Flash movies in many worlds. Atmosphere's chat console used the [[Windows-1252]] [[character encoding]]. ==History== Adobe Atmosphere started as '''3D Anarchy''' by Attitude Software. It originally relied on [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]] for chat functionality. The original [[user interface]] was rather eccentric, featuring two ever-present eyeballs that would occasionally blink.<ref name="Eyeballs">{{Cite newsgroup| title=How did you first learn about Atmosphere?|author=Scented Nectar|date=[[2003-01-20]]|newsgroup=adobeforums.com/adobe.atmosphere|id=1de77450.9@WebX.la2eafNXanI|url=http://groups.google.com/group/adobe.atmosphere/msg/f3a77769ad820d9a|accessdate=2006-10-01}}</ref> Later versions adopted a more conventional interface, although one of the pre-supplied avatars was based on the eyes. Atmosphere came as two stand-alone applications: the Builder, which was used to build online "worlds," and the Player, which allowed users to explore these worlds. (In 3D Anarchy, these components were called Editor and Chat, respectively.) In addition to these applications, Adobe provided a browser [[plugin]], to explore these worlds within a [[web browser]], and a companion [[open source]] [[chat server]] called '''Adobe Community Server''', which ran on an IRC-like protocol known as '''Yet Another Chat Protocol''' (YACP). During beta-testing, all three components of Atmosphere were available [[Gratis versus Libre|free of charge]]. [[Image:Atmo Player house.png|thumb|left|250px|In later releases, the Atmosphere Player ran as a plugin within Internet Explorer.]] Beta versions of the Builder were notoriously unstable, and the program crashed so frequently that a user wrote a program that automatically saved worlds opened in the Builder at a fixed interval, preventing users from losing hours of work. In [[August 2002]], Adobe began to scrap the stand-alone Player, instead devoting more resources to develop the Atmosphere Plugin, which was at the time viewed as a buggy, less attractive alternative to the Player. The company's focus on the Plugin was viewed as an attempt to compete with [[Adobe Flash|Flash]] before its developer, [[Macromedia]], was purchased by Adobe. For the most part, the Plugin ran only on [[Internet Explorer]] for Windows, despite frequent requests by community members to expand Atmosphere support to [[Mozilla]]-based browsers, and to [[Linux]] and [[Mac OS]]. One user was able to run the stand-alone Player on Linux using [[Wine (software)|Wine]], albeit in a less-than-usable state. Adobe eventually decided to charge for the Builder, which was simply renamed Atmosphere, and continue to provide the Plugin and Server for free. As the beta-testing program ended, Adobe sent free copies of the Builder to registered beta-testers in late [[2003]] and early [[2004]] via [[Airborne Express]] and [[DHL]]. As part of its efforts to garner commercial interest in the software, Adobe introduced support for [[Compound document|embed]]ding Atmosphere worlds into [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] documents for viewing in [[Adobe Acrobat|Acrobat Reader]]. After a long period of relative silence from the developers, however, Adobe announced in December 2004 that it would not continue development of the software. According to an [[FAQ]] from Adobe: :''"The decision to discontinue Atmosphere 1.0 was based on market conditions, customer feedback and research done by Adobe."''<ref name="Adobe FAQ">{{Cite web|year=2004|url=http://www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere/pdfs/atmosphere_faq.pdf|title=Adobe Atmosphere 1.0 End of Life: Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2006-03-21|format=PDF|publisher=[[Adobe Systems]]}}</ref> Adobe retains [[copyright]] on Atmosphere and does not give permission for others to distribute copies of the software, so the company's decision to stop making the Builder available for purchase has essentially halted the creation of new worlds. The plugin remains available as a free download on Adobe's [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] site, however. Adobe still provides 3D capabilities in its more popular Adobe Acrobat product, but these features were developed using technology from [[New Zealand]]'s [[Right Hemisphere]], rather than using Atmosphere.<ref name="SMH Right Hemisphere">{{Cite news|first=Tom|last=Pullar-Strecker|author=Tom Pullar-Strecker|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Kiwi-technology-puts-3D-images-into-Acrobat-files/2005/01/24/1106415497491.html|title=Kiwi technology puts 3D images into Acrobat files|publisher=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=[[2005-01-24]]|accessdate=2006-03-21}}</ref> Nearly all of the Atmosphere development team went on to work with the Acrobat team. The only Atmosphere component still in use at Adobe is the scripting [[Application programming interface|API]]; other Atmosphere components including [[scene graph]]s and the [[physics engine]] were licensed from other companies, such as Viewpoint.<!-- <ref name="mrk">{{cite web|url=http://beach.zero-entertainment.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=26&page=1#Item_7|title=Re: Who is who?|accessdate=2006-10-03|author=mrk|date=[[2006-10-02]]|work=The Beach Club}}</ref> --> ==Community== Atmosphere had a dedicated beta-testing community, whose members constructed many worlds and avatars, promoted the software by word of mouth, and conducted community events, such as world tours and building contests. The largest of these contests was ''Star Wars 3D'', a large-scale effort to create a comprehensive set of worlds and avatars based on the ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy. The creations were unveiled on [[July 4]], [[2003]], and festivities officially continued until [[July 6]]. Another large effort held was themed to the ''[[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|Lord of the Rings]]'' trilogy. Community members also organized and attended events such as ''World Tours'', which featured innovative worlds each week, and ''TechTalks'', a monthly event intended for world and avatar developers. Initially, most community discussion occurred either in the worlds or at the appropriate Adobe User-to-User Forums. Later, to supplement the official Atmosphere product Web site and discussion forums, the community created a large number of resource Web sites, some of which are listed [[#External links|below]]. Beta-testers dubbed the Atmosphere developers "[[zombie]]s," in recognition of the long hours the Adobe employees apparently spent developing the software. The running joke on the team was that, instead of the typical meal of brains, Atmosphere's zombies ingested eyeballs, due to the visual nature of the product. The beta-testing community eagerly awaited new releases from the development team, to which the developers invariably answered that it would take "about two weeks"; this response became a [[euphemism]] for "when it's ready." Despite the decentralized structure of Atmosphere and the popularity of the world-building contests, the Atmosphere community still preferred to gather in worlds created by Adobe and its partner [[DigitalSpace]], such as Adobe's annually-revamped ''HomeWorld'' and DigitalSpace's ''Atmospherians Community''. As the ''HomeWorld'' was the primary starting place for new users, the community found it easier to establish lively crowds there. When Adobe shut down ''HomeWorld'', along with a number of other Adobe-hosted worlds, many builders made attempts at emulating the success of ''HomeWorld'' with their own starting points, but without the constant stream of new users that ''HomeWorld'' experienced, most of these attempts failed to attract more than a small group of regulars. ==See also== *[[Active Worlds]] *[[Second Life]] *[[VRML]] *[[X3D]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{Cite book|author=Kelly L. Murdock|first=Kelly|last=Murdock|title=Adobe Atmosphere Bible|edition=with CD-ROM|date=[[2001-12-15]]|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey]]|id=ISBN 0-7645-3641-9}} ==External links== Official: *[http://www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere/ Adobe Atmosphere official site]&nbsp;&ndash; [http://web.archive.org/web/20040730142835/http://www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere/ archived] *[ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/atmosphere/win/2.x/ Adobe Atmosphere Plugin]&nbsp;&ndash; free download at the Adobe FTP site Commercial: *[http://www.cage8.com/ Cage8]&nbsp;&ndash; Atmosphere resources, tutorials and web 3D community *Attitude Software, LLC&nbsp;&ndash; [http://web.archive.org/web/19991013122511/http://attitudesoftware.com/ before] and [http://web.archive.org/web/20050317151333/http://www.attitudesoftware.com/index.html after] Adobe's purchase Directories: *[http://www.atmospherians.com/ Atmospherians.com]&nbsp;&ndash; includes a directory of worlds, avatars, and world building blocks *[http://www.sifter.org/atmo/ Atmosphere Resource Page] *[http://www.trucker2000.net/directory.html 3Dweb Worlds]&nbsp;&ndash; archives some of the original Adobe worlds Tutorials: *[http://wellmadewebs.com/public/atmo/atmo-main.html Adobe Atmosphere Work]&nbsp;&ndash; world lighting and animation tutorials *[http://www.donzas.com/tutorials.html Viewpoint tutorials at Donzas.com] Community: *[http://www.lacewebdesigns.com/StarWars3D.html Star Wars 3D]&nbsp;&ndash; large-scale community event, themed to the [[Star Wars]] trilogy, held [[July 4]]&ndash;[[July 6]], [[2003]] *[http://beach.zero-entertainment.com/ The Beach Club]&nbsp;&ndash; private forum and resources for former Atmosphere users *[http://www.atmowire.com/ AtmoWire] *{{de icon}} [http://www.mysteri-house.ch/ Mysteri House]&nbsp;&ndash; world made by a group of former Atmosphere users {{Adobe Systems}} [[Category:3D graphics software]] [[Category:Adobe software|Atmosphere]] [[Category:Computer-aided design software]] [[Category:Media players]] [[Category:Web development software]] [[Category:Windows software]] [[Category:Windows-only software]] [[de:Adobe Atmosphere]] [[es:Adobe Atmosphere]] [[fr:Adobe Atmosphere]] [[he:אדובי אטמוספיר]] [[vi:Adobe Atmosphere]]