2.2.2. Development of the 3D interactive simulation
The system development utilized three software applications consisting of 3D modeling software, 3D visualization
software, and a multimedia application authoring platform. The 3D modeling software was used to produce various
types of 3D modeling. The 3D visualization software was used to produce a predefined walkthrough animation. Both
types of data, 3D modeling and animation, were processed using a multimedia application authoring platform (see
Fig. 7). The multimedia application authoring platform has an advantage in that in the design of the graphical user
interfaces is supported by a scripting language that can interact with external files. In addition, this application is able
to work with 3D objects (shockwave 3D) using a scripting 3D language that can import, manipulate, display, and
interact with 3D objects. The graphical user interface that combined the external data of the passive 3D simulation
with the 3D interactive simulation formed the prototype system called the Landscape Planning Support System. This
system can be published as a standalone executable or as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files on the web. The
overall types of interaction level and system development process is shown in Fig. 3.