Community Place General FAQ

Community Place General FAQ: Contents

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I. General Community Place Information

    What is Community Place?

    Which Community Place product do I need?

    Do I have to pay for Community Place products?

    What Community Place products are currently available?

    Can my computer run Community Place products?

    Are Community Place products available for the Mac OS?

    Who makes Community Place products?

    I'm already familiar with Community Place and VRML, and I have a technical question. Who can help me?

    In what languages are Community Place products and documentation available?

    I'm interested in purchasing Community Place products. Whom should I contact?

    Does Sony offer any special programs for educational institutions or students?

II. General VRML Information

    Aren't Community Place and VRML the same thing?

    Where can I learn more about VRML, Living Worlds, and 3D on the web?

    I'd like to build my own 3D world. How do I start?

    Are there any good reference books for VRML?

III. General Downloading and Installation Questions

    Where can I download Community Place products?

    Do I need any other software to run Community Place products?

    When I try to download a Community Place product, the download stops before the file transfer is finished.

    When I try to install the product I've selected, the installer tells me that it doesn't have one of the files it needs, and/or the installer crashes.

    The installer complains that I don't have enough hard drive space.

IV. Community Place Browser: Troubleshooting

    I've installed the Community Place Browser. How do I start the program?

    A warning box appears when I run the Browser, and it says I don't have something called JRE installed.

    A warning box appears when I run the Browser, and it says I don't have DirectX installed.

    I have both DirectX and JRE on my machine, but I'm still getting warning messages that I don't have one or both of these programs.

    I've successfully installed the Browser, but it crashes frequently or complains about memory.

    I get an expiration message when I start the Browser.

    When I double-click a VRML file, my computer launches a non-Community Place VRML browser.

    When I try to open up a VRML file, the Community Place browser seems to hang or freeze.

    I opened up the VRML file, but I'm moving very slowly. The frame rate is very slow.

    The colors in the world don't look right, and I can see seams in some of the objects.

    I ran a world that has behaviors in it, but none of the behaviors work correctly. Why?

V. Community Place Browser: Connecting with Other Users

    When I open up a file with Community Place, I get a "cannot connect to Community Place Bureau" message, and there are no other users in the world. What happened?

    I don't get any error messages, but when I open up a file with Community Place, I don't see any other users. What gives?

VI. Community Place Browser: Exploring Worlds

    How do I move around?

    How can I look at an object?

    Can I fly?

    I'm lost. How do I get back to where I started?

    What are "behaviors"?

    How can I talk to other people?

    I'm trying to chat with another user in a multi-user world, but when they send me text, it shows up on my screen as a bunch of garbage characters. Why?

VII. Community Place Conductor: Getting Started

    What can I do with Conductor?

    How is the evaluation version of Conductor different from the full version?

    Is the full version of Conductor available yet?

    What kind of hardware and software do I need to have in order to use Conductor?

VIII. Community Place Conductor: Building Your Own Worlds

    What modeling programs support an export format that can be read by Conductor?

    Can I use audio files in my worlds?

    What texture formats does Community Place support?

    Where can I get additional tips on building my own worlds with Conductor?

IX. Community Place Conductor: Troubleshooting

    I'm having problems installing Conductor.

    I built a world that looks great in Conductor, but it doesn't look the same when I view it in Community Place Browser. What's wrong?

    Can I use non-Community Place browsers to view my content?

X. Community Place Bureau: General Questions

    Do I need the Community Place Bureau? What can I do with one?

    What kind of hardware and software do I need to run a Community Place Bureau?

    Are there different types of Community Place Bureaus? What do they do?

    What type of Bureau is the evaluation version available on this site?

XI. Community Place Bureau: Troubleshooting

    I'm having problems installing the Bureau.

XIII. Other Resources for Learning About Community Place

    Where can I get technical information about building my own 3D spaces with Community Place?

I. General Community Place Information

    What is Community Place?

    Community Place is a suite of VRML97 compliant products for building and viewing multi-user 3D worlds on the Internet. Community Place is part of the Virtual Society project, sponsored by Sony Corporation's Platform Software Development Center (PSDC) in Tokyo. The aim of the project is to research possibilities for building the infrastructure for the online communities of the future.

    Which Community Place product do I need?

    This depends on whether you would like to view, create or host VRML worlds. If you are simply interested in viewing worlds, you need the Community Place Browser. The Community Place Conductor is for folks who want to make their own 3D worlds. The Community Place Bureau is for people who already have 3D worlds built and want to add multi-user functionality.

    Do I have to pay for Community Place products?

    The Community Place Browser v2.0 is free. Evaluation versions of our Bureau and Conductor products (for the WindowsNT 4.0 OS) are also available for free, but offer restricted functionality.

    If you'd like to find out more about purchasing a full version of Conductor or the Bureau, send an email to sales@community-place.com.

    What Community Place products are currently available?

    There are three main products in the Community Place line:

        Community Place Browser - a powerful tool for viewing many 3D spaces on the Internet

        Community Place Conductor - a flexible application for creating your own online worlds

        Community Place Bureau - a multi-user server that supports up to 100 simultaneous users

    Sony also offers two add-on products for the Bureau:

        Community Place Application Object Server - a tool for adding shared applications to your world

        Community Place World Location Server - a product that allows you to manage multiple 3D spaces easily

    The Browser and Conductor are designed for a wide range of Windows operating systems, while the Bureau products function on Sun's Solaris OS and WindowsNT.

    For more information on these products, please browse through the Products section of our site.

    Can my computer run Community Place products?

    Please review our table of minimum specifications and compare it to your system.

    Are Community Place products available for the Mac OS?

    Unfortunately, Community Place does not support the Macintosh OS, and has no plans to do so in the near future.

    Who makes Community Place products?

    Sony Corporation's Platform Software Development Center (PSDC) in Tokyo makes Community Place products. For general questions, drop us a line at general@community-place.com.

    I'm already familiar with Community Place and VRML, and I have a technical question. Who can help me?

    We offer a separate FAQ for developers. Check this document first. If the develpoer FAQ doesn't answer your question, mail our support group at technical@community-place.com, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

    In what languages are Community Place products and documentation available?

    Community Place is available in both English and Japanese versions. Please send queries about other languages to general@community-place.com.

    I'm interested in purchasing Community Place products. Whom should I contact?

    If you'd like information on purchasing full versions of Community Place products, please contact us at sales@community-place.com . The Community Place Browser (v2.0) is free. In the download area of the Community Place site, you can grab evaluation versions of Community Place Conductor and Community Place Bureau. However, these evaluation versions are limited in their functionality.

    Does Sony offer any special programs for educational institutions or students?

    We welcome our friends in the education community. Please a description of the project with which you would like to use Community Place to sales@community-place.com.

    

II. General VRML Information

    Aren't Community Place and VRML the same thing?

    Not quite. VRML is an open standard for 3D on the web. Community Place is a technology based on VRML for building, viewing, and serving multi-user 3D environments.

    Where can I learn more about VRML, Living Worlds, and 3D on the web?

    A good place to start is the the VRML Consortium webpage.

    I'd like to build my own 3D world. How do I start?

    The best way to start is to download an evaluation copy of Community Place Conductor to start building your worlds. Conductor provides an easy-to-use interface.

    Are there any good reference books for VRML?

    Java for 3D and VRML Worlds, by Lea, Matsuda, and Miyashita is an excellent start. It's available for purchase through a number of online bookstores, including Amazon.

III. General Downloading and Installation Questions

    Where can I download Community Place products?

    Right here. Check out our download page.

    Do I need any other software to run Community Place products?

    Yes. If you have any questions about what software and hardware are required to run Community Place tools, you should check out our table of minimum specifications.

    When I try to download a Community Place product, the download stops before the file transfer is finished.

    There are several possibilities. First, check to see if you have enough available hard drive space. Also, there are other uncontrollable factors, such as internet traffic or server overload. Best advice is to try again later; we apologize for your inconvenience.

    When I try to install the product I've selected, the installer tells me that it doesn't have one of the files it needs, and/or the installer crashes.

    You may have a corrupted download. This happens sometimes when a problem occurs with your connection to the Internet while the file is downloading. Please download the program again and give it another try.

    The installer complains that I don't have enough hard drive space.

    You need 15MB of free disc space to install the Community Place Browser. Please make sure you have at least that amount of space free on your drive, and try installing again.

    

IV. Community Place Browser: Troubleshooting

    I've installed the Community Place Browser. How do I start the program?

    Hit Start/Programs/Community Place/Community Place Browser. Because Community Place is not a plugin to Netscape, you must manually start the browser by the above procedure. The default installation directory is C:\Program Files\Sony\Community Place Browser. So, should you need to, you can open Explorer and manually navigate to that directory, and double-click "cpbrowse.exe".

    A warning box appears when I run the Browser, and it says I don't have something called JRE installed.

    You don't have Sun's Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.1.6 installed. (Please note that 1.1.7, 1.1.7A, 1.1.7B, and 1.2 are not currently supported.) This is a requirement for running the browser, and it's free. You can grab it at Sun's Java site.

    A warning box appears when I run the Browser, and it says I don't have DirectX installed.

    You don't have Microsoft's DirectX5 or DirectX 6 installed. For best performance, download DirectX 6 from Microsoft's website. It's free.

    I have both DirectX and JRE on my machine, but I'm still getting warning messages that I don't have one or both of these programs.

    Make sure that you've not only downloaded the programs, but also installed them. If you've successfully installed both programs and the program is still not working, make sure that you have the correct version of both programs. You need DirectX 5 or 6 and JRE 1.1.3 or better.

    I've successfully installed the Browser, but it crashes frequently or complains about memory.

    It's likely that you need more memory. The Browser requires at least 32MB of RAM. If you're running other programs on your computer while you're running the Browser, they're eating memory that the Browser could use. Close all other active applications before you start running the program.

    I get an expiration message when I start the Browser.

    You have an old version of the Browser on your machine. Please download and install the new one, and this problem will go away. There is no expiration date on the current Browser.

    When I double-click a VRML file, my computer launches a non-Community Place VRML browser.

    If you have previously installed a non-Community Place VRML browser on your machine, or if one came installed with your system or web browser, this can happen. Some other programs automatically associate themselves with all VRML files when they get set up on your system. You can change this fairly easily.

        Open an Explorer window.

        Under the View menu, select Options, then File Types.

        Scroll to the VRML entry in the list, and hit Edit, "Open" and then Edit. Here, replace the other VRML browser with Community Place.

    If you are running Windows98 or NT 4.0, the options may be slightly different. The default installation directory for Community Place is:

    C:\PROGRA~1\SONY\COMMUN~1\BIN\CPBROWSE.EXE.

    When I try to open up a VRML file, the Community Place browser seems to hang or freeze.

    Check to make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements for the browser. A full list of requirements for all Community Place products can be found here. If you're certain that your computer meets the requirements, try the following:

        Close down all other applications before starting Community Place. Other applications may be using memory that Community Place needs.

        Wait for a little while. Perhaps the VRML file that you're trying to open is very big, or requires an unusually large amount of memory.

        Make sure you're using the most recent version of the Community Place Browser. This is available in our download area.

    If you've done all this and are still having problems, please contact us. Give us details about your machine, and tell us what VRML file you are trying to load. Your feedback is welcome and will help us make Community Place an even better product in the future.

    I opened up the VRML file, but I'm moving very slowly. The frame rate is very slow.

    First, check to see that your machine meets the minimum specifications for Community Place, listed here. Although hardware acceleration is not required, if you have it, the Browser will run much faster. If you have hardware acceleration and the Browser is still running slowly:

    Make sure the acceleration is activated in the OPTIONS menu, in the PREFERENCES dialog box.

    Make sure your hardware acceleration product is compatible with Community Place. Compatible chipsets include:

        nVidia (Riva 128, Riva 128ZX, Riva TNT)

        Matrox (Millenium II, Mystique, G-200)

        S3 (Square3D)

        Intel (i740)

        ATI (Rage PRO, Rage PRO Turbo)

        3D Labs (Permedia2, Permedia)

        Rendition (Verite 1000L)

        3DFX (Voodoo Rush)

    If all else fails, try making the Browser's window a little smaller. This should speed up your frame rate.

    If you have a recommended hardware acceleration product activated in your machine, yet the Browser is still running unacceptably slowly, please contact us and give us details of your problem. We'd also like to hear about problems with products that are not currently on our recommended list.

    The colors in the world don't look right, and I can see seams in some of the objects.

    There are a couple of things to check:

        VRML supports a "headlight" function. You can turn this on and off in the OPTIONS menu. Toggling it may improve the looks of the world.

        Do you have hardware acceleration, and if so, is it turned on? You can turn it on in the OPTIONS menu, in the PREFERENCES dialog box. Some worlds are designed specifically for hardware accelerated machines and may just not appear correctly when they are run on a machine that is using software acceleration.

    I ran a world that has behaviors in it, but none of the behaviors work correctly. Why?

    Please make sure you have JRE 1.1.3 or higher installed on your machine. You can get the current version of JRE from Sun's site. If you have JRE 1.1.3 or higher installed on your machine and the behaviors are still not working,, the world you are trying to view may have been authored using JavaScript or the External Authoring Interface (EAI). Community Place does not currently support these technologies.

    

V. Community Place Browser: Connecting with Other Users

    When I open up a file with Community Place, I get a "cannot connect to Community Place Bureau" message, and there are no other users in the world. What happened?

    There are a few possibilities.

        1) The multi-user server for the world you're trying to access is down. There's not much you can do about this but wait for the server to start functioning again, or try to notify the owner of the server.

        2) The world is crowded, and there is currently no room for other users to connect and enter. Keep trying to connect. You'll get in when someone leaves. The evaluation version of the Community Place Bureau supports only three users, so worlds that rely on the evaluation version of the server may be occasionally difficult to access for this reason.

        3) There is a problem with your connection to the Internet. Check your connection and try again.

        4) You are behind a firewall which will not let data from the multi-user world through to your machine. Contact your system administrator and ask him/her to allow Community Place traffic through the firewall to your machine.

    I don't get any error messages, but when I open up a file with Community Place, I don't see any other users. What gives?

    If you're actually connected to a server, a CONNECTED TO COMMUNITY PLACE BUREAU message will scroll across the bottom of your screen. If you see this message, you are connected. Try looking at the user list to check for others, or walk around and look. If all this fails, maybe there's just no one around; call a friend!

    If you're not seeing the CONNECTED TO A COMMUNITY PLACE BUREAU message, you may be having one of the problems described in the previous question, or you might be accessing a world that doesn't support multiple users.

    

VI. Community Place Browser: Exploring Worlds

    How do I move around?

    You can use mouse or keyboard controls to move forward, back, left, right. When you click and drag the mouse, you see a white rubber band effect. The length of this rubber band indicates the direction and speed of your movement.

    How can I look at an object?

    You can use WALK mode to walk around the object to look at it. You can use EXAMINE mode to rotate the object in 3D space. Sometimes one of these modes is not supported by the content author, in which case the corresponding functionality will be shut off.

    Can I fly?

    You can press the FLOAT button to "float" above the 3D scene. Press it again to return to the scene. The "FLY" mode as referenced in the VRML97 spec is currently unsupported by Community Place.

    I'm lost. How do I get back to where I started?

    Press the HOME button to return to the starting-point.

    What are "behaviors"?

    Behaviors are responses to actions in the world. For example, you can click a box and it may start to jump up and down. Avatar behaviors in multi-user worlds are actions that your avatar can take that other people will notice. For example, if you click a "WAVE" behavior, your avatar might wave to other users.

    How can I talk to other people?

    You can use text chat, or you can communicate through body language via the behavior buttons. This encourages international communication.

    I'm trying to chat with another user in a multi-user world, but when they send me text, it shows up on my screen as a bunch of garbage characters. Why?

    It's likely that the user on the other end is using a computer with a Japanese or other non-English operating system. If so, any characters not common to the English language will look like screen garbage on a machine with an English operating system. Try using behaviors instead.

    

VII. Community Place Conductor: Getting Started

    What can I do with Conductor?

    You can create your own worlds with Community Place Conductor. Conductor can also allow other users to make adjustments to your worlds. Conductor is not a modeling tool; it allows you to bring together the various elements that make up a rich 3D space easily. It works well with other modeling software, such as Inspire3D or 3D Studio MAX.

    How is the evaluation version of Conductor different from the full version?

    The current evaluation version of Conductor expires 30 days after you install it. The number of nodes you can save is limited to 30 objects.

    Is the full version of Conductor available yet?

    The full version of Conductor is currently available in Japan. If you're interested in buying a copy, please contact us.

    What kind of hardware and software do I need to have in order to use Conductor?

    The minimum specifications for all Community Place products can be found here.

VIII. Community Place Conductor: Building Your Own Worlds

    What modeling programs support an export format that can be read by Conductor?

    We recommend Inspire3D. 3D Studio MAX also supports a Community Place-friendly export format.

    Can I use audio files in my worlds?

    Yes. Conductor supports both .WAV and .MOD file formats.

    What texture formats does Community Place support?

    Community Place Browser and Conductor support the .GIF, .JPG and .BMP file formats.

    Where can I get additional tips on building my own worlds with Conductor?

    Check the Community Place Developers FAQ, also available on this site.

    

IX. Community Place Conductor: Troubleshooting

    I'm having problems installing Conductor.

    First, please check that your system meets the minimum requirements for running Conductor. That information is contained in our table of specifications. Next, make sure you have the Java Developers Kit (JDK) version 1.1.3 or higher installed on your machine. This is available from Sun's site.

    If you have done both of these things and are still having problems, we'd very much like to hear of it and help you out. Please contact us.

    I built a world that looks great in Conductor, but it doesn't look the same when I view it in Community Place Browser. What's wrong?

    Community Place Conductor currently uses the Renderware rendering library, while Community Place Browser uses D3D. This discrepancy can make environments created in Conductor look quite different when viewed with Community Place Browser. Sony is aware of this problem and it will be corrected in the future.

    Can I use non-Community Place browsers to view my content?

    Yes. Community Place Conductor is compliant with the VRML97 specification, so you should be able to view your world with the browser of your choice.

    

X. Community Place Bureau: General Questions

    Do I need the Community Place Bureau? What can I do with one?

    The Bureau is for people who have built 3D spaces and want other people to be able to gather in them. If all you want to do is view a world, or enter someone else's multi-user world, you do not need the Bureau.

    What kind of hardware and software do I need to run a Community Place Bureau?

    Check out the minimum hardware and software requirements for all Community Place products here.

    Are there different types of Community Place Bureaus? What do they do?

    Yes, there are several different types of Bureau. Here's a quick rundown:

        CP Bureau for Windows NT (R) (evaluation version)

        CP Bureau for Windows NT (R) (50 user limit commercial release)

        CP Bureau for Windows NT (R) (100 user limit commercial release)

        CP Bureau for Sun Solaris (50 user limit commercial release)

        CP Bureau for Sun Solaris (100 user limit commercial release)

        CP Bureau World Location Server Add-On for WindowsNT

        CP Bureau World Location Server Add-On for Sun Solaris

        CP Bureau Application Object Server for WindowsNT

        CP Bureau Application Object Server for Sun Solaris

    For full specification information on these products, please check our specifications table.

    What type of Bureau is the evaluation version available on this site?

    The evaluation version is available for download for Windows NT (R). It supports three simultaneous users. If you are interested in the evaluation version for Solaris, please contact us and we will send you a CD-ROM.

XI. Community Place Bureau: Troubleshooting

    I'm having problems installing the Bureau.

    Please check that your system meets the minimum requirements for running the Bureau. That information is contained in our table of specifications. Please note that you must be running WindowsNT 4.0 to use the Bureau; Windows95/98 is not supported.

    If your machine meets the requirements of the specification and you're still having problems, we'd very much like to hear of it and help you out. Please contact us.

XII. Other Resources for Learning About Community Place

    Where can I get technical information about building my own 3D spaces with Community Place?

    First, check out our Developer's FAQ. It's a lot more technical and specific than this document and is good reading for any new developer. If you want to keep up with new developments in Community Place technology and share a forum with your fellow creators, sign up for the Sony-CP mailing list. Finally, if you have a question that neither of these resources can handle, feel free to mail us directly.