This approach makes Java 3D more applicable to interactive graphics environments (games, simulations, low-latency situations) than to offline, high-quality graphics applications (like render farms).Ī large and growing number of 3D loaders are available to import content into the Java 3D runtime. The runtime uses rendering capability bits, in fact, to optimize the scene graph for the fastest possible renders. Java 3D is optimized for speed where possible.
JAVA 3D LIBRARY SERIES
(See Resources for links to my previous series on Java 2D, which included discussion and examples of 2D's rendering hints). Rendering access is limited to requests via attributes and capability bits, similar in form and function to Java 2D's rendering hints.
If you don't need low-level access to rendering operations, Java 3D may be an option. In stark contrast to lower-level, procedural 3D APIs like OpenGL, which are designed to optimize for the best possible speed and give programmers the greatest possible control over the rendering process, Java 3D is meant to be straightforward enough for any experienced Java programmer to learn. (We'll discuss this concept in more detail later in the article.) This approach is intended to help programmers without much graphics or multimedia programming experience use 3D in their applications. Java 3D accomplishes this in part by using a scene graph-based 3D graphics model. It provides a high-level, object-oriented view of 3D graphics.
JAVA 3D LIBRARY FREE
If you have any lingering confusion about my examples or explanations, please feel free to write me with your questions or comments, and I'll do my best to address them. 3D graphics can seem at times rather obtuse and, thus, can be difficult to explain. We'll start by discussing some of the API's major strengths and weaknesses. This month we begin our tour of 3D graphics APIs for Java by exploring Java 3D. Direct3D received very little interest, so I've decided not to pursue this path, except to mention where one of the other technologies may support or interoperate with it. Consequently, I am going to deal with VRML by demonstrating its use in Java 3D with VRML97 content loaders and Sun's Java 3D VRML97 browser. Sun has some heavy competition from other 3D graphics technologies in this arena, and Java 3D has an uphill battle ahead of it if it's to defeat the incumbent graphics standard, OpenGL.Ī request for reader comments on 3D graphics APIs for Java indicated serious interest in Java 3D and Java OpenGL bindings, so I've decided to concentrate my efforts on these technologies in the coming months.Ī more limited amount of interest was expressed in VRML. Java 3D is meant to give Java developers the ability to write applets and applications that provide three dimensional, interactive content to users. We have recently finished a series of columns on Java 2D now we turn our attention to Java 3D. Java 2D is a core platform API beginning with Java 1.2, while Java 3D will be released as an Extension API shortly after the 1.2 platform becomes available. Two of the biggest pieces, 2D and 3D graphics, are targeted with the Java 2D and 3D APIs, respectively. Sun and its partners developed the Java Media and Communication APIs to provide the missing multimedia programming pieces. Sun has grown the core a great deal with the 1.1 and impending 1.2 releases, but there are still some pieces missing from the Java puzzle. In order to build a true Java platform, Sun realized early on that it needed to fill out the API picture beyond the limited functionality available in the Java 1.0 core platform.
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