X3D News Archive December 2004
Dec 27, 2004
From the folks who brought you the X3D opening scene from UnReal, SceneAlyzer is an automated SAI API Generator for Flux Player. You give it a file name or URL, and it will load the scene (and any externals) into the Flux control. It then spiders the scene creating a tree list of available Get/Set/On API’s. You check the ones you want, then hit the ‘generate SAI’ button at the bottom and tell it where to save the resulting Javascript file. Requires latest build of MediaMachine’s Flux player.
Dec 20, 2004
FreeWRL is an Open Source, cross platform VRML2 and X3D compliant browser, with script and EAI support. Platforms supported: Linux; Mac OS/X, and other Unix-style platforms. The new 1.10 fixes install issues for Mac OS/X and Fog Exponential.
Dec 16, 2004
Open ActiveWrl is a software development toolkit based on a generic software development approach that allows the implementation of parallel immersive VRML/X3D browsers on heterogenous cluster systems. It supports systems running Win NT/2000/XP and Linux. The new v0.9.7 release fixes many bugs concerning PROTOS and javascript. Further 2d geometry nodes are added.
Dec 14, 2004
The Python Computer Graphics Kit is a collection of Python modules that contain the basic types and functions to be able to create 3D computer graphics images. The alpha release supports import of X3D files and creation and manipulation of 3D data in memory.
Dec 07, 2004
FreeWRL is an Open Source, cross platform X3D and VRML97 compliant browser, with script and EAI support. Platforms supported: Linux, Mac OS X, and other Unix-style platforms. The new 1.09 adds many fixes and additions and is available in source form for Linux.
Dec 06, 2004
The mobile 3D market will likely hit critical mass in the next year or two. Due to the exponential adoption rate in computer games, and an increasing presence on the Web, 3D is now pervasive on traditional computing devices. In much the same way that 3D is taken for granted by users of desktops, laptops and dedicated game consoles, the mobile computing industry is poised to experience a similar revolution. This article, the first in a 2 part series, discusses the emerging mobile 3D market while Part 2 focuses on the software technologies that make it possible (namely, OpenGL ES, X3D, and mobile Java 3D APIs).
Dec 02, 2004
X3D Amendment 1 is now available for public review and comment. It defines several enhancements (most notably CAD Distillation Format & Shaders) and modifications to the X3D abstract specification, ISO/IEC 19775 including. These include:
New components/profiles:
- CAD Geometry component
- CAD Interchange profile
- Programmable shaders component (with bindings to GLSL, HLSL, & Cg)
- 3D texturing component
- Cubic environment texturing component
It also adds: new matrix field type, text improvements, ability to control scoping for all light types, LOD improvements, and local (vertex-based) fog.
Interested developers are encouraged to review the specification and submit comments to the Web3D Consortium before February 1, 2005 (in advance of ISO balloting)
Dec 02, 2004
The X3D Binary encodings specification is now available for public for review. This defines a mapping of the abstract objects in X3D to a specific X3D encoding written out in a compact binary form, taking advantage of geometric and information-theoretic compression techniques. Compressed binary X3D files may be referenced from files using other X3D encodings, and may itself reference other X3D files encoded using other X3D encodings.
The addition of a compressed binary encoding for X3D enables a unique combination of fast, secure communication of 3D data for a wide variety of visualization and web-service applications - while using an open ISO standard. Many of the vertical market-focused initiatives within the Web3D Consortium that use X3D as a foundation technology, such as the CAD Distillation Format (CDF) specification - an X3D-based format to distill the essential elements of complex CAD and architectural data for use throughout an enterprise, will automatically benefit from this expansion of X3D’s capabilities.
Interested developers are encouraged to review the specification and submit comments to the Web3D Consortium before February 1, 2005 (in advance of ISO balloting)
Dec 01, 2004
H3D API is a C++ implementation of the X3D standard as an open source API for the development of haptic (touch-enabled) applications. This is the version 1.0 release. Graphics rendering is performed using OpenGL and haptics rendering using SensAble Technologies’ Open Haptics SDK. Users who do not have a haptic device can still evaluate the API with haptics disabled, effectively using H3D as a stand-alone X3D compliant API. Commercial, NON-GPL, licensing of H3D API is also available. There is also a H3D Community Website.
Dec 01, 2004
For the 9th Biennale of Venice, architect Peter Eisenman created an installation in which visitors may observe and interact with a X3D virtual space that mirrors the physical space. The X3D model allows a user to navigate into the virtual space and to analyze, step by step, the genesis of design. “Our installation ... takes as its trajectory a narrative from Palladio to Piranesi to Terragni and finally to my own work. But rather than present this work in images, models, or a narrative text, we have proposed a spatial construct that attempts to disjunct, displace, and destabilize any continuous or sequential ‘promenade architecturale.’”
Dec 01, 2004
The SolePark (oldest sole therapeutic bath in Germany) website offers a VRML/X3D-based real-time-3D-clone of the spa gardens area. The visitor can take a look at the detailed recreations of historical buildings and learn more by reading or using a virtual audio guide. 3D navigation uses BS Contact VRML/X3D. The site also an includes an e-learning area and 3D game. Press Release (712KB pdf)
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