Aug 05, 2010
With the Web3D Conference and SIGGRAPH 2010 behind us, one question on everyone’s mind is – “when will the 3D Web be ready for everyone?” And “where does X3D fit in this evolution?”
The 2010 SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles gathered 3D graphics and web developers from around the world. Whether the company was a start up or an industry giant there was mention of 3D Web in their present strategy. But it seems that 3D adoption is slower than predicted. Why? The issue here is extending 2D processes to 3D and making them easy to develop and use. This may change with HTML V5, which brings us to the ISO certified royalty-free open standard, X3D, spearheaded by the Web3D Consortium. X3D’s file format and run-time architecture for 3D on the Web is being proposed to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) HTML Working Group for the purpose of best integrating developer and user-friendly 3D graphics with HTML V5. Many major forces are coming together now to enable the 3D Web to go main stream. The goal is to make the native authoring and use of declarative XML-based X3D scenes as natural and well-supported for HTML V5 authors, making the incorporation of X3D as easy as including an image.
Web3D Consortium member Fraunhofer has developed a JavaScript-based player for X3D. It runs in any browser that supports HTML V5 and JavaScript-based WebGL rendering layer, which include beta releases for Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome web browsers. It supports native X3D within an HTML page. More information on the X3dom project and example implementations are available at: www.x3dom.org. Due to the large interest there were several recent discussions, meeting and BoFs related to this project. Johannes Behr’s slide sets on X3dom are available along with other slide sets from SIGGRAPH 2010 and Web3D 2010 Conference.
This effort has strategic importance for Web3D and indeed for all 3D graphics, since X3D is an interchange format for a wide variety of models. We intend to establish a solid foundation for X3D to properly support 3D graphics in HTML V5. Additional information on the X3D/HTML5 Web3D Working group and their current initiatives and efforts is available in our Wiki.
The Consortium would like to thank all who attended our SIGGRAPH 2010 BoFs, Tutorials and Tech Talk. The slide sets are available on our home page. Those of you who visited our booth and had the opportunity to see the X3D demos and perceive how you can use X3D for your 3D graphics needs thank you for being a part of our success.
There is a claim today that use of X3D is marginal… Absolutely wrong! and we proved it at SIGGRAPH 2010! X3D remains the most widely used standard for the implementation of high integrity and high capability 3D systems. For a list of recent projects using X3D see X3D Use Cases and X3D Adoption. Because X3D is a direct evolution of VRML we have models over 10 years old that still run today. X3D is the only royalty-free and ISO-certified standard for 3D interchange file formats and runtime architecture for the Web today. Our interchange file formats and runtime applications include both open-source and commercial implementations.
There are several software tools (BS Editor , Octaga modeler, X3D-Edit, and others) to support X3D content creation. 3D content creation is a highly skilled and labor intensive process – these tools help automate it. The X3D Resources page has links to Examples, Applications, Authoring software, and Players and Plugins for X3D/VRML Viewing. They are all free downloads, but their developers may have other tools for sale.
X3D’s sweet spot is bringing 3D graphics expression to a wider audience, one not necessary trained in the art of 3D graphics programming, but fairly technical nonetheless. They typically write the behavior part and leave the graphics to the X3D player. X3D is a high-level language above OpenGL/DirectX in abstraction. With X3D they can create meaningful representations of their data without needing to understand low-level graphics.
Come join us and become a part of this evolving standard. We look forward to working with you and become a part of our X3D community. All members are empowered to participate in Consortium working groups, network with leading Web3D technologist, and contribute to the consortium specifications. These benefits can greatly accelerate the delivery and profitability of member’s cutting-edge 3D platforms and applications.
To join us visit us at www.web3d.org/membership/join. If you need additional information about our technology or information about member companies and their X3D implementations please contact Web3D Consortium, Executive Director Anita Havele.
