<table border="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p> Points, lines and mesh faces allow authors to build a complete variety of geometry. </p> <p> Complex shapes are hard to build with primitive shapes (for example: terrain, animals, plants, machinery). Instead, build shapes out of atomic components: points, lines, and polygon faces. Shape building is like a 3D connect-the-dots game: place dots at 3D locations, and connect-the-dots to form shapes A coordinate specifies a 3D dot location, measured relative to a coordinate system origin. A geometry node then specifies how to connect the dots: for example, PointSet, IndexedLineSet, or IndexedFaceSet. Animation is accomplished using a CoordinateInterpolator node. </p> <p> These X3D scenes are adapted directly from the <a href="http://www.wiley.com/legacy/compbooks/vrml2sbk/toc/ch13.htm" target="_Vrml2Sourcebook">original VRML 2.0 Sourcebook chapter examples</a>. Also available: <a href="http://www.sdsc.edu/~moreland/courses/Siggraph98/vrml97/slides/mt0175.htm" target="_Vrml2SourcebookCourse">Introduction to VRML97 SIGGRAPH98 course notes</a>. </p> </td> <td align="center" rowspan="2"> <a href="index.html"><img border="0" alt="Figure 13.16 Vaulted Ceiling" title="Figure 13.16 Vaulted Ceiling" hspace="10" src="_viewpoints/Figure13_16VaultedCeiling.x3d._VP_Vaulted_ceiling.png" width="156" height="89" align="middle"/></a> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>