X3D: Extensible 3D Graphics for Web AuthorsIn the early days of the Web a need was recognized for a language to display 3D objects through a browser. An HTML-like language, VRML, was proposed in 1994 and became the standard for describing interactive 3D objects and worlds on the Web. 3D Web courses were started, several best-selling books were published, and VRML continues to be used today. However VRML, because it was based on HTML, is a stodgy language that is not easy to incorporate with other applications and has been difficult to add features to. Meanwhile, applications for interactive 3D graphics have been exploding in areas such as medicine, science, industry, and entertainment. There is a strong need for a set of modern Web-based technologies, applied within a standard extensible framework, to enable a new generation of modeling & simulation applications to emerge, develop, and interoperate. X3D is the next generation open standard for 3D on the web. It is the result of several years of development by the Web 3D Consortium's X3D Task Group. Instead of a large monolithic specification (like VRML), which requires full adoption for compliance, X3D is a component-based architecture that can support applications ranging from a simple non-interactive animation to the latest streaming or rendering applications. X3D replaces VRML, but also provides compatibility with existing VRML content and browsers. Don Brutzman organized the first symposium on VRML and is playing a similar role with X3D; he is a founding member of the consortium. Len Daly is a professional member of the consortium and both Len and Don have been involved with the development of the standard from the start.
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Contents
| 1 | |
Geometry Nodes Part 1 Primitives | 37 |
Grouping Nodes | 65 |
Viewing and Navigation | 95 |
Appearance Material and Textures | 121 |
Geometry Nodes Part 2 Points Lines and Polygons | 157 |
Event Animation and Interpolation | 187 |
User Interactivity Nodes | 221 |
Geometry Nodes Part 3 Geometry2D Nodes | 279 |
Lighting and Environment Nodes | 299 |
Environment Sensor and Sound Nodes | 327 |
Geometry Nodes Part 4 Triangles and Quadrilaterals | 353 |
Creating Prototype Nodes | 381 |
Getting Involved | 401 |
Appendix | 403 |
| 425 | |
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Common terms and phrases
3D graphics accessType Name Default animation authoring child nodes ClassicVRML Syntax x3dv color colorPerVertex component computed concave polygons coordinate system Core Table Default Range Profile defined in Table ECMAScript event cascade Field Definitions Figure Full profile functionality geometry nodes Grouping Nodes Hints and warnings ImageTexture Inline input inputOnly inputOutput metadata NULL Interchange SFBool initializeOnly Interchange SFNode inputOutput interface Interpolation isActive LoadSensor metadata NULL X3DMetadataObject MFString Name Default Range NavigationInfo Node syntax node types Node XML Syntax node’s normal objects output events outputOnly polygons primitive geometry ProximitySensor radians rendering right-hand rule rotation scene graph Script node sensor sensor nodes SFBool inputOutput SFFloat SFNode inputOutput metadata SFTime SFVec3f shown in Table syntax is shown texture TextureCoordinate TimeSensor TouchSensor Transform node triangles true Interchange SFBool Type accessType Name user’s value_changed vertex VRML Web3D Consortium X3D browsers X3D nodes X3D scene X3D specification X3D-Edit XHTML XML Syntax x3d
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