[X3D-Public] VRML to X3D converter

[Michalis Kamburelis]

2011/7/1 Campbell Barton wrote:
> I would like a simple command line application or library (preferably
> C/C++) to convert VRML to X3D, so we can drop VRML support in
> Blender3D and have the importer call the converter when its needed.
> This way I can just make use of an XML library and not have a VRML
> parser which is not that good anyway.
>
> Anyone know of a good converter?
>

Hi,

The latest release of view3dscene 3.10.1 was shamelessly done so I can
answer: yes, you can use view3dscene to convert VRML2->X3D :) It
includes a stable (preserves VRML/X3D nodes graph fully), GPLed
converter from VRML 2 to X3D. Can be used interactively ("File -> Save
As.." menu options), or from command-line ("view3dscene --write
--write=encoding=xml input.wrl > output.x3d"). You can also use
tovrmlx3d, to have a small binary that doesn't need GUI libs installed
("tovrmlx3d --encoding=xml input.wrl > output.x3d").

You can also use it to convert X3D classic encoding into X3D XML
encoding. I guess you will find this useful, if the idea is to get rid
of parsing classic VRML/X3D content in Blender and only deal with XML
flavor.

Get view3dscene from http://vrmlengine.sourceforge.net/view3dscene.php
. Converter notes are on the same page,
http://vrmlengine.sourceforge.net/view3dscene.php#section_converting .

My engine is LGPL (>= 2). view3dscene and tovrmlx3d are strict GPL (>=
2). (although LGPL can be negotiated for tovrmlx3d if needed, as it's
such trivial program :)

This is "normal" native code, so it can be compiled into an .so / .dll
if you prefer to have a library instead of a callable program. This is
not C/C++ (this is ObjectPascal, compiled by open-source
cross-platform http://www.freepascal.org/), but it's still normal
native code, so integration with C is trivial.

This can be used for more than just VRML 2 / X3D -> X3D. You can even
use this to import other formats (like 3DS or MD3) into Blender
through X3D XML. If needed, I could also add some special conversion
modes that "expand" some stuff, for example converting difficult X3D
shapes (like NURBS or Extrusion) into simpler (like IndexedFaceSet);
such conversions are done "under the hood" anyway in my engine, so
making them available for output should not be difficult, if they
would be useful.

Michalis