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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Hi iam,</div>
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<div>Hi,</div>
<div>I am new to this whole X3D thing, so had a couple of
questions:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1) Where does X3D "fit in" in the whole 3D-on-the-web
thing? The other things here include CSS 3D transforms, WebGL
(which, as I understand it, will soon become WebGPU), and
just....drawing on a <canvas> with your own Javascript
code, am I correct? So - what exactly *IS* X3D?</div>
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<p><br>
</p>
<p>X3D is the only ISO standard of declarative 3D graphics with
support for animation and interactivity. X3D is not a W3C standard<br>
</p>
<p>CSS 3D transforms do not really work in 3D space. They do a 3D
transform then project back to a flat plane. There is no
accounting for real depth. Stereographics may be possible, but it
is difficult. At least a couple of years ago, there were no GPU
optimizations, so a dynamical scene would be slow.</p>
<p>WebGL is a low level interface in a web browser to the graphics
card. Yes you could do everything that X3D does (and more) in
WebGL, but it would take a lot (I really mean a lot) of
programming. If you really wanted to go that way, THREE.js or
Babylon.js provide an easier to use programmatic interface to
WebGL.</p>
<p>You didn't mention the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>THREE.js - an open source JS library that provides a simpler
access to WebGL</li>
<li>Babylon.js - another open source JS library like THREE. I
don't think there is any technical differences between the two -
it is more a matter of approach.</li>
<li>A-Frame - an open source declarative library from Mozilla. It
is an attempt to define a game-suitable declarative language.
This library requires additional JS code to perform many
functions.</li>
<li>XSeen - an open source declarative library from Daly Realism
(me). It is a prototype to understand what is really needed in a
web-browser based declarative language. The language supports 3D
in all HTML5 browsers displayed in a variety of modes (mono,
stereo). It also tracks device motion (if the device has
orientation sensors). It can work in VR (all objects computer
generated) or AR (use camera with some computer generated
objects) and other features.</li>
</ul>
<p>The last two items above are declarative languages. Both are
written on top of THREE.js and are fully integrated with HTML. X3D
is not HTML-integratable because it has a node name conflict
(script), event handling is incompatible, and some fundamental
design concepts do not match between HTML5 and X3D (V3.3).<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<div>2) What is the connection between X3D and glTF? glTF is
just a model format, right? So - is X3D capable of "drawing"
glTF models or something, with Javascript?</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Using X3D V3.3 and glTF V2.0.</p>
<p>glTF supports animated models with physically-based rendering
(PBR). It also has many of the interactive and environment
features that X3D does.</p>
<p>X3D does not support PBR. It does have more interactive and
general graphics features that are not present in glTF.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<div>3) What is X3D's connection to VRML? Is it the successor?
What does that mean, exactly?</div>
</div>
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<p>X3D is the evolutionary successor to VRML. The VRML standard
still exists because many software applications/libraries support
it. Most all code written in VRML will run in X3D. The exceptions
usually involve Scene Application Interface (X3D's API).<br>
</p>
<p><br>
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<div>4) Is it possible to make GAMES, or other, interactive 3D,
in it? eg. like Quake or something, when the "up" key is
pressed, it has to go *forward* - can X3D do that??</div>
</div>
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<p>Michalis Kamburelis has done a lot in this area with his Castle
Game Engine. He is on this list and I hope responds here.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<div>5) I heard that it's possible to do *character animation*
in X3D, ie. you can tamper with the mesh of say, a man, in
Javascript - how do I do that? Is there information about
this in the Don Brutzman and Leonard Daly book? (thanks for
your help with my previous query, btw, Don! :) )</div>
</div>
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<p>X3D V3.3 uses the H-Anim V1 standard. H-Anim V2 has just been
released, but is not incorporated in X3D (yet). X3D animation is
not defined to use the GPU for calculations. It makes mesh changes
from skeleton animation very slow or jerky. There has been some
with with X3DOM (X3D adapted for HTML) that may suit your needs.
Note that the terminology used in H-Anim is not the same as used
in industry-standard animation.</p>
<p>Mesh animation is achieved with the CoordinateInterpolator node.
Skeleton animation that changes a mesh needs to run through
H-Anim. Very little standard character animation (as seen in
movies, TV, games, etc.) has been done in X3D.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
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<div>6) And finally, I've heard about the new Nvidia cards which
do Realtime Raytracing - is it possible to have photoreal
graphics inside a web browser by using X3D?</div>
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<p>The X3D lighting model is 20+ years old and very much based on
simplifications designed for graphics processors at that time.
There is no reason that the X3D browser cannot use ray tracing;
however, adhering to the X3D lighting equations may lead to less
than desirable results.</p>
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<div>Ok, that's it. Hope I haven't bugged you too much with my
questions :)</div>
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<p><br>
</p>
<p>No worries, these are important to ask.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Leonard Daly</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
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<div>Thanks for you guys' help.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
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<br>
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<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<font class="tahoma,arial,helvetica san serif" color="#333366">
<font size="+1"><b>Leonard Daly</b></font><br>
3D Systems & Cloud Consultant<br>
LA ACM SIGGRAPH Past Chair<br>
President, Daly Realism - <i>Creating the Future</i>
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