[X3D-Ecosystem] RawKee - Just a teaser...

[Bergstrom, Aaron]

John,

Well… Don specifically told me not to make any changes to x3d.py, so I have not attempted to make any x3d.py customizations. And after looking at the guts of the x3d.py code, I really don’t have any desire to do so anyway.

I feel that x3d.py’s complexity is outside of my Python programming skills. So much so, that I feel that I would likely break x3d.py with any customizations I tried to make.

Basically, my python Kung Fu is not strong in that area, yours is stronger.

I feel that I have my hands full pulling together an understanding of Maya MEL Script, Maya Python API’s, the Maya’s DAG and Dependency Graph, the various Maya ShaderEngines/Renders, HTML/Web Browser/Ecmascript tech, x3d.py, the X3D Scenegraph, the X3D Spec in general, the HAnim Spec, the various encoding styles, and implementing all that for the exporter.

Getting into the stylesheet stuff is something I really don’t feel that I have the mental resources for.

My current process is to leverage x3d.py for most exporting needs, and then test the output in Sunrize and X_ITE as they are easy to work with.

However, I did write my own python script that writes x3d.py scenegraph out to disk in the various XML, HTML (X3DOM), VRML, and JSON encodings of X3D. It would be nice to add a compressed/binary encoding of it as well, though I’m not sure what the current preferred compressed/binary version of X3D is.

And I’d like work on creating loaders as well… at some point in the future. I currently have a rudimentary loader for HAnim built into RawKee for Maya.

Is the PythonSerializer.js script written in Ecmascript? When you say it converts JSON to Python, do you mean x3d.py objects? How does an ecmascript file convert JSON to Python? I guess I’m not understanding how that works if it is a Ecmascript.

Outside of creating X3D content for our own projects, I see my Ecosystem niche as focusing on the “Authoring Tool (AT) to X3D.py to AT” data conversion process/pipeline.

I have a strong understanding of this process for Maya [aka Maya --> Python: X3D.py], so I plan to leverage that work and port the AT to X3D pipeline to other AT’s that support plugin development with the Python language.

My next AT target for an exporter plugin is Houdini, on which I’ve already begun to work. The plan is to build a RawKee exporter for Houdini in parallel with the RawKee exporter for Maya. In fact, because of Houdini’s HDA engine for Maya, it makes sense to do so.

Admittedly, this may require me to learn some Houdini VEX as well, even though Houdini supports Python. But this isn’t any different that Maya requiring an understanding of the Maya Embedded Language as well as Maya Python.

Aaron

From: John Carlson <yottzumm at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2025 2:16 AM
To: X3D Ecosystem public discussion <x3d-ecosystem at web3d.org>
Cc: Bergstrom, Aaron <aaron.bergstrom at und.edu>
Subject: Re: [X3D-Ecosystem] RawKee - Just a teaser...

Aaron,

Ah, I see you’re using the lastest x3d.py, terrific.   I am working with that as well.   Have you made changes to x3d.py?

I am using X3dToPython.xslt to generate Python from XML.  Have you tried the stylesheet or the way X3DJSAIL generates python from XML?   I also have a PythonSerializer.js I used to convert JSON to Python that’s being put to the test, one side from JSON being produced, and the other from the x3d.py API.

Thanks,

John

On Wed, Aug 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM Bergstrom, Aaron via X3D-Ecosystem <x3d-ecosystem at web3d.org<mailto:x3d-ecosystem at web3d.org>> wrote:
All,

Just sharing a RawKee teaser…
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uhlqq2tdPUGuyH0MXxXBsW5MwufNOrnE/view?usp=sharing

Aaron
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