[x3d-public] Peripheral questions about X3D - development and books

[Brutzman, Donald (Don) (CIV)]

On 2/16/2019 8:30 AM, vmarchetti at kshell.com wrote:
> The standards development process for X3D stresses backward compatibility. What's covered in the Brutzman and Daly book will not be obsolete or outdated. There have been added developments to the standard since 2007, and there will be new features in v4. The latest standards documents are freely available at http://www.web3d.org/standards . The "Node definitions" document (http://www.web3d.org/documents/specifications/19775-1/V3.3/index.html ) is the place to start to see the latest version (3.3) of the X3D standard.

Agreed, thanks Vince.

Also happy to point out that X3D Tooltips are a helpful reference when authoring, which include both summaries and links to related resources for each node and field.

	Extensible 3D (X3D) 3.3 Tooltips (with X3D version 4.0 draft)
	http://www.web3d.org/x3d/tooltips/X3dTooltips.html

As an individual's experience grows, another helpful reference that distills collective experience of the community is

	X3D Scene Authoring Hints
	http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dSceneAuthoringHints.html

>> On Feb 16, 2019, at 9:18 AM, iam here <iamhereintheworld at gmail.com <mailto:iamhereintheworld at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> I saw on the site that v4 of X3D will be coming out - I'd just like to know: does this mean that there will soon be a new version of the X3D book by Don Brutzman and Leonard Daly? I ask cause I've ordered the one from 2007, and it's quite expensive...... - I hope it won't be outdated by the time I get it...? :)

Thanks for  getting the book, please let everyone know how you like it.  The expense is set by the publisher.  A multitude of supporting references is also available: example scenes, annotated presentations, videos, X3D Resources, metadata chapter, etc. etc.

	X3D for Web Authors
	http://x3dgraphics.com

>> I also had some curiosity about what it takes to WRITE a JS library like the X3D "parser", I guess you could call it....?

John Carlson has created X3DJSONLD open-source library:

	https://github.com/coderextreme/X3DJSONLD

>> Like, what are some good books to read on this subject? I'm quite interested in such things - is this book any good? :

Books on X3D and VRML are listed here:

	X3D Resources: Books about X3D and VRML
	http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dResources.html#Books

>> https://www.amazon.in/Tricks-Programming-Gurus-Advanced-Graphics-Rasterization/dp/0672318350/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1550326580&sr=8-8&keywords=andre+lamothe
>>
>> I already have Michael Abrash's graphics books from two decades ago...I love those :)

>> Thanks.

High praise!  It is a lot of work to write a good book.

Many 3D graphics principles remain constant, and all aspects of performance have steadily improved thanks to Moore's Law.  The vast majority of books on 3D graphics programming are tied closely to one Application Programming Interface (API) library or another.  Each API is typically tied to one programming language, and sometimes a single operating system.  This can make code exceedingly difficult to port, from one library to another or even one version to another.  Good books can explain common technical concepts well, but is always an effort to go from theory to practice.

X3D strives for publication of 3D models on the web, with accompanying animation and user navigation/interaction if desired.  We also increasingly support 3D printing and 3D scanning.  We also support multiple file formats and multiple programming languages (with more on the way).

So the future is bright for X3D, we hope to provide good Web publishing and sharing options for everyone - modellers, programmers, and plain old Web users.

all the best, Don
-- 
Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman