Difference between revisions of "X3D and HTML5 Summary"

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Status:  these are draft slides for the [[X3D and HTML5]] effort that will be provided to the  
+
Status:  these are the [[X3D and HTML5]] working-group slides presented to the [http://www.w3.org/html/wg HTML Working Group] during [http://www.w3.org/2009/11/TPAC Technical Plenary Week (TPAC) 2009].  These slides are also available in [http://web3d.org/x3d/presentations/X3D+HTML5.W3cTpac-20091106.pdf .pdf] form.
[http://www.w3.org/2009/11/TPAC Technical Plenary Week (TPAC) 2009].
+
  
* Family of X3D Specifications;
 
** X3D Abstract Specification describes basic functionality
 
** Three file formats are available:  XML (.x3d), ClassicVRML (x3dv), and Compressed Binary Encoding (.x3db)
 
** High-performance Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are defined for Ecmascript (Javascript) and Java
 
  
 +
== Family of [http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications X3D Specifications] ==
 +
* X3D Abstract Specification describes basic functionality of how X3D works
 +
* Three file formats are available
 +
** XML (.x3d) with XML Schema and also DTD
 +
** ClassicVRML (x3dv)
 +
** Compressed Binary Encoding (.x3db) with geometric compression and Fast Infoset (FI)
 +
* High-performance Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are defined for Ecmascript-264 (Javascript) and Java
  
* X3D Strengths
 
** Non-profit Web3D Consortium maintains and extends X3D via working groups
 
** Set of International Standards certified over 12-year period by multiple national bodies in ISO
 
** Multiple implementations are available (open and commercial source)
 
** Numerous resources available online, including specifications themselves
 
** Third-generation 3D graphics language that extends predecessor Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML97)
 
** Long-time W3C member and contributor
 
** Formal liaisons and working partnerships with International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Open Geospatial Consortium, Khronos, Digital Imaging and Communicatons in Medicine (DICOM)
 
  
 +
== X3D Strengths ==
 +
* Non-profit [http://www.web3D.org Web3D Consortium] maintains and extends X3D via working groups
 +
* Set of International Standards certified over 12-year period by multiple national bodies in ISO
 +
* Multiple implementations are available (open and commercial source)
 +
* Numerous resources available online, including specifications themselves
 +
* Third-generation 3D graphics language that extends predecessor Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML97)
 +
* Long-time W3C member and contributor
  
* Relationships between scene graphs, APIs and render layers;
 
** Scene graphs are high-level declarative models about how geometry is constructed, colored and animated; these can be expressed as an XML tree
 
** APIs are mid-level libraries for programmers to create imperative source code about geometry and animation (various proprietary codebases, O3D, perhaps WebGL)
 
** Render layers are low-level software libraries that expose the functionality of graphics hardware (e.g. OpenGL, DirectX)
 
  
 +
== Web3D Consortium has formal liaisons and working partnerships with other key organizations ==
 +
* [http://www.iso.org International Organization for Standardization (ISO)]
 +
* [http://www.w3.org World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)]
 +
* [http://www.opengeospatial.org Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)]
 +
* [http://www.khronos.org The Khronos Group]
 +
* [http://dicom.nema.org Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)]
  
* Similarities between MathML, SVG, and X3D;
 
** MathML describes mathematical expressions and then renders a presentation of them
 
** Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) describes and presents renderings of 2D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
 
** Extensible 3D (X3D) describes and presents renderings of 3D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
 
** All three languages are formally specified and have well-developed XML encodings
 
** Authors want to use these languages for multimedia content in HTML pages
 
  
 +
== Relationships between 3D scene graphs, APIs and render layers ==
 +
* Scene graphs are high-level declarative models about how geometry is constructed, colored and animated; these can be expressed as an XML tree
 +
* APIs are mid-level libraries for programmers to create imperative source code about geometry and animation (various proprietary codebases, perhaps [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebGL WebGL] or [http://code.google.com/apis/o3d O3D])
 +
* Render layers are low-level software libraries that expose the functionality of graphics hardware (e.g. [http://www.opengl.org OpenGL] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX DirectX])
 +
* Numerous other 3D technologies exist at each these other layers, often in the form of codebases
 +
* The X3D Specifications include both declarative models and strongly typed APIs
  
* X3D scene graph APIs
 
** X3D Scene Access Interface (SAI) provides a consistent standardized high-performance API
 
** X3D SAI has  Ecmascript and Java bindings, other programming languages can be added
 
** X3D SAI is functionally equivalent and has same expressive power as file formats
 
** Document Object Model (DOM) is also legal (X3D is XML after all) but infrequently used because of low performance
 
  
 +
== Similarities between MathML, SVG, and X3D ==
 +
* MathML describes mathematical expressions and then renders a presentation of them
 +
* Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) describes and presents renderings of 2D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
 +
* Extensible 3D (X3D) describes and presents renderings of 3D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
 +
* All three languages are formally specified and have well-developed XML encodings
 +
* Authors want to use these languages for multimedia content in HTML pages
  
* Simple X3D + HTML5 examples; (how current integration looks like via object model then to html5)
 
** X3D scene as external reference (Anchor link)
 
  
<a href='aScene.x3d' title='A new X3D document window'>Enter My Scene</a>
+
== X3D scene graph APIs ==
 +
* X3D Scene Access Interface (SAI) provides functionally consistent standardized high-performance APIs
 +
* X3D SAI has  Ecmascript and Java bindings, other programming languages can be added
 +
* X3D SAI is functionally equivalent and has same expressive power as file formats (.x3d, .x3dv, .x3db)
 +
* Document Object Model (DOM) is also legal (X3D is XML after all) but historically has been infrequently used because of low performance
  
In this case the host browser uses whatever it has access to in order to create a new window brwoseing context for the target .x3d resource.
 
  
** X3D embedded in object tag
+
== Differences with underlying render layers ==
 +
* OpenGL, DirectX, others are used as render layers for output of X3D player which parses .x3d XML files and draws them
 +
* Unlikely that all browsers will implement the same render layer (OpenGL &ne; DirectX)
 +
* A Canvas3D layer might be helpful to unify calls to the underlying render layer - but how will it evolve over time?
 +
* Not clear that Web authors are clamoring for ability to program low-level OpenGl (or similar) source code in Javascript, such models are not interoperable or composable
 +
* X3D avoids these problems as a declarative scene-graph language available in XML
  
<object name='x3d' type='model/x3d+xml'>
 
<param name='src' value='aScene.x3d'>
 
<table>...</table>
 
</object>
 
  
Opens nested browsing context in parent block element.
+
== Simple X3D and HTML5 examples ==
Fallback to html table.  
+
Detailed example source is provided on the [[X3D and HTML5 examples]] page.
Connections with DOM via event listeners (DOM<=>SAI).  
+
* X3D scene as external reference (Anchor link)
Set of negotiated <param> pairs: initialization and runtime.
+
  HTML source:  Here is my &lt;a href='[http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/HelloWorld.x3d HelloWorld.x3d]' title='Link to new X3D document'&gt;[http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/HelloWorld.x3d HelloWorld example]&lt;/a&gt; in X3D.
 +
* X3D embedded in object tag
 +
  [http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/HtmlObjectTagForX3d.html HTML Object Tag for X3D] shows how to place X3D objects within an HTML page
 +
* HTML5 with embedded X3D as mixed-namespace document
 +
  [http://www.X3Dom.org X3Dom] demonstration
 +
<!-- Can we structure our non-scripted examples to correspond to MathML and SVG examples? -->
  
  
** HTML5 with embedded X3D as mixed-namespace document
+
== X3DOM.org implementation ==
** Forthcoming InstantReality demo: html5+x3d with event passing connections
+
* Open Source, Javascript / WebGL based
** (Can we structure our non-scripted examples to correspond to MathML and SVG examples?)
+
* Needs Firefox/WebKit nightly builds
** (We likely need multiple examples corresponding to DOM/SAI approaches)
+
* Runs without any plugin
 +
* Can be easily modified while evolving
 +
* Needs XHTML encoded data, one line script per XHTML
  
  
* Joe initial-draft Example #1, served as application/xhtml+xml
+
== X3DOM.org functionality ==
 +
* Searches for existing &lt;X3D xmlns= &gt; and creates scenegraph from DOM Tree
 +
* Creates canvas with WebGL-Context for rendering
 +
* Monitors changes with DOM Level 2 events (DOMNodeRemoved, DOMNodeInserted, DOMAttrModified)
 +
** DOMAttrModified [http://www.x3dom.org/?p=242 buggy] in WebKit !!!
 +
* Supports simple interaction (HTML events on 3D Object) and navigation
  
      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
 
      <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
 
      <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
 
        <head>
 
          <style type=text/css'>
 
            x3d:X3D { height:200px;width:200px; }
 
          </style>
 
        </head>
 
        <body>
 
          <x3d:x3d xmlns:x3d="http://www.web3d.org/specifications/x3d-3.2.xsd">
 
            <x3d:Scene>
 
              <x3d:Shape>
 
                <x3d:Box x3d:size="4 4 4" />
 
              </x3d:Shape>
 
              <x3d:Shape>
 
                <x3d:Text x3d:string='"This is X3D Text"' />
 
              <x3d:/Shape>
 
          </x3d:Scene>
 
        </x3d:x3d>
 
      </body>
 
      </html>
 
  
 +
== X3DOM.org status ==
 +
* 3 work-months of development
 +
* Manageable Code Size (~5000 Lines JavaScript Code, ~1000 Lines GLSL Shader Code)
 +
* Support well defined Subset of X3D
 +
** Interchange Profile + Inline, Scripting, Text nodes
 +
** No Scripting or Prototype on the X3D side
 +
* Dynamic X3D content
 +
** Support for n:m FieldToField ROUTEs, TimeSensor + Interpolator + Follower nodes
  
* Joe initial-draft Example #2, served as text/html
 
  
      <!DOCTYPE html>
+
== X3DOM.org solution considerations ==
      <html>
+
* Provides an experimental open-source runtime – not the ultimate solution
        <head>
+
** Feature Limitations: e.g. no access to spatial audio or video texture layer
          <style type=text/css'>
+
** Performance Limitation: Javascript/WebGL can only handle models up to ~200.000 Triangle right now
            X3D { height:200px;width:200px; }
+
* Standardization and native implementations are needed
          </style>
+
** Support for SAI/X3D-Plugin in addition to the WebGL-Render backend will be next iteration
        </head>
+
** Final deployment solution best as part of browser
        <body>
+
** X3D community has multiple open-source C/C++ codebase [http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dResources.html resources] available
          <X3D>
+
            <Scene>
+
              <Shape>
+
                <Box size="4 4 4" />
+
              </Shape>
+
              <Shape>
+
                <Text string='"This is X3D Text"' />
+
              </Shape>
+
            </Scene>
+
          </X3D>
+
        </body>
+
      </html>
+
  
* Recommendation actions for HTML5 Recommendation
+
 
** Ensure proper X3D references in HTML5 specifications
+
== Lessons learned from years developing the [http://freewrl.sourceforge.net FreeWrl] X3D player ==
** Document correct integration and best practices
+
* Experience: FreeWRL was originally interpreted Perl with specialized "C" functions. Hoped that hardware would improve faster than size of models; that was not the case.
** What about XHTML?
+
* Interpreted was not the way to go, rewritten in C for performance
** Other recommendations?
+
* Differing OpenGL capabilities: X3D Browsers can handle these, so older models can run efficiently on new hardware (write once, run anytime; even VRML1 models from NASA run fast now)
 +
* X3D models are not tied to specific hardware, can run over OpenGL-ES, OpenGL-3.2, DirectX11, older standards like OpenGL-1.0...
 +
* OpenGL requires significant programming skills.  Don't know why the average web author would want to code in OpenGL.
 +
* What does FreeWRL require from Web browser or window? An OpenGL Context (i.e. a number); mouse and keyboard events, window size events, that's about it.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Action items for X3D and HTML5 ==
 +
* Ensure proper X3D references in HTML5 specifications - what happened, what happens next?
 +
* How to allow X3D scene to either reserve screen space or float over the page?  Presumably CSS, X3D elements include the class attribute
 +
* X3D version 3.3 draft is considering SVG and HTML as source for image textures; how to pass events?
 +
* X3D compression will likely evolve to use Efficient XML Interchange (EXI)
 +
* Web Accessibility is a future interest
 +
* Continue to document correct integration and best practices for X3D and HTML5
 +
<!-- Any other recommendations or work issues? -->
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Conclusions ==
 +
* X3D Graphics is a natural fit for HTML5
 +
* We want to maximize capabilities and deployment
 +
* Further collaboration welcome

Latest revision as of 18:34, 6 November 2009

Status: these are the X3D and HTML5 working-group slides presented to the HTML Working Group during Technical Plenary Week (TPAC) 2009. These slides are also available in .pdf form.


Family of X3D Specifications

  • X3D Abstract Specification describes basic functionality of how X3D works
  • Three file formats are available
    • XML (.x3d) with XML Schema and also DTD
    • ClassicVRML (x3dv)
    • Compressed Binary Encoding (.x3db) with geometric compression and Fast Infoset (FI)
  • High-performance Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are defined for Ecmascript-264 (Javascript) and Java


X3D Strengths

  • Non-profit Web3D Consortium maintains and extends X3D via working groups
  • Set of International Standards certified over 12-year period by multiple national bodies in ISO
  • Multiple implementations are available (open and commercial source)
  • Numerous resources available online, including specifications themselves
  • Third-generation 3D graphics language that extends predecessor Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML97)
  • Long-time W3C member and contributor


Web3D Consortium has formal liaisons and working partnerships with other key organizations


Relationships between 3D scene graphs, APIs and render layers

  • Scene graphs are high-level declarative models about how geometry is constructed, colored and animated; these can be expressed as an XML tree
  • APIs are mid-level libraries for programmers to create imperative source code about geometry and animation (various proprietary codebases, perhaps WebGL or O3D)
  • Render layers are low-level software libraries that expose the functionality of graphics hardware (e.g. OpenGL and DirectX)
  • Numerous other 3D technologies exist at each these other layers, often in the form of codebases
  • The X3D Specifications include both declarative models and strongly typed APIs


Similarities between MathML, SVG, and X3D

  • MathML describes mathematical expressions and then renders a presentation of them
  • Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) describes and presents renderings of 2D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
  • Extensible 3D (X3D) describes and presents renderings of 3D shapes, with optional animation and interaction
  • All three languages are formally specified and have well-developed XML encodings
  • Authors want to use these languages for multimedia content in HTML pages


X3D scene graph APIs

  • X3D Scene Access Interface (SAI) provides functionally consistent standardized high-performance APIs
  • X3D SAI has Ecmascript and Java bindings, other programming languages can be added
  • X3D SAI is functionally equivalent and has same expressive power as file formats (.x3d, .x3dv, .x3db)
  • Document Object Model (DOM) is also legal (X3D is XML after all) but historically has been infrequently used because of low performance


Differences with underlying render layers

  • OpenGL, DirectX, others are used as render layers for output of X3D player which parses .x3d XML files and draws them
  • Unlikely that all browsers will implement the same render layer (OpenGL ≠ DirectX)
  • A Canvas3D layer might be helpful to unify calls to the underlying render layer - but how will it evolve over time?
  • Not clear that Web authors are clamoring for ability to program low-level OpenGl (or similar) source code in Javascript, such models are not interoperable or composable
  • X3D avoids these problems as a declarative scene-graph language available in XML


Simple X3D and HTML5 examples

Detailed example source is provided on the X3D and HTML5 examples page.

  • X3D scene as external reference (Anchor link)
  HTML source:  Here is my <a href='HelloWorld.x3d' title='Link to new X3D document'>HelloWorld example</a> in X3D.
  • X3D embedded in object tag
  HTML Object Tag for X3D shows how to place X3D objects within an HTML page
  • HTML5 with embedded X3D as mixed-namespace document
  X3Dom demonstration


X3DOM.org implementation

  • Open Source, Javascript / WebGL based
  • Needs Firefox/WebKit nightly builds
  • Runs without any plugin
  • Can be easily modified while evolving
  • Needs XHTML encoded data, one line script per XHTML


X3DOM.org functionality

  • Searches for existing <X3D xmlns= > and creates scenegraph from DOM Tree
  • Creates canvas with WebGL-Context for rendering
  • Monitors changes with DOM Level 2 events (DOMNodeRemoved, DOMNodeInserted, DOMAttrModified)
    • DOMAttrModified buggy in WebKit !!!
  • Supports simple interaction (HTML events on 3D Object) and navigation


X3DOM.org status

  • 3 work-months of development
  • Manageable Code Size (~5000 Lines JavaScript Code, ~1000 Lines GLSL Shader Code)
  • Support well defined Subset of X3D
    • Interchange Profile + Inline, Scripting, Text nodes
    • No Scripting or Prototype on the X3D side
  • Dynamic X3D content
    • Support for n:m FieldToField ROUTEs, TimeSensor + Interpolator + Follower nodes


X3DOM.org solution considerations

  • Provides an experimental open-source runtime – not the ultimate solution
    • Feature Limitations: e.g. no access to spatial audio or video texture layer
    • Performance Limitation: Javascript/WebGL can only handle models up to ~200.000 Triangle right now
  • Standardization and native implementations are needed
    • Support for SAI/X3D-Plugin in addition to the WebGL-Render backend will be next iteration
    • Final deployment solution best as part of browser
    • X3D community has multiple open-source C/C++ codebase resources available


Lessons learned from years developing the FreeWrl X3D player

  • Experience: FreeWRL was originally interpreted Perl with specialized "C" functions. Hoped that hardware would improve faster than size of models; that was not the case.
  • Interpreted was not the way to go, rewritten in C for performance
  • Differing OpenGL capabilities: X3D Browsers can handle these, so older models can run efficiently on new hardware (write once, run anytime; even VRML1 models from NASA run fast now)
  • X3D models are not tied to specific hardware, can run over OpenGL-ES, OpenGL-3.2, DirectX11, older standards like OpenGL-1.0...
  • OpenGL requires significant programming skills. Don't know why the average web author would want to code in OpenGL.
  • What does FreeWRL require from Web browser or window? An OpenGL Context (i.e. a number); mouse and keyboard events, window size events, that's about it.


Action items for X3D and HTML5

  • Ensure proper X3D references in HTML5 specifications - what happened, what happens next?
  • How to allow X3D scene to either reserve screen space or float over the page? Presumably CSS, X3D elements include the class attribute
  • X3D version 3.3 draft is considering SVG and HTML as source for image textures; how to pass events?
  • X3D compression will likely evolve to use Efficient XML Interchange (EXI)
  • Web Accessibility is a future interest
  • Continue to document correct integration and best practices for X3D and HTML5


Conclusions

  • X3D Graphics is a natural fit for HTML5
  • We want to maximize capabilities and deployment
  • Further collaboration welcome