This entire book was presented as a tutorial during the ACM Special Interest Group on Graphics (SIGGRAPH) conference in 1998.

The SIGGRAPH98 online course Introduction to VRML97 by David R. Nadeau, John L. Moreland, and Michael M. Heck includes all of the examples translated here. Many of these X3D scenes are adapted directly from the original VRML 2.0 Sourcebook chapter examples.

A large number of Interesting Scenes have been added to this course for learning VRML and X3D. Source code for the original example models is also provided.

Original Course Abstract. The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) is an international standard for describing 3D shapes and scenery on the World Wide Web. VRML's technology has very broad applicability, including web-based entertainment, distributed visualization, 3D user interfaces to remote web resources, 3D collaborative environments, interactive simulations for education, virtual museums, virtual retail spaces, and more. VRML is a key technology shaping the future of the Web. Participants in this tutorial will learn how to use VRML 97 (a.k.a. ISO VRML, VRML 2.0, and Moving Worlds) to author their own 3D virtual worlds on the World Wide Web. Participants will learn VRML concepts and terminology, and be introduced to VRML's text-format syntax. Participants also will learn tips and techniques for increasing performance and realism. The tutorial includes numerous VRML examples and information on where to find out more about VRML features and use.