X3D Intro

This file is available via the course webpage at:

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~ruth/year4VEs/Labs/X3DIntro-resources.htm

X3D

There is only one X3D book as yet, by Don Brutzman, see http://www.x3dbook.com/ where the associated slide material can also be found.

Or go to http://x3dgraphics.com/slidesets/ to get the slides as either .pdf or .odp.

The examples used in the book can be browsed at:

http://www.x3dbook.com/examples/X3dForWebAuthors/index.html

The earlier definitive guide to VRML was:

'The VRML Sourcebook', edition 2, Ames, Nadeau & Moreland, Wiley

and is still useful, even though it uses the VRML rather than the X3D encoding. However the examples can also be found in the XML-based X3D encoding at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/ and we will be using these during the lab work.

The Web3D Consortium is a key starting point for everything on the web in 3D:

http://www.web3d.org/ and the X3D resources can be found at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/

We will be using either the X3dEdit editor, or the Submarine X3d editor, both installed in the lab and freely available at https://savage.nps.edu/X3D-Edit/ and www.submarine.unipg.it/

Viewers and browser plug-ins

For X3D content, we are using the Octaga Player – see www.octaga.com/ - which can be used in a free version. We have installed it in the labs and it works either stand-alone or as a plugin with IE and possibly Firefox.

The Cortona plugin is still around and still works for VRML encoded content. It has been upgraded recently though there are probably still VRML nodes it doesn’t handle. Get it from http://www.cortona3d.com/Products/Viewer/Cortona-3D-Viewer.aspx. NIST have a really useful plugin detector page at http://cic.nist.gov/vrml/vbdetect.html which tells you what there is for your set up and where to get it when you visit it.

X3D/VRML

This is basically just a file format which allows a 3D scene to be loaded and interacted with via a web browser. X3D is a more modern superset of VRML which uses XML syntax instead of the VRML parantheses.

So you can enter X3D descriptions via any text editor you happen to like using – for example you can use Notepad on PCs. However MUCH better to use an editor which supports the syntax such as X3dEdit or Submarine.

You can learn a lot by looking at existing X3D files – there are a large number of examples on the Web3D archive, and you are recommended to look carefully at these to see how effects are achieved.

Note that I may well set exam questions drawing on the detailed knowledge of X3D you should have acquired by carrying out the work below. Past papers assumed the use of VRML but as X3D includes VRML, the same sort of questions may well come up but assuming X3D syntax.

The output of these three labs is to be handed in by start of week 6 – Monday Feb 11^th. You should do this be sending me an email, to arrive by 5pm, in which you give me the URL of the models you have created so I can take a look at them. These should be located in your personal webspace and you should check well ahead if you are not sure where this is and how to use it.

You will also be asked to demo a sports stadium building you have modelled along with the rest of your assignment later in the term.

Lab 1

First make sure that you can bring up one of the X3d editors and an X3d player.

Using the run box and invoking x3d-edit should bring the editor up. Note the use of lower-case. Ignore the warnings.

Loading the HelloWorld.x3d file to be found via the Models link on the course webpage into IE should load the Octaga player.

An introductory X3D tutorial can be found at: http://www.niallmoody.com/heilan/basictutorial.htm

Exercise 1

Check you understand the introductory tutorial by producing in turn a Box, a Cone, a Cylinder and a Sphere. Vary the dimensions and the colour and materials.

Now check out the Flattened Cone, the Hollow Cylinder, and the Plus sign at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter03-Shapes/index.html

Exercise 2

The next thing is to combine primitive shapes into more complex assemblies using group and transform nodes and naming assembles so they can be referenced more than once.

Try building a tower of cubes; now try a cylinder with a cone on top

You need to look at the Transform node and translation, rotation and scaling.

Look at the models at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter05-PositioningShapes/index.html with first the simple translation of a cylinder, and the archway. Note the use of DEF and USE in this file to name parts of the structure and reuse them.

Exercise 3

Now look at the file castle.wrl via the Models link on the webpage.

Design a building or your own – either a shopping centre or your favourite type of religious building - start building it. Note I expect you to produce something that does not look just the same as this one!

Lab 2

Exercise 4

Read the slides introducing extrusion at http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/extr3.htm

Look at the models at:

http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter15-Extrusion/index.html using extrusion.

Produce some simple extruded shapes. Now add some extrusions to your building.

Exercise 5

Now read the slides about elevation grids at http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/elev1.htm

Look at the examples at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter14-ElevationGrid/index.html and see if you can site your building on top of a mountain.

Exercise 6

Read the slides on routes and animation at http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/dyn1.htm

Look at the examples at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter08-AnimatingPositionOrientationScale/index.html

Start trying to animate something in your building. Note that if you want a door to open, it needs to rotate about one edge, not about its middle.

Lab3

Exercise 7

Read the slides on controlling timers at

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/time1.htm

Use the information about timers with the animations you started in Exercise 6. Can you make an animation that runs once and then stops/ that rins for ever? How about animating colour rather than position?

Exercise 8

Read the slides on user interaction at

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/action.htm

Have a look at the examples on user interaction at:

http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter09-SensingViewer/index.html

Add the ability to interact with your model in at least two different ways.

Lab4

Exercise 9

Read the slides about Fog at:

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/fog1.htm

See http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter23-Fog/index.html for some examples.

Read about Lights at:

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/light1.htm

See http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter20-Lighting/index.html for some examples

Now add some fog and lights to your model.

Exercise 10

Read the slides about texture at http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/modules/F24VS2/Labs/map.htm

Now add textures to your model. You can find many free ones on the web.

X3D examples can be seen at http://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/Vrml2.0Sourcebook/Chapter18-TextureMapping/index.html and the full scope of what is available can be seen at http://www.web3d.org/files/specifications/19775-1/V3.2/Part01/components/texturing.html .

Texture is often used to produce a sky-dome; for grass; and for materials on buildings. Note that this frequently involves tiling a texture in small patches across a bigger piece of geometry. Tiles of 1024 by 1024 pixels are the most portable between different modelling formats so you might want to think about that since you probably want your textures from your 3d model to move to your OpenSG model.