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Tutorials Index

Java 3DTM API Tutorial

by Sun Microsystems Java 3D Engineering Team



The Java 3DTM API is a hierarchy of JavaTM classes which serve as the interface to a sophisticated three-dimensional graphics and sound rendering system. Java 3D provides high-level constructs to create and manipulate 3D geometry, and to build the structures used to render that geometry. Using this API, developers can efficiently create precise virtual universes in a wide variety of sizes, from astronomical to subatomic.

Despite all of this functionality, the API is straightforward to use. The details of rendering are handled automatically. By taking advantage of Java threads, the Java 3D renderer is capable of rendering in parallel. The renderer can also automatically optimize for improved rendering performance.

This tutorial introduces the main concepts of the Java 3D API, including many code samples, examples, and diagrams. You can view chapters online or download the PDF file. (PDF viewer available from Adobe)

About the Chapters

Chapter 0, Overview: How to use the tutorial.

Chapter 1, Getting Started with Java 3D: Getting an object on the screen.

Chapter 2, Creating Geometry: Creating objects in the scene graph.

Chapter 3, Easier Content Creation: Easier ways to get complex content into Java 3D.

Chapter 4, Interaction: Interacting with your objects and how they can interact with each other.

Chapter 5, Animation: Getting objects to change and move in a scene.

Chapter 6, Lights: Lightening up your scene and describing materials and colors.

Chapter 7, Textures: Adding textures to your scene to add realism.

In the coming months, this tutorial will be updated with Java 3D 1.2 information.

Download all the chapters in one convenient .zip file. (1,823KB)

About the Authors

The Java 3D Tutorial was developed by Sun's Java 3D engineering team, with assistance from a number of consultants. The engineering team works closely with the Sun OpenGL team to implement the most advanced computer graphics API today.


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[ This page was updated: 21-Sep-2000 ]
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