This is a weekly posting of topics covered in the Java 3D FAQ. The answers to these questions are kept at: http://tintoy.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~srp/java3d/faq.html Please consult this list and the web site before asking questions on the list. If there is a question that you think should be covered in the FAQ, please send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] We can't provide a "one-on-one" answering service for Java 3D questions. It's best to ask questions on the mailing list directly. Thanks, Steve Pietrowicz Introduction to Java 3D ----------------------- 1) What is Java 3D? 2) What's the difference between Java 3D and OpenGL/Direct3D/PHIGS/, etc? 3) Isn't using Java to do 3D graphics going to be slow? 4) Where can I get Java 3D, and where is the Java 3D home page? Java 3D Information ------------------- 1) Official FAQ 2) Java Programmer's FAQ 3) Mailing lists and newsgroups 4) Presentations 5) Tutorials 6) Articles 7) Online Documentation 8) Books 9) Java 3D class hierarchy diagram Running Java 3D --------------- 1) Requirements and getting Java 3D installed and running 2) Inability to find com.sun.j3d.utils or javax.vecmath 3) Exceptions 4) The "no J3D in shared library path" error 5) Strange rendering results 6) Out of memory problems 7) I have an XYZ Video Card. Why is it so slow? Third Party Resources --------------------- 1) Model/Data Loaders 2) NCSA Portfolio 3) Doom Style Keyboard Navigation 4) Web sites Java 3D and VRML ---------------- 1) What's the difference between Java 3D and VRML? 2) Java 3D-based VRML Browser 3) Accessing Nodes marked with DEF 4) Mixing Java3D Nodes and VRML worlds How Do I... ----------- 1) ...make Java 3D run fast? 2) ...use 3D input devices? 3) ...capture still images in JPEG format? 4) ...run Java 3D in Swing components? 5) ...use Swing Menus 6) ...run Java 3D in fullscreen mode 7) ...run Java 3D in Netscape's browser? 8) ...run Java 3D in Internet Explorer? 9) ...display only the points of an object? 10) ...automatically place an object in the center of the Canvas3D? 11) ...move an object on the screen with a scrollbar? 12) ...do 3D texture mapping? 13) ...add or remove a BranchGroup or Behavior at any time? Video Hardware -------------- 1) Before You Start 2) Online Hardware Guides 3) nVidia TNT Cards 4) ATI Rage 128 5) 3Dfx 6) Permedia 2 7) AccelECLIPSE (AGP) Programming Questions --------------------- 1) Where is the documentation for the utility classes that Sun provides? 2) I have a GeometryArray, and I'd like to get the Coordinates out of it using the getCoordinates(int index, Point3d coordinates[]) method call. I've allocated the array, but I'm getting a "Null pointer exception" and everything else looks right. What's happening? 3) I drew several things on the screen, but when I display the scene, it looks like the objects in the back are actually in front. How do I stop that from happening? 4) I have a flat plane in a scene, but I can only see one side of it. What can I do to see both sides? 5) I can see both sides of the polygon, but the coloring on one side seems to look flat, even though there is a light shining on it. What's wrong? 6) I get an exception that says Locale doesn't have the capability to detach a BranchGroup. How do I fix this? 7) I have 3D data that isn't three or four sided. Does Java3D provide any utilities to triangulate these polygons for me? 8) Does Java3D provide any utilities to generate normals for a set of faces? 9) I'm trying to use the Triangulator, but I get a null pointer exception thrown in an object called GeomInfoConverter. Why is this happening? 10) I keep getting an IllegalArgumentException: Index lists must all be the same length</i> when I use the GeometryInfo object. What am I doing wrong? 11) I'm trying to use Swing components with Java 3D, and I'm seeing odd results. What do I have to do to get everything to work correctly? 12) I have a 3D world that has a some spheres and cylinders and everything seems really slow when I try and move around. I also get out of memory errors, even with a small number of objects. What could be happening? 13) I'm trying to share nodes across multiple universes and I'm having problems. How do I do this? 14) I want to work with the serial device on my system to communicate with a hardware device so I can use it with Java 3D. Do I have to write some JNI code to access this? 15) I've seen the 3d texture mapping example, but it doesn't seem to work with the system I'm using. Why doesn't it work? ---- Steve Pietrowicz - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project Manager - NCSA Java 3D Group NCSA Portfolio: http://havefun.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Java3D/portfolio/ New Beta 2a release! New Loaders, record and replay of your Java 3D apps and more! Freely available for non-commercial use! You Build It VR: http://havefun.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Java3D/YouBuildItVR/ Build your own multi-user virtual worlds with no programming experience! 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