Java3D incorporates some of the best features of popular 3D programming toolkits, including Direct3D, OpenGL, and QuickDraw3D. The APIs also include support for 3D sound functionality. In this article, I will describe how to build a simple Java3D program. Many of the gruesome details of Java3D programming will be deferred for a later article. For now, we just want to have fun.
Registration is free.
Since this release is still in beta, there will undoubtedly be a few bugs. Bug reports are posted periodically at the Java Developer Connection Java3D page. A Java3D program file has the same attributes as any other Java application. No new syntax or file naming scheme must be learned. The source code for the example used in this article can be found at the bottom of the page.