3d-graphics

Modelling an I-Section in a 3D Graphics Library

I am using Direct3D to display a number of I-sections used in steel construction. There could be hundreds of instances of these I-sections all over my scene. I could do this two ways: Using method A, I have fewer surfaces. However, with backface culling turned on, the surfaces will be visible from only one side. If backface culling i...

Getting started with OpenGL

As you can see here I'm about to start work on a 3d project for class. Do you have any useful resources/websites/tips/etc. on someone getting started with OpenGL for the first time? The project will be in C++ and accessing OpenGL via GLUT. Thanks! ...

What is the best 3-D technology for the "Online Room Planner" site?

The main user-case is: Create the 2D floor plan See the 3D view of the room in colors and in dynamic lighting (switching on and off the lamps) Select the furniture from the large library of predefined samples. Change the color and texture of the furniture samples. Create the photos of the 3D room view from different points. Also user c...

3D scene file format & viewer

I am looking for a cross-platform solution for saving and viewing 3D scenes (visualizations of engineering simulation models and results) but there (still) doesn't seem to be much out there. I looked into this almost 10 years ago and settled on VRML then (and started the project that eventually turned in OpenVRML). Unfortunately, VRML/X...

OpenGL rotating a camera around a point

In OpenGL I'm trying to rotate a camera around a point, with camera being distance r from the point and facing the point when it rotates. In other words, I want the camera to move along the circumference of a circle at a radius r from the center, with the camera facing the center at any point along the circumference. Lets say that in ...

3d Graphics for a Web Based Application

Hi, I've to create a Web Based Application, that amongst other things, includes the following tasks Loading a 3D model from a database. Display the 3D Model. Doing Inverse Kinematics computations to generate the series of steps for the model to move from an initial to final position. Display the animation in real time. The applicati...

Should Quaternion based 3D Cameras accumulate Quaternions or Euler angles?

So I have written a Quaternion based 3D Camera oriented toward new programmers so it is ultra easy for them to integrate and begin using. While I was developing it, at first I would take user input as Euler angles, then generate a Quaternion based off of the input for that frame. I would then take the Camera's Quaternion and multiply it...

Calculating a LookAt matrix

I'm in the midst of writing a 3d engine and I've come across the LookAt algorithm described in the DirectX documentation: zaxis = normal(At - Eye) xaxis = normal(cross(Up, zaxis)) yaxis = cross(zaxis, xaxis) xaxis.x yaxis.x zaxis.x 0 xaxis.y yaxis.y zaxis.y 0 xaxis.z ...

Getting absolute position and rotation from inside a scene graph?

So I have run up against this problem a few times: I have some object in my 3D Scene Graph which is a child of some other object. Lets call them c (Child) and p (Parent). c's position is defined relative to p. Thus c may have a position (1,0,0) but of course, due to p having some other position, say (1,2,3), it is not actually rendered...

What is the best application/technique to design 3D landscapes for a Game?

I am currently in the process of needing to create game content for our student project. I need to create a desert environment that we will export then load into our game. I am not a designer, although I am being forced into the role. The environment with have a level of detail similar to World of Warcraft (maybe not as high detail). M...

Managed Direct3D or XNA for non-game related 3D graphics programming?

Which is the preferred approach for doing .NET 3D graphics programming: Direct3D or XNA seem to be the current technologies, but which is best for non-game related programming? Also, has Managed Direct 3D been discontinued? XNA doesn't really seem to be appropriate for non-game development. ...

SDK for Avatars (such as Wii, XBOX 360 avatars)

What are some software packages available to provide 90% of the avatar functionality for my games? My favorite is xbox's Avatar system (but I want it in my PC games). I need the ability to customize the looks of a person (body, clothes, etc...). ...

Best way to get started on simple 3D user interfaces using Java?

I'm writing a time management application and I have an idea for presenting timelines and todo items in 3D. Visually, I imagine this as looking down a corridor or highway in 3D, with upcoming deadlines and tasks represented as signposts - more important items are larger and upcoming deadlines are nearer. I want to do this in Java, howev...

Google Sketchup API - to a Windows App?

How can one interface with Google Sketchup, via the API, from a Windows App? I was looking at something written in C#/VB.NET but its seems like the only available Google Sketchup API is for Ruby. Any ideas on how to use that Ruby API from .NET? Is Ruby only serverside or can it be processed locally, offline? ...

Most Common 3D Model Format?

It's been about two years since I last developed games, and I am interested in starting a new project. What is the most common open-source 3D model format? I am looking for a format that would preferably have a lot of either public domain or open-licensed models existing. Last I checked, MD5 was the most common animated model format, a...

Sphere World Implementation C++

What would be the best way to implement, store, and render spherical worlds, such as the ones in spore or infinity but without the in-between stages of spore, and multiple worlds ala infinity universe. Make no assumptions on how the planet itself is generated or its size/scale. ...

Learning game programming (part 2) (math)

So, it's been a few months since I wrote this question, since then I've toyed with "raw" C++ D3D, The Ogre and Irrlicht graphics engines and lately Microsoft XNA. I've built a few 2D games (mostly replicas of old stuff like tetris, astreoids, etc.) and made some (very) small steps into the 3D world in the above mentioned technologies. I...

Yellow Triangle that should be 3 colours OpenGL

This is probably a silly mistake but I cant see it?! I have classes defining geometry and classes that render that geometry. Right now it is basic triangles and colours for each vertex. Here is the code defining said geometry objects data: CGeometry* g = new CGeometry(); g->vertexes = new double[3*3]; g->vertexes[0] = 0; g->vertexes[...

3d graphics library that works with lowend video card(without pixel shader) ?

Would like to know options in 3D graphics engines out there that can even work on cards that do not have support for pixel shader or dedicated video memory. For example , xna samples do not work on my notebook ( no dedicated video memory , shared video memory(64MB) and no pixel shader ) Although , on this very notebook unreal tourname...

WPF 3D Model Drawing Tools

Are there any applications out there for 3D modeling that would output the finished product to an array of points (X,Y,Z) that you could then import to a WPF 3D Model? ie: <MeshGeometry3D Positions="0,0,0 10,0,0 0,10,0 10,10,0 0,0,10 10,0,10 0,10,10 10,10,10" TriangleIndices="0,2,1 1,2,3 0,4,2 2,4,6 0,1,4 1,5,4 1,7,5 1,3,7 4,5,6 7,6,5 ...