<pre>
Author/s : Daniel Selman
Publisher : Manning Publishers.
Category : Swing & Graphics
Review by : Thomas Paul
Rating : 9 horseshoes</pre>
The
Java 3D API from Sun provides an object oriented abstraction around OpenGL and DirectX functions. Sun provides a fairly good introduction to Java 3D in their documentation. However, it can be difficult to find more advanced information on Java 3D as some of the best information can only be found in newsgroups. This book provides the information that anyone working with Java 3D absolutely needs. The author has covered all the bugs, workarounds, pitfalls, design problems etc. that aren't found in the Sun documentation. Starting with the basics of 3D graphics programming, the book moves quickly on to the heart of the Java 3D API, the Scenegraph. The author does a good job of explaining this key class and how to use it to create 3D scenes. The book then moves on, to explain creating of geometric shapes, defining light sources, creating textures, attaching behavior to objects, interacting with objects, and much more. Each chapter contains code samples highlighting the topics of that chapter. As a novice to Java 3D, I was overwhelmed for a little while but the code samples and the author's excellent explanations of the code kept me from becoming lost. This is definitely a book that should be read in front of the computer while working on the examples. Any experienced Java developer (even if you have no experience in graphics programming) who is interested in developing 3D games or scientific or architectural 3D applications should get this book.
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