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Java 3D
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p><a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a>, <a href="/facts/Silicon_Graphics/DKvkrfLX">Silicon Graphics</a>, <a href="/facts/Apple_Computer/oTJYta3k">Apple</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sun_Microsystems/VJ9EzEFd">Sun</a> all had <a href="/facts/Retained_mode/1tetU8sg">retained mode</a> <a href="/facts/Scene_graph/faNe9vSu">scene graph</a> APIs under development in 1996. Since they all wanted to make a Java version, they decided to collaborate in making it. That project became Java 3D. Development was underway already in 1997. A public beta version was released in March 1998. The first version was released in December 1998. From mid-2003 through summer 2004, the development of Java 3D was discontinued. In the summer of 2004, Java 3D was released as a community source project, and <a href="/facts/Sun_Microsystems/VJ9EzEFd">Sun</a> and volunteers have since been continuing its development. </p><p>On January 29, 2008, it was announced that improvements to Java 3D would be put on hold to produce a 3D scene graph for <a href="/facts/JavaFX/hWrAAmny">JavaFX</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> JavaFX with 3D support was eventually released with Java 8.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The JavaFX 3D graphics functionality has more or less come to supersede Java 3D. </p><p>Since February 28, 2008, the entire Java 3D source code is released under the <a href="/facts/GPL/S75KhLSX">GPL version 2</a> license with <a href="/facts/GPL_linking_exception/yBq2Qanv">GPL linking exception</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>Since February 10, 2012, Java 3D uses <a href="/facts/Java_OpenGL/5B4k8Tzy">JOGL</a> 2.0 for its hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering. The port was initiated by Julien Gouesse.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="features">Features</h2> <ul><li>Multithreaded <a href="/facts/Scene_graph/faNe9vSu">scene graph</a> structure</li> <li><a href="/facts/Cross-platform/16zqdvNR">Cross-platform</a></li> <li>Generic <a href="/facts/Real-time_computer_graphics/jrILnb0K">real-time</a> API, usable for both visualization and gaming</li> <li>Support for <a href="/facts/Retained_mode/1tetU8sg">retained</a>, compiled-retained, and <a href="/facts/Immediate_mode_(computer_graphics)/yA7FXopW">immediate mode</a> rendering</li> <li>Includes hardware-accelerated <a href="/facts/Java_OpenGL/5B4k8Tzy">JOGL</a>, <a href="/facts/OpenGL/xQoMWePr">OpenGL</a>, and <a href="/facts/Direct3D/WHJ6DTcv">Direct3D</a> renderers (depending on platform)</li> <li>Sophisticated virtual-reality-based view model with support for stereoscopic rendering and complex multi-display configurations</li> <li>Native support for <a href="/facts/Head-mounted_display/Bb7H5FPa">head-mounted display</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cave_Automatic_Virtual_Environment/0K8cNXsw">CAVE</a> (multiple screen projectors)</li> <li><a href="/facts/3D_audio_effect/8McKzRPU">3D spatial sound</a></li> <li>Programmable shaders, supporting both <a href="/facts/GLSL/5yQ3WqTA">GLSL</a> and <a href="/facts/Cg_programming_language/UdEsuct2">CG</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Stencil_buffer/BNGPjMJE">Stencil buffer</a></li> <li>Importers for most mainstream formats, like <a href="/facts/.3ds/EojTlyt6">3DS</a>, <a href="/facts/Wavefront_.obj_file/zEr5znPH">OBJ</a>, <a href="/facts/VRML/EkNXun7G">VRML</a>, <a href="/facts/X3D/4PHPbmHl">X3D</a>, NWN, and <a href="/facts/OpenFlight/Ft3zE0t3">FLT</a></li></ul> <h2 id="competing-technologies">Competing technologies</h2> <p>Java 3D is not the only high-level API option to render 3D in Java. In part due to the pause in development during 2003 and 2004, several competing Java scene graph technologies emerged: </p><p>General purpose: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Ardor3D/DcBwsnfp">Ardor3D</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/JavaFX/hWrAAmny">JavaFX</a></li></ul> <p>Gaming: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/JMonkeyEngine/DcBwsnfp">jMonkeyEngine</a></li> <li>Espresso3D</li></ul> <p>Visualization: </p> <ul><li><a href="http://www3.math.tu-berlin.de/jreality/jrealityStatic/index.php">Jreality</a></li></ul> <p>In addition to those, many other C or C++ scene graph APIs offer Java support through <a href="/facts/Java_Native_Interface/Q3E0I6lL">JNI</a>. </p><p>At a lower level, the <a href="/facts/Java_OpenGL/5B4k8Tzy">JOGL</a> (JSR 231) OpenGL bindings for Java are a popular alternative to scene graph APIs such as Java 3D. <a href="/facts/Lightweight_Java_Game_Library/43yxT8cL">LWJGL</a> is another such binding. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Computer programming portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Project_Looking_Glass/rDoyGsDw">Project Looking Glass</a> (Experimental 3D Desktop using Java 3D)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Open_Wonderland/abowMwWU">Open Wonderland</a> (Virtual workspace environment using Java 3D and Project Darkstar)</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Id2VGR1Ik&t=307">Harvey presents the current state of Java3D "I’m not Dead!" at SIGGRAPH 2013</a></li> <li><a href="https://gouessej.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/java-3d-est-de-retour-java-3d-is-back/">Java 3D est de retour (Java 3D is back): Java3D preview setup introduction</a></li> <li><a href="https://jogamp.org/deployment/java3d/">Current releases (Java 3D 1.7)</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121022074250/http://java3d.java.net/">Previous official site</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130109170653/http://java3d.java.net/binary-builds.html">releases</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=926">JSR 926</a> (Java 3D 1.5), <a href="http://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=912">JSR 912</a> (Java 3D 1.3)</li> <li><a href="http://forum.jogamp.org/java3d-f3728156.html">Current forum (Java 3D 1.6)</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090611150009/http://forums.java.net/jive/forum.jspa?forumID=70">Previous forum</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20051215031051/http://wiki.java.net/bin/view/Javadesktop/Java3D">Wiki</a> for Java 3D - Places for collaboration; includes lists of books and users, FAQ, and knowledge base</li> <li><a href="http://www.java3d.org/">java3d.org</a>. Tutorial, examples and information</li> <li><a href="https://opengl.j3d.org/tutorials/index.html">OpenGL.J3D Java 3D Tutorials</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.sdsc.edu/~nadeau/Courses/Siggraph99/">Lecture</a> - from Siggraph for beginners</li> <li>Game Programming <a href="http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg/">[1]</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130309004617/http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/%7Ead/jg/">Archived</a> 2013-03-09 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a>, <a href="http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg2/">[2]</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130609154457/http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg2/">Archived</a> 2013-06-09 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> in Java 3D (chapters as pdf-files and sourcecode)</li> <li><a href="https://java3d-eclipse.sourceforge.net/">Plugin for Eclipse hosted by SourceForge</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.navgen.com/">Example visualisation applets using Java 3D</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.emouseatlas.org/emap/home.html">EMAP, The e-Mouse Atlas Project</a> - A 3D anatomical structure explorer with embedded 2D section made by Guangjie Feng</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"ANNOUNCEMENT: Java 3D plans". Sun Microsystems. 2008-01-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2011-05-11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120310231138/http://www.java.net/node/674071" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120310231138/http://www.java.net/node/674071</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"What's New in JDK 8". Oracle Corporation. 2014-03-18. <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/8-whats-new-2157071.html" target="_blank">http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/8-whats-new-2157071.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"ANNOUNCE: GPL open source release". Sun Microsystems. 2008-02-28. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-02-29. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080324111722/http://forums.java.net/jive/thread.jspa?messageID=261477&tstart=0#261477" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080324111722/http://forums.java.net/jive/thread.jspa?messageID=261477&tstart=0#261477</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Java3D now works with JOGL 2.0". Julien Gouesse. 2012-10-02. Retrieved 2012-10-02. <a href="http://forum.jogamp.org/Java3D-now-works-with-JOGL-2-0-td3732206.html" target="_blank">http://forum.jogamp.org/Java3D-now-works-with-JOGL-2-0-td3732206.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>