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Developer Resources, Browsers, and Plug-insWe'd all like to have those ultra-souped up SGI graphics workstations, but unfortunately VRML doesn't require that you shell out a couple thousand dollars or so. All that's needed is a text editor so you can enter text commands. Then your browser will interpret these commands and display your world--along the same lines as your everyday HTML document.So, let's get started. Text editors you could use include Windows Notepad (my personal choice), Macintosh SimpleText, UNIX vi, or anything else that can save files in the ASCII format. (ASCII is just a standard that says that only characters you type will be saved. For example, carriage returns, tabs, and other spacing are not saved in the file.) If you do use a word processor with more features, be sure to save your VRML files as ASCII text files. All VRML files end in the extension .wrl, which, depending on who you talk to, is pronounced "world." There are also professional applications to do some of the job for you. Perhaps THE most popular is the very nicely designed 3D Studio Max by Kinetix. Primarily it's centered around computer animation, but also includes robust VRML exporting abilities. For those who like to do things manually, Parallel Graphics' VRMLPad is a prime choice. It includes helpful features such as excellent error detection, auto completion, and a very robust visual interface. If you've got a world, how do you view it? You could either download a plugin for your particular browser or download an entirely different browser specially designed for VRML content. I happen to use the Blaxxun3D plugin on my system. Get a full list of browsers here. More popular ones include Intervista Corp.'s WorldView browser, Cosmo Software's CosmoPlayer, and Parallel Graphics' Cortona browser. Now you have a text editor and a browser. Let's go look at some code. Next: Info on key concepts |
