3 D on the Web

1. 3D on the Web Bernie Roehl December, 2000

2. Overview • What is Web3D? • Applications (why Web3D is important) • History (where we’ve been) • Current Status (where we are) • The Future (where we’re going) • Where does that leave you? • Tech talk -- creating 3D web content

3. What is Web3D? • Combination of two powerful forces • the internet • 3D graphics • The result: interactive, realtime 3D graphics delivered over the web

4. Why now? • Until recently, there were two problems: • slow computers • slow connections • Downloading 3D content took a long time • Once downloaded, it ran very slowly • Quality of the graphics was poor

5. What’s Changed? • Increased bandwidth into the home • cable modems • DSL • Increased processor speed • 1 ghz and beyond • Graphics accelerators • installed on all new machines • able to provide fast, high-quality graphics

6. Applications • E-commerce • product visualization • 3D virtual shops • interactive demos • 3D “banner ads” • Training • web-based training using interactive 3D

7. Applications (cont’d) • Games • multi-player, fully 3D (e.g. Sony Everquest) • Entertainment • streaming 3D animation (much lower bandwidth than video, can run full-screen, can have interactivity) • Social Interaction • 3D chat spaces

8. Applications (cont’d) • Education • virtual “field trips” • distance education as well as on-campus • virtual “experiments” for physical sciences • historical recreations for social sciences • 3D data visualization for various fields

9. Applications (cont’d) • Collaborative design and engineering • architecture • product design • plant layout • ergonomics

10. History • In the beginning, there was VRML. And it was good. But not great. • VRML 1.0 had an awkward scene graph structure (inherited from SGI’s OpenInventor) • VRML 2.0 (renamed VRML 97) fixed that problem, but introduced others

11. VRML 97 • ISO standard for 3D graphics on the web • Lots of good ideas • Too many good ideas -- very difficult to implement • Very large browsers (3 meg downloads!) • Incompatibilities across implementations

12. Other problems • Complexity of the spec made it an expensive business to get into • Players had to be free, so... • Companies tried to sell authoring tools • CosmoWorlds from SGI • VR Creator from VREAM • many others

13. Problems (cont’d) • Slow acceptance • players too large and buggy • bandwidth too limited for “serious” content • computers too slow to play content in realtime • Therefore… no market for authoring tools • Most companies withdrew from the market

14. The Many Woes of Cosmo • The most influential players and tools came from Cosmo Software, a division of SGI • SGI hit money problems, sold off several divisions -- including Cosmo • Cosmo was bought by Platinum • Platinum hit money problems, got bought by Computer Associates

15. Whither Cosmo? • Computer Associates essentially abandoned Cosmo (but is still buying up 3D companies) • Engineers who worked on Cosmo got snatched up (e.g. by Sony) • CosmoPlayer and CosmoWorlds were orphaned

16. Current State of VRML • VRML 97 was ahead of its time • Modern computers have no problem with it • (demo) • Several VRML vendors still around, doing well • Blaxxun Interactive (Contact) • Parallel Graphics (Cortona) • Sony (VRML multi-user systems)

17. The Present • Chaos! • VRML is now just one of many competing technologies • Not clear which ones will be successful • Market is still not growing as fast as companies are entering it • Shake-out is inevitable

18. 3D Web Technologies (3/13/00) • 3D Dreams (www.doitin3d.com) • 3D Groove (www.3dgroove.com) • Alice (www.alice.org) • Anfy 3D (www.anfy3d.com) • Atomic 3D (www.atomic3d.com) • Blaxxun3D (www.blaxxun.com) • Cult3D (www.cycore.com)

19. 3D Web Technologies (cont’d) • e3DNet (www.e3dnet.com) • Flatland (www.3dml.com) • Fluid3D (www.oz.com/fluid3d) • Gel (www.gel3d.org) • Genesis3D (www.genesis3d.com) • Hollywood3D (www.hollywood3d.com) • Java 3D (www.java.com)

20. 3D Web Technologies (cont’d) • Lightspace3d (www.ideaworks3d.com) • MetaStream (www.metastream.com) • Multipath Movies (www.bde3d.com) • NeMo (www.nemo.com) • OpenSpace3D (www.openspace3d.com) • Pulse3D (www.pulse3d.com) • PuppetTime (www.puppettime.com)

21. 3D Web Technologies (cont’d) • Realax (www.realax.com) • Scol (www.cryo-networks.com) • Shout3D (www.shout3d.com) • Vecta3D (www.vecta3d.com) • WorldUp (www.sense8.com) • Zap (www.tgs.com) • Plus...

22. 3D Web Technologies (cont’d) • Cortona (www.parallelgraphics.com) • Contact (www.blaxxun.com) • CosmoPlayer (www.cosmosoftware.com) • … and many others!

23. So What Happened to VRML? • Many of the systems above use VRML (but don’t call it that) • VRML is “under the hood” of Java3D, X3D, MPEG-4, and many of the proprietary systems • Basic VRML “scene graph” concept is used by the vast majority of systems out there

24. Who Will Survive? • Good question! • Market isn’t large enough for all those companies to make it • Some (most!) will fail • Those who survive will do very well • Stakes are high • New markets appearing soon (set top boxes, game consoles...)

25. Order from Chaos? • In theory, the Web3D Consortium exists to push open standards • Largely ineffective, for a variety of reasons • Their current effort is X3D, a successor to VRML • Much infighting about DTD’s, very slow progress • Proprietary solutions are pulling ahead

26. Current State of the Art • Several different approaches • Web browser plug-ins • Plug-ins for other plug-ins • RealPlayer • Shockwave • Standalone applications

27. Demo time! • Blaxxun3D • Shout3D • MetaStream • Cult3D • Pulse3D • Cortona • Others...

28. Blaxxun3D • 55 kb Java applet • Supports most of the VRML spec • Full interactivity, fully programmable • Completely cross-platform • No plug-ins, nothing to install • Works great!

29. Shout3D • Small Java applet (size varies) • Supports most of the VRML spec • Full interactivity, fully programmable • Completely cross-platform • No plug-ins, nothing to install • Extensible • Works great!

30. MetaStream • Puts 3D graphics on a Web page • Easy to use (3D Studio Max exporter) • Viewer must be downloaded and installed • Viewer bundled with browsers • No royalties • Clever incremental download technology • Downside: no interactivity (version 3.0 will fix this)

31. Cult3D • From Swedish company “Cycore” • Fast, lots of features • Big marketing push right now • Expensive to license ($3600 per product line) • New version just released • One of the front runners

32. Pulse 3D • From Pulse Networks • “Virtual Jay Leno” • Tightly integrated with 3D Studio Max • Close ties with Discreet • Supports streaming 3D animation • Very powerful • Largish download

33. Cortona • From Parallel Graphics • Minimal download is 500 kb • Very fast • Full support for VRML • Lots of extensions (e.g. NURBS) • Good authoring tools (Internet Scene Assembler, Internet Character Animator)

34. The Future - X3D? • X3D will happen • By the time it’s designed and implemented, market will already be very crowded • Not clear what (if anything) it adds to VRML • May be too little, too late

35. The Future - MPEG-4? • MPEG-4 will happen • Lots of big companies pushing it • Uses VRML, H-Anim, etc • Licensing issues still unclear • Won’t be commercially available for at least a year (possibly longer) • Authoring tools will be needed

36. The Future (cont’d) • Most likely scenario: • Short term… • Market remains split between a few small proprietary solutions (probably Cult3D, Pulse3D, MetaStream) plus Java applets • Medium term… • Standards begin to take hold (particularly MPEG-4) and slowly displace proprietary solutions • Long term… who knows? :-)

37. So where does that leave us? • Basic advice: • Don’t lock into any one technology yet • Decide what the needs of your application are • Create your 3D content in 3D Studio Max • reasonably powerful package • almost all formats have 3D Studio Max exporters • can re-target content to different systems down the road if necessary

38. What to do next • Start thinking how 3D can help your web site • Can be a major differentiator • Good 3D content is compelling • Interactivity leads to “stickiness”

39. Tech Talk • How to create 3D web content: • start with design! • create geometry (virtual objects) • export to intermediate format • animate and add interactivity • polish (sound, text, surrounding HTML) • convert to final format and publish

40. Design • How can 3D help me convey my message? • What visual form should the 3D content take? (What is my metaphor?) • What kinds of 3D objects are needed? • How will they move? • How will the user interact with them?

41. Geometry Creation • Use existing 3D modeling programs • 3D StudioMax • Lightwave • TrueSpace • Maya • Softimage • Use whichever ones you’re most familiar with (3D Studio Max very popular for this)

42. Exporting to Intermediate Format • Exporters are plug-ins to the 3D authoring application that let it save in a different format • Converters are standalone programs that read a standard format and convert to an intermediate form

43. Animation and Interactivity • Can be created in 3D authoring application and exported • Can be created in a separate authoring tool (e.g. Pulse, Cult3D) • Can be created using standard Javascript (Blaxxun3D, Shout3D) • Advantages and disadvantages to each approach

44. Polishing • Add sound, music if appropriate • User actions should often have sound • Put in context by creating a surrounding HTML page • Add links to additional information pages

45. Publishing • Once everything is working, the content gets put on a standard web site • Users go to that web site to view the content (possibly after downloading an appropriate plug-in)

46. The Content Creation Team • 3D modelers • fairly specialized skill • different modelers know different packages • can also create 3D content from scanning • 3D “clip art” also available • 2D artists • probably already in-house for web page art • generally use PhotoShop or PaintShop Pro

47. Content Creation Team (con’td) • Sound/music specialists • probably available in-house • must adapt skills to Web3D context • Animators • often same as modelers • must be able to design for interaction • Programmers • Javascript, Java both common

48. Example 1 -- The Toaster • Geometry created in 3D Studio Max • Background modeled and then pre-rendered (once with lights on, once off) • Textures came from a library, everything else was created from scratch in Max • Exported to VRML 97

49. Toaster (continued) • Some cleanup required on the exported VRML (easy to do with a text editor) • Animation handled with Javascript • Final output is just VRML, viewed using the Blaxxun3D viewer with HTML and Javascript

50. Example 2 -- Forest Walk • Forest created by Andrew Reitmeyer for the VRML Dream project • Simply uploaded the VRML file to a web site and wrote a short HTML page to use Shout3D’s “walk” viewer applet on it • Total time -- 10 minutes! • Building the forest itself took a bit longer