Author Description

In The Java 3D(tm) API Specification, Second Edition, the most current release of the Java 3D(tm) API, version 1.2, is fully specified, explained and discussed. This newest version of the API features a redesigned internal architecture that provides a foundation for higher quality applications with improved ability to scale. This is the most authoritative, complete, and detailed book on the Java 3D API. This book represents the definitive Java 3D API specification, providing authoritative and detailed descriptions of each element of the API. It offers an informative overview of the Java 3D API, comprehensive instructions for "scene graph" definition and construction, and a detailed description of the Java 3D View Model, an innovative model enabling applications to be displayed on a wide array of devices. The book also features a variety of input devices, picking mechanisms, audio capabilities, and behaviors and interpolators for animating objects. The Java 3D Execution and Rendering Model(tm) is described in depth. Other topics covered include math objects, 3D geometry compression, and exceptions. The accompanying CD-ROM, new to this edition, contains numerous live examples. Comprehensive and definitive, this book is an essential reference for any programmer interested in entering the exciting world of three-dimensional Internet applications. The Java 3D API, part of the Java(tm) Media suite of APIs, enables the creation of three-dimensional graphics applications and Internet-based 3D applets. It gives developers high-level constructs for creating and manipulating 3D geometry and for building the structures used in rendering that geometry. Using the Java 3D API, developers can efficiently define and render very large virtual worlds. Moreover, in line with the Java platform's "write once, run anywhere" vision, applications written using the Java 3D API can run on a wide range of platforms and systems and are adapted for use on the Internet. For all programmers and de