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X3D is an extensible, open file international
standard for three-dimensional visual and sound
effects. The standard facilitates the creation of 3D
animated scenes and the exchange of 3D data between
applications. The scenes are animated, the user can
switch cameras, move the cameras and interact with
the objects in the scene. X3D is the successor to
the well-known Virtual Reality Modeling Language,
or VRML. Please visit the
Web
3D Consortium for more information. A viewer
program is required to view the animations. Several
browser plug-ins and independent programs are
available, and most are free and very easy to
install. We have installed Flux Player from
Media Machines as a plug-in for Internet
Explorer, and are very satisfied with the results.
We have also set Flux Player as our default X3D
player and associated it with the file extension
"x3dv" used for X3D files.
The animations included here represent the motion
of rigid bodies or articulated structures composed
of rigid bodies. Their motion is strictly governed
by the laws of Physics, not the imagination of an
artist. Of course, the objects move in response to
external stimuli such as applied forces, collisions,
gravity, which are governed by the imagination of
the artist. The animations illustrate some of the
physical and mechanical properties available in the
code, and are simple examples not intended as
artistic work or commercial material. Rigid bodies
have been rendered as rectangular blocks with solid
color. The following animations are currently
included:
FlyingBlocks. Three colored blocks inside
a transparent box. The blocks are assigned initial
positions and velocities. The blocks fly inside the
box colliding among themselves and with the walls
of the box. Sound effects are included.
HumanFallingRamp. An articulated human
figure composed of rectangular blocks, placed at
the top of a ramp. The figure receives a push and
falls down the ramp under the force of gravity.
Stereo sound effects are included
Pendulum. An articulated figure composed
of two rectangular blocks, one of them fixed and the
other free to oscillate about the articulation under
the force of gravity.
To install, simply download the compressed file
and unzip it into the directory of your choice. The
size is 300 KB. Once unzipped, and assuming you have
installed an X3D viewer and associated it with the
.x3dv extension, simply open one of the .x3dv files.
The animation will start when you click on one of
the objects in the scene. The faster the computer,
the better the animations will display.
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