Shape { } information
Creating 3D Virtual Reality is basically modeling objects to compose a particular environment. In VRML creating the visual aspect of an object is done with the Shape {} node. The Shape { } node has 2 fields : geometry and appearance. The geometry field specifies a geometry node, and the appearance field contains an Appearance { } node.
- The geometry field (primitive geometry)
- Box { }
- Cone { }
- Cylinder { }
- Sphere { }
- The geometry field (complex geometry)
- ElevationGrid { }
- Extrusion { }
- IndexedFaceSet { }
- IndexedLineSet { }
- PointSet { }
- Text { }
- The appearance field
In the Shape { } section of VRC (most probably the place you're right now since you get this information from there only) you will find different objects displayed on pedestals. Each of these objects is either a geometry or an appearance. The objects are grouped following the classification given above. Pointing the objects with the cursor will show you some information about the object (e.g. this is a Cone), and clicking the object will show you the code in an external browser window.
To get more specific information about shapes and geometry you can also check the Virtual Reality Modeling Language specs, chapter 4, Concepts, shapes and geometry.
N.B. For the moment only the primitive geomtry objects and some 3 of the complex geometry objects are available. More to come...
Last changed by DJPO (27-Jun-1998)