Bob,
Well, Java 3D does the native OpenGL calls for us. It's kinda the point
of using Java3D - so that we *don't* have to write those native
libraries.
Performance with Java3D seems very good and is not what I'd consider the
major issue. You mention displaying and spinning several transparent
spheres at the same time. By default (unless you tell it otherwise)
each sphere is absurdly high resolution. And hence you'll kill
performance quickly by putting in a few. Also transparency adds a lot
of work for the renderer.
It would be nice if Java 3D would be better supported (Macs) but for now
I guess we have to be happy with the open nature of Java that should
allow support of Java 3D on any platform that has enough interest /
support to port Java3D to it.
I've considered doing the raw OpenGL calls myself because my biggest
concern is getting around the bugs (mostly in the picking routines) in
Sun's code. I wish Sun would provide better documentation and give us a
"layered" approach so you could go as low (raw OpenGL calls) as you
wanted.
- John Wright
Starfire Research
Bob Gray wrote:
>
> Has anyone developed Java Classes/Methods to do native OpenGL calls?
> Anyone know of some documentation on this?
>
> Although I like Java 3D, it often seems a big pain to use. For example,
> no Java 3D on the Macs, needs additional plugin installed and I never got
> good
> performance when I try to display 20 or 30 spheres, all moving, all
> partially transparent,
> and almost filling the entire screen, and menus seem to blink badly/slowly
> when there
> is any motion going on in the scene. So, I hate to say it, but I am
> looking for
> alternative ways to do the 3D programs I want to do. I'd love
> to have something that is more "portable". That is, something that runs in
> default Browser's JVM. (Java 1.1 or are the new browsers up to 1.2?) So I
> thought of defining a
> basic set of OpenGL calls from some Java methods. Granted, for each
> platform,
> the native code might be different. But once written, one library for one
> of the platforms
> I am interested in (Macs, Windows, Linux) I would think this would be a
> small choir to change to the other platforms.
>
> On the other hand, I know nothing about OpenGL.....
>
> Anyone have any ideas on what to look into?
>
> Would anyone no of good performance tutorial for Java 3D? (The performance
> issues might be from my bad programming. So how do I learn about getting
> not just
> good but fantastic performance from Java 3D? This wont solve the platform
> issue
> with Java 3D, but it would certainly make *me* feel better about Java 3D if
> I could
> get my programs to perform nicely. Anyone want to help me through my
> performance
> problems? I could write some code, do some timing measurements (with
> someone's help)
> and then maybe we could go through the code and see what's wrong. I'd do
> the example
> mentioned about of 20 to 30 spheres moving, rotating, while the users
> selects various menu
> options.)
>
> To see the performance problems I am having, you can try out a program I
> wrote at
> http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/Java3D/ndcp/ndcp.html
> <http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/Java3D/ndcp/ndcp.html>
> click on "Start the program."
> Then, once started, type the "F6" button a few time to add some spheres. I
> think you'll
> see the performance problem. And the flickering problem.....
> Any suggestions will be appreciated.
>
> Bob Gray
>
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