Artur,
What several of us are calling for is not a 3D tutorial (although I'm
sure very few would object if someone wanted to write one), but rather
enough information to be able to understand the API (and relate it to
other resources). I'll provide another example:
For Matrix4f the Javadocs state:
"A single precision floating point 4 by 4 matrix. Primarily to support
3D rotations."
Ok, is this a Rigid-Body Transform as per page 33 in "Real-Time
Rendering" (Tomas Moller & Eric Haines)? Does the row-column
orientation match that of the text I reference? (or are they flipped?)
- John Wright
Starfire Research
Artur Biesiadowski wrote:
>
> John Wright wrote:
>
> > The Javadocs and tutorial need to have a strong emphasis (they are every
> > bit as important as developing new features... no they are MORE
> > important), expecting people to learn all the stray tricks from my
> > website or the j3d.org website or this list isn't practical. (Just look
> > at how often the same questions come up over and over again).
>
> I might be in minority, but I do not agree. Of course good docs are
> nice, but do not expect java3d team to write 3d rendering tutorial. This
> is a job for book writers and generic tutorials, not one for particular
> framework. Java3d doc should focus on how to apply 3d techniques in this
> specific environment, not on explaining techniques itself. Best example
> can be quaterion - doc should tell that it is a way to describe
> orientation in 3d space and explain all methods for setting
> variables/getting axis etc. But quaterion theory can be found in many
> places on web or in math books - if we would follow this way, in short
> time java3d would need to describe what an imaginary number is + all
> axioms for it etc, etc - maybe some people are math newbies and are
> hearing about this first time when looking at java3d.
>
> Java3d is also my very first experience with 3d graphics (except playing
> Unreal Tournament :). Now I understand a lot of opengl - thanks to
> java3d (not the other way around). I was browsing javadocs, faqs at
> various sites, example programs etc. When I wanted to learn about
> quaterions I used google to search for info - and got nice article with
> all needed math data, smoothing routines, conversions etc.
>
> Please note that for most questions that appear on this list very often,
> people just do not read even docs that are currently available - not to
> mention faq or searching the web. Creating more extensive docs won't
> help.
>
> My personal preference would be to focus on two things - stability and
> features. First is very important to get anything working on more than
> one machine, second is needed to not always look at native
> directx/opengl people with envy. Next would be performance - both speed
> and memory usage - also to stay in same league. As far as docs are
> concerned - API of course needs to be documented, but only as much as
> needed - no explaining of difficult words, no short sentences for slow
> readers. Plus maybe some example programs to prove that things are
> actually working and show what can be done with specific techniques.
>
> So, focus on bugfixing, feature adding. Leave generic 3d tutorial
> writing for people who really want's to. Nobody expects that you will
> explaing what a bit or method is in core java lang api and I don't think
> you should explain what a vertex is in java3d api.
>
> *Donning my asbestos suit*
>
> Artur
>
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