I wrote an application for my dissertation called Java3D Molecular Visualisation System back in 1999 when Java3D first came about, and I was impressed with the high level access to low level 3D routines. At the start of the dissertation I thought I had no chance of implementing all the 3D routines myself, so I was so thrilled to find that Sun had a Java option.
I have not taken a hugely active role in this forum but I do read the posts and I went on to develop 3 versions of JMVS, once of which included some top people from the field of computational biochemistry. 2 months ago I started work on version 4. This version's intent is to provide a much richer experience for visualising and interacting with the latest molecular data formats. The point I guess is that I am not a biochemist at all. I am a senior web developer. But I fell in love with my application and Java3D. The scenegraph approach has always seemed so logical to me and the intent of a high level api for 3d scenes is a no-brainer. So, reading all these rumours about Sun dropping Java3D without any official statement has really set me back, because now I am deciding whether my effort is worthwhile. Of course I want to develop version 4, but now I must consider the time it may take to learn an OpenGL binding. The tenets of Java3D were right at the beginning and are right now, so quite why Sun want to pull the plug is a mystery to me, especially if they want to move into the mobile/3d space with Java. I fully support the notion put forward here so far, in that Java3D should be comprised of an architecture that has at the lowest level a directly accessible OpenGL binding (for those who wish to play at that level) and certainly a high level scenegraph based API layered on top of that. I really hope in some shape or form Java3D continues to be a standard. Allistair Crossley Senior Intranet Developer Intranet Team - GBR, QAS Direct Dial: 020 7819 5343 <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="VERDANA,ARIAL" COLOR=BLUE> ------------------------------------------------------- QAS Ltd. Developers of QuickAddress Software <a href="http://www.qas.com";>www.qas.com</a> Registered in England: No 2582055 Registered in Australia: No 082 851 474 ------------------------------------------------------- </FONT> =========================================================================== To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and include in the body of the message "signoff JAVA3D-INTEREST". For general help, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and include in the body of the message "help".
