VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is an open, extensible, industry-standard scene description language for 3D scenes, or worlds, on the Internet. With VRML and Netscape's Live3D, you can author and view distributed, interactive 3D worlds that are rich with text, images, animation, sound, music, and even video. VRML 1.0 supports worlds with relatively simple animations while VRML 2.0 (still in development) supports complex 3D animations, simulations, and behaviors by allowing Java and JavaScript programmers to write scripts that act upon VRML objects.
For detailed information about VRML, check out the VRML Repository or our Beginner's Guide to VRML.
CREATING
A VRML WORLD
There are three ways to create a VRML world:
EMBEDDING
VRML INTO
YOUR
HTML DOCUMENT
Once you have created your VRML world, you can embed it within an HTML
document by using the <EMBED> tag. Using the <EMBED> tag to place a VRML
world in an HTML document is similar to using the <IMG> tag to place a 2-D
image in an HTML document. For example, the following example embeds a VRML file
called example.wrl into an HTML document:
<EMBED SRC="example.wrl" WIDTH=128 HEIGHT=128 BORDER=0 ALIGN=middle>
For more information about embedding, see Using The Embed Tag.
VRML
TIPS AND
TECHNIQUES
There are many considerations important to the design and creation of VRML
worlds - some aesthetic, and some technical. Many factors that effect the
quality of HTML documents also apply to creating high-quality VRML worlds, such as
server and client system speed, transmission bandwidth, and browser compatibility.
By following these basic guidlines, your VRML worlds will be widely viewable, effective communicators, and easy to maintain.
Clarity
New media technologies provide innovative ways to communicate and receive ideas.
These methods' fresh perspectives are exciting for both the designer and the
audience. Communication remains the primary reason for using any medium, old or
new. So it is with VRML. To be used effectively, VRML should not be treated simply as a novelty, but rather as a new and powerful addition to the designer's palette.
Performance
Even the most enthusiastic user has limited patience for a slow Web page. This is
a key concern for VRML authors, since VRML is based on computation-intensive 3D
graphics and may incorporate other resource-intensive media. As with HTML
documents, download time is an important factor in VRML world creation. A
VRML world may require greater client system resources once downloaded. A fast
browser will offset this to some extent, but it's important to construct VRML
worlds efficiently. How you use the following elements will affect your Web page's performance.
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