Java3D14

This page describes the Java 3D 1.4 API. Please read Java3DWikiInfo before making any changes to this page.

Table of Contents

Java 3D 1.4 Release

The final (fcs) release of the Java 3D 1.4.0 release is now available at https://java3d.dev.java.net/binary-builds-old.html -- see the release notes for more information, including system requirements and a list of fixed bugs.

New features

• Programmable Shaders -- (javadoc)
• Additional core picking methods (in Locale and BranchGroup) -- (javadoc)
• Stencil buffer -- (javadoc)
• Scene graph structure change listeners
• Name string for all scene graph objects: add public get/setName(String) to SceneGraphObject class
• New ALLOW_PARENT_READ capability bit in Node class that will allow getParent() to be called on live/compiled scene graph
• Ability to get the locale from a live node: add public getLocale() method and ALLOW_LOCALE_READ capability bit to Node class
• Add a new attribute for depth test function to RenderingAttributes: public get/setDepthTestFunction(int function) methods that takes as values one of: ALWAYS, NEVER, EQUAL, NOT_EQUAL, LESS, LESS_OR_EQUAL, GREATER, GREATER_OR_EQUAL. The default value is LESS_OR_EQUAL for backward compatibility.
• Additional blending functions: BLEND_SRC_COLOR, BLEND_ONE_MINUS_SRC_COLOR, BLEND_DST_COLOR, BLEND_ONE_MINUS_DST_COLOR.
• Method to retrieve the geometry data from the tessellation of a glyph in a 3D font: a public GeometryArray getGlyphGeometry(char glyphCode) method in the Font3D^? class

Deprecated features

• CompressedGeometry class (no HW support, lack of industry acceptance)
• Sensor prediction (has never been implemented)
• PickPoint class (not fully implemented, cannot be used for geometry-based picking; use PickBounds with a BoundingSphere that has a small radius)
• Morph node (expensive, picking doesn't work, can be done in a utility)

Note that deprecated features will not actually be removed. It instead reflects a decrease of emphasis on these features. While they should continue to function normally, no additional effort is likely to be put into them (for example, compressed geometry will not be supported with programmable shaders). This action paves the way to remove them from a future major release (e.g., a 2.0 release).