Synopses & Reviews
Everything you need to create 3D worlds for your web site
You'd love to beef up your web site with virtual reality, but even the simplest virtual world can be difficult to create and successfully execute on the Internet. Right? Not necessarily.
This book/CD package makes it easier than ever for you to enhance your web site with state-of-the-art 3D virtual reality. Trailblazers O'Neill and Muir supply you with the know-how and tools you need to create stunningly realistic 3D spaces, stores, galleries, malls . . . entire worlds. In skill-building sequence, they describe an innovative alternative to VRML that lets you recreate an existing space, design a new one from scratch, or build a complete virtual world of your own imagining and then integrate it into your site. And most importantly, anyone using a standard web browser will be able to navigate your world without having to download and install special plug-ins or other complicated software!
Guide to Creating 3D Worlds:
- Walks you through designing, creating, and publishing a virtual world
- Covers all practical aspects of space modeling, image assembling, lighting, perspective, graphics design, and more
- Arms you with a powerful 3D web engine and sophisticated CAD programs
- Provides expert guidance on creating HTML links, basic scripting, and using the RAGE virtual worlds engine
On the CD-ROM you'll find:
- RAVE, a shareware 3D web engine created by the authors
- Hundreds of images that you can use to build a 3D virtual world
- HTML coding and templates for 3D worlds
- A hotlink to the authors' web site
Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Join the authors' virtual community! visit: www.ancientsites.com
Synopsis
3D worlds -- from virtual malls to VR games like Myst -- fuel the continuing sophistication of the Web. In skill-building sequence, the authors step readers through the creation of a virtual world for the Web to illustrate all of the issues involved...from the design and creation of the world using their own 3D Web engine called Rave, and sophisticated CAD programs, to all the technology needed to make it run on the Web. It discusses aspects of 3D design such as lighting, perspective, designing graphics, as well as integrating a virtual world onto the Web.
3D is becoming an important part of Web site design. It is used to create virtual stores, games, and even home pages.
About the Author
Rory O'Neill and Eden Greig Muir are founders of Cybersites, a company specializing in creating 3D worlds on the Web. Both are professors at the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University.
Table of Contents
OVERVIEW.
Basic Design Concepts.
Methods and Tools.
Planning for Practical Applications.
CREATING VIRTUAL WORLDS.
Creating a Text-Based World.
A Graphical Virtual World.
A Photographic Virtual Space.
3D WORLDS.
Learning from a Real Space.
Designing a Virtual Caf? with CAD.
Using Grids to Create Virtual Space.
Creating a World with RAVE.
VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES.
Establishing a Virtual Community.
Appendix.
Index.
What's on the CD-ROM.