Explains how to use Java to create to create three-dimensional graphics applications.

"This book provides both advanced and novice programmers with comprehensive, detailed coverage of all of the important issues in Java 3D"--Provided by publisher.

Offering coverage of key topics in Java 3D, this text is a practical introduction to the latest Java graphics and game programming technologies and techniques.

With the Java 3D API, all the benefits of Java as a programming language have been brought into the graphics world. Michael Deering and Henry Sowizral of Sun Microsystems show readers how to use the Java 3D API to construct complex virtual worlds and use such concepts as 3D spatial sound and 3D graphics applications.

This book is an essential tool for second-year undergraduate students and above, providing clear and concise explanations of the basic concepts of computer graphics, and enabling the reader to immediately implement these concepts in Java 2D and/or 3D with only elementary knowledge of the programming language. Features: provides an ideal, self-contained introduction to computer graphics, with theory and practice presented in integrated combination; presents a practical guide to basic computer graphics programming using Java 2D and 3D; includes new and expanded content on the integration of text in 3D, particle systems, billboard behaviours, dynamic surfaces, the concept of level of detail, and the use of functions of two variables for surface modelling; contains many pedagogical tools, including numerous easy-to-understand example programs and end-of-chapter exercises; supplies useful supplementary material, including additional exercises, solutions, and program examples, at an associated website.

This book looks at the two most popular ways of using Java SE 6 to write 3D games on PCs: Java 3D (a high-level scene graph API) and JOGL (a Java layer over OpenGL). Written by Java gaming expert, Andrew Davison, this book uses the new Java (SE) 6 platform and its features including splash screens, scripting, and the desktop tray interface. This book is also unique in that it covers Java game development using the Java 3D API and Java for OpenGL--both critical components and libraries for Java-based 3D game application development