Embed 3D Anywhere on the Web
28 01 2009By Joshua Koopferstock
Frequent readers of this blog are familiar with Presto3D, a 3D model marketplace that we built and launched a few months back. The main distinguishing feature of that site was that artists could upload 3D models in a standard Maya or 3dsmax format, and we would automatically convert it to a form of COLLADA so that we could show a 3D preview of it within the browser.
In our latest update, you can now embed the 3D viewer with a specific model anywhere on the web. A one time plug-in download is required, but it is definitely worth it. The 3D rendering and speed is impressive, as is the artwork by hundreds of talented artists. The artist is credited and their models are linked to in the embedded window, to provide extra promotion. And anyone can embed the models anywhere, provided the artist grants permission.
Right now, the plug-in works on Windows in Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. For those interested, the plug-in is a web-enabled version of the Feeling Engine.
Have you plan to provide a Linux version of this “OpenGL for web plugin” please ?
I hope quickly
when user see my 3d model by the 3d plugin, my 3d model is in his hard disk or just in momery? dose my 3d model safe?
The models are downloaded to the hard drive, but are encrypted and also in a proprietary binary format.
Looks interesting - so will this plugin support any collada file content? (Presuming it is a collada file being read) - what kind of lights and materials will it support?
Hi CurtJ, to answer your questions:
The plug-in supports COLLADA 1.4.1 almost completely. We chose to strip out the COLLADA Physics support from the Feeling Engine to reduce the download size.
It’s too bad that none of the Presto3D models so far demonstrate complex animations… our engine supports facial animation (through blend shapes/morph targets), skinning, programmable shaders (through COLLADA FX), etc.
We support point, directional and spot lights including shadows.
We also support Phong, Blinn and Lambert shaders through the COLLADA common profile.
>>We chose to strip out the COLLADA Physics support
>>to reduce the download size.
Ah, by how much? If you would use the Bullet physics sdk, the binary executable shouldn’t grow by more than about 400kb or so.
Hi Erwin, nice to hear from you.
I don’t remember the exact statistics… our goal was to keep the total download size under 2MB.
Anyway, we didn’t expect the Presto3D users to really leverage COLLADA Physics right away. First they should take advantage of relatively simple features like character animation.
Christian
I tried it on my machine with firefox 3 and windows xp (geforce 8600)….
It breaks constantly
You should definately make it more stable.
Christian-
Thank you for the email, but unfortunately i can’t get your plugin or the site to display any 3-d models. I can’t find any support on the site, or anywhere else that I’d be able to contact someone about this. Please respond back to my email - I love the idea of your product and would like to find out more.
-Ben