World Processing

You probably don't want to plan on writing the Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML) in your text editor. Even though VRML's designers wanted to let nonprogrammers create their own virtual spaces quickly and painlessly, it's not quite as simple to describe a 3-D scene as it is to describe a page in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Fortunately, many existing modeling and CAD tools now offer VRML export, and VRML-centered tools are arriving. Animation, texturing, and photo-realistic rendering are among the qualities that distinguish VRML authoring tools from one another. Here are some of the top tools:

-- Open Inventor ( Silicon Graphics ): This object-oriented 3-D toolkit for Silicon Graphic s workstations p rovided the basis for much of VRML. Think of it as the original.

-- Virtual Home Space Builder ( ParaGraph International ): Based on the Virtual Home Museum System for children, this Windows VRML modeler is less complex than others, but it's easy to use, inexpensive, and less demanding on the hardware.

-- Genesis World Builder and G Web ( Virtual Presence ): These tools are used for building worlds and VRML publishing, respectively, for Windows and various Unix workstations.

-- WalkThrough Pro ( Virtus ): A high-end Mac and Windows 3-D scene designer with VRML export, WalkThrough Pro even supports stereo glasses. It creates stand-alone models to distribute with the freeware Virtus Player.

-- StudioPro ( Strata ): A high-end modeling and rendering application, it provides output for both VRML and QuickTime VR. StudioPro makes full use of QuickDraw 3D and requires a Power Mac.