Jpct tutorial

[JavaMan]

Hi,
In searching for a java 3d engine, I found jpct. I looked at the manual and it seems that this is exactly the way in which I want to create 3d programs. Where can I find a tutorial on jpct? I have searched on the net and I can't find one anywhere. It seems that a lot of people know how to use jpct, but where did you learn?
Thanks
JM

[Knirps]

Hi
The download of JPCT comes with 2 nice example programs(fps+car), which were very helpfull to me.

There are also some other 3rd party downloads available which might help you.

I'm learning how to use jpct myself atm, and i have to agree that having a tutorial would be a "nice to have". Especially the Framebuffer/AWTCanvas/Soft/Hardware rendering stuff got me a bit confused at first .

[EgonOlsen]

Yes...the absence of a tutorial is sad, but it takes time to write a good one...time that i haven't found until now. We had a few attempts from jPCT users, but to be honest, nothing really useful came out of this. jPCT is supposed to be learned by looking at and modifying the examples. We also have some hello-world-like applications in the forum. If only the search feature wouldn't suck...

[JavaMan]

Thanks. I'll look more closely at the examples.

[stormp]

I have a demo I made when I was learning how to manipulate the camera.  Basically its a simple scene with a camera that rotates around the scene.  You can watch the camera move from a fixed position or watch from behind the camera in a chase mode.  I'm not 100% sure that my implementation was the best way, but I would be willing to post it somewhere if you think it would be helpful as a tutorial for some newbies.  :-)

[Hrolf]

A tutorial would be good! Can't we wiki it somehow? Then we could all help out...

[stormp]

A tutorial would be good! Can't we wiki it somehow? Then we could all help out...

A wiki would be great.

[EgonOlsen]

The problem isn't setting up a wiki, the problem is filling it. I'll see what i can do if i find the time but i can't promise anything yet.

[Kearnan]

I'd just like to say...

Tutorials require a great deal of time and effort.  Readers like them to be concise, comprehensive and easily understood.  In most situations an obsessed (and unmarried) programmer, a cooperative of users, a ghostwriter, a publisher's assistant, a wife who can write or a college student who needs the money writes them. They are rarely written by the developer unless he was out of work at the time (which is unlikely and in which case you'd probably not have any use for his code or the use of said code should be questionable) or he had nothing better to do (again...).

Programming takes a tremendous amount of time.  Programmers should write code, not tutorials.  The age-old adage, "People who can do, should do.  People who can't do should teach" applies here.

From a programmer's (my) view.  JPCT is remarkably easy to understand as it is.  Step through a few of the downloads and it's pretty much all there.  And if it's not all there?  Welcome to programming.  I do hope you enjoy your stay.

Happy coding

[Knirps]

Well, a wiki doesent nessecarly need to be a comprehensive tutorial to be helpfull.

More of a place where one can write down best practices, lesson learned, major pitfalls(well...are there any at all? ) or code snippets in a more structured way than on this forum.

Filling the wiki, however, still remains a problem .

[Kearnan]

I was thinking about tutorials I've seen and I think NeHe (http://nehe.gamedev.net/) probably has the best arrangement.  In this case, NeHe has a wide variety of very basic tutorials for using OpenGL which tie in nicely to JPCT.  Each tutorial consists of about one short page of code focusing on a single and relatively simple topic.

Perhaps, like NeHe, JPCT could add a "Tutorial" section to the main page?  Browsing through the JPCT forum, there's a tremendous amount of information available but it does take knowing what to look for.  I think just having a section for tutorials, which users could contribute to, would encourage active users to compose tutorials.  It doesn't take much time to compose a one page tutorial for a single topic and JPCT has a variety of users who are very experienced and helpful (judging by their forum posts) programmers who, I am sure, would gladly contribute to a formatted section of the forum.  I think an ability for users to submit a request for tutorials would also help.  It would give active programmers a focal point for submissions.

I realize that submissions of tutorials would have to be reviewed, tested and edited for accuracy and that would take time.  Yet, overall, they should contribute greatly to accessibility for new users and provide valuable information for focus points for future releases.

Tutorial viewers should be aware that the tutorials are focused on JPCT.  Links to information for Java, Swing, AWT, Java 2D, LWJGL and OpenGL could be provided.

[JavaMan]

Hi, I just looked at this post again and saw there were some more posts. I have been looking at the fps and car example and it is helping me out.
  Maybe in the download there could be some sort of skeleton code. The basic things demonstrated loading an object, applying textures to it, creating a world(which isn't that hard) etc. You can get this in a way by looking at the examples, but it might be more straightforward with a skeleton code. I know this takes time though: something that isn't it great supply. If I learn this engine, and I get some time; maybe I could provide some skeleton code.
  The wiki thing sounds good to me.
V
 
 

[Hrolf]

The problem isn't setting up a wiki

Can you easily start a wiki for us? There must be enough dedicated jPCT fans among us now to come up with something worth reading - that skeleton app's a good idea too...

[Kearnan]

As for a Wiki...  I think a dedicated location for tutorials would be a great addition and I would be happy to contribute.  However, somebody has to be responsible to monitor and edit a wiki and I'm sure that asking Egon to take on more responsibility for a venue not created by him is unreasonable.  And, at this stage, I think that fragmenting the available information regarding JPCT, between the JPCT site and a Wiki, would hinder progress.  It would be reinventing the wheel without improvement; just fragmentation.  It's just a Wiki.

To rephrase what's been hinted at: Anyone can start a wiki, but who will fill the page?  And, more importantly, who will commit to providing acceptable content on that page?  It's a big job.

Personally:  I am old, experienced, and gun shy.  I've spent thousands of hours working on projects only to have the primary developer abandon them with no warning and without ever releasing the source code as open source or making it available in any form.  I will follow EgonOlsen's lead.  If he wants and provides a place for tutorials, I'll make tutorials.

[Ergo]

Greetings!

First of all: sorry for my English - I am from Russia. I can read good enaugh, but write is hard for me.

I was looking for a nice graphic engine writed on Java, and jPCT is best of all what I can find.
The only question I have for now is: "Why so few tutorial for beginner here?". I read the forum, but whith no result. Discussion of this issue stopped near year ago, as I can see... ...

Maybe someone know couple links to simple examples? Or, maybe, someone can give me few his own examples?

Thx in advance.