VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is a 3D modeling language used to describe object shapes and also animate them. You can create your own VRML worlds without any special software. All you need is a text editor to start creating your own worlds! To view your worlds all you need is a free VRML plugin like the ones listed on this site.

VrmlPad - a VRML text editor

     A text editor used for creating and editing files on this site is VrmlPad. This professional VRML editor greatly reduces the amount of time and effort needed to edit VRML files. Among its many features is the ability to preview your work in any of the VRML viewers installed on your system. It checks and auto completes syntax and can generate default values for reference. Its Material Editor lets you create and edit Appearance and Material nodes. You also can choose existing materials from a pre-built library and add your own materials to it. Compress files easily using the built in Gzip utility. This powerful editor also includes automation and scripting as well as keyboard shortcut customizing. VrmlPad v2.0 also includes an Integrated script debugger, a Fields validation macro and Find in Files command.

Download a trial version from the ParallelGraphics products page.

Ready to buy? Order VrmlPad v2.1!
Already have a previous version? Then order the v2.1 Upgrade.

Visit the Products Ordering Page to check out more VRML authoring tools.

VrmlPad Macro

     If you use VrmlPad to edit your files, you may find this "Shrink" macro useful to reduce your file size. It removes carriage return/line feed characters, spaces and leading zeros from a selection of your file for optimum compression.

     To use it, just copy the full code and paste it into its own file with a .bas extension. Then place the file in the ParallelGraphics\VrmlPad\AddIns folder. When you run VrmlPad, you should see a new item, "Shrink", in the Tools dropdown list.

Note: Shrink may take a while to work with file selections larger than 100K.

VRML PROTOs

     Some sections of the 3D worlds are constructed with PROTOs (prototypes). In VRML, PROTOs are used to define a new Node, which can simplify the construction of 3D objects.

     RevolveZ is a PROTO created for this site and used for parts of these models. It's used almost like an Extrusion node except that it takes x and z points and revolves them about the z-axis with the number of sides that you specify. There is no need to define a circular spine!

Here is the definition of the RevolveZ PROTO:

PROTO RevolveZ [      field SFInt32 spineSides   3    # [3,)      field MFVec2f crossSection []   # (-,)      field SFBool  ccw          TRUE      field SFBool  convex       TRUE      field SFFloat creaseAngle  0    # [0,)      field SFBool  solid        TRUE      field SFBool  offset       FALSE ]

spineSides - Defines how many sides the object will have. The default value is 3.
crossSection - This is the cross-section defined in the x-z plane.
offset - This specifies whether the object begins on a point (FALSE) or side (TRUE).
ccw, convex, creaseAngle, solid are used the way same as in the Extrusion Node.

How to use it...

     To use it, just copy the full code and paste it to the top of your file and use it like you would use any other Node. If you are going to use the PROTO in several of your world files, you may want to put the PROTO in its own file and reference it by using EXTERNPROTO in each of the world files instead. Just place this code at the top of each of your files.

EXTERNPROTO RevolveZ [ field SFInt32 spineSides field MFVec2f crossSection field SFBool ccw field SFBool convex field SFFloat creaseAngle field SFBool solid field SFBool offset ]["protofolder/protofilename.wrl"]

Would you like to learn more about VRML?
Visit the tutorials on the Links page, or visit the full official VRML97 Specification.

Feel free to use this PROTO in your worlds. Just write a note if you find it useful. Enjoy.