Re: Simple 3D Point Plotting

Brian Bagnall wrote:
I'm looking to create a simple Java app that outputs a bunch of 3D points (X, Y, Z) into a window. Possibly being able to rotate the image of the dots to appreciate the 3D. What would be my best way to do this in Java?

There is almost never a best way in programming, only compromises. And without knowing your requirements, resources, etc. we can't even say what a feasible way might be.

The Java 3D API seems like overkill since you *need* OpenGL and a 3D card, but I'm sure my app would run fine on any system without 3D hardware.

You ruled out Java 3D (because you didn't want to make that compromise), so now you have to make other compromises when e.g. using the Java2D API (part of the java standard edition).

You could now start to learn the Java2D API. Then learn the math involved in projecting 3D data on a 2D surface, rotation, translation, scaling of 3D data, etc.

Alternatively, you could look for some 3rd party data visualization toolkit (google ...) which might fit your needs. Or you could look for similar examples. E.g. there is a very old applet demo which displays somewire frame data. It might be possible to adapt it.

/Thomas
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