Best book in print on Java 3D, but still not that great

This is the best book out there for any reasonable price that talks about Java 3D in any sufficient detail. All of the other books are either overpriced academic textbooks that teach computer graphics using Java3D, or they are earlier efforts that talk about eye-catching applets only. Yet, I am still not that satisfied. Java 3D is a complex API to use, and this book reflects that since it is a complex book that is somewhat disorganized, is too wordy, and doesn't really clarify how to program with the API that well. It does a good job of examining individual pieces of the API - textures, scenegraphs, interpolators - but never puts it all together so I can see the whole picture. One thing that it discusses pretty well that no other Java3D book covers is some topics on using the Java 3D API in virtual reality programming. For all other applications, and especially for beginners, you'll probably get more help reading the "Java 3D API Tutorial" provided by Sun Microsystems that is available online. The online tutorial does a better job of organizing topics and starting from the beginning than this book. In fact, I would really advise reading the online tutorial first before reading this book. You're likely to get more out of the book if you do.

Other Reviews

• not for a beginner
• Best book in print on Java 3D, but still not that great
• Good Book in a Small Field
• Great for learning the system
• Not introductory nor reference material