This is proving to be easier than I thought.
The Eclipse GWT project was setup. The parallax3D jar library added. A test AnimatedScene class with some basic geometry tests done. Spin a few of them around.
That’s me done for tonight. Got work in the morning.
I’m hoping I can load in Blender models, or even .OBJ models. If not, I’ll figure something out. Also 3D text I need.
No screeny yet cos of screen tearing.
Tonight I had a full on plan to get my own VPS (Linux based) and setup a Tomcat server ready for my WebGL personal project showcase. I’m planning on porting some old school samples from years ago from both IrrLicht and Dark Basic Pro.
So far, I’ve not made a start as the missus passed her CBT today (Motorbike Compulsory Basic Training) and she is way over excited.
VPS and Tomcat are still in progress.
I also plan on studying this WebAsm too for much faster rendering.
To start with I will be using Parallax3D for GWT which I’ve played around with a few times before. I finally decided on Parallax3D after giving up on LibGDX (which is very good and easy), and CopperLicht (which I don’t like using Javascript).
If it chills out tonight, which is highly unlikely, then I’ll make a start.
After faffing about with CopperCube and CopperLicht, which is fun to play around with, I’ve found it quite restricting for the type of demonstrations that I want to do. So I’ve decided to head on back to Parallax3D, bypassing the urge to play with LibGDX again.
The reason for dumping CopperLicht is simple. I don’t like Javascript at all. With GWT, it is rare I need to use JSNI with it.
LibGDX is good but each LibGDX project has to be a complete GWT module in itself, which means copying over all the GWT stuff again. It probably is likely that I could integrate it into a GWT project and I might try it at some point.
However, Parallax3D just appears to have everything and is a simple Jar file which is added to a GWT project.
So… It’s finding out what mesh files (hopefully wavefront OBJ’s as well) and I’ll be up and running if the weather is bad this weekend.
I also need to FTP this site as my homes Sky router isn’t working with the DNS service.
Enough of this. Time to setup a project on my lappy.
Yes, most definitely it has been some time since I last posted anything on my blog. That’s because this last month I have hardly had any real chill time to myself. Well, I have had some, but it never lasts for long enough.
Anyway, I’ve still been faffing about. I recently purchased CopperCube so that I could delve deeper into WebGL. Plus I’m familiar with Irrlicht, and CopperLicht makes working with 3D graphics a doddle.
I’ve also found that I can actually call myself a full-stack developer considering recent projects I’ve been working on. One project involves a C/C++ TCP/UDP server for communications, A Java TCP server to use Java AWT graphics, GWT for a web interface instead of installing software. The server does many things, too many to mention, but I’m well chuffed with it.
Setting up the server involves freshly installing Linux. Then installing Apache Tomcat. Making a few modifications to the system and then installing the software.
Device connect on the network via ethernet or wifi and will automatically detect the location of the server because of the UDP heart beat. Clever stuff really. Probably not, but all the same, it works great.
I’ve also played around with having a home TCP server which can be made use of from my mobile phone while I am out, my tablet or a PC, as well as a GWT web interface.
After playing around with all of this, there’s lot’s more I want to play with. Maybe Vaadin or similar. Move on to desktop 3D graphics again instead of openGLES 2.
I’ve also finally got myself an i7 laptop with nVidia graphics. Cheap off eBay! So I can develop on the go. That’s if the battery is good in it.
There’s other things over this last month that have tickled my fancy, but I won’t mentioned that here. Tempting though.
Hopefully this weekend I will have a long one as I’m booking Friday and Monday off because I seriously need to relax a little.
Until next time…
Yesterday I played around with a webGL engine and added it to my home hosted servers website. So it will not be available to view all the time.
Here’s a screenshot of it running in the Chrome browser:
As it say on the page, thinking of data in C++ takes some time and some mental planning. Java with its quirks, I finally think I’ve got the knack of it.
Click here: WLGfx@home to view my PCs hosted site.
If it doesn’t load up then my home PC is not switched on.
There’s still quite a bit to do to this site, especially to do with the 3D stuff. I’ve got to setup a decent scene to show off with. Some cool shaders and some decent meshes.
Just so I don’t lose or forget about it, I’ve found a very handy online openGL shader editor…
From basic shaders including texturing and lighting right up to procedural shaders and more.
All I need now is to run a sample project in Qt to test out some of these and then transfer them to GWT and Parallax. Good stuff can now be done.
When my home server Apache is running (basically when my PC at home is on), then the very first test of 3D inside a web page is working…
However, the RPC calls are not working. I’ll get onto that straight away.
After upgrading from Linux Mint 17.3 to 18, I found that the minimum Java available was 8. For GWT projects, up to 7 is allowed because there are issues running with Java 8.
So, I deleted Eclipse ready to install the latest. It installed fine. Still some issues along the way with Java 7 and 8 with GWT.
Eventually I installed Oracle Java 7. So far so good.
After finding that there is no longer support for Android in eclipse and installing all the Android stuff I cleared eclipse again. Actually I removed Eclipse a few times until I got Java 7 and 8 and all the GWT web stuff. Including Java EE version of eclipse.
Now I’ve figured out how to run a GWT project straight out of Eclipse without needing to upload onto the Apache server too. This makes for much faster build times. However, one cavaet is that I will have to create a linux group and add my user to the group next so that Tomcat7 and my user can read/write to the servers home directory.
Having sped up the build times, development of GWT projects will be so much easier and less time consuming. I will only need to deploy to the Apache main server when it has all been done. All I need to do is to save all files that I’ve been editing, click refresh in the server pane in Eclipse and go to the page in the browser. The browser will then tell the project to build itself the changes made.
Good stuff for a few hours of headaches.