An Effective Marketing Tool

For many companies, the internet has become an essential component of their marketing and sales strategies. A well-designed website is an inexpensive method of enhancing the company's presence, generating sales, and providing customer support. Simple static HTML pages are no longer sufficient. Web design has come a long way since then. Eye-catching graphics and 2D dimensional animations are common methods of grabbing the viewer's attention. Now that these have become commonplace, companies are looking for newer technologies that will create new interest. The appearance of the website must convey the fact that the company is innovative and on the cutting edge of developments within its field. Interactive 3D is the natural next step in this progression. It provides visual interest and displays additional information about your subject.

Presentations and Brochures in 3D

Your website can be considered a presentation that you give to prospective clients. It is available at all times and once created, it requires no effort on your part. It is like a sales agent who works nonstop and receives no salary. Like a 3D brochure, 3D on your website can be used to educate about your services or to display your products in a manner that allows viewers to see them from all angles.

Your presentation can be a pre-determined tour of your facilities or a proposed project. A tour in 3D is easiest for viewers since they just follow along and enjoy the ride. This is the most appropriate choice in many cases. However, 3D on the internet is capable of so much more. This is where interactive 3D comes in.

Interactive 3D Means Viewer Participation

Interactive 3D means that the viewer does not just watch the 3D scene going by. The viewer can actually interact with the environment to move around as he pleases, to move objects, and make changes. This can mean, for example, moving furniture around and changing colors and fabrics to see how they look. If you sell furniture or clothes in a variety of fabrics, this can be a way of displaying various custom combinations.

X3D is the Natural Choice

Interactive 3D for the internet is not new. X3D has been around for over 10 years now. Over this period it has matured into a capable means of providing 3D over the web. It is continuing to evolve and new features are being added to support such diverse applications as geospatial visualization, human animation, CAD, 3D medical imaging, and games. With the increased graphics power of even low-end computers and the prevalence of high speed internet connections, now is the time for 3D to flourish on the internet.

Content Creation Options

Creating Directly in X3D

X3D is an open format. The specification can be found on the Web3D Consortium website.

Since it is a text based format, simple files can be created directly with any text editor. Pinecoast's SwirlX3D editor can be used to create more complex scenes, taking advantage of the full power of X3D.

The free SwirlX3D viewer is a standalone program that displays VRML and X3D files.

Importing into VRML or X3D

VRML is the earlier version of X3D. X3D is fully backward compatible and VRML97 files can be converted into X3D. Most 3D creation programs have the ability to export files to either the VRML or X3D format. This means that there is a wide choice of software tools that can be used for the creation of the 3D scene.

Using Collada for Content Creation

The Collada format has been gaining importance as a method for transferring 3D digital assets between 3D software programs. Many high quality creation programs are now able to export to the Collada format. Pinecoast's C2X Collada to X3D Converter can be used to translate these Collada files into X3D format and prepare the model for display. Pinecoast offers a free Collada viewer, CollView, and a Collada utility program, ClManager, that can be used in this process.

Custom Projects

Although technologies and software tools have advanced considerably, creating 3D for the internet does require much more technical expertise than other areas of web design. Pinecoast can create the 3D content to your specifications. As one of the leading companies specializing in interactive 3D for the internet, Pinecoast is well equipped to produce compelling content for your website. Contact us for an evaluation.

Active 3D Webpages

Website Deployment

For displaying your finished X3D pages on your website, licensing the SwirlX3D plugin is an excellent choice. It provides a consistent, high quality environment for displaying your 3D scenes. Consult us about licensing conditions.

Getting Started With X3D

Add 3D Content To Your Webpage

Display Your Products in 3D

Adding 3D models to your website increases visual interest and promotes sales. Allow clients to fully examine your products. Let them try out a variety of colors and configurations.

The 3D model can be as simple as a rectanglar block pasted with images taken with a digital camera. Even with such simple techniques, eye-catching results can be achieved.

View these examples in 3D .... Click here

Need Assistance?

Whether your project is very basic or more complicated, Pinecoast can provide the programming expertise to bring it to a successful completion. Please feel free to contact us for a project evaluation of any size. Info Request.