November 2002
Intermediate to advanced
848 pages
19h 59m
English
As discussed in the introduction to the Java 3D section, texture mapping is an important technique for efficiently generating realism in a virtual environment. Texture maps can be used to create realistic looking floors, walls, and ceilings and are further useful as a way to reduce complex geometry, especially along the edges of an environment.
As an example of this last use of texture mapping, consider a model of an open space in the center of a city such as Central Park in New York City. Building geometry to represent the buildings in the far distance would take a lot of time to develop and would slow down rendering significantly. It wouldn't detract much from (and could even serve to increase) the realism of the scene to map ...