WebGL

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WebGL

WebGL Logo.svg
Basic data

developer Khronos Group
Publishing year March 3, 2011
Current  version 2.0
(January 17, 2017)
operating system cross-platform
category Programming interface
License license free
German speaking No
www.khronos.org/webgl

WebGL ( Web Graphics Library ) is a JavaScript - programming interface that enables 3D graphics hardware accelerated in the web browser without additional extensions can be shown.

Background and story

WebGL is based on OpenGL ES (Version 2.0) in conjunction with the programming language JavaScript , which is being developed by the Khronos Group and Mozilla as a license-free standard. Work on the project began in April 2009. In May 2010 it was announced that the Google Chrome web browser would also support the standard.

First implementations of WebGL were realized in the rendering engines WebKit and Gecko . In addition, the IT companies AMD , Ericsson , Nvidia and Opera have been involved in the development of the project since August 2009 .

On March 3, 2011, the first version of the WebGL specification was released at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco . In March 2011, WebGL was supported by Google's Chrome web browser and Mozilla's Firefox , and otherwise activated by default in pre-browser versions of Apple Safari and Opera.

In November 2011, the Angle project presented by Google in March 2011 (which stands for Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine ) was certified for OpenGL ES Version 2.0 , which makes it possible to use cross-platform applications with WebGL support for the three most popular operating system platforms - Windows , Mac and Linux - develop.

WebGL 2 was derived from OpenGL ES 3.0. This level is currently being implemented from Firefox 51, Chrome 56, Opera 43.

Creation of content

Programs can be written in pure code. Graphic artists can also create content with software tools such as Blender , CopperCube or Maya , configure and process it with WebGL for the browser. The 3D scenes are then exported to WebGL. This is possible, for example, with Inka3D, a WebGL export module for Maya. Blend4Web is a framework that extends the 3D graphics software Blender in order to output the 3D content created there on websites. The free Magnum is based on C ++ and also outputs WebGL 2.0.

Verge3D enables users to edit interactive content in the popular 3D modeling tools Autodesk 3ds Max and Blender and convert it for display in a web browser.

For developers there are several comprehensive, free and commercial 3D frameworks implemented in the JavaScript programming language , for example Three.js and A-Frame .

See also

Web links

Demo sites

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tony Parisi: Programming 3D Applications with HTML5 and WebGL . 1st edition. O'Reilly Media, Sebastopol 2014, ISBN 1-4493-6296-6 , pp. 3–8 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Jens Ihlenfeld: Chrome activates WebGL. In: Golem.de. December 17, 2010, accessed July 26, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Jens Ihlenfeld: 3D-API for the web. In: Golem.de. March 25, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Jens Ihlenfeld: Google discontinues O3D in favor of WebGL. In: Golem.de. October 9, 2010, accessed May 26, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Jens Ihlenfeld: WebGL - Firefox is 3D capable. In: Golem.de. September 20, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Andreas Beier: Firefox with an initial WebGL connection. In: heise online. Verlag Heinz Heise, September 20, 2009, accessed on July 26, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Khronos Showcases Significant glTF Momentum for Efficient Transmission of 3D Scenes and Models. (No longer available online.) In: Khronos. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015 ; accessed on July 27, 2016 (English).
  8. ↑ a b Jens Ihlenfeld: WebGL 1.0 is ready. In: Golem.de. March 4, 2011, accessed July 26, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Alexander Neumann: GDC: 3D in the browser - WebGL 1.0 is ready. In: heise online. Verlag Heinz Heise, March 4, 2011, accessed on July 26, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Jens Ihlenfeld: Complete implementation of OpenGL ES 2.0 for Windows. In: Golem.de. November 29, 2011, accessed July 27, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Robert Lippert: Google's graphics system ANGLE certified for OpenGL ES 2.0. In: heise online. Verlag Heinz Heise, December 5, 2011, accessed on July 26, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Angleproject (English) - project page at Google Code ; As of December 9, 2011.
  13. ↑ https://www.khronos.org/registry/webgl/specs/latest/2.0/
  14. ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Chrome-56-kom-mit-Login-WarUNGEN-und-WebGL-2-3608131.html
  15. ^ Tony Parisi: Programming 3D Applications with HTML5 and WebGL . 1st edition. O'Reilly Media, Sebastopol 2014, ISBN 1-4493-6296-6 , Developting a simple 3D Application, p. 253-280 (English, 384 pages).
  16. ↑ Blend4Web, an Interactive 3D Viewer . BlenderNation.com. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ https://github.com/mosra/magnum
  18. ↑ User Contributions. In: www.khronos.org. Retrieved October 14, 2015 .
  19. ^ Tony Parisi: Programming 3D Applications with HTML5 and WebGL . 1st edition. O'Reilly Media, Sebastopol 2014, ISBN 1-4493-6296-6 , pp. 43-57 (English, 384 pages).