VR modeling topics
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What is VRML?

VRML, which is pronounced either "vee-are-em-ell" or "VER-mul", is an abbreviation for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. VRML is, in the words of the VRML Consortium, "an open standard for 3D multimedia and shared virtual worlds on the Internet."

1. An open standard: VRML was recognized as an international standard (ISO/IEC-14772-1:1997) by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in December, 1997.
2. 3D multimedia: Long before its official standardization VRML became the de facto standard for sharing and publishing data between CAD, animation, and 3D modeling programs; virtually every one of those programs now exports VRML or has a utility or plugin to convert its native file format to VRML. VRML is included or referenced in the upcoming MPEG-4 standard, Java3D, and in other developing standards.
3. Shared virtual worlds: Being able to talk and work in a 3D shared virtual space was one of the earliest motivations of the VRML pioneers. The VRMLworks has a whole section on cyberspace that talks about the work that's being done to realize this vision.
4. On the Internet: Unlike previous 3D applications, using the Internet to share 3D objects and scenes was built into VRML from the very beginning. The standard is even published in HTML.

VRML isn't a general purpose programming language like C++, a script language like JavaScript or a page specification language like HTML. It's a scene description language that describes the geometry and behavior of a 3D scene or "world".

VRML "worlds" got their name from an original goal of VRML: shared virtual worlds on the Internet. VRML worlds can be single files or groups of files that load at the same time. They can range from simple objects to very complex scenes, but never include the entire geometry and all the features of the earth, so there's some hope of downloading them in your lifetime.