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Mesa

If your Linux installation does not have OpenGL support you will need to install Mesa. If you already have OpenGL installed then skip this stage, for example I am using Red Hat 6.2 and I did not need to install Mesa.

If you don't have it already, install Mesa from their website

Mesa is a 3-D graphics library with an API which is very similar to that of OpenGL

Download MesaLib-3.3.tar.gz and optionally MesaDemos-3.3.tar.gz
Unpack with:
gzcat MesaLib-3.3.tar.gz | tar xf -
gzcat MesaDemos-3.3.tar.gz | tar xf -

gunzip MesaLib-3.2.tar.gz ; tar xf MesaLib-3.2.tar
gunzip MesaDemos-3.2.tar.gz ; tar xf MesaLib-3.2.tar
or
tar zxf MesaLib-3.2.tar.gz
tar zxf MesaDemos-3.2.tar.gz

 

Are there any sites which can advise people about

GUI

Most people these days like to use a graphical interface. I find it annoying that Linux users and programmers have to choose between KDE and Gnome. Could anyone give me some unbiased advise about which is best for 3d programers without stating a format war?

Linux Programming Tools

I assume that all distributions come with C/C++ command line tools? Are there any beginners guides on the Web? If you want to use a Graphical IDE (I know some people prefer command line tools but I can never remember the commands) you could try some of the following. Could anyone advise me which is best for 3D development?

Using Java on Linux

If you have not already done so load the latest version of Java for linux from the blackdown website.

Unpack it to suitable directory:

cd /usr/local
gunzip /jdk-1_2_2-rc3-linux-i386_sh.gz
./jdk-1_2_2-rc3-linux-i386_sh

Make sure path is set:

export PATH=/usr/local/jdk1.2.2/bin:$PATH

Download and install Java3D for Linux

bunzip2 java3d1_1_3-fcs-linux-sdk_t.bz2
./java3d1_1_3-fcs-linux-sdk_t

see http://www.blackdown.org/java-linux/jdk1.2-status/README-3D

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Correspondence about this page

Book Shop - Further reading.

Where I can, I have put links to Amazon for books that are relevant to the subject, click on the appropriate country flag to get more details of the book or to buy it from them.

cover Introducing Character Animation with Blender. This is a detailed and well written book, however 3D character animation is a big subject and blender has a very steep learning curve. Those new to Blender will probably need other sources of information to get you started. Also this book can't teach you the anatomy and artistic side of the subject.

Commercial Software Shop

Where I can, I have put links to Amazon for commercial software, not directly related to this site, but related to the subject being discussed, click on the appropriate country flag to get more details of the software or to buy it from them.

cover us uk de SuSE Linux 10.3. Operating system with a wide range of applications including Open Office. A good distribution for developers as it contains KDevelop. Java, Mono, etc. Can install itself as a dual-boot system with an existing Windows OS if required. For information about installing it see this page.

Can this page be improved?

Please send me any improvements to here. I would appreciate ideas to make the pages more useful including error correction, ideas for new pages, improvements to wording. It helps if you quote the full URL of the page.

 

progam

I am working on a project which uses these principles, if you would like to help me with this you are welcome to join in, here:

for 3D programming: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mjbworld/

This site may have errors. Don't use for critical systems.

Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Martin John Baker - All rights reserved.