Obliq-3D: a high-level, fast-turnaround 3D animation system

This paper describes Obliq3D, a high-level, fastturnaround system for building 3D animations. Obliq3D consists of an interpreted language that is embedded into a 3D animation library. This library is based on a few simple, yet powerful constructs that allow programmers to describe three-dimensional scenes and animations of such scenes. By virtue of its interpretive nature, Obliq3D provides a fast-turnaround environment. The combination of simplicity and fast turnaround allows programmers to construct nontrivial animations quickly and easily. The paper is divided into three major parts. The first part introduces the basic concepts of Obliq3D, using a series of graduated examples. The second part shows how the system can be used to implement Cone Trees. The third part develops a complete animation of Dijkstra’s shortest-path algorithm.