Computer Graphics in a Nutshell (CGN) is a program for students to learn
about the 3D graphics pipeline, and a tool for instructors to demonstrate
features of the pipeline to students. With its easy to use interface and
modular design, students can play with most variables in the 3D graphics
pipeline, and instructors can add their own features to demonstrate and
let students experiment.
With CGN, users can select a feature to experiment with by choosing from the list in the 'Features' pane. The 'Options' pane will change to reflect the variables that can be adjusted, and the 'Description' pane gives the user information about the feature and its components. Most importantly, the viewport will be updated in real-time to show the effect(s) of changing any given variable.
In order to allow customizations by the end user, CGN is licensed under the GPL (GNU Public License). It's coded in Java and makes extensive use of Java3D. Please feel free to download the program and make changes. If you do make changes, a link back or a credit would be courteous (but not required).
Download the project and data files (4.5MB)
You'll need NetBeans to open the project. (or you can just hack it in the command line. :-) )