OpenGL or Flash for 3D visualization in a browser

Question

I plan to create a website that allows users in the field of finance to visualize the price of a foreign currency option in 3d. x = base price, y = option price, z = days remaining to maturity. In other words, instead of a simple payout chart, this will allow you to see on the Z axis what P & L scenarios will be if you sold before the option expires.

In short, I need a visualization tool. But given that the P&L surface can be quite “curved,” it will be useful for users to spin around the space in real time. And it will be good to crop the surface along any plane orthogonal to the axes, and move the cut around. I want him to be responsive and fast.

As you can see, pretty ambitious (at least for me). The problem is that I want all this to work in the browser, and ideally I would like it to look great, potentially backlit, for example, to make parts of the “future tense” darker.

I raided Amazon for Flash books (two Richard Schupe books) and I have a Red Book and blue OpenGL books. They are pretty hefty volumes, so I want to apply myself to a better solution. What are you offering?

What should I think of Google’s desire to create open standards for the 3d browser? VapourWare? FutureWare?

Advice sought and appreciated. I have a deadline! Thanks.

Answer 1

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For the project you are about to start today, it will be difficult for you to beat Flash, for two reasons:

• It works. Flash has been an "enterprise class" for over 10 years; You are not going to come across a showstopping error or a lot of undocumented calls, as you could with something a little sharper (or rather, the edge of the edge, as it were).

• It is everywhere. Adobe claims that something like 97% + of all browsers has Flash runtime set. This is a huge obstacle that needs to be overcome - you may have the coolest widget on the planet, but if your user base needs to load some kind of stupid third-party plug-in, most of them just do not bother.

• It is truly cross platform. I have mixed feelings about Flash personally, but man, cross-platform support is awesome. Of course, linux support is spotty and it won’t work on my iphone, but more on that.

On the flip side of the coin, I'm not sure that there is even a way to use OpenGL in a browser without a lot of glue. Using OpenGL for a browser tool starts to sound like a Java applet or a ton of atomic javascript, and at that moment you more or less re-implemented Flash. :)

Answer 2

What you might want is O3D .

Answer 3

I can catch flak for this, but explore the HTML5 canvas for drawing without the need for any plugin at all. You can use Processing.js to make a limited amount of 3D, but should be fine. Otherwise, I would be looking for a 3D flash engine. O3D currently has too many steam products.

Answer 4

I suggest taking a look at the Coppercube 3D flash engine, currently in beta. This may be redundant, or it may not fit your deadline, but it's pretty cool. A demo is also available there.

Answer 5

One of the reasons Flash is so popular is that its implementation is always the same. While something more open standards are based, you have problems with different people who interpret corner cases differently.

Another big plus for me, for flash memory, is that it prints well. If you start printing from a flash, the print becomes visualized as vectors, so it scales very well for the printer. I use this in the gear pattern generator. ( http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html )

Answer 6

I am coming with flash.

OpenGL is attractive in standalone applications due to its performance and flexibility. But for immediate deployment, it seems like Flash is giving me the basics of what I need, with growth potential as Adobe builds the platform.

I'm going to follow open standards, though, and try to run the code portable;)

Thanks everyone for the answers ..