CSS 3D Lighting Engine • Hacker News Board

Re: CSS 3D Lighting Engine

#11

Post by thomasxiii » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 5:22 PM UTC

chao- wrote: post #9

As an upfront disclaimer, I want to state that I think this is incredibly neat, and that I'm just trying to resolve a nagging question in my head. Every time I see very well-done CSS animations, and especially when I see it extended into the realm of 3D graphics, I immediately think: To do all of this [animation/3D], the creator had to know a good bit about [animation/3D]. What makes them look at CSS and say "Yes! TH…

I totally agree with you. Implementing this with WebGL would be much, much easier. However, I believe there is a need for lighting effects for simple interfaces built with HTML and CSS. The library is more for intermediate developers who want to add a touch of lighting without heavy programming.

Modeling 3D objects – like the Photon crane – with CSS is absurd! It was done solely for that initial "neato!" effect.

Hope that helps clear some things up.

Re: CSS 3D Lighting Engine

#12

Post by chao- » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 5:28 PM UTC

thomasxiii wrote: post #11

chao- wrote: post #9

As an upfront disclaimer, I want to state that I think this is incredibly neat, and that I'm just trying to resolve a nagging question in my head. Every time I see very well-done CSS animations, and especially when I see it extended into the realm of 3D graphics, I immediately think: To do all of this [animation/3D], the creator had to know a good bit about [animation/3D]. What makes them look at CSS and say "Yes! TH…

I totally agree with you. Implementing this with WebGL would be much, much easier. However, I believe there is a need for lighting effects for simple interfaces built with HTML and CSS. The library is more for intermediate developers who want to add a touch of lighting without heavy programming. Modeling 3D objects – like the Photon crane – with CSS is absurd! It was done solely for that initial "neato!" effect. Hope…

Clears it up perfectly :)

Re: CSS 3D Lighting Engine

#13

Post by NathanKP » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 7:11 PM UTC

I noticed in Google Chrome that the edges of the crane figurine did not quite meet up, so that there were black lines in the body of the crane where the separate planes didn't quite meet.

I've noticed in the past that CSS seems to have real problems with this in other cases as well.

Re: CSS 3D Lighting Engine

#14

Post by tambourine_man » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 9:56 PM UTC

chao- wrote: post #9

As an upfront disclaimer, I want to state that I think this is incredibly neat, and that I'm just trying to resolve a nagging question in my head. Every time I see very well-done CSS animations, and especially when I see it extended into the realm of 3D graphics, I immediately think: To do all of this [animation/3D], the creator had to know a good bit about [animation/3D]. What makes them look at CSS and say "Yes! TH…

I think it's same reason why people develop a JavaScript game of Tron in 219 bytes. Because you can, because it's a challenge and fun.

I don't really know why, but I also find great joy in working in constrained environments, and usually end up learning something in the process.

Re: CSS 3D Lighting Engine

#15

Post by jjcm » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 9:58 PM UTC

NathanKP wrote: post #13

I noticed in Google Chrome that the edges of the crane figurine did not quite meet up, so that there were black lines in the body of the crane where the separate planes didn't quite meet. I've noticed in the past that CSS seems to have real problems with this in other cases as well.

It's not constrained to CSS. Corners have always been a troublesome issue with 3D environments, and there are quite a few hacks needed to get it right. In many older games you used to be able to shoot "through" corners, as edge detection becomes difficult there. Minecraft still has issues with edges, and seeing what lies behind them is pretty common.