I haven't updated my blog in a while as I've been too busy developing inside Unity. It'll come as no surprise to the reader that this is my current engine of choice as it's quick to use and sports one of the best authoring environments I've yet seen in a browser based 3D package. So, moving on, let's look at what has changed in the world of browser based 3D engines.

Unity 3D authoring environment is now on windows

That's right, as of version 2.5, Unity 3D is now available to work with on windows. It's a free upgrade to any previous 2.x version and contains all the features of the mac version with added 3ds max compatibility (you can now drag and drop .max files into the editor). Just to clarify that last part, it handles importing of the max file much in the same way as it already does with .fbx content. If you want to try the demo of the windows version you can get it by clicking here.

Google release the O3D API - 3D content on the web

While only in an experimental phase, google have released their open source, browser-based 3D engine called O3D. Sporting full hardware acceleration, it runs smoothly and has support for complex shaders. Similar to what Unity released for their tech demo, Google have created a small island, rich with vegetation and impressive water effects. Worth noting is that the demo weighs in at a hefty 17MB. You can see the video below or, if you're willing to install the plugin, view the 3D demos here.

Naturally it has full support for sketchup and since I already use sketchup to develop with for my Unity projects, it's a welcome feature.

As always, here's a video to make life easier.

I'll be investigating O3D more thoroughly in the near future.