3D Graphics Engine for 3D texture rendering, for like ex. Wiiflow 3D animation view?

Hey guys, I know this is a program for the nintendo wii, but I just saw this video and it looks like a really cool way to browse objects. I thought I would share and maybe inspire some people out there to make something similar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-5chWyV..._embedded#!

Looks cool. Might be a little tricky with XBMC since XBMC doesn't use 3D texture rendering. It could be faked in 2D but it wouldn't look as sweet. On the other hand it may serve as useful inspiration for a skin with a similar feel.

Are there any plans to support 3d texture rendering in the future?

ghostelement Wrote:Are there any plans to support 3d texture rendering in the future?

Doubt it. That would require a 3D engine to render geometry and textures (think UnrealEngine). Unreal charges tens of thousands for the licensing of their engine, which gives you an idea on how complex it is.

Couldn't something like Open GL be used? Or is that a stupid question... lol.

http://www.panda3d.org/
A pretty good 3d engine

ghostelement Wrote:Couldn't something like Open GL be used? Or is that a stupid question... lol.

You can draw 3D objects (with textures applied) with OpenGL BUT what you really need is a framework providing functions like "draw a cube at position XYZ" etc which is not to be underestimated. This does not mean that XBMC would need a full-blown 3d engine like the CryEngine or UnrealEngine because what makes them so expensive is the whole physics engine and lighting model (not to mention the graphics editor they provide which let's you put together 3d scences).

But it would still be a lot of work. There are open source projects out there providing 3d engines like Irrlicht or APOCALYX but AFAIK they were built to be used in game development (but I might be mistaken).

So yes, something like a 3d engine in XBMC would be a long way off then, but wouldn't it be sooooo sweet. I guess I can keep dreaming.

I agree, it would be sweet. It definitely wouldn't need to be a complex engine because you really only need to render a cube for box art. That would make for a lot of upset Revo users when they realized they would need to upgrade their hardware.

Wonder if it would be out of the question to put in a trac ticket for a feature request for this... lol.