What is this?
Zdog is a round, flat, designer-friendly pseudo-3D engine for the web: you build 3D models in JavaScript by adding shapes, and it renders them with 2D drawing APIs to canvas or SVG.
Zdog is a round, flat, designer-friendly pseudo-3D engine for the web: you build 3D models in JavaScript by adding shapes, and it renders them with 2D drawing APIs to canvas or SVG.Is it a real 3D engine, or what does the 'pseudo-3D' part mean?It is a trick: Zdog draws flat 2D shapes placed in 3D space — spheres are actually dots, toruses are circles, capsules are thick lines. The rotation math is real 3D, only the rendering is flat, the same principle as the 1995 game Dogz that inspired it.
It is a trick: Zdog draws flat 2D shapes placed in 3D space — spheres are actually dots, toruses are circles, capsules are thick lines. The rotation math is real 3D, only the rendering is flat, the same principle as the 1995 game Dogz that inspired it.How do I add it to a page?Install with npm install zdog (Bower works too), link zdog.dist.min.js from the unpkg CDN, or download the file directly. Documentation and live demos live at zzz.dog.
Install with npm install zdog (Bower works too), link zdog.dist.min.js from the unpkg CDN, or download the file directly. Documentation and live demos live at zzz.dog.Does it need any other libraries or a build step?No. It ships as a plain JavaScript file with zero runtime dependencies, so a script tag or one npm install is all it takes.
No. It ships as a plain JavaScript file with zero runtime dependencies, so a script tag or one npm install is all it takes.Is it stable, or still changing?Treat it as beta: the author calls v1 'a beta-release, of sorts' and says to expect lots of changes for v2, so APIs may shift.
Treat it as beta: the author calls v1 'a beta-release, of sorts' and says to expect lots of changes for v2, so APIs may shift.Why did the author build this instead of using an existing 3D engine?Dave of Metafizzy wanted to make a video game but found real engines too powerful and complex, so he built Zdog to design and display simple 3D models without a lot of overhead. It is directly inspired by Dogz, a 1995 virtual pet game.
Dave of Metafizzy wanted to make a video game but found real engines too powerful and complex, so he built Zdog to design and display simple 3D models without a lot of overhead. It is directly inspired by Dogz, a 1995 virtual pet game.How do you build a model with it?You create models in code by adding shapes — spheres, toruses, capsules and the like — to a scene. The Getting started guide on zzz.dog walks through a full hello-world demo.
You create models in code by adding shapes — spheres, toruses, capsules and the like — to a scene. The Getting started guide on zzz.dog walks through a full hello-world demo.Is there an ecosystem around it?Yes: Zfont is a text plugin, vue-zdog is a Vue wrapper, zDogPy is a Python port for DrawBot, plus Made with Zdog CodePen and Twitter collections for inspiration.
Yes: Zfont is a text plugin, vue-zdog is a Vue wrapper, zDogPy is a Python port for DrawBot, plus Made with Zdog CodePen and Twitter collections for inspiration.How do you pronounce Zdog?'Zee-dog' in American parlance or 'Zed-dog' in British.
'Zee-dog' in American parlance or 'Zed-dog' in British.What are similar projects?matter-js, paper.js, pixijs, particles.js, rough, mojs, WebGL-Fluid-Simulation, phaser
matter-js, paper.js, pixijs, particles.js, rough, mojs, WebGL-Fluid-Simulation, phaserWhich topics is it in?2d, zero-dependency, creative-coding, canvas, rendering, game-development, svg, graphics, 3d, javascript-library, design, animation
2d, zero-dependency, creative-coding, canvas, rendering, game-development, svg, graphics, 3d, javascript-library, design, animation