Time for action – node versus geometry

Geometries are the objects in your scene. They represent loaded models, characters, terrains, and all kinds of other visible objects.

Nodes are a typical means of grouping other nodes and geometries. The typical use case for nodes is transformation, where they are used as handles for groups of spatials. If you group a driver geometry and a car geometry by attaching them to a common vehicle node, you can move both of them by simply translating the vehicle node.

Another use case for nodes is rotation. Do you intend to rotate around the geometry's center, or around another point? If you intend to rotate around a non-central point, create an invisible pivot node and attach the geometry to it. Then, apply the rotation ...

Get jMonkeyEngine 3.0 Beginner's Guide now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.