viewscene

ViewScene is a name used for interactive 3D scene viewer applications designed to render VRML and X3D content. The most notable implementations appear in toolchains for VRML/X3D development, such as the InstantReality suite, where ViewScene serves as a dedicated viewer for navigating and inspecting 3D scenes described by VRML97 or X3D. A viewscene application generally loads a scene graph, constructs the resulting 3D scene, and provides user controls to move the camera, inspect objects, and observe lighting, textures, and animations defined in the file.

Typical capabilities include support for standard VRML/X3D nodes such as Viewpoint, NavigationInfo, directional and point lights, as well as animation with TimeSensor and related events. Users can navigate through scenes using common modes (orbit, walk, fly), adjust rendering options, and inspect scene attributes like materials, textures, and shadows. Some implementations offer scripting, benchmarking, or batch processing, and may provide options to capture screenshots or export rendered images.

Format support tends to be focused on VRML97, VRML 2.0, and X3D, with varying degrees of completeness across different versions. Because ViewScene has been implemented in multiple toolchains, exact features, performance, and user interfaces can differ between releases. The tool is typically used by developers, educators, and researchers to test and demonstrate X3D/VRML content or to debug scene graphs in a real-time viewing environment.

Today, ViewScene remains a niche component within specialized X3D/VRML workflows. Modern workflows often supplement or replace it with web-based viewers or integrated IDEs, but it remains referenced in historical documentation and legacy projects.

See also: VRML, X3D, instantReality, 3D scene viewers.