Visualization using the SPORT graphics engine

The HelloLibbulletjme app (introduced on the previous page) is simple, readable and complete. However, as a console app, its output is limited to text.

Text provides scant insight into what the 3-D physics simulation is doing. For most people, pictures are far easier to understand.

For the purpose of this tutorial series, we’ve created a graphics engine named SPORT (the Simple Physics-ORienTed engine). SPORT enables us to visualize physics objects without cluttering up the physics code with too many rendering calls. It is open-source, written in Java, and included in the LbjExamples project.

HelloSport

HelloSport is a direct conversion of HelloLibbulletjme into a SPORT app.

Details to note:

  1. The app is declared as a subclass of BasePhysicsApp<PhysicsSpace>, indicating that it will simulate a plain PhysicsSpace.

  2. The app implements the 3 abstract methods of BasePhysicsApp (createSpace, populateSpace, and updateSpace), all of which are invoked automatically.

  3. BasePhysicsApp automatically loads the Libbulletjme native library.

  4. BasePhysicsApp provides:

    1. the physicsSpace field to access the space and

    2. the visualizeShape() method to visualize the shape of a collision object.

  5. Whereas HelloLibbulletjme used update(intervalSeconds, 0) to simulate one step at a time, HelloSport attempts real-time simulation using update(intervalSeconds).

Running HelloSport should open a window on your computer’s desktop and play a brief animation of a sphere falling onto a horizontal surface.

Pressing Esc should close the window and terminate the app.

Hereafter, all our tutorial apps will use SPORT. Additional features of SPORT will be introduced as needed.

Summary

  • SPORT is a graphics engine, created specifically for Libbulletjme tutorials.

  • SPORT provides a simple toolkit for visualizing 3-D physics.