Features Comparison X3D 4.0 and glTF 2.0.xlsx

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	Features Comparison X3D 4.0 and glTF 2.0
2			9 September 2022
3	References
4	X3D 4.0 specification	https://www.web3d.org/specifications/X3Dv4Draft/ISO-IEC19775-1v4-DIS/Part01/Architecture.html
5	glTF 2.0 specification	https://registry.khronos.org/glTF/specs/2.0/glTF-2.0.html
6
7	IEEE 3D Body Processing Paper	https://standards.ieee.org/downloads/3DBPWhitePaper.pdf
8	IEEE 3DBP Features	https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15wCQ8CHJnQD_tmwaRPFfZqBe6KJzE1CzOKd2XOlPL4M/
9	IEEE 3DBP Working Group	https://standards.ieee.org/develop/wg/3DBP.html
10
11	Value Propositions: Complementary with Ongoing Extensions
12	X3D is a file format allowing 3D scenes to be used by a wide variety of applications.
13	X3D can be used by Web browsers and other viewers, authoring tools, 3D Printing applications, text editors, and XML tools.
14	X3D is the appropriate choice if the primary goal is saving your interactive 3D scenes for use over time and multiple applications.
15	glTF™ (GL Transmission Format) is a specification for efficient transmission from server to client.
16	glTF is the appropriate choice if the primary goal is viewing 3D scenes in a Web browser.
17	X3D4 ISO Draft International Specification (DIS, under ballot) normatively references glTF 2 and includes Inline support.
18	glTF 2, originally approved by Khronos, is now an ISO-approved Publicly Available Specification (PAS).
19	Cross-referencing glTF extension capabilities is valuable, and permitting them in X3D players is certainly allowed when loading/adapting glTF models.
20	Goal for this table is to refer to relevant glTF extensions wherever possible, encouraging further cooperative growth.
21
22	Technology Comparison Summaries
23	X3D: A royalty-free open ISO standards file format and run-time architecture to represent and communicate 3D scenes and models.
24	X3D: Data Interchange and rendering format, useful for both general Web deployment and diverse 3D applications.
25	X3D: Interoperability with other "vertical" functional domains and international Web standards.
26	X3D: Metadata Support is thorough, working groups are currently mapping to external metadata vocabularies.
27	X3D: Stable long-term archival stability and re-usability, two decades of proven capability.
28	X3D: Ensure portability and consistency across multiple file formats, programming languages and platforms.
29	X3D: Forward/backward compatibility and extensibility are specification goals that have been demonstrated successfully for 20 years.
30	X3D: Strong intellectual property rights (IPR) policy, no cost-bearing patents allowed, IPR fully aligned with W3C Web standards.
31	X3D: Strong community, wide industry compatibility, many importers/exporters, many standards-organization liaisons.
32	X3D: full Inline support for glTF rendering features, especially plus advanced lighting model planned for X3D version 4.
33	X3D native nodes directly corresponding to glTF compressed geometry not supported, but Inline loading of glb models is supported.
34
35	glTF is a royalty-free specification for efficient transmission and loading of 3D scenes and models.
36	glTF: Transmission format designed for application rendering as an API-neutral runtime asset delivery format.
37	glTF: A run-time delivery system for highly optimized mesh data for rendering, delivered from source to client.
38	glTF: Backward compatibility is addressed by the glTF specification, see paragraph 2.5 Versioning
39	glTF: Strong community, strong industry support, proven capabilities.
40	glTF Khronos-approved Extensions Registry is available at https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF/blob/main/extensions/README.md
41	TODO review and improve all these words, best matching glTF descriptions of its capabilities
42
43	Feature	X3D Support v4.0	glTF Support (v2.0 binary + ASCII)	OBJ	FBX	STL	3MF	PLY
44	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
45
46	Triangular meshes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
47	Points and lines	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
48	Quad meshes	Yes	No
49	Primitive shapes: box, sphere, cone, cylinder, text	Yes	No			No
50	NURBS curves and surfaces	Yes	No	No		No	No
51	Efficient representation of mesh in binary format	No, planned X3D v4.1	Yes	No	No	No
52
53	CAD Structure (assemblies)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
54	Animation (general)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
55	Interaction: navigation, selection, manipulation (touch/over TouchSensor, PickableGroup)	Yes	No, planned	No	No	No	No
56	Clipping planes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
57	Human animation: skeleton, skin, motion	Yes, including anatomically correct humans	Yes, ad hoc anatomy	No	Yes	No	No
58	Morph targets	HAnim displacers	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
59	Skin/joint animation	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
60				No	No	No	No
61	Events and ROUTE connections	Yes	No, animations are attached using channels	No	No	No	No
62	Scripting	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
63	Extensibility by authors (prototype mechanism)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
64	Metadata Structures	Yes, Metadata* nodes and meta statements	Yes, paragraphs 3.2 Assets and 5.16 Extras	No	No	No	No
65	Annotation	No, planned X3D v4.1	No	No	No	No	No
66
67	Lights	Yes	Extensions KHR_lights_punctual, EXT_lights_image_based, planned: KHR_lights_environment			No	No
68	Material	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
69	Physically Based Rendering, advanced lighting	X3D v4.0, matching glTF	Yes (e.g. metallic-roughness model)	No	Yes	No	No
70	Custom Shader	Yes (multiple shader languages supported)	No	No	Yes	No	No
71	Bump mapping	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
72	Occlusion map	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
73	Emissive map	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
74	Normal map	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	No
75	Cubemap textures, including generated cubemaps	Yes	No		Yes	No	No
76	Environmental effects, e.g. Fog, Background	Yes	No		Yes	No	No
77
78	Image (2D) texturing	Yes (image files or embedded pixel map)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
79	Texture mapping	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
80	Volume (3D) textures, imaging	Yes	No			No	No
81	Movie (2D + time) texturing	Yes (optional support for streaming)	No	No	No	No	No
82	Audio	Yes (optional support for streaming)	No	No	No	No	No
83	Spatial 3D Audio	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
84
85	Inline	Supports X3D, scripts, glTF	No	No	No	No	No
86	Formats/encodings	ASCII (XML, ClassicVRML, JSON, languages)	Binary & ASCII (JSON based)
87		Binary: .x3db, Efficient XML Interchange (EXI)				No
88		Inline glTF				No
89						No
90	Security	Yes (optional signature and encryption in XML)	No inherent encryption			No
91
92	(X3D note: collection of animation displacers equivalent to HAnim morph target)
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100