We are developing a scientific visualization application that places hundreds of objects into a 3D context for users to explore. We are newbies but have working code and have been through several tutorials. In our app, we need to have text labels associated with some/all objects and the text needs to be transformed with its parent object. In jme 2.0 the Billboard labels seemed to serve this purpose. What is appropriate in JME3? Attaching text to the HUD does not seem to be an intuitive approach. Thanks!
Why you dont want to use the gui node? I think it would be most appropriate since you can control the text size without depending on the actual z location of the object.
A typical view would have perhaps 200 objects, each with their own labels. In the GUI node scenario, if the text size were the same for all objects the screen would either be cluttered or the text would have to be too small to be useful. We were planning on having a constant size text associated with the objects and allow the user to zoom in to see what was of interest. We would also use the level of detail to cull the text when it becomes too small to be useful. We’d welcome some architectural guidance here and would pursue the GUI node approach if that is most consistent with JME3.
But you could change the text size and maybe color based on the distance. I always found it easier to label things in 3d spaces this way given the common problems that arise.
Excellent, thanks! We’ll continue development using the GUI node for labeling and get some more experience.