Do degenerate QuadArrays cause any problems?

Hi there,

I have to create complex geometries for a web application using java3d and I would like to know whether degenerate QuadArrays, i.e. QuadArrays that actually are triangles, cause any problems.
For example, if I want to model a sphere with QuadArrays, then at the poles of the sphere there will always be two vertices in a QuadArray which are identical, i.e. the QuadArrays form triangles.

Does that cause any problems within the java3d library?
I'd like to avoid splitting up the geometry into a QuadArray and a TriangleArray. Using my web application's existing framework it would be far easier to model everything using QuadArrays, as long as that doesn't break java3d.

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks in advance,
Schorsch

Hi

It should work but it is less efficient than building your TriangleArray instances properly and I can't promise you that it can't cause any trouble when picking.

Hi Julien,

that doesn't sound too promising. Since picking is a major part of our web application, I can't take any risk. That's a shame. I was hoping to be able to take the easy road.

Thank you very much for your assessment anyway. I really appreciate the short response time in this forum. *thumbsup*

Salut,
Schorsch

You're welcome. Imagine that all your quads contain half of empty triangles, Java3D will take them into account anyway. In my humble opinion, using the QuadArray for what it is designed for is more viable.