Sample Programs in the DistributionΒΆ

The Panda3D Distribution includes quite a few sample programs. The following is a list of what’s included, and which features of the engine each sample demonstrates. If you are just learning Panda3D, take a look at the ones marked as “Beginner” difficulty. To run a sample program, you need to install Panda3D. If you’re a Windows user, you’ll find the sample programs in your Start Menu. If you’re a Linux user, you’ll find the sample programs in /usr/share/panda3d. On Mac OS X, you’ll find them in /Developer/Examples/Panda3D/.

[[Sample Programs: Asteroids]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Creating tasks (routines that get called every frame) * Using 2D graphics
[[Sample Programs: Ball in Maze]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Using the collision detector * Reading the mouse
[[Sample Programs: Boxing Robots]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Loading animated actors and playing animations
[[Sample Programs: Carousel]] * Difficulty: Beginner * Relative positioning * Intervals (automatic movement)
[[Sample Programs: Cartoon Shader]] * Difficulty: Intermediate (or Advanced) * Enables per-pixel lighting * Explicit Shaders * Image Postprocessing * Render-to-Texture
[[Sample Programs: Chessboard]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Selecting an object with the mouse
[[Sample Programs: Disco Lights]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Using vertex lighting * Enables per-pixel lighting
[[Sample Programs: Distortion]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Creates an interesting shader effect where the entire screen is rendered into a texture.
[[Sample Programs: Fireflies]] * Difficulty: Very Advanced * Deferred shading - a complex shader-based algorithm
[[Sample Programs: Fractal Plants]] * Difficulty: Very Advanced * Creates a 3D model without loading it from disk
[[Sample Programs: Glow Filter]] * Difficulty: Intermediate (or Advanced) * Enabling per-pixel lighting * Explicit Shaders * Image Postprocessing * Render-to-Texture
[[Sample Programs: Infinite Tunnel]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Using fog to hide artifacts in the distance
[[Sample Programs: Looking and Gripping]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Controlling a character’s head procedurally * Causing a character to grip an object
[[Sample Programs: Media Player]] * Difficulty: Beginner * Loading a texture from an AVI file * Loading a sound from an AVI file * Synchronizing audio and video
[[Sample Programs: Motion Trails]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Captures contents of screen and reuses it later.
[[Sample Programs: Music Box]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Playing sounds * GUI buttons and sliders
[[Sample Programs: Normal Mapping]] * Difficulty: Intermediate (or Advanced) * Enables per-pixel lighting * Explicit Shaders
[[Sample Programs: Particles]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Demonstrates the particle system
[[Sample Programs: Procedural Cube]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Creates a 3D model without loading it
[[Sample Programs: Roaming Ralph]] * Difficulty: Advanced * A character walks around a terrain * Uses collision system to detect height of terrain
[[Sample Programs: Shadows]] * Difficulty: Advanced * Explicit Shaders * Dynamic Shadows: shadow mapping
[[Sample Programs: Solar System]] * Difficulty: Beginner Tutorial * Tutorial structure shows development steps * Shows how objects can move relative to other objects
[[Sample Programs: Teapot on TV]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Render-to-texture * Places rendered texture on model in scene
[[Sample Programs: Texture Swapping]] * Difficulty: Intermediate * Swaps textures on models to create interesting effects