Light Splasher is now providing web publishing of 3D objects using Flash.  This technology was developed using the open source Away3D library.  The results are very close to the java applet based display of a 3D object except there is no support for a blob shadow or measurement of the object.

This is around a 1000 polygon 3D model with no run time lighting effects.  By right-clicking on the model and selecting “Away3D Project Stats” you can view how effectively the computer is moving the model around.  If the frame rate drops below around 9 frames a second the animation will start looking jerky.  By design the system will not render the 3D object unless it is being moved, so therefore you will need to move it around to get some values displayed.  This saves on CPU use and prevents your laptop battery from being needlessly drained.

You can compare the two technologies and make a choice on which type of technology will fit your project better.  It is also possible to provide both ways of displaying the 3D object and allow the user to pick which technology works better for them on their system. See cat using Java

A fun thing to do (depending on your mentality) is to spin the cat around several times in one direction and then hit “reset” to watch him spin quickly back around in the other direction.

Click and Drag – requires flash player 10 or greater