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Introduction to Panda3D
=======================

Panda3D Basics
--------------

Panda3D is a 3D engine: a library of subroutines for 3D rendering and game
development. The library is C++ with a set of Python bindings. Game development
with Panda3D usually consists of writing a Python or C++ program that controls
the Panda3D library.
Why Panda3D?
------------

Panda3D was created for commercial game development and is still used for
developing commercial games. Because of this, the engine needs to emphasize four
areas: power, speed, completeness, and error tolerance. Everyone knows what
power and speed are. But completeness and error tolerance deserve some extra
commentary.

Completeness means that Panda3D contains many unexciting but essential tools:
scene graph browsing, performance monitoring, animation optimizers, and so
forth.

Error tolerance is about the fact that all game developers create bugs. When you
do, you want your engine to give you a clear error message and help you find the
mistake. Too many engines will just crash if you pass the wrong value to a
function. Panda3D almost never crashes, and much code is dedicated to the
problem of tracking and isolating errors.

Finally, to come back to power and speed: to gauge Panda3D's capabilities you
can take a look at the :ref:`Sample Programs <samples>`. These are short
programs that demonstrate a sampling of Panda3D's capabilities. The screenshots
have frame-rates in the upper-right corner, taken on a Radeon X700. Note that
some samples are old and use placeholder art and so are not great examples of
Panda3D's visual capabilities.
developing commercial games. It supports both Python and C++ with Python
having additional features. The engine could be a good fit for you because
of four reasons: completeness, error tolerance, speed, and power.

Completeness means that not only does Panda3D contains many unexciting but
essential tools - scene graph browsing, performance monitoring, animation
optimizers, cross platform builds, and much more - but the engine comes with
what you'll need out of the box to create realtime games, visualizations,
simulations, and experiments.

Error tolerance is about the fact that all game developers create bugs. When
you do, you want your engine to give you a clear error message and help
you find the mistake. Too many engines will just crash if you pass the wrong
value to a function. Panda3D almost never crashes, and much code is dedicated
to the problem of tracking and isolating errors.

As for speed Panda3D is fast to develop in because of its Python bindings
which allow you to access to Python's massive ecosystem and community but
if you need something more low level it's easy to drop into C++ and get
what you need. Additionally the engine is very lightweight in terms of download
size and system requirements. So when you use Panda3D you don't need to worry
about if your hardware is powerful enough or if you'll need a new hard drive,
and neither will you target audience.

Panda3D is very powerful for not only the reasons listed above but also
because it gives you freedom to create your project the way you what while
providing the tools to do that unlike many other tools which either lock you
into their design or expect you to create everything yourself.

So what are you waiting for? Join our friendly and helpful global community
and start using Panda3D today!

You can read more about Panda3D's :ref:`features`.

Samples
------
You can view Panda3D's samples here: :ref:`Sample Programs <samples>`.

History
-------

Panda3D was developed by Disney for their massively multiplayer online game,
Toontown Online. It was released as free software in 2002. Carnegie Mellon
University's Entertainment Technology Center, which currently hosts the website
and other Panda3D services, was actively involved in the development of Panda3D
into an open source project. It is now developed jointly by Disney and
contributors from around the world.
into an open source project.

You can read more about Panda3D's :ref:`features`.
Who is Working on Panda3D
-------------------------

Panda3D is not a Beginner's Tool or a Toy
-----------------------------------------

To successfully use Panda3D, you must be a skilled programmer. If you do not
know what an "API" is, or if you don't know what a "tree" is, you will probably
find Panda3D overwhelming. This is no point-and-click game-maker: this is a tool
for professionals. While it is important to point that out so you have accurate
expectations, it's also relevant to be aware that Panda3D is one of the easiest
and most powerful engines you will ever use, and we welcome your participation.

If you are just getting started with programming, we suggest that your best
option is to start with a class on programming. Alternately, you could try
teaching yourself using a training tool like `Alice <https://www.alice.org>`__,
from CMU.

Panda3D supports the full range of what modern engines should: it provides
convenient support for normal mapping, gloss mapping, HDR, cartoon shading and
inking, bloom, and a number of other things. It also allows you to write your
own shaders.

People sometimes have the mistaken impression that Panda3D is written in Python,
which would make it very slow. But Panda3D is not written in Python; it's
written in C++. Python is just used for scripting. Developers usually write the
performance-intensive bits, if any, in C++ or something similar
`Cython <https://www.panda3d.org/blog/panda3d-and-cython/>`__. To see what kind
of framerate a small Panda3D program typically gets, take a look at the
screenshots of the :ref:`Sample Programs <samples>`. Those were taken using an
old Radeon x700. Of course, only a sample program can run at 400 fps like that,
but for a real game, 60 fps is quite attainable. One caveat, though: to get that
kind of performance, you need to understand 3D cards and 3D performance
optimization. It doesn't happen automatically. Panda3D includes profiling tools
you need to hit 60 fps.
There are a number of developers in the commercial and open-source community.
Currently, besides the active contributions from the open-source community, the
most active member of the development community is Disney. Disney's primary
interest in Panda3D is commercial. Panda3D is being used in the development of a
number of Disney games and amusement-park exhibits. To serve Disney's needs,
Panda3D must be a fully-featured engine, capable of all the performance and
quality one expects in any 'A-grade' commercial title.

Panda3D's Software License
--------------------------
Expand All @@ -84,7 +73,8 @@ license," which is a free software license with very few restrictions on usage.
In versions 1.5.2 and before, it used a proprietary license which was very
similar in intention to the BSD and MIT licenses, though there was some
disagreement about the freeness of two of the clauses. The old license can still
be accessed `here <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/panda3d/panda3d/41876b5829d921ade92d0795bb7091d009e3f9b7/doc/LICENSE>`__.
be accessed`here
<https://raw.githubusercontent.com/panda3d/panda3d/41876b5829d921ade92d0795bb7091d009e3f9b7/doc/LICENSE>`__.

Although the engine itself is completely free, it comes with various third-party
libraries that are not free software. Some of them (like FMOD) even restrict you
Expand All @@ -95,19 +85,6 @@ also comes with OpenAL which you can use instead of FMOD.

You can read `Panda3D's License <https://www.panda3d.org/license/>`__.

Who is Working on Panda3D
-------------------------

There are a number of developers in the commercial and open-source community.
Currently, besides the active contributions from the open-source community, the
most active member of the development community is Disney. Disney's primary
interest in Panda3D is commercial. Panda3D is being used in the development of a
number of Disney games and amusement-park exhibits. To serve Disney's needs,
Panda3D must be a fully-featured engine, capable of all the performance and
quality one expects in any 'A-grade' commercial title.

The most supported language is Python. Though you can use C++ too, the
documentation is mostly aimed at Python use.

The Introductory Chapter
------------------------
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