New With a Textures Problem

Question

I've just started teaching myself Java after many years of dabbling with other languages. I've jumped right into Java3D. Needless to say, I've got problems.
I'm trying to apply a texture to a sphere, and move that texture across the sphere. Clouds across a planet surface. I used setTextureTransform to rotate the texture relative to the surface. My problem is that the result looks like the texture is fixed at one edge and stretching itself in the direction I tell it to rotate, until it reverses itself, looking normal but applied the wrong way around, and then stretches back the other way until it returns to its original position. It does that no matter which axis I rotate, always stretching around the relevant axis.
What simple little thing that I would have learned immediately in a formal educational environment am I missing?
I hope it's not uncouth to post code here, and I apologize for how messy my style is. The TextureTransform is last paragraph from the bottom. objTrans, ap, basically everything that doesn't have a "2" on the end is the relevant stuff.
I hope this is the right forum.
package learntextures;
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
//import java.awt.image.*;
//import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
//import com.sun.j3d.utils.applet.MainFrame;
import com.sun.j3d.utils.universe.*;
import com.sun.j3d.utils.image.*;
import javax.media.j3d.*;
import javax.vecmath.*;
import com.sun.j3d.utils.geometry.*;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import com.sun.j3d.utils.applet.MainFrame;
* @author David
public class Main {
* @param args the command line arguments
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO code application logic here
System.out.println("Program Started");
Planet bb = new Planet();
bb.addKeyListener(bb);
MainFrame mf = new MainFrame(bb, 512, 512);
public class Planet extends Applet implements ActionListener, KeyListener {
private Button go = new Button("Go");
private TransformGroup objTrans;
private Transform3D trans = new Transform3D();
private TransformGroup objTrans2;
private Transform3D trans2 = new Transform3D();
private Transform3D texRot = new Transform3D();
private TextureAttributes ap3Attr = new TextureAttributes();
private float height=0.0f;
private float sign = 1.0f; // going up or down
private Timer timer;
private float xloc=0.0f;
private double yrot=0.0;
private double yrot2=0.0;
Sphere sphere;
Appearance ap3;
public BranchGroup createSceneGraph() {
// Create the root of the branch graph
BranchGroup objRoot = new BranchGroup();
objTrans = new TransformGroup();
objTrans.setCapability(TransformGroup.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
objRoot.addChild(objTrans);
objTrans2 = new TransformGroup();
objTrans2.setCapability(TransformGroup.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
objRoot.addChild(objTrans2);
TextureLoader loader = new TextureLoader("cldmap256alpha.png", "AGBR", new Container());
Texture texture = loader.getTexture();
texture.setBoundaryModeS(Texture.WRAP);
texture.setBoundaryModeT(Texture.WRAP);
texture.setBoundaryColor( new Color4f( 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f ) );
// Set up the texture attributes
//could be REPLACE, BLEND or DECAL instead of MODULATE
TextureAttributes texAttr = new TextureAttributes();
texAttr.setTextureMode(TextureAttributes.MODULATE);//COMBINE_SRC_ALPHA
TransparencyAttributes transAttr = new TransparencyAttributes();
transAttr.setTransparencyMode(TransparencyAttributes.NICEST);
Appearance ap = new Appearance();
ap.setTexture(texture);
ap.setTextureAttributes(texAttr);
ap.setTransparencyAttributes(transAttr);
ap.setCapability(Appearance.ALLOW_TEXTURE_WRITE);
ap.setCapability(Appearance.ALLOW_TEXTURE_ATTRIBUTES_WRITE);
texAttr.setCapability(TextureAttributes.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
transAttr.setCapability(TextureAttributes.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
ap3Attr.setCapability(TextureAttributes.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
Material material = new Material();
material.setAmbientColor(new Color3f(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f));
ap.setMaterial(material);
// Create a simple shape leaf node, add it to the scene graph.
int primflags = Primitive.GENERATE_NORMALS +
Primitive.GENERATE_TEXTURE_COORDS + Primitive.ENABLE_APPEARANCE_MODIFY;
// sphere = new Box(1,1,1,primflags,ap);
sphere = new Sphere(0.5f, primflags, ap);
TextureLoader loader2 = new TextureLoader("EarthNoClouds.jpg", "GBR", new Container());
Texture texture2 = loader2.getTexture();
texture2.setBoundaryModeS(Texture.WRAP);
texture2.setBoundaryModeT(Texture.WRAP);
texture2.setBoundaryColor( new Color4f( 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f ) );
// Set up the texture attributes
//could be REPLACE, BLEND or DECAL instead of MODULATE
TextureAttributes texAttr2 = new TextureAttributes();
texAttr2.setTextureMode(TextureAttributes.MODULATE);
// TransparencyAttributes transAttr2 = new TransparencyAttributes();
// transAttr2.setTransparencyMode(TransparencyAttributes.BLENDED);
Appearance ap2 = new Appearance();
ap2.setTexture(texture2);
ap2.setTextureAttributes(texAttr2);
// ap2.setTransparencyAttributes(transAttr2);
ap2.setCapability(Appearance.ALLOW_TEXTURE_WRITE);
Material material2 = new Material();
material.setAmbientColor(new Color3f(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f));
ap2.setMaterial(material2);
// Create a simple shape leaf node, add it to the scene graph.
int primflags2 = Primitive.GENERATE_NORMALS +
Primitive.GENERATE_TEXTURE_COORDS + Primitive.ENABLE_APPEARANCE_MODIFY;
// Box sphere2 = new Box(1,1,1,primflags,ap);
Sphere sphere2 = new Sphere(0.49f,primflags2,ap2);
objTrans = new TransformGroup();
objTrans.setCapability(TransformGroup.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
Transform3D pos1 = new Transform3D();
pos1.setTranslation(new Vector3f(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f));
objTrans.setTransform(pos1);
objTrans.addChild(sphere);
objRoot.addChild(objTrans);
objTrans2 = new TransformGroup();
objTrans2.setCapability(TransformGroup.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
Transform3D pos2 = new Transform3D();
pos2.setTranslation(new Vector3f(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f));
objTrans2.setTransform(pos2);
objTrans2.addChild(sphere2);
objRoot.addChild(objTrans2);
BoundingSphere bounds =
new BoundingSphere(new Point3d(0.0,0.0,0.0), 100.0);
Color3f light1Color = new Color3f(20.0f, 20.0f, 20.0f);
Vector3f light1Direction = new Vector3f(4.0f, -7.0f, 0.0f);
// Vector3f light1Direction = new Vector3f(4.0f, -7.0f, 0.0f);
DirectionalLight light1 = new DirectionalLight(light1Color, light1Direction);
light1.setInfluencingBounds(bounds);
objRoot.addChild(light1);
// Set up the ambient light
Color3f ambientColor = new Color3f(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);
// Color3f ambientColor = new Color3f(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f);
AmbientLight ambientLightNode = new AmbientLight(ambientColor);
ambientLightNode.setInfluencingBounds(bounds);
objRoot.addChild(ambientLightNode);
return objRoot;
public Planet() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
GraphicsConfiguration config =
SimpleUniverse.getPreferredConfiguration();
Canvas3D c = new Canvas3D(config);
add("Center", c);
c.addKeyListener(this);
timer = new Timer(100,this);
//timer.start();
Panel p =new Panel();
p.add(go);
add("North",p);
go.addActionListener(this);
go.addKeyListener(this);
// Create a simple scene and attach it to the virtual universe
BranchGroup scene = createSceneGraph();
SimpleUniverse u = new SimpleUniverse(c);
u.getViewingPlatform().setNominalViewingTransform();
u.addBranchGraph(scene);
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
//Invoked when a key has been pressed.
if (e.getKeyChar()=='s') {xloc = xloc + .1f;}
if (e.getKeyChar()=='a') {xloc = xloc - .1f;}
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e){
// Invoked when a key has been released.
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e){
//Invoked when a key has been typed.
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e ) {
// start timer when button is pressed
if (e.getSource()==go){
if (!timer.isRunning()) {
timer.start();
else {
// height += .1 * sign;
// if (Math.abs(height *2) >= 1 ) sign = -1.0f * sign;
if (height<-0.4f) {
trans.setScale(new Vector3d(1.0, .8, 1.0));
else {
trans.setScale(new Vector3d(1.0, 1.0, 1.0));
trans.setTranslation(new Vector3f(xloc,height,0.0f));
yrot=yrot+0.02;
if(yrot>6.283) yrot-=6.283;
Matrix3d temp=new Matrix3d();
temp.rotY(yrot);
ap3=sphere.getAppearance();
ap3Attr=ap3.getTextureAttributes();
// ap3Attr.setCapability(TextureAttributes.ALLOW_TRANSFORM_WRITE);
texRot.setRotation(temp);
// ap3Attr.setTextureTransform(texRot);
// sphere.setAppearance(ap3);
// objTrans.getChild(0).setAppearance();
// trans.setRotation(temp);
// objTrans.setTransform(trans);
trans2.setTranslation(new Vector3f(xloc,height,0.0f));
yrot2=yrot2+0.02;
if(yrot2>6.283) yrot2-=6.283;
Matrix3d temp2=new Matrix3d();
temp2.rotY(yrot2);
trans.setRotation(temp2);
objTrans.setTransform(trans);
trans2.setRotation(temp2);
objTrans2.setTransform(trans2);
}

Answer 1

Yeah, I was afraid I was making etiquette mistakes. Sorry about that.
Let me see if I can simplify this. Imagine a rectangle (face of a Box) with a texture mapped onto it. I want to shift that texture along the X axis. I use the method setTextureTransform, feeding it the translation vector I want, which increases a fixed amount per frame. What I would expect to happen is that the texture slides to the right until it disappears completely. What actually happens is that the texture remains fixed at the left edge and stretches out in the positive X direction.
The above description is for clarity's sake. My actual problem involves a 3D sphere and the expectation that the texture would wrap around fill in the part of the surface left blank by the moving left edge of the texture.
I've obviously not set something that I should have, but since I'm learning the language by reading the SDK, I don't know enough yet to know where to look for the mistake. Probably somewhere in the texture coordinate assignment or the relationship of texture to object.
That's as clear as I can make it without showing you the program running, and I don't know how to do that yet.