Are there any resources for Panda3D that would show me how to programmatically create 3D picture frames that display in the 3D render world with a 2D picture drawn on the surface of it? I’m not interested in using pre-made resources in Blender that get loaded by Panda3D, but instead I’d like to pull images from a database and draw them in the world.
Thanks.
Actually nevermind Panda3D is a bit too dead to waste any more time on.
That’s quite a statement: in what way do you find it to be “dead”?
As to your original question, the answer depends somewhat on what you mean: you speak of drawing from a database, which doesn’t seem all that different to loading a model, it seems to me. If you’re still interested in an answer, would you clarify what, precisely, you’re trying to do please?
Hi, welcome to the community!
It sounds like you want to show an arbitrary 2D image on a 3D object, which is easily possible. You can either procedurally create the 3D object, using a class like CardMaker, or you can use a UV-mapped model (eg. of a picture frame) and assign the texture to it via setTexture. Also see the manual page on texture replacement. The Teapot on TV sample program might also be interesting to look at.
Depending on how your images are stored in the database, you can load them via methods on the Texture class or the PNMImage class, see the API reference.
Also, Panda3D is not dead! It’s in active use and in active development, as can be seen in the contribution graph here:
You can be clinically dead, and you can be brain dead, and you can even be information theoretic dead. Some you can come back from, and some you can’t. In all cases though, dead is the proper term.
Panda3D is dead.
I know you guys want to cling to the idea that it isn’t, and you’ll always be able to find some kind of metric (likely of your own doing) that allows you to claim it’s “still alive” but the truth is there’s no resources, no communities, and no projects based on Panda3D that make this engine worth exploring.
Did you guys notice that I didn’t actually ask you how to dynamically load models and texture them on the fly, but I instead asked you to point me to the resources where I could learn and understand how to do this. Did you guys notice that you had no ability to provide any such resources, so you instead pretended as though I asked the question to yourselves personally? That’s quite a leap of mental gymnastics to go wholly ignored…
Thanks, but no thanks. Panda3D doesn’t have the resources or communities available to allow it to be considered alive by someone not currently part of the 18 year old fan club.
I immediately noticed that you don’t understand anything about 3D and 2D. Here is the link:
https://docs.panda3d.org/1.10/python/programming/internal-structures/index
https://docs.panda3d.org/1.10/python/programming/internal-structures/procedural-generation/index
The rest of the problem will be solved by Python, if of course you know how to program and do not consider it a dead language.
I don’t understand anything about 3D and 2D? What gave you that idea? Or was that just some angry teenage drivel?
I don’t know what you consider be the requirements in these terms for making an engine worth exploring, but Panda has plenty of projects, a number of tutorials and helpful snippets, and an extensive manual and API.
As I said, the answer–whether given directly or in the form of external sources–depends on what, precisely, is the information that you want. You weren’t specific, and I asked for clarification.
For example, if it’s just the basics of procedural generation that you’re interested in, then the manual covers that, as I recall.
I didn’t notice that, because it’s not true. 
Obviously, this is a vague explanation and general words without specific terminology of what you want. You don’t need to be shy about it, the forum is here to help newcomers.
Guys, OP is obviously trolling, so let’s not continue this any further. I referred specifically to the resources that OP asked for, including manual pages and sample programs (short of linking to them), and OP decides to respond with toxicity. Locking the thread.