Papervision3D is not a software program—it's basically a library of ActionScript classes. This open source library is available in two forms—compiled and non-compiled. The compiled code is downloadable as an SWC, which is compatible with Flex Builder, Flash Builder, and Flash CS4, but not with Flash CS3. The non-compiled code is downloadable through Subversion and as a ZIP file, and works for all four authoring tools.
We have discussed how to download and install SVN clients for both Windows and Mac OS X. With those clients we downloaded the non-compiled source code through SVN. We've also seen how to download the SWC and the ZIP. Then we configured the authoring tool of our choice by setting paths to Papervision3D. To test if our setup was done correctly, we ran some examples. Finally, we shed some light on where to find documentation.
In the next chapter, we're going to get our hands dirty by creating our first Papervision3D scene. Before we build this simple application, we will walk through some basics of 3D theory and object-oriented programming.
