Virtual Reality Modelling Language
VRML is a format which allows pictures to be defined as
their constituent parts, spheres, cylinders, etc. The Internet browsing
program then interprets the structure locally at the users site. A
molecular structure defined in this format needs a much smaller file than
the one defined as a bitmap image, so that it can be transmitted more
quickly via the Internet, and structures changed in scale or rotated
interactively. Some sites allow you to mount your structure at your home
site and they will convert it to VRML for you and display it back to you.
There are several sites where you can learn more about VRML and get suitable
software. Click here for a
site in Germany if you are particularly interested in protein structures, or
Click here for example structures
in the UK, or here for the
definition of the VRML format which is being proposed as a standard.
Page last updated 21 March 1996
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