Famo.us, Three.js and Clara.io

Question

I found Famo.us and it seemed pretty exciting but their docs are closed. I am very curios about WebGL so I started looking for alternatives. I found Three.js and Clara.io.

How do they differ from famo.us? What is the main objective of each framework?

Thanks.

Edit: Rephrased.

Federation

The docs are available in github.com/Famous/guides and all the code is JSdoc-ed. The docs on the site were not supposed to be behind a login. That will be rectified shortly. – Killen

This FAQ compares famous to come other js libraries, including three, from the famous devs. bit.ly/1hGXsvS – Thermoluminescence

famo.us/docs – Amplexicaul

Answer 1

• Three.js is a lightweight javascript library to create 3D visualisations (using WebGL, SVG, Canvas or another renderer).
• Clara.io is an online 3D modelling tool using WebGL.
• Famo.us is a javascript rendering engine to create web-apps with 3D user interfaces that promises to run smooth (60FPS) on mobile devices.

Famo.us claims to solve the HTML5 performance issue by avoiding DOM-layout and repaints, which are very expensive computations. Instead, Famo.us keeps a flat DOM and uses CSS3 transforms for all layout and positioning. Unlike the others you mentioned, Famo.us does not render using WebGL (yet), as Safari does not have this enabled by default.

Famo.us includes a physics engine to provide realistic and complex user interaction (e.g. bounce on a scrollview, 3D coverflow, that sorts of stuff). In Famous, you construct a scene-graph and add animations, events and physics to make everything come alive.

Warship

Famo.us does use WebGL, I know it because I had to change some flags in chrome to be able to see some demos. – Federation

Yes, that's true if you look at codepen.io/befamous. However, in their current release I couldn't find anything to render to WebGL. So I guess they plan to release a WebGL renderer in the feature (When Safari enables it by default?) – Warship

To clarify, Famo.us is a library with an Engine that work on the DOM. – Godroon

I believe Famous' Mixed Mode is released by now — doesn't that indicate it does indeed use WebGL as of Oct '15? – Visualize

Answer 2

http://Clara.io is an online 3D modeling, rendering and publishing platform that can import and export in standard formats. It uses ThreeJS/WebGL and it imports and exports in the ThreeJS format as well.

Although Clara.io is not intended for creating applicatipns, you can also easily make interactive experiences Clara.io such as this demo by Klaas:

https://exocortex.github.io/klaas

Benevento