Manipulating 3D models in Android?

Question

so I am thinking of developing an app: I would have a text field for commands and a 3d model (simple one, just torso and hands) and for example when I write left, it moves its hand left and etc. I am using Blender for the 3D and started to develop the model but I don't get one thing:

Would I be able to do the manipulations (moves) from within Android? Meaning I should create the model in Blender just in his initial position. Is that how it works? And also if anyone has done it what should I use to read the model files in Android?

I am sorry if my question is a bit confusing but I am confused as well. If any further explanations are needed I'll respond to your answer! Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

This doesn't directly answer your question, but unless there is a particular need to make a native application, I would recommend you look into third party 3D platforms such as Unity3D. They provide extensive tools which will allow you to rapidly create and configure your environment without having to handle any of the rendering or low level OpenGL code directly. Unity has a free license available and is multiplatform so it's extremely easy to port to iOS in the future.

As for answering your question, as Steven Trigg has already mentioned, the best way to go about it would be through the use of existing libraries. OpenGL doesn't have native support for animations or advanced model loading so you would have to code that up yourself otherwise.

Answer 2

To make things easier on yourself you should consider a graphics library for Android. My personal preference is libGDX as it's multiplatform and you can run it straight on your desktop, you can import 3D animations from blender (source included). And start different animations depending on the user input.