A Journey Through 3D Development: My Talks at the German Developer Conference Macoun

For years, Macoun was the German developer conference for iOS and macOS developers. Between 2011 and 2019, I had the privilege to speak there multiple times, sharing my passion for 3D graphics and game development with the community. A retrospective on three exciting talks and one workshop that illuminated different aspects of 3D programming.

Fundamentals of 3D Graphics (Macoun 2011)

The journey began in 2011 with a foundational talk on 3D computer graphics. At a time when 3D development was still uncharted territory for many iOS developers, this talk offered a structured introduction to the complex world of three-dimensional rendering.

The presentation systematically guided participants through the graphics pipeline - that fundamental process that ultimately transforms mathematical 3D descriptions into pixels on the screen. The essential concepts were explained: 3D transformations that position and move objects in space, lighting models for realistic rendering, textures for detailed surfaces, and finally rasterization, which calculates the final pixels from vector data.

The theory was supported by practical OpenGL examples that demonstrated how these concepts are implemented in real code. OpenGL was then the primary 3D API for iOS and macOS - a powerful but also complex technology that gave developers direct access to the GPU.

Astronomy with GLKit (Macoun 2011)

At the same conference, a second, practice-oriented talk followed that transformed the theoretical foundations into a concrete project: the live demonstration of developing a 3D astronomy application for the iPad.

The project was ambitious: the eight planets of our solar system were to be brought to life together with their known satellites in an animated 3D representation. The application went beyond pure visualization and offered genuine interactivity - users could control the camera.

Technically, this was a perfect demonstration of the possibilities of GLKit, Apple’s then-new abstraction layer over OpenGL ES. GLKit simplified many of the complex OpenGL operations and made 3D development more accessible for iOS developers. The astronomy example impressively showed how mathematical precision (for the orbits of celestial bodies) could be combined with user-friendly interaction.

Introduction to Scene Kit (Macoun 2012)

In 2012, another new Apple framework took center stage: Scene Kit. With Mountain Lion, Apple introduced this technology that pursued a completely different approach to 3D rendering than the previous OpenGL-based solutions.

Scene Kit promised to make 3D scenes “very easy” to display - an enticing thought for developers who had previously shied away from the complexity of OpenGL. The framework worked with DAE files (Digital Asset Exchange), a standardized format for 3D scenes that could also contain animations.

The talk not only demonstrated the basic use of Scene Kit but also illuminated the possibilities for interactive content. This was an important point, as many 3D frameworks enabled impressive visualizations but reached their limits when it came to user interaction.

Scene Kit proved to be a pathfinder for a new generation of 3D apps on Apple platforms and is still a central building block for AR applications with ARKit today.

Full-Day Workshop: Game Development with Unity 3D (2019)

After several years of absence, I returned to Macoun in 2019 with a comprehensive workshop. Unity 3D had meanwhile established itself as one of the leading game engines and offered a completely different approach to 3D development than the previous Apple-native frameworks.

A full-day workshop made it possible to dive deep into practical game development. Unity’s visual editor, component-based architecture, and powerful scripting environment offered developers tools that went far beyond what was possible with pure OpenGL or Scene Kit.

The workshop covered various aspects of game development: from creating 3D scenes through implementing game logic to optimization for mobile devices. Unity’s strength lay in abstracting complex 3D concepts without losing the flexibility and power of a professional development environment.

A Retrospective on the Evolution of 3D Development

These four talks impressively reflect the evolution of 3D development on Apple platforms: from fundamental OpenGL basics through Apple’s first abstraction attempts with GLKit to the elegant Scene Kit solution and finally to cross-platform engines like Unity.

Each talk marked an important milestone in this development and showed how 3D programming evolved from an expert discipline to a tool that “normal” app developers could also use.

Macoun provided the perfect platform for such technical deep dives - a community of developers who were ready to tackle complex topics and explore the boundaries of what was possible together.