easy(?) 3D graphics for rendering geometry
gsal
purpose of rendering geometry?
Suppose engineers (my co-workes) have to design some enclosure,
nozzle, bracket, or whatever physical part/component, I would like to
write a program where they can at least see the resulting geometry and
navigate it, i.e., zoon-in/out, rotate, pan. On the side, I could
have data entry fields with the input parameters and when something is
changed, the graphics can be updated "immediately" (after the
necessary calculations have been done).
I know I need to learn something, and I am willing, I just need help
choosing what to learn.
I don't have any experience on this matter, don't know OpenGL, Mesa,
VTK, VRS, Maya...and all seem to have a steep learning curve. I don't
know any of the "other" graphics packages more oriented for game/
scenery/movie development, either.
I do know my trig and build my FEA parts parametrically from points,
to line, to surfaces, to volumes or from volume boolean algebra.
I would like the choice to be some kind of package/API that works
equally well on Linux as in Windows.
So:
What would be the easiest way?
and would it be worth learning?
or
is it better to shoot for something not so easy but worth learning?
thanks in advance for any pointers.
gsal
Synic
> What would be the easiest way to go about offering 3D graphics for the
> purpose of rendering geometry?
I'd suggest Tcl3D for working with OpenGL. The commands are also close
to what you'd be using in C, so there's plenty of usable documentation.
See http://www.tcl3d.org/ It's available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
It includes bindings to most of what you'll need as far as games and
3D require: including FTGL (Truetype fonts), SDL, etc.
I think you'll probably find that you lean more toward one or other
direction when it comes to 3D though: some are more comfortable with the
coding, others and more comfortable with the creative side of designing
models.
3D is a fun area to get into, but, there's a definite learning curve.
gsal
OpenGL, in the first place...I presume that is something worth
learning, though, since it is a standard and the knowledge acquired is
probably portable or at least a good foundation for other packages.
gsal
Synic
Absolutely. Tcl3D's commands are pretty much Tcl-ised OpenGL commands,
which makes reading through third party documentation of interesting
OpenGL techniques readily useful.
Also, for sound in this environment, I'd suggest TclMixer. Along with
SDL, it gives you an easy way to use a wide range of audio formats
including WAV, VOC, MP3, MOD, S3M, IT, etc. Very handy and a nice API.
gsal
not going to be programming games, I am thinking of doing just
geometry, as in machine parts, cross sections, etc. And I really want
to be able to implement some interactivity to allow for, say,
rubberbanding the model on the fly but sticking to whatever
constraints the model has, for example, if a rectangle is supposed to
be a rectangle, you should be able to increase its with or height with
the mouse by selecting the desired side, but it should remain a
rectangle.
That's the kind of thing I hoping to learn how to do. We shall see, I
guess I will visit the Red Book for a couple of chapters on the basic
stuff, first.
gsal
keithv
> gsal <salger...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I looked at the manual for Tcl3D...it looks like I need
>> to learn OpenGL, in the first place...I presume that is
>> something worth learning, though, since it is a standard
>> and the knowledge acquired is probably portable or at least
>> a good foundation for other packages.
>
> Absolutely. Tcl3D's commands are pretty much Tcl-ised
> OpenGL commands, which makes reading through third party
> documentation of interesting OpenGL techniques readily useful.
A bit off topic, but do you have any recommendations for
good resources--books, websites, etc.-- for learning OpenGL?
Keith
gsal
>
> A bit off topic, but do you have any recommendations for
> good resources--books, websites, etc.-- for learning OpenGL?
>
> Keith
http://www.glprogramming.com/red/
http://www.glprogramming.com/blue/
gsal
Randolf Schultz
> What would be the easiest way to go about offering 3D graphics for the
> purpose of rendering geometry?
Use an existing, extensible, and parametric modelling environment
like Blender (Python) or Ayam (C/Tcl).
Saves you lots of headache wrt. window-system-, 3D-graphics-, inter-
action- and 3D-format-output-programming so that you can concentrate
on your job.
best regards,
Randolf,
--
http://www.ayam3d.org/ Ayam, where import means NURBS.
Synic
Definitely these two:
The OpenGL Programming Guide (5th Ed), published by Addison Wesley.
The OpenGL Shading Language (2nd Ed), published by Addison Wesley.
I'd also suggest these two if you want to do more than just
straight graphics (eg, sound, joystick control, mouse, etc):
Beginning OpenGL Game Programming, published by Thompson.
More OpenGL Game Programming, published by Thompson.
Even if you're not programming a game per se, those two will be
useful in terms of creating interactive interfaces which use OpenGL
graphics.