[Fieldtrip] FieldTrip and rendering

[Hugo Gomes]

Hello, im a begginer haskell programmer, I currently have a big graphics codebase in C/C++, but since i determined to code only in haskell that i want to continue my work in it, and after a quick look at FieldTrip several questions popped up on my mind. Here they are:

Are there any plans to remove the OpenGL dependency on FieldTrip ? Is this desirable (i can argue that it is) ?

Are there any plans to use Data.Colour insted of the current color module ?

Are there any plans to include Bézier, B-Splines and NURBS geometry ? (these could go into a separate module)

Are there any plans to add geometry manipulation functions ?

Are there any plans to separate the image part ? (and how about developing a set a image 'noise generation' functions ?, something like a functional libnoise).

I don't understand exactly how FieldTrip works because my haskell knowledge is no big deal, but i can see that vertices are being sent to the renderPrimitive (which i guess is a wrapper for the begin/end functions of opengl). Is there a triangulation scheme for the parametric surface being done in those lines ? If yes, is there any way to tune it ?

Is FieldTrip still being developed ? Why is this mailing list so quiet ?

Im sorry for the long list of questions, im guessing some of these are pretty obvious, and some are probably inconvenient. I promisse i'll try harder next time.

Thanks for your time and appreciation.

[Conal Elliott]

On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 11:29 AM, Hugo Gomes <mr.hug...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello, im a begginer haskell programmer, I currently have a big graphics
> codebase in C/C++, but since i determined to code only in haskell that i
> want to continue my work in it, and after a quick look at FieldTrip
> several questions popped up on my mind. Here they are:

> Are there any plans to remove the OpenGL dependency on FieldTrip ? Is this
> desirable (i can argue that it is) ?

No plans yet.  Do you have any suggestions?

Personally, I want to move away from OpenGL to a GPU-centric architecture.

> Are there any plans to use Data.Colour insted of the current color module?

Russell has suggested making this switch, and I have no objection.  I haven't looked closely at the colour library.  Does anyone have experience using it with either OpenGL or GPU programs?

> Are there any plans to include Bézier, B-Splines and NURBS geometry ? (these could go into a separate module)

Contributions waiting to happen.

> Are there any plans to add geometry manipulation functions ?

For instance?  CSG?

> Are there any plans to separate the image part ? (and how about developing
> a set a image 'noise generation' functions ?, something like a functional
> libnoise).

Yes.

> I don't understand exactly how FieldTrip works because my haskell
> knowledge is no big deal, but i can see that vertices are being sent to
> the renderPrimitive (which i guess is a wrapper for the begin/end
> functions of opengl). Is there a triangulation scheme for the parametric
> surface being done in those lines ? If yes, is there any way to tune it ?

Yes, parametric surfaces are automatically tessellated.  The current scheme is just a placeholder.  I'd like something a lot smarter in there, sensitive to viewing and to the nature of the surfaces.

> Is FieldTrip still being developed ? Why is this mailing list so quiet ?

It's not active in current form lately.  I'm building a new, GPU-centered foundation.

  - Conal