Re: [Closed REQ 5304]: geomview renderer

["Tim Rowley" <trowley>]

I don't think using the rendering code would be a problem.
Geomview is distributed under copyright agreement that is stated
in the COPYING file included with the distributions.  Essentially
it says you can use the source for whatever purpose you want as
long as you leave the copyright message, include the copyright
statement, and include a notice pointing to the original source.

In regards to speed, we have a develpment version which is
somewhat faster, especially if much if the scene is not visible.
However, Minnegraphics (the name of the library) was designed to
be general and provide a lowest common denominator.  If you want
extreme speed, for example in a 3D engine for a game, you'd
probably be better off using something designed for your
application.  However, the low level rendering code still might
be useful to you.  

MG really hasn't been tested outside of Geomview.  The closest we
know of someone doing this is Paul Burchard's W3Kit
(http://www.geom.umn.edu/docs/W3Kit/W3Kit.html), which uses OOGL
(the libraries Geomview is based on) to create and modify objects
for MG to render.

Some other packages you should consider listed below.

**** TAGL -- "Threedee Advanced Graphic Library" ****
MIT XShm support.
8bpp, 15bpp, 16bpp, 24bpp and 32bpp graphic display.
Can be easily ported to a system with linear adressing
and linear graphic memory.
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/development/graphics/

**** DORE ****
Dore' is a powerful 3D graphics subroutine library, made freely
available by the Kubota Graphics Corp.  It provides a comprehensive set
of tools for creating graphics applications. It is also easy to use,
portable, and extendable. This version has interfaces/drivers to X11,
PEX, IrisGL, OpenGL, Postscript and more. It has been ported onto most
Unix systems, including Linux, NetBSD, and FreeBSD. It has also been
ported to Windows NT 3.5.     [From the Dore' release notice]
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/development/graphics/Dore

**** Mesa ****
Mesa is a 3-D graphics library with an API which is very similar
to that of OpenGL.* To the extent that Mesa utilizes the OpenGL
command syntax or state machine, it is being used with
authorization from Silicon Graphics, Inc. However, the author
makes no claim that Mesa is in any way a compatible replacement
for OpenGL or associated with Silicon Graphics, Inc. Those who
want a licensed implementaion of OpenGL should contact a licensed
vendor. This software is distributed under the terms of the GNU
Library General Public License, see the LICENSE file for details.

Currently, Mesa only works on X-based systems. An out dated Amiga
driver is also included (but needs some work). Other device
drivers for MS Windows, Mac, NT, etc. should be available
eventually. Mesa was written with portability in mind.

Mesa has been compiled and tested on most major Unix systems.
Performance is directly related to CPU and X server performance.
A few thousand small, lit, smooth-shaded triangles per second is
attainable on some systems.
ftp://iris.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/misc/


Hope this helps.


-- 
Tim Rowley  --  trowley at geom.umn.edu  --  "Do or do not, there is no try."