Jon Christensen (jmc++at++chem.ucsd.edu)
Mon, 6 Nov 95 11:33:16 -0800
If we were going to start a multi-year project now, where we would
spend the first year or so building experimental prototypes (and
hence wouldn't be *extremely* worried about performance until next
year, if such a thing is possible) would it be better to start by
writing out applications in Inventor or Performer?
I've read the Performer faq's comments on this (below), but would
appreciate some additional guidance. Anyone want to take a stab at
this?
thanks,
Jon
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-
Jon Christensen phone: (619) 534-0290
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering fax: (619) 534-7654
University of California, San Diego email: jmc++at++ucsd.edu
3050 Urey Hall Addition, 9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0339
faq> The short answer is, Performer was designed for vis-sim, while
faq> Inventor was designed to be more general purpose.
faq>
faq> IRIS Performer is for developers who need to extract maximum
faq> performance from SGI machines for visual simulation, virtual
faq> reality, game development, and high-end CAD systems. Often
faq> these applications need multi-processor Onyx systems with
faq> multiple RealityEngine pipelines with a high degree of
faq> parallelism and running at fixed frame rates.
faq>
faq> Inventor is designed for maximum programmer productivity when
faq> writing other kinds of 3D applications, like modelling,
faq> animation, visualization, etc.
faq>
faq> Both toolkits are general purpose enough that they could be
faq> extended into the domain of the other, but the question you
faq> should consider is "what is the *fundamental* goal of my
faq> graphics development?" If it's portability to non-SGI systems,
faq> easy X-window system integration, or handy graphic widgets,
faq> IRIS Inventor is for you. If it's brochure-level performance
faq> in advanced graphic applications for the specific domains
faq> listed above, then IRIS Performer would be the likely tool.
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