Luke Hoffman (lhoffman++at++colsa.com)
4/16/96 7:29 PM
Before Performer was widely available (1.2), we used Gemini Technology's
GVS software for all our image generation software needs. They now have
an OpenGL version that runs on other platforms (PC's, Kubotas when they
were still around, prob. any other OpenGL platform you want - they are
kind of hurting for business, from what I hear - could be wrong) It had
basically everything Performer had, with the big exception of not being
multithreaded (app-cull-draw sense, although this may have changed) I
still have some old code lying around somewhere if you want an example
of what it looked like. One of the nice features it had was that you
could attach a 'camera' (~= pfChannel) to an graphical object and it
would update the position of the camera automatically when you moved the
object (including articulated parts)
As for OpenGL application speed, Performer 2.0 is implemented via OpenGL
(as well as IrisGL), so a well-done straight OpenGL vis/sim application
should perform nearly as fast as Performer, maybe even faster if you
restrict its application domain.
My take on all this is that Sun and HP don't seem to be targeting the
top-end SGI's, instead they are targeting the mid-range (Impact) area.
The top-end SGI's really compete in the vis/sim arena with ESIG's and
other dedicated image generators, with an InfiniteReality system
(loaded) probably being roughly equal to an ESIG3000 (educated guess -
no flamage please) Their big advantage, IMHO, is that they are
generally more flexible in what you can do with them - you can 'easily'
reprogram them to get what you want. Most other IG's can render
databases that you supply, but adding new functionality is difficult at
best. Of course, I'm a big fan of SGI's, so I'm a bit biased.
Don Tidrow
Visual Simulation Developer
US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command
(Views and opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone!)
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: OpenPerformer & Vis/Sim outside SGI
Author: lhoffman++at++colsa.com (Luke Hoffman) at TWLAN-SMTP
Date: 4/16/96 7:29 PM
> ....... Performer remains a
> closed product tied to the SGI platform, and other vendor's customers
> must invent all their visual simulation applications from scratch.
[snip]
>2. OpenGL-style: SGI takes the high road and places its hardware and support
> into direct, level, fair, head-to-head competition with HP, Sun, E&S and
> anyone else who feels that they have the "grambaugh" to tangle with the
> inventors of visual simulation, and the leaders in commercial hardware
> rendering! OpenPerformer. This has the added advantage that the sales
> force can compete to "convert" customers from other platforms to SGI.
>
> The market for visual simulation on platforms other than SGI is not
>growing, it is *HERE* ***NOW***!!! The market is *not* standing still
>waiting to see if SGI will open up performer. Both HP and Sun have
>competent graphics products available NOW. You can bet that they have
>announcements of excellent products on the way.
Here's another question to add to the list. How do we compare offerings
from other vendors with SG equipment. Another vendor offering a Vis/Sim
solution will almost certainly use OpenGL. OpenGL is fine, but it ain't
Performer. Which means two things. First, the Performer based code were
using will have to be rewritten using the OpenGL API. Second (and this is
my opinion here), OpenGL based applications are not going to be as fast as
Performer based applications. Please, correct me on the second if I'm
wrong, but I have yet to see an API as sophisticated as Performer for
Vis/Sim applications. What then would be the best way to compare a non SGI
platform with an SGI platform? I'd like to have two versions of one
application, one based in Performer the other in OpenGL.
Luke
_____________________________________________________
Luke Hoffman Voice: (205)922-1512x1157
COLSA Corporation FAX: (205)971-0002
6726 Odyssey Dr.
Huntsville, AL 35806
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Mon Aug 10 1998 - 17:52:43 PDT