Re: Performer at ITEC
Angus Dorbie (dorbie++at++sgi.com)
Thu, 23 Apr 1998 10:46:31 -0700
Brian Corrie wrote:
>
> I said:
> >> I, and I am sure many others,would be very interested in hearing about SGI's
> >> roadmap for Performer, Optimizer, OpenGL, OpenGL++, etc., with respect to
> >> Fahrenheit. Is it possible that some details could be posted to this list
> >> (from you or someone else at SGI) as well. We were hoping to see an initial
> >> release of OpenGL++ in the next couple of months, but according to the
> >> OpenGL ARB meeting minutes from March 9-10
> >>
> >> (http://www.opengl.org/ARB/Notes/Meeting1.2/meeting_note_10-03-98.html)
> >>
> >> Kurt Akeley (at least so the minutes say, I wasn't there...) says that "SGI
> >> will no longer be able to push OpenGL++ (though they have no objection to
> >> others picking up the work). Resources are committed to work with Microsoft
> >> and HP on the scene graph and large model visualization APIs." Does this
> mean
> >> that we will be waiting for the Fahrenheit scene graph as opposed to
> >> OpenGL++?
>
> Angus replies:
> > Yes, but this isn't really bad news. In many respects the engineering
> > goals of Fahrenheit Scene Graph are compatible with what OpenGL++ would
> > have been.
>
> I agree it isn't bad news from the point of view of having a new, unified
> scene graph API. The confusion comes from what is going to happen and when
> (see below). I haven't seen any mention other than the ARB notes given above
> that SGI was not going to release OpenGL++ as intially intended. Has an
> official statement been made?
>
> >> We have been
> >> developing some software under the assumption that OpenGL+ would be
> available
> >> sometime near the middle of this year.This has a fairly significant impact
> on
> >> some our plans and I have not been able to find out any information through
> >> our normal SGI channels.
> >
> > I won't comment on the time scales but work already undertaken is being
> > leveraged so this is not a step backwards. Were you hoping to use a beta
> > test or a release version of OpenGL++ in your original plans?
>
> The timescales involved are our main concern. We were under the impression
> that an OpenGL++ release, at least a beta version, would be out RSN, and the
> first real release would be around August or so. I realize that one can not
> rely on dates like these, but we were assuming that they would be relatively
> close and we haven't had any indication otherwise (although it is a bit hard
> to keep on top of these things from here). The Fahrenheit time frame moves
> things well into next year which does cause some problems for us.
But even with OpenGL++ you'd have had to rely on beta software releases
until
then if they were made available to you.
> We need to
> get a slightly clearer picture of what is going on in this respect so we can
> decide in what direction to move. The only picture we have at the moment is
> wait until Fahrenheit arrives, with no clear path between now and then. What
> is Fahrenheit going to look like and how can we move towards that API given
> the technology we have now (Performer, Optimizer, Cosmo3D, OpenGL). We thought
> we had a clear picture in this respect, but...
The path is clear, only Cosmo3D under OpenGL optimizer is available for
cross platform scene graph development between now and then but the
whole objective is to get something in place which will have some
longevity and a lot of engineering merit. By definition the
functionality
required doesn't exist prior to the creation of the new API. Just
because
there isn't going to be something in place as soon as was desired
(by everyone concerned) doesn't mean the path forward is not clear.
Cheers,Angus.
--
"Only the mediocre are always at their best." -- Jean Giraudoux
For advanced 3D graphics Performer + OpenGL based examples and tutors:
http://www.dorbie.com/
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on Mon Aug 10 1998 - 17:57:17 PDT