[osg-users] OpenGL 3.1 at GDC

[R Fritz]

On Mar 30, 2009, at 1:07 AM, Robert Osfield wrote:

>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 6:03 AM, R Fritz <rfritz at u.washington.edu>  
>>> wrote:
>>> I guess I'm not too surprised. There seems to be an overall lack of
>>> expertise in 3D graphics. Lots of people practice it without  
>>> adequate
>>> training or education. Ever look at a GL capture of SketchUp? It's  
>>> utter
>>> crap, glBegin/glEnd all the way.
>>
>> Would fixing the OpenGL problems of SketchUp improve its  
>> performance as a modeling tool?  That's its great strength, after  
>> all.  How would you make it work, if you were designing it?
>
> I think that would depend upon how you qualify "performance".   
> Replacing glBegin/glEnd to using vertex arrays will improve  
> framerates/allow for larger models without impacting interactivity.   
> In terms of usability it won't effect things save for being a bit  
> more fluid and scalable.

That would be a substantial improvement for more complex models and  
walkthrough--it is no fun to wait for your software to catch up with  
your mouse.  If it can be done without affecting the model editing  
capabilities of the program, I'd say it would be worth the trouble for  
Google to undertake.

BTW, AutoCAD is not primarily a 3-D program.  The Autodesk programs to  
critique would be Revit, 3D Studio, and Maya.

> There is the wider issue of if the can't write to OpenGL fast paths  
> such as vertex arrays that has been the mainstay of good OpenGL  
> programming for the last decade then there is likely to be a whole  
> raft of other issues that a bit of good 3D graphics knowhow could  
> improve upon, this is when you might see real usability/productivity  
> gains.

Please, would you offer references?  Or at least code to study?  (If  
you say just study OSG, OK.)

> This is where the OSG would come in these days :-)

If OSG can be used to do better graphics on less expensive systems,  
that would be a strong selling point.

Randolph Fritz
   design machine group
   architecture department
   university of washington
rfritz at u.washington.edu