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Fahrenheit (graphics API)
Fahrenheit was an effort to create a unified high-level API for 3D computer graphics to unify Direct3D and OpenGL. It was designed primarily by Microsoft and SGI and also included work from an HP-MS joint effort. Direct3D and OpenGL are low-level APIs that concentrate primarily on the rendering steps of the 3D rendering pipeline. Programs that use these APIs have to supply a considerable amount of code to handle the rest of the pipeline. Fahrenheit hoped to provide a single API that would do most of this work, and then call either Direct3D or OpenGL for the last steps. Much of the original Fahrenheit project was abandoned, and Microsoft and SGI eventually gave up on attempts to work together. In the end, only the scene graph portion of the Fahrenheit system, known as XSG, saw a release and was discontinued shortly afterwards. History Background In the 1990s SGI's OpenGL was the ''de facto'' standard for 3D computer graphics. Prior to the mid-90s different platforms had us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3D Computer Graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering digital images, usually 2D images but sometimes 3D images. The resulting images may be stored for viewing later (possibly as an animation) or displayed in real time. 3D computer graphics, contrary to what the name suggests, are most often displayed on two-dimensional displays. Unlike 3D film and similar techniques, the result is two-dimensional, without visual depth. More often, 3D graphics are being displayed on 3D displays, like in virtual reality systems. 3D graphics stand in contrast to 2D computer graphics which typically use completely different methods and formats for creation and rendering. 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retained Mode
Retained mode in computer graphics is a major pattern of API design in graphics libraries, in which * the graphics library, instead of the client, retains the scene (complete object model of the rendering primitives) to be rendered and * the client calls into the graphics library do not directly cause actual rendering, but make use of extensive indirection to resources, managed thus ''retained'' by the graphics library. It does not preclude the use of double-buffering. Immediate mode is an alternative approach. Historically, retained mode has been the dominant style in GUI libraries; however, both can coexist in the same library and are not necessarily exclusionary in practice. Overview In retained mode the client calls do not directly cause actual rendering, but instead update an abstract internal model (typically a list of objects) which is maintained within the library's data space. This allows the library to optimize when actual rendering takes place along with the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3D Scenegraph APIs
3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a motion picture that gives the illusion of three-dimensional perception ** 3D modeling, developing a representation of any three-dimensional surface or object ** 3D printing, making a three-dimensional solid object of a shape from a digital model ** 3D display, a type of information display that conveys depth to the viewer ** 3D television, television that conveys depth perception to the viewer ** Stereoscopy, any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual information or creating the illusion of depth in an image Other uses in science and technology or commercial products * 3D projection * 3D rendering * 3D scanning, making a digital representation of three-dimensional objects * 3D video game (other) * 3-D Secure, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3D Graphics Software
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering digital images, usually 2D images but sometimes 3D images. The resulting images may be stored for viewing later (possibly as an animation) or displayed in real time. 3D computer graphics, contrary to what the name suggests, are most often displayed on two-dimensional displays. Unlike 3D film and similar techniques, the result is two-dimensional, without visual depth. More often, 3D graphics are being displayed on 3D displays, like in virtual reality systems. 3D graphics stand in contrast to 2D computer graphics which typically use completely different methods and formats for creation and rendering. 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector graphics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microsoft Talisman
Talisman was a Microsoft project to build a new 3D graphics architecture based on quickly compositing 2D "sub-images" onto the screen, an adaptation of tiled rendering. In theory, this approach would dramatically reduce the amount of memory bandwidth required for 3D games and thereby lead to lower-cost graphics accelerators. The project took place during the introduction of the first high-performance 3D accelerators, and these quickly surpassed Talisman in both performance and price. No Talisman-based systems were ever released commercially, and the project was eventually cancelled in the late 1990s. Description Conventional 3D Creating a 3D image for display consists of a series of steps. First, the objects to be displayed are loaded up into memory from individual ''models''. The display system then applies mathematical functions to transform the models into a common coordinate system, the ''world view''. From this world view, a series of polygons (typically triangles) is created t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QuickDraw 3D
QuickDraw 3D, or QD3D for short, is a 3D graphics API developed by Apple Inc. (then Apple Computer, Inc.) starting in 1995, originally for their Macintosh computers, but delivered as a cross-platform system. QD3D was separated into two layers. A lower level system known as RAVE (Rendering Acceleration Virtual Engine) provided a hardware abstraction layer with functionality similar to Direct3D or cut-down versions of OpenGL like MiniGL. On top of this was an object-oriented scene graph system, QD3D proper, which handled model loading and manipulation at a level similar to OpenGL++.http://legacy.macnn.com/thereview/features/covert/covert10.2.shtml The system also supplied a number of high-level utilities for file format conversion, and a standard viewer application for the Mac OS. QD3D had little impact in the computer market, both as a result of Apple's beleaguered position in the mid-1990s, as well as several fateful decisions made by the design team about future changes in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparison Of OpenGL And Direct3D
Direct3D and OpenGL are competing application programming interfaces (APIs) which can be used in applications to render 2D and 3D computer graphics. , graphics processing units (GPUs) almost always implement one version of both of these APIs. Examples include: DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2 circa 2004; DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3 circa 2008; and most recently, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4 circa 2011. GPUs that support more recent versions of the standards are Backward compatibility, backwards compatible with applications that use the older standards; for example, one can run older DirectX 9 games on a more recent DirectX 11-certified GPU. Availability Direct3D application development targets the Microsoft Windows platform. The OpenGL API is an open standard, which means that various hardware makers and operating system developers can freely create an OpenGL implementation as part of their system. OpenGL implementations exist for a wide variety of platforms. Most notably, OpenGL is the dominatin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris Performer
{{unreferenced, date=September 2009 OpenGL Performer, formerly known as IRIS Performer and commonly referred to simply as Performer, is a commercial library of utility code built on top of OpenGL for the purpose of enabling hard real-time visual simulation applications. OpenGL Performer was developed by SGI which continues to maintain and enhance it. OpenGL Performer is available for IRIX, Linux, and several versions of Microsoft Windows. Both ANSI C and C++ bindings are available. History Performer came about in 1991 when a group from SGI's Open Inventor project, then known as IRIS Inventor, decided to focus on performance rather than ease of programmability. Whereas Inventor delivered easy-to-use objects and various UI elements to interact with them, Performer focused on a scene graph system that could be re-arranged on the fly for performance reasons, allowing the various passes of a rendering task to be performed in parallel in multiple threads. Performer allowed the scene to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users, available for any devices running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows Me that meet the new Windows XP system requirements. Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s under the codename "Neptune", built on the Windows NT kernel explicitly intended for mainstream consumer use. An updated version of Windows 2000 was also initially planned for the business market. However, in January 2000, both projects were scrapped in favor of a single OS codenamed "Whistler", which would serve as a single platform for both consumer and business markets. As a result, Windows XP is the first consumer edition of Windows not based on the Windows 95 kernel and MS-DOS. Windows XP removed suppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OpenGL Performer
{{unreferenced, date=September 2009 OpenGL Performer, formerly known as IRIS Performer and commonly referred to simply as Performer, is a commercial library of utility code built on top of OpenGL for the purpose of enabling hard real-time visual simulation applications. OpenGL Performer was developed by SGI which continues to maintain and enhance it. OpenGL Performer is available for IRIX, Linux, and several versions of Microsoft Windows. Both ANSI C and C++ bindings are available. History Performer came about in 1991 when a group from SGI's Open Inventor project, then known as IRIS Inventor, decided to focus on performance rather than ease of programmability. Whereas Inventor delivered easy-to-use objects and various UI elements to interact with them, Performer focused on a scene graph system that could be re-arranged on the fly for performance reasons, allowing the various passes of a rendering task to be performed in parallel in multiple threads. Performer allowed the scene to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Inventor
Open Inventor, originally IRIS Inventor, is a C++ object-oriented retained mode 3D graphics toolkit designed by SGI to provide a higher layer of programming for OpenGL. Its main goals are better programmer convenience and efficiency. Open Inventor exists as both proprietary software and free and open-source software, subject to the requirements of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1. Early history Around 1988–1989, Wei Yen asked Rikk Carey to lead the IRIS Inventor project. Their goal was to create a toolkit that made developing 3D graphics applications easier to do. The strategy was based on the premise that people were not developing enough 3D applications with IRIS GL because it was too time-consuming to do so with the low-level interface provided by IRIS GL. If 3D programming were made easier, through the use of an object oriented API, then more people would create 3D applications and SGI would benefit. Therefore, the credo was always “ease of u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MIPS Architecture
MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipelined Stages) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures (ISA)Price, Charles (September 1995). ''MIPS IV Instruction Set'' (Revision 3.2), MIPS Technologies, Inc. developed by MIPS Computer Systems, now MIPS Technologies, based in the United States. There are multiple versions of MIPS: including MIPS I, II, III, IV, and V; as well as five releases of MIPS32/64 (for 32- and 64-bit implementations, respectively). The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit; 64-bit versions were developed later. As of April 2017, the current version of MIPS is MIPS32/64 Release 6. MIPS32/64 primarily differs from MIPS I–V by defining the privileged kernel mode System Control Coprocessor in addition to the user mode architecture. The MIPS architecture has several optional extensions. MIPS-3D which is a simple set of floating-point SIMD instructions dedicated to common 3D tasks, MDMX (MaDMaX) which is a more exten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
