Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!uunet!orca!undies!pmartz From: pmartz@undies.dsd.es.com (Paul Martz) Newsgroups: comp.windows.x Subject: Re: 3-D Objects, PHIGS, X, PEX, and all that. Message-ID: <1991Feb23.200349.20516@dsd.es.com> Date: 23 Feb 91 20:03:49 GMT References: Sender: usenet@dsd.es.com Reply-To: pmartz@undies.dsd.es.com (Paul Martz) Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, UT Lines: 58 Nntp-Posting-Host: 130.187.85.56 In article , llw@corwin.eng.yale.edu (Louis L. Whitcomb) writes: > > Greetings: > > I am in need of a device-independent (Sun, SGI, postscript) 3-D > graphics package for rendering and animating the movement of solid > rigid-body objects. I would prefer to avoid writing non-portable code > for proprietary interfaces such as SGI's GL. > > My (naive) understanding is that the PHIGS standard offers to > standardize 3-D graphics in much the same way that X has privides a > standardized 2-D graphics interface --- and that some PHIGS > implementations are built on top of X. I have the following > questions: > > 1. Where can I get hard info on the PHIGS standard? PHIGS is an ISO standard -- ISO/TEC 9592-1:1988(E) is the magic number up in the corner of my copy of the PHIGS funtional description, though there might be a later edition out by now. Note that this fully describes the funtionality and philosophy of PHIGS; there are several language bindings (though FORTRAN is the only one currently approved). > 2. I have seen DEC PHIGS. It is real. Can anyone confirm the rumor > that both SUN and SGI will soon offer their own versions? > Price? Rumor? I thought SunPhigs had been on the market for a long time already... Also, Template Graphics produces Figaro, IBM produces graPHIGS, etc. > 3. How does PEX fit in the picture? I understand it to be a new > X-protocol which includes 3-D primitives. References? Right. Sun Microsystems was contracted by MIT to produce a PEX sample implementation and C-language PHIGS binding to ride on top of it. They have completed this effort, and MIT will be releasing the PEX-SI code on the X11R5 tape for public consumption. However, there are already X/PEX servers on the market: DEC has a PEX-based PHIGS, as does the company I work for, Evans & Sutherland. There will be a 'Connectathon' at the end of March at which all PEX-based PHIGS vendors will get together and show that their PHIGS applications are device dependant. > 4. Any favorite alternatives? As far as high-performance, complete, device-independant, network-transparent 3D graphics systems go? I don't believe there ARE any alternatives to PEX-based PHIGS. > Louis > -- > Louis L. Whitcomb llw@corwin.eng.yale.edu ph: (203) 432-4237 > Yale Robotics Laboratory fx: (203) 432-7481 > Department of Electrical Engineering, 1968 Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520 -- -paul pmartz@dsd.es.com