High level OpenGL-based libraries and scenegraphs

Leading software developers use OpenGL, with its robust rendering libraries, as the 2D/3D graphics foundation for higher-level APIs. Developers leverage the capabilities of OpenGL to deliver highly differentiated, yet widely supported vertical market solutions.

SGI-originated APIs

• Open Inventor
  • An object-oriented 3D toolkit built on top of OpenGL offering a comprehensive solution to interactive graphics programming problems. It presents a programming model based on a 3D scene database that dramatically simplifies graphics programming. It includes a rich set of objects such as cubes, polygons, text, materials, cameras, lights, trackballs, handle boxes, 3D iewers, and editors that speed up your programming time and extend your 3D programming capabilities. Open Source.
• OpenGL Performer
  • OpenGL Performer™ is a powerful and comprehensive programming interface for developers creating real-time visual simulation and other professional performance-oriented 3D graphics applications. The toolkit simplifies development of applications used for visual simulation, manufacturing, simulation-based design, virtual reality, scientific visualization, interactive entertainment, broadcast video, architectural walk-through, and computer aided design.
• OpenGL VizServer
  • SGI® Visual Area Networking (VAN) solutions are helping organizations accelerate workflows, solve larger problems, and work together in distributed environments. OpenGL Vizserver™ is a key element of VAN implementations and enables users with virtually any mix of client devices to bring the power of networked visualization to their desktops.
• OpenGL Volumizer
  • Volumizer is a high-level immediate mode volume rendering API for the energy, medical and sciences markets. For SGI IRIX
• OpenGL Shader
  • Shader provides a common interface to support realistic visual effects, reflective nature of glossy materials, tri-beam reflection mapping, bump mapping, multiple textures, environment maps, volume shading and an unlimited array of new effects using hardware acceleration on standard OpenGL graphics cards.
• OpenGL MultiPipe
  • Multipipe provides a layer by which single-pipe applications can run transparently in multipipe configurations.. It concurrently supports both single-pipe applications running in multipipe-transparent mode and multipipe applications running in multipipe-aware mode.
• OpenGL Multipipe SDK
  • OpenGL MultipipeTM SDK is an application programming interface (API) layer for OpenGL® that provides a simplified approach to managing graphics applications across multiple graphics subsystems or pipes.

Other high-level OpenGL APIs and Scenegraphs

• Coin
  • Coin is a 3D graphics library. Its C++ API is based on the Open Inventor 2.1 API and OpenGL. For Win32, Linux, IRIX and Mac OS X.
• Hoops3D
  • Hoops is a high performance 3D graphics subsystem built on top of OpenGL for developers creating applications for Windows, UNIX, Linux or the web. It's highly optimized data structures and algorithms dramatically simplify the development of 2D and 3D, interactive, vector and raster graphics-based CAD/CAM/CAE, Scientific Visualization, and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.
• Gizmo 3D
  • Gizmo3D is a high performance OpenGL-based 3D Scene Graph and effect visualisation C++ toolkit for Linux, WIN32 and IRIX used in Game or VisSim development. It is similar to other scene graph engines such as Cosmo3D/Performer/Fahrenheit/Inventor/VisKit/VTree but is a multi platform compatible API with very high performance. It also adds some state of the art functionality for effect presentations and graph interaction.
• OpenSceneGraph
  • OSG is a open source high peformance 3D graphics toolkit, used by application developers in fields such as visual simulation, games, virtual reality, scientific visualization and modelling. €Written entirely in Standard C++ and OpenGL it runs on all Windows platforms, OSX, Linux, IRIX, Solaris and FreeBSD operating systems.
• OpenRM Scene Graph
  • OpenRM an open source development environment used to build portable 2D/3D/stereohigh performance graphics, virtual reality, visualization applications and games for Unix/X11 and Win32 platforms. It is a scene graph API that uses OpenGL as a graphics platform and graphics hardware acceleration. A scene graph model is a useful way to organize data for rendering in a way that is particularly efficient for graphics display engines (in most cases).
• Quesa3D
  • Quesa is a high level 3D graphics library, released as Open Source under the LGPL, which implements Apple's QuickDraw 3D API on top of OpenGL. It supports both retained and immediate mode rendering, an extensible file format, plug-in renderers, a wide range of high level geometries, hierarchical models, and a consistent and object-orientated API. Quesa currently supports Mac OS, Linux, and Windows - ports to Be and Mac OS X are in progress.