Scientific Visualization Software

OpenGL Performer

IRIS Performer is a high-performance 3-D rendering toolkit for developers of real-time, multiprocessed, interactive graphics applications for the SGI product line. IRIS Performer dramatically simplifies development of complex applications such as visual simulation, simulation-based design, virtual reality, CAD and architectural walk-through while providing a high-performance portability path across the entire SGI product line.

OpenGL Volumizer

OpenGL Volumizer is a graphics API that allows standard graphics applications to treat volumetric and surface data in a similar fashion. OpenGL Volumizer harnesses the SGI O2, Octane and Onyx2 3-D texture-mapping hardware to provide a powerful combination of features for volume rendering applications and boost application performance over existing CPU-bound solutions. Volumizer is also capable of creating IRIS Performer data structures, which enables Volumizer to take advantage of the rendering optimizations and multipipe/multiprocessing support provided by Performer.

OpenGL Optimizer

The OpenGL Optimizer API is designed for visualizing and interacting with large 3-D model data sets. The Optimizer API extends the power of OpenGL with features such as data simplification, generalized and occlusion culling, advanced tesselation and multiprocessing. This product gives developers the tools to utilize the benefits of digital prototyping of 3-D models and large 3-D database interaction.

Open Inventor

Open Inventor is an object oriented 3-D toolkit built upon OpenGL. It utilizes a programming model based on a 3-D scene database that simplifies graphics programming. It includes a rich set of objects such as cubes, polygons, text, materials, cameras, lights, trackballs, handle boxes, 3-D viewers and editors that speed up your programming time and extend OpenGL's 3-D programming capabilities.

The Visualization Toolkit (VTK)

The Visualization ToolKit is an open-source, freely-available software system for 3-D computer graphics, image processing and visualization. VTK supports a wide variety of visualization algorithms including scalar, vector, tensor, texture and volumetric methods; and advanced modeling techniques like implicit modelling, polygon reduction, mesh smoothing, cutting, contouring and Delaunay triangulation. There are also dozens of integrated imaging algorithms, so a programmer can mix 2-D imaging with 3-D graphics algorithms and data. VTK includes a textbook published by Prentice-Hall ("The Visualization Toolkit, An Object-Oriented Approach To 3-D Graphics, 2nd edition"), a C++ class library and several interpreted interface layers including Tcl/Tk, Java, and Python.

OpenDX

Originally known as "IBM Visualization Data Explorer", OpenDX is a visualization system that allows you to experience the interactive, iterative, and experimental nature of visualization. It provides for various levels of sophistication: there are existent visualization processes that novices can use; more advanced users can construct their own visualization processes; expert users can create new modules using C or Fortran. Besides, Data Explorer also provides its own scripting language interface for users who want to build their own visualization functions. The product offers an integrated online help facility, extensive set of modules that users can use to visualize data and tools to perform sophisticated data manipulation.

Lightwave 3D

Lightwave 3D is a complete modeling and animation system, intended mostly for film and television broadcast markets. However, the modeling and animation tools also provide an excellent environment for creating high quality scientific visualization images and animations. 3-D objects from scientific visualization packages can be imported into Lightwave 3D's Layout program, allowing for interactive setup and animation of those objects. 3-D objects and scenes can also be created and saved in Lightwave 3D, and later be imported and animated using the high performance SGI libraries such as IRIS Performer and OpenGL Optimizer.

• C, C++, F77, F90
• Rapid App
• CASEVision Environment
• Developer Magic Workshop
• Digital Media Development Environment
• Irix IM Development Software
• Image Format Library Development Environment
• Image Vision Library
• Impressario Developer's Kit
• Viewkit Development Environment
• Web Access Library Development Environment

Web/VRML Tools

• Cosmo Player
• Cosmo Create
• IRIS Annotator