Re: Open Inventor *as* VRML
Kevin Goldsmith (unitcirc@netcom.com)
Fri, 9 Sep 1994 23:12:48 -0700 (PDT)
> I am concerned that once you agree to read Inventor file format,
> you will discover that you will have to use Inventor source code
> to visualize the stuff. You will not be able to create a radically
> different visualization library underneath the veneer. And if you
> can't do that, you can't performance tune, and therefore, you
> can't market your viewer as "faster" or "better". Your only choice
> is to license your code from SGI, and you'll learn to love it, warts
> and all.
>
Not true, it's a file format. A new parser can easily be written
and an the internal format, once loaded, can be tuned easily. I have
written softImage parsers for Inventor and a Renderman translator for
Inventor as well.
> I beleive that similar remarks apply regarding extensions &
> enhancements. I've even gotten Gavin Bell to admit that its
> hard to add a new primitive to the system (I apologize that
> I have to quote you, Gavin).
>
yup it is. In the file format. Defining and reusing objects in
the file format is not hard at all. If we can come up with a way to
define new primitives using the Inventor syntax, we can add them to the
VRML specification. I don't think there is any plan to limit us to
Inventor. It's just a good starting off point.
Kevin