MeVisLab makes extensive use of the Open Inventor library, an object-oriented 3D toolkit developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) offering a comprehensive interactive graphics programming solution.
Open Inventor presents a programming model based on a 3D scene graph that simplifies graphics programming. It includes a rich set of objects such as cubes, polygons, text, materials, cameras, lights, trackballs, handle boxes, 3D viewers, and editors that speed up programming time and extend your 3D programming capabilities. Furthermore, it is easily extensible to add new functionality.
The MeVisLab implementation of Open Inventor is based on the original SGI source code that was released to the public in 2000. This implementation builds on Windows, MacOS X, and Linux on both 64- and 32-bit architectures and has been extended with various features, e.g., support for Vertex Buffer Objects.
MeVisLab Open Inventor can also be used independently of MeVisLab and is offered under the LGPL 2.1 license.
The sources of the MeVisLab Open Inventor implementation are included in the MeVisLab SDK installer.
We welcome any useful contribution to MeVisLab Open Inventor. If you feel you would like to share your improvements of the Open Inventor source code please contact info(at)mevislab.deand send us a patch.
The Open Inventor reference for MeVisLab is a complete online reference of the MeVisLab Open Inventor implementation.
The Inventor Mentor by Josie Wernecke (ISBN 0-201-62495-8) online version
This guide provides basic information on programming with Open Inventor. It includes detailed program examples in C++ and describes key aspects of the Open Inventor toolkit, including its 3D scene database, node kits, interactive manipulators, the Inventor Component Library, which contains editors and viewers, and the Open Inventor file format.
The Inventor ToolMaker by Josie Wernecke (ISBN 0-201-62493-1) online version
The Inventor Toolmaker provides advanced information on extending Open Inventor by creating new C++ classes and customizing existing classes. Detailed examples and discussion show how to create new nodes, actions, elements, fields, node kits, draggers, manipulators, engines, and components.