[comp.graphics] Summary: Solid Modeling Software Sources

jagannat@caip.rutgers.edu (Subbarao Jagannatha) (01/23/91)

The following is the summary of information I received from other 
people regarding "Solid Modeling Software". I am posting this
for the benefit of other interested people.

===============================================================
1.  From gershon%gr@cs.utah.edu Thu Jan  3 12:12:26 1991

Take a look at IRIT. This is a CSG polygonal based solid modeller. Currently
it runs on IBM PC using Turbo C 2.0 compiler and on various unix systems
using X11.

IRIT sources can be ftp'ed from:
26.2.0.74       wsmr-simtel20.army.mil simtel20.arpa simtel20.army.mil
directory	pd1:<msdos.irit>

or alternatively from:
128.252.135.4   wuarchive.wustl.edu
directory	mirrors/msdos/irit

files names are as follows:
IRIT.ZIP        Full CSG solid modeller, arbitrary orientation
IRITS.ZIP       Turbo C ver 2.0 sources for IRIT
IRITLIBS.ZIP    Libraries for IRIT sources
POLY3D.ZIP      Display 3D polygonal objects, part of IRIT
POLY3DS.ZIP     Turbo C ver 2.0 sources for POLY3D
POLY3D-H.ZIP    Create hidden line removed pict., part of IRIT
POLY3DHS.ZIP    Turbo C ver 2.0 sources for POLY3D-H
POLY3D-R.ZIP    Render poly data into GIF images, part of IRIT
POLY3DRS.ZIP    Turbo C ver 2.0 sources for POLY3D-R

The above Turbo C 2.0 sources are for UNIX as well.

ZIP is an IBMPC archive. If you can relatively easy access an IBM PC, good
chance the maintainer of this IBMPC has the unzipper (called pkzip/pkunzip).
Alternatively there is an unzip program for unix environments on simtel20
(Simtel20 is the original but it is harder to get access to, that is why I
told you about wuarchive.wustl.edu). Note it is NOT on wuarchive.wustl.edu.
If you want the unzip for unix send mail to

w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL

(keith peterson) and ask him about it.

The documentation for the program is part of the archives. Once you can unpack
them you will have the docs (*.doc files).

Gershon
=========================================================================

 From ckirsch@eng.clemson.edu Thu Jan  3 13:42:10 1991

If you want the best solid modeler I've used, that would be ARIES, from
Aries Technology.  The phone is 1-800-225-0114.  It is csg, but very powerful, 
including skin sloids, fillets, and moveable holes.  The educational price 
is ~$5000, and it runs on a Sun Sparc with 16meg of memory and 200meg HD. 
I think it is written in c.  BTW, support is excellent.  I'm not a salesman,
just a very satisfied user.

chuck
===========================================================================

From mike@brl.mil Thu Jan  3 20:16:38 1991

The BRL-CAD Package includes a powerful solid modeling capability and
a network-distributed image-processing capability. This software is now
running at over 400 sites.  It has been distributed to 42 acedemic
institutions in twenty states and four contries. 75 different businesses
have requested and received the software including 23 Fortune 500
companies. 16 government organizations representing all three services,
NSA, NASA, NBS and the Veterns Administration are running the code.
Three of the four national laboratories have copies of the BRL CAD
package.

BRL-CAD started in 1979 as a task to provide an interactive graphics
editor for the BRL vehicle-description data base. Today the package
totals more than 150,00 lines of "C" source code. It runs under UNIX and
is supported over more than a dozen product lines from Sun Workstations
to the Cray 2. The package includes:

	A Solid geometric editor
	The Ray tracing library
	Two Lighting models
	Many image-handling, data-comparison, and other supporting utilities

In terms of geometrical representation of data, BRL-CAD supports:

	The original Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) BRL database.

	Extensions to include solids made from collections of 
	Uniform B-Spline Surfaces as well as
	Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline [NURB] Surfaces.

	A facetted data representation.

It supports association of material (and other attribute properties)
with geometry which is critical to subsequent applications codes.
It supports a set of extensible interfaces by means of which geometry
(and attribute data) are passed to applications.

Applications linked to BRL-CAD:

o Weights and Moments-of-Inertia
o Optical Image Generation (including specular/diffuse reflection,
	refraction, and multiple light sources, animation, interference)
o Bistatic laser analysis
o A number of Synthetic Aperture Radar Codes (including codes due to ERIM)
o Acoustic model predictions
o High-Energy Laser Damage
o High-Power Microwave Damage
o An array of V/L Codes
o Neutron Transport Code
o Link to PATRAN [TM] and hence to ADINA, EPIC-2, NASTRAN, etc.
	for structural/stress analysis
o X-Ray calculation

For more details about what geometric models are useful for, see M.
Muuss, ``Understanding the Preparation and Analysis of Solid Models'',
in ``Techniques for Computer Graphics'', ed: Rogers & Earnshaw, Springer
Verlag, 1987.

To obtain a copy of the BRL CAD Package distribution, you must send
enough magnetic tape for 20 Mbytes of data. Standard nine-track
half-inch magtape is the strongly preferred format, and can be written
at either 1600 or 6250 bpi, in TAR format with 10k byte records. For
sites with no half-inch tape drives, Silicon Graphics and SUN tape
cartridges can also be accommodated. With your tape, you must also
enclose a letter indicating

(a) who you are,
(b) what the BRL CAD package is to be used for,
(c) the equipment and operating system(s) you plan on using,
(d) that you agree to the conditions listed below.

This software is an unpublished work that is not generally available to
the public, except through the terms of this limited distribution.
The United States Department of the Army grants a royalty-free,
nonexclusive, nontransferable license and right to use, free of charge,
with the following terms and conditions:

1.  The BRL CAD package source files will not be disclosed to third
parties.  BRL needs to know who has what, and what it is being used for.

2.  BRL will be credited should the software be used in a product or written
about in any publication.  BRL will be referenced as the original
source in any advertisements.

3.  The software is provided "as is", without warranty by BRL.
In no event shall BRL be liable for any loss or for any indirect,
special, punitive, exemplary, incidental, or consequential damages
arising from use, possession, or performance of the software.

4.  When bugs or problems are found, you will make a reasonable effort
to report them to BRL.

5.  Before using the software at additional sites, or for permission to
use this work as part of a commercial package, you agree to first obtain
authorization from BRL.

6.  You will own full rights to any databases or images you create with this
package.

All requests should be sent to:

	Keith Applin
	Ballistic Research Lab
	APG, MD  21005-5066



Best Wishes,
 -Mike Muuss

Advanced Computer Systems
ArpaNet:  <Mike @ BRL.ARPA>
==================================================================

Have fun,

Jagan
jagannat@caip.rutgers.edu