ESP Modeler is a three-dimensional modeling tool for Silicon Graphics® workstations
that provides interfaces to many popular animation and visualization packages
including IRIS Performer
, Open Inventor, Pixar Renderman®, and VRML-compliant programs. A standalone Application Programmer's Interface (API)
is also included for applications using IRIS GL or OpenGL.
ESP Modeler requires IRIX 5.2 or higher for proper operation. A minimum
of 32Mb RAM is recommended.
Most Silicon Graphics® workstations can run ESP Modeler as long as they have support for double-buffered RGB visuals, Z-buffering, and logical drawing operations. The only configurations that are not supported are:
ESP Modeler provides all the tools for generating basic geometric shapes, surfaces of revolution, patches, and extruded surfaces. Controls are provided to alter the color and material properties of an object down to the vertex level.
The color controls provide an intuitive color mixing palette as well as
standard red, green, and blue intensity sliders. Transparency effects can
be achieved by altering the alpha intensity.
Any number of edit windows may be open at once, each displaying a different view or area of interest as necessary. Objects in a model can be hidden to simplify selection and editing.
Different levels of detail (LODs) are automatically generated for each object in a model. LODs may be altered for each object to reduce the number of unnecessary components in simpler LODs.
Import and export facilities are provided for Open Inventor, DXF, QuickModel, PowerTrace, Pixar RenderMan, VRML file formats, allowing for nearly transparent modeling for many different programs.
ESP Modeler provides the following display attributes for each object in a model:
Animation and ray-tracing are not supported directly at this time. You can,
however, export models and scenes to a format supported by various ray-tracing
programs. The SGI IndiZone CD-ROMs contain a ray-tracing program called powertrace that can be used to produce high quality still images and animations like
the one on the right.
ESP Modeler includes several demonstration programs. One is a simple model viewing program that shows how to 'fly' through a scene using the ESP Modeler API.
Another is a Star Trek®-like game with ships, planets, and nebulae.
Source code is provided for the ESP Modeler API and demonstration programs. This allows for cross-platform development of Modeler-based applications.
The ESP Modeler API provides an ANSI C/C++ interface for reading, writing, manipulating, and displaying models in ESP Modeler format. The Modeler format is a machine-independent polygon-based file format that supports multiple LODs. Model files are accessed using simple open, read, write, and close functions.
ESP Modeler costs $295 US for 1 to 4 licenses. Larger quantities entitle you to discounts of up to 30%. You can order ESP Modeler via telephone at (301) 994-0ESP, fax at (301) 994-0906, or online using your VISA, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card. Purchase orders may be faxed or mailed.
Silicon Graphics® Home Page