This project was done between November 1995 and September 1996. It was developed and compiled with Microsoft Visual Studio using MFC, and NeXT Step Developement using Objective C. The software run under NeXT Step, Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT and uses RenderMan Interface (NeXT Step) or OpenGL (Windows) to draw in 3D.

You can load a tile (ground) from a variety of file formats like DXF, IGES, OBJ or from a custom database representing the earth. We did the 3D camera interface to edit the viewer position and to scale, translate, rotate, pick (select) 3D objects on the topography.

On the left, you can see a technical board (in blue) to edit 3D objects and on the right, a 3D camera using a perspective projection to render the topography. We did the blueprint view and the camera window. The interface images are a courtesy of Synoptech inc, Montreal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• 3D camera interface (display, translation, rotation, zoom)
• 3D technical board interface (selection, translation, rotation, zoom, scaling, clipboard, changing axis and resizing windows)
• Resizable buttons having antialiased images to keep a neat look when the images are resized
• Scrolling bars to display a list of buttons in a restricted area and make hidden buttons visible
• Classes in C++ to manage a scene containing cameras (perspective and parallel projection) and 3D models
• Methods to interface with the OpenGL and RenderMan libraries
• The C++ source files are designed to be compiled for Windows (95, 98 and NT) and Unix (NeXT Step) systems