I need to start writing an app that will portray a, more or less, a
topographical map.  I imagine that this is similar to a 3-D surface in
terms of graphics.  So, I need to decide on whether to use OpenGL or
DirectX.

Up until a few months ago, I had generally heard that OpenGL was the way
to go because of its greater logic, ease, and stability.  However, with
the recent release of DirectX 6, I have heard that it has become a more
reasonable API to program.

I'd appreciate anyone else's comments.

Michel

I don't use either DirectX or OpenGL (we use HOOPS), but I have had a bit
of contact with both. I can't say which should be used over the other,
however you can use both in a program, so learning or using OpenGL won't
keep you from using DirectX.
You can see what the future of graphics in terms of OpenGL and DirectX
at: http://www.sgi.com/fahrenheit/home.html.

HOOPS is supposed to be using DirectX in their software now to increase
speed, so I suspect that if you want something fast DirectX would be more
appropriate than SGI.

I hope that gives you some ideas.
Tim

[DirectX or OpenGL?]

Two days ago I started looking at 3d programming. I had never done any
before in my life. I picked up OpenGL, and was able to understand it by
looking at other people's code, and was able to get a fairly decent
interactive 3d scene working within five hours, where you can click and
drag objects in 3-dimensional space. Wow! OpenGL is the neatest API I have
ever seen.

--
Lucian Wischik, Queens' College, Cambridge CB3 9ET. ljw1...@cam.ac.uk

Thanks for the link!

--
Michel Santos
Manhattan Technologies