OpenRM News
2 August 2009 Source code update: 1.8.0-alpha-03 tarballs of OpenRM and OpenRM demos are up on the OpenRM download page.

Summary of alpha-03 changes:
  • 3D texture image updates buglet repaired.
  • Sprite primtives: now support display lists.
  • 3D texturing: more extensive capability checks to better support Windows platforms.
  • New addChildTest RMdemo program to benchmark performance of scene graph updates.
25 November 2008 We're pleased to announce the alpha release of OpenRM 1.8.0. Please visit the OpenRM download page for access to the source tarballs.

A quick summary of updates/new features in 1.8.0:

  • Scene Graph data consistency across multiple writers, multiple readers and multistage rendering modes.
  • Expanded callbacks in RMaux and RM to provide a much greater degree of flexibility between the application and the scene graph system.
  • Better support for 64-bit OS's, so you have have RMprimitives with more than 2 billion vertices, colors, etc.
  • MinGW build infrastructure (thanks to David K)
  • Performance improvements to accelerate scene graph topology changes.
  • Various other bug fixes.
16 Jan 2008 There was a reported build problem for OpenRM version 1.6.0-2 under Ubuntu that is the result of a minor syntax problem in the primary make.cfg file.

To workaround the problem, please download this file: make.cfg-1.6.0-2-ubuntu-patch, copy it over the existing make.cfg and start the compile.
11 Sep 2005 The 1.6.0 version of OpenRM Programming Guide has been released. Visit this page for more information.

OpenRM (-devel and -demo) 1.6.0-2 released. They contain documentation updates and a couple of small bug fixes turned up while doing the documentation updates.
09 Sep 2005 RPMs for 1.6.0 are ready and may be downloaded from this page.
11 Aug 2005 We updated the OpenRM/Chromium demonstration programs. The vrendBlocksMPI-LOD application, which uses sort-first parallelism and LOD-based textures to accelerate rendering, now new run-time and compile options. The new distribution is known as openrm-demo-CR-1.6.0-2 and may be accessed at the OpenRM Download page.
7 Aug 2005 OpenRM 1.6.0 release tarballs are posted and accessible from the OpenRM download page. These include: openrm-devel, openrm-demo, openrm-gordo and openrm-demo-CR.

While the OpenRM 1.6.0 Programming Guide, the Win32 Binaries, the RPMs and many pages over at the R3vis website are still not up-to-date, we decided to go ahead and do the 1.6.0 release because it has been dragging on for a really long time. Expect period updates over the next few weeks as we catch up on these other bits of unfinished business.
25 June 2005 OpenRM 1.6.0 Release Candidate One tarballs are posted on the early access page. These include openrm-devel-1.6.0-1, openrm-demo-1.6.0-1, and openrm-gordo-1.6.0-1.
12 June 2005 We've posted a second round of 1.6.0 alpha tarballs on our early access page.
23 May 2005 Wow, a year really has gone by since the last OpenRM release. Sorry for the delay!! Not to worry - we have been busy adding new features and fixing buglets.

We have posted 1.6.0-alpha tarballs of openrm-devel, openrm-demo and gordo on our early access page, which also contains lots of information about new features, etc.
27 April 2004 MacOSX users - we discovered that the mklib.macosx-x11 script was missing from the openrm-devel-1.5.2 distribution. We added the file to CVS and rebuilt the release. The updated release name is openrm-devel-1.5.2-2. If you just need the mklib.macosx-X11 file, you can grab it here.
24 April 2004 RPMs! for OpenRM 1.5.2:
OpenRM-1.5.2-1.i386.rpm
OpenRM-devel-1.5.2-1.i386.rpm
OpenRM-1.5.2-1.src.rpm

Thanks to Per Mathisen for putting together the RPMs and allowing us to post them here! They are known to work on Fedora Core 1, Suse 9.X and RH9.
18 April 2004 OpenRM 1.5.2 is released! Check the download page for access to the development and demonstration tarballs. Check the 1.5.2 Release Notes for detailed information about the release. The high points are:
  • New indexed primitive types: quads, quad-strips, tris, tri-strips, along with a new RMdemo program that exercises these new primitives.
  • New primitive type: quad-strips.
  • Expanded set of supported platforms: 64-bit Linux, MacOSX (it really works this time)
  • Dramatically improved "tfly" demo program produces stunning visuals (see images below).
  • Overhauled configure script for enhanced multi-architecture support in the RMdemo distribution.
  • New Gordo demonstration program "lightModes" that lets you explore OpenRM's light source parameters and lighting environment attributes.
Unfinished: The following items are nearly complete, and will be updated within the next couple of weeks.
  • The distributed memory parallel OpenRM+Chromium examples.
7 Feb 2004 OpenRM+Chromium demos updated. The OpenRM+Chromium demonstration programs have been updated to use OpenRM 1.5.1 and Chromium 1.5. Visit the download page to grab the tarballs. In addition, the OpenRM+Chromium demo program RTFM page has been updated to reflect recent changes.
19 January 2004 OpenRM 1.5.1 is released! Check the download page for access to the development and demonstration tarballs. Check the 1.5.1 Release Notes for detailed information about the release. The high points are:
  • Constant-rate rendering support.
  • Increased pick limits.
  • Auto-spin mode for use with rmauxEventLoop.
  • Texture objects are now shared, which will substantially reduce memory consumption in programs that instance textures.
  • Preliminary support for FreeBSD.
  • New routines to measure and manipulate time.
  • New RMdemo program - fpsVis3d - used to benchmark rendering and test constant-rate rendering.
  • Eradication of several small bugs.
Unfinished: The following items are nearly complete, and will be updated within the next couple of weeks.
  • Auxiliary demos: Gordo (OpenRM+FLTK demos), and the distributed memory parallel OpenRM+Chromium examples.
5 November 2003 Projects that Use OpenRM. A couple of interesting projects that use OpenRM are described at the Community page at R3vis.com. (Note: in exchange for their blurbs, these folks were given a gratis copy of the OpenRM 1.5.0 Programming Guide).
  • Tim Rightnour is working on a network-based, third-person RPG that obtains dynamically generated scenery from a central server. More information.
  • Paul Beardsley and Emmanuelle Bourrat have built an application that combines imaging and 3D rendering to provide assistance to handicapped individuals. More information.
8 October 2003 OpenRM Activities at IEEE Visualization 2003 IEEE Visualization 2003 is being held October 19-24, 2003 in lovely Seattle, Washington. There are a couple of OpenRM-related activities on the program:
20 August 2003 OpenRM 1.5.0 Win32 Binaries Visit the R3vis download page to grab a self-extracting .exe containing pre-built OpenRM 1.5.0 libs and exe's for Windows platforms.
14 August 2003 OpenRM 1.5.1 "To-Do" List. This new page lists the features we're working on for the 1.5.1 release of OpenRM Scene Graph.
10 August 2003 Gordo demonstration programs updated for OpenRM 1.5.0. While continuting to catch up on unfinished business related to the 1.5.0 OpenRM release, we have updated the Gordo distribution to reflect API changes that occured between OpenRM 1.5.0 and earlier versions. The Gordo tarball is listed on the OpenRM download page.
6 August 2003 OpenRM + CAVE Library Demos Updated for 1.5.0. Catching up on unfinished business related to the 1.5.0 OpenRM release, we have updated the OpenRM + CAVE Library demonstration programs and posted them on the download page.
27 July 2003 OpenRM 1.5.0 is released! The FCS version of OpenRM is now available on the download page. This version of OpenRM supports use with Chromium in distributed memory environments, such as PC clusters running Linux. In addition to the one-to-many configurations common with other Chromium applications, this version of OpenRM Scene Graph is intended to be used by distributed memory parallel applications that generate multiple graphics streams simultaneously sent to multiple graphics servers. Such an architecture is the recipe for extremely high performance graphics and visualization.

The 1.5.0 distribution consists of three components: (1) the OpenRM development tarball, which provides the base headers and libraries; (2) the OpenRM demonstration programs; and (3) a new distribution of OpenRM/Chromium demonstration programs. Some of the OpenRM/Chromium demonstration programs are parallel, and will show the power of using a distributed memory parallel application to generate multiple concurrent streams of graphics commands.

OpenRM 1.5.0 Programming Guide. Concurrent with the 1.5.0 release is an updated version of the RM/OpenRM Programming Guide. You can grab your copy at the R3vis RM/OpenRM Technical Reference Center. In order to pay the rent, there is a nominal charge for the current version of the OpenRM Programming Guide. The previous version, for 1.4.3, remains free of charge.

Unfinished business related to the 1.5.0 release. There are several loose ends related to the 1.5.0 release. They are:

  1. The Win32 binary distribution is not yet ready. Estimated arrival date is on or about 11 August 2003. In order to pay the rent, we will be charging a very small fee ($5) for this service.
  2. The Gordo and CAVElib demo programs are not yet ready. Similarly, their estimated arrival date is on or about 11 August 2003.
  3. Late in testing, we discovered that picking/selection seems to be broken in the most recent version of Chromium (1.3). We will drop the Chromium guys a bug report, and things will probably be repaired quickly. This problem didn't make it into the OpenRM+Chromium demo programs README file. The only programs affected are the OpenRM demo programs that perform picking when used with Chromium: trans2d, pickTest, pickListTest. Oh well, stuff happens.
9 June 2003 OpenRM 1.5.0 Release Candidate 1. RC1 of OpenRM 1.5.0 development and demonstration tarballs are now posted at the R3vis OpenRM 1.5.0 beta page. We are planning a full release around 1 July 2003. The delay is the result of lengthy updates to the OpenRM Programming Guide, as well as continued testing and benchmarking of the 1.5.0 code base. Thanks for your patience.

On 27 July 2003, we turned off the link to the OpenRM 1.5.0 beta page.

19 April 2003 OpenRM 1.5.0 beta. OpenRM version 1.5.0 supports distributed memory operation in conjunction with Chromium, so that you can turn your Linux cluster into a large, high-bandwidth parallel rendering machine! The 1.5.0 beta release, along with updated demonstration programs, a new set of OpenRM+Chromium demonstration programs, updated Programming Guide may be accessed via this link. We anticipate 1.5.0 FCS will occur on or about 10 May 2003.

On 27 July 2003, we turned off the link to the OpenRM 1.5.0 beta page.

5 January 2003 Gordo updates. Gordo is the name for a collection of programs that demonstrate how to combine OpenRM with FLTK (the Fast Light Toolkit). First introduced in August 2001, we have updated the source and Makefiles to take advantage of new features available in the latest version of FLTK. Visit the OpenRM downloads page to grab the code.
22 Sep 2002 OpenRM 1.4.3 is Released! The 1.4.3 release contains several key improvements. The OpenRM component manager and context cache have been improved by removing the limits on the number of scene graph objects that can be created by an application. A new callback, rmNodeSetRenderOrderCallback(), can be used to alter the order of processing for any or all of a given scene graph node's children. This key addition is the first step towards supporting sorted transparency. Several bugs related to node callbacks have been fixed. We also updated the builds so that DLLs under Win32 are back after a several-release hiatus. The 1.4.3 distribution contains several new demo programs that exercise the new features.

Updated Programming Guide Concurrent with the 1.4.3 release, R3vis is releasing an updated version of the RM Programming Guide. You can still download the manual for free, and will continue to be able to do so, but we are asking for a donation of $10. Visit R3vis Corp's RM Scene Graph Technical Resource Center to download your free copy of the manual, and to make a donation.

Win32 Binaries of 1.4.3 Due to popular demand, R3vis is making available free of charge a tarball containing pre-built versions of the OpenRM 1.4.3 libraries and demo programs. We are requesting a US$10.00 donation for the effort. Binaries for other platforms are not available at this time.
1 Sep 2002 Distributed memory scene graph work. R3vis Corporation was awarded a Phase I SBIR Grant from the US Department of Energy to extend OpenRM so that it can be used to perform parallel visualization and rendering on distributed memory platforms, such as PC clusters. Watch this site for more news about future developments. This work is currently underway.
30 June 2002 OpenRM 1.4.2 is released! Sorry for the delay in getting this release out. The extra wait is worth it, though, for we've implemented a significant amount of context state management code that will greatly improve performance on many platforms. In addition, we've fixed a bunch of bugs. Concurrent with this release, the RM Scene Graph Programming Guide has been updated, and is available for free download from the R3vis website.
21 January 2002 OpenRM Manual. We're happy to announce that the first of many drafts to come is finally up on the web and ready for you to download free of charge. Visit the R3vis Corp's RM Scene Graph Technical Resource Center, and please be sure to follow the rules.

Technical Paper. A paper describing combining a Multithreaded Scene Graph System with a Tiled Display Environment is available for download from the R3vis Corp's RM Scene Graph Technical Resource Center.

Technical Talk. That paper will be presented by W.Bethel at the 2002 SPIE/IS&T Conference on Electronic Imaging Science and Technology, The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality, 24 January 2002, San Jose, CA. Conference Website.
15 October 2001 OpenRM 1.4.1 is released. This release contains bug fixes for problems on Win32 systems, along with a couple of new demonstration programs that show how to use some of the OpenRM imaging tools and provide more extensive demonstration of OpenGL fogging.

Documentation: OpenRM Manual. We have decided to begin incremental release of the OpenRM manual for free download from the OpenRM site at Sourceforge. This is a reversal of a previous position. We will begin this process starting 1 Nov 2001. The manual will be made freely available from the web for the lifetime of this project.
10 October 2001
  • Offscreen rendering on Win32 systems . Some inquisitive folks on an OpenGL.org mailing list inquired about whether or not OpenRM's offscreen rendering support on Win32 is really h/w accelerated or not. We ran some benchmarks, and discovered that offscreen rendering is software-only on Win32 systems. At the time of the initial code drop that contained support for offscreen rendering support on Win32, our initial (coarse) benchmarks left us with the impression we were getting h/w acceleration. We regret this mistake, and are in the process of updating all documentation to reflect that offscreen rendering on Win32 is only s/w at this time. Thanks to Eric and Lucaregini for raising this issue.
  • We are anticipating releasing OpenRM 1.4.1 on or about October 14, 2001.
15 August 2001 If you're going to be at Siggraph 2001, be sure to stop by the OpenGL BOF, 6:30-8:30 PM, Wednesday, August 15, in the Wilshire Room of the Wilshire Grand Hotel.
11 August 2001 Gordo is the name for a new mini-project that provides code for demonstration applications showing how to combine OpenRM with the Fast Light Toolkit (FLTK), a popular user interface toolkit. You can grab the source for Gordo from the OpenRM downloads page. Note that Gordo hasn't been integrated into the Sourceforge project system at this time.
15 July 2001 We are pleased to release OpenRM 1.4.0, a production release of code that contains work funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. There are no new features betwen 1.4.0-beta1 and 1.4.0-FCS, but there has been a lot of improvement in the code.
3 June 2001 This third early-access release of OpenRM 1.4.0 has been promoted from alpha to beta status to reflect that the multithreaded and multistage architecture has undergone extensive field testing and use. We have added a few new significant features to this release:
  • Save/restore for PPM and JPEG raster image formats in a new RMI library;
  • Direct support for OpenGL spotlights;
  • New callback handlers in RMAUX for window resize events and keyboard events;
  • Two new demonstration programs: one implements interactive control of OpenGL spotlights, another displays system information about the GLX subsystem of your X server (Unix systems);
  • Improved support for SGI ABIs in the $RMDEMO/configure script.
In addition, we've had very good results with the combination of RedHat 7.1 and the new 1.0-1251 Linux OpenGL drivers from nVidia. All demonstration programs that use multithreaded, multistage rendering are fully operational on Linux systems that use these software components.
31 March 2001 We are pleased to announce the second early-access release of OpenRM 1.4.0 that contains support for full multistage and multithreaded rendering for Unix/Linux and Win32 platforms. Highlights include:
  • Fully multithreaded and multistage rendering. Multistage rendering separates a view traversal from communication with the graphics pipe, resulting in phenomenal speed improvements on all platforms.
  • Direct support for offscreen rendering on all platforms.
The technology that is contained in this release was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of High Performance Computing Research in the Office of Science under grant number DE-FG03-00ER83083. Enjoy! (and please keep paying your taxes so more projects like this happen!)

Visit the download page to grab the code, and check out the v1.4.0-alpha2 release notes for more information about this release.
7 December 2000 We have implemented scene graph thread safety, and are making available an early access version of this work in OpenRM 1.4.0-alpha-1. Visit the download page to grab the code, check out the release notes for more details. Detailed technical information about the specification and design of a thread-safe scene graph system.

Highlights include:
  • Direct support for multiple rendering threads reading from a single scene graph, and drawing to multiple windows.
  • Direct support for multiple threads simultaneously writing into a single scene graph.
OpenRM 1.4.0-alpha-1 contains important new work, but is not a final release. A final release is expected around 1 April 2001, and will contain all work funded by the Phase I SBIR from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science. We anticipate doing at least one more pre-release between now and April 2001.
2 September 2000 OpenRM 1.3.0 is now available from the download page. Highlights include: CAVELib
  • CAVELib(tm) compatibility! A new openRMCaveDemos module was added to the OpenRM Scene Graph web portal, and contains demonstration programs that show how to create VR applications using CAVELib and OpenRM. CAVELib provides a framework for creating VR applications, and OpenRM provides the rendering infrastructure. Thanks to the guys at VRCO for their assistance during this engineering process. Lots of information about blending CAVELib and OpenRM technologies is available in the OpenRM FAQ.
  • Trackball interface replaced with an Arcball interface. Thanks to jdb for an important code contribution.
31 July 2000 R3vis Corporation selected to receive Phase One Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from the U. S. Department of Energy for OpenRM R&D. Check out this press release for more information.
31 July 2000 OpenRM release version 1.3.0 will be compatible with version 3.0 of the CAVELibrary, a framework for gathering and processing Virtual Reality input device events (by VRCO). At present, we do not have a firm release date, but expect to release OpenRM 1.3.0 on or about 1 October 2000.
19 July 2000 Going to Siggraph 2000 in New Orleans? Among the many events, check out
  • The Linux3D BOF (check this URL for time & place). Bethel will be giving a quick OpenRM Scene Graph update at that BOF.
  • Bethel will be speaking in the Web Rendering Sketches & Apps session on Friday, 7/28 (10:30-12:15) to discuss a research project that uses OpenRM Scene Graph as the rendering core of a distributed visualization project.
27 April 2000 OpenRM 1.2.1 is now available from the download page. Enjoy!
19 April 2000 A maintenence release is scheduled for April 27, 2000. This will be OpenRM-1.2.1. Included will be a significant amount of new documentation, snazzier online documentation and a few minor API changes (changes for the better, that clarify things like scene graph traversal masks, etc.)
2 March 2000 The main openrm.sourceforge.net page had a problem that resulted in mangled display under MSIE - it has been fixed.
1 March 2000 OpenRM version 1.2.0 is released! The release consists of the OpenRM Scene Graph library (and header files), along with the OpenRM demonstration programs.

This page last modified -- Sunday, 02-Aug-2009 08:38:53 PDT