[GRASS-dev] Google Summer of Code 2008

[benjamin.ducke at ufg.uni-kiel.de]

>
> why not to use the python bindings of VTK (http://www.vtk.org) to do 3D
> rendering? It seems to me that VTK is a bit easier to handle than OpenGL
> directly, but my programming skills are not the best.
> WolfgangZ

Apart from the problem with limited coordinate ranges brought about by
OpenGL, VTK uses a visualization pipeline rather than layers. There is
nothing wrong with this per se, but GIS users are accustomed to layers
that cover each other in a pre-defined order, even if there is no
difference in the Z coordinates. VTK projects all objects into the same
3D space, potentially giving unexpected results, e.g. when overlaying
vector outlines on a raster surface without raising the former a little
bit towards the zenith.

Might be worth thinking about this. I don't know how easy or complicated
it would be to emulate a layer-based drawing on a VTK rendering
pipeline.

Benjamin