The OpenGL Performance Characterization (OPC) project group is updating its Viewperf 3D graphics benchmark and will be introducing new viewsets designed with Pro/DESIGNER (TM) software from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). The Pro/DESIGNER viewsets will replace the popular CDRS (Conceptual Design Rendering Software) viewset.
The new version of Viewperf, scheduled for completion this spring, will allow the OPC group to work with independent software vendors (ISVs) to update and add to its current viewsets. The Pro/DESIGNER viewsets are expected to be available in the third quarter of this year. The CDRS viewset will be phased out six months after the first reporting of results for the Pro/DESIGNER viewsets.
Viewperf measures the 3D rendering performance of systems running under the OpenGL application programming interface (API). Viewsets are the test files that run under Viewperf. Developed for the OPC group by ISVs, viewsets represent the same mix of graphics rendering and manipulation found in the actual applications. The CDRS viewset is based on the industrial design software originally developed by Evans & Sutherland and purchased by Parametric Technology Corporation in March 1995.
Pro/DESIGNER is part of Parametric Technology Corporation’s Industrial Design Solutions. It is a comprehensive software package that contains powerful tools to easily create, modify and evaluate complex, free-form models. The accuracy of the surfaces created in Pro/DESIGNER enables the geometry to be used directly by engineering – thoroughly integrating the design-through-manufacturing cycle.
PTC implementation engineers are working with the OPC group to develop new Pro/DESIGNER viewsets. Plans call for two viewsets, one oriented toward users who interact with CAD models primarily at the part level, and the other representing those who work with large assemblies.
"Benchmarks and test files have to change with graphics technology," says John Spitzer of Silicon Graphics Inc., chair of the OPC project group. "It's time to update both Viewperf and its viewsets to better reflect the newest generation of applications and to ensure that there's enough headroom to meet the benchmarking demands of current and future graphics systems."
The OPC project group is part of the GPC Group, which operates under the non-profit Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). Current OPC project group members include 3Dlabs, ACCEL Graphics, Compaq, Dell, Digital Equipment Corp., Dynamic Pictures, ELSA GmbH, Evans & Sutherland, GEC-Marconi Hazeltine, HAL Computers, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Intergraph, Microsoft, NEC, Real 3D, Siemens Nixdorf, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems and VSIS. Pro/DESIGNER is a trademark of Parametric Technology Corporation.