Geomview is a Unix-based software program that allows for interactive 3D viewing.
Geomview is versatile in that it can display objects described in different file formats. You can also create your objects and load them onto the program. It has a wide range of example objects that you can use to learn how to manipulate objects on the platform. It runs on most UNIX platforms, including GNU/Linux, and also Windows using Cygwin.
Geomview is under the GNU Lesser General Public License (GPL), making it free software available for everyone to use. One of its unique features is the ability to handle the display of data coming from another program that runs at the same time. Geomview is an open platform that allows external modules to control the display of objects. These external modules can change the geometric content while allowing Geomview to handle the display.
Geomview allows you to control multiple objects and cameras independently. You can interactively control for motion, appearances (including lighting, shading, and materials), picking on an object, edge, or vertex level. It also provides snapshots in different image file formats such as PostScript and Renderman RIB format. Adding or deleting objects is provided through direct mouse manipulation, control panels, and keyboard shortcuts.
Geomview supports various simple data types, such as polyhedra with shared vertices (.off), quadrilaterals, rectangular meshes, vectors, and Bezier surface patches. Object hierarchies can be constructed with lists of objects and instances of objects transformed by one or many 4x4 matrices. Changing hierarchies transmit their arbitrary parts by creating named references.
Using Geomview as a Mathematica graphics output device makes viewing Mathematica graphics much more interactive. The same applies to Maple. Geomview began at the Geometry Center of the University of Minnesota to provide interactive geometry software suitable for maths research and education. It can display objects in hyperbolic and spherical space, in addition to Euclidean space.
The software requires XForms, which is optional. In the latest release, V1.9.2, the sphere center was translated twice. The full specification for object file formats is in the OOGL (Object Oriented Graphics Language) Reference section of the Geomview manual. If you already have Geomview, try out the OOGL tutorial. Overall, Geomview is an essential tool for anyone handling three-dimensional objects that require dynamic display, manipulation, and interaction.
Version 1.9.3: N/A