No replies to this topic

[jstier]

Hi,

I am looking for open-source developers to help out with Geist3D. It's a 3D graphics engine including IDE which I have worked on for about 5 years now. The system is fairly mature and already has a lot of features. Geist3D is based on a standard scene graph data structure and a programming language consisting of Petri Nets and Python Script. It was originally developed as part of my Ph.D. research towards manufacturing simulations. I found myself spending more and more time on the software than anything else, and now I am looking for others to join in on the development. So, I have just released the source code under the GPL at www.geist3d.org a few days ago.

Petri Nets is a graph-based process modeling language similar to state machines. Except that a Petri Net contains an additional artifact called a tokens that travels through the Petri Net graph. In Geist3D the tokens are scene tree nodes, and Python scripts are attached to the graph structure. As the Petri Net executes the tokens are passed to the different scripts as parameters. Petri Nets are normally used to model workflow systems but they can also be used to developed other wokflow systems such as game logic. It is also possible to use the engine without Petri Nets. That will become clear as you know more about.

Geist3D is a windows application that contains embedded source code editors for Python script and the Open Shading language as well as drag and drop interfaces to construct Petri Nets and 3D models. The Open Dynamics physics engine and the Python interpreter are fully integrated and part of the distribution. A number of node types already exist ranging form basic geometries and terrains to textures, gradient fields and shading programs. Geist3D also supports sensors that call Python scripts whenever the telemetry changes. The current distribution has a number of models that show what can be done including a small manufacturing system, a shading example including water and bump-maps, a domino and a FPS model. I have not spent too much time making models but rather focused on functionality. So, if there are any artists out there who are interest I am curious to see what others can do with the tool.

The most important next development is to add to the scene tree node library which is likely to grow into the largest part of the system. Still missing are 2D user interface widgets, a character animation node, maybe a vehicle node types and an L-System node for plant growth. The ideas are endless here. Right now, the editor and graphics engine are the same application running under windows only. Creating deployment and development versions should not be too difficult, but porting Geist3D to linux is going to be a bit of a task. The GUI is based on the windows template library and it needs to be ported to something like QT or vxWindows. The other components of the App should port easily.

There are certainly many other things to do and the source code is available for everyone to explore their ideas. If you are interested send me an email at jstier@geist3d.org or post a message on the forum.

Cheers
Jochen