One of the projects I worked on in the past used OpenSceneGraph. OSG allows your to create simulations for games, VR, virtual spaces, walk-throughs and just about anything that requires a 3D scene. It is versatile and open source. It runs in both Windows and OSX. It runs on other platforms too but those are the ones I work with on a daily basis. You can check out the site at http://www.openscenegraph.org to get access to their documentation, downloads and examples. If you are not experienced with wading through docs, it’s hard to know where to start and a few times I found myself losing my place as I clicked around for info.

In terms of definitive sources of info there is a book by Xuelei Qian that gives you a very good step through on how to work with OSG. Within the first hour I was able to downoad, install and start using the OSG program. The samples, while simple gave me enough to go by. I guess you could compare it to the standard “Hello World”. I could use my imagination to see what I could personally make. By hour 7 you will feel comfortable enough to try a personal project. The book is well paced for someone who is starting out. It doesn’t assume too much on the part of the user and is a gentle intro to OSG. The book covers the basis for starting the right way with OSG. Here’s a link for OpenSceneGraph 3.0: A Beginner’s Guide.

I think what’s great about OSG is the potential to pack it into other applications. Maybe even mobile apps? From what I understand this is already being done but I’m not sure if it’s still active. Check out this initiative at http://www.imrc.kist.re.kr/wiki/Mobile_OSG.

I’m not sure to what extent it’s been tested or available, but it looks very promising. I think there is an svn trunk available. If anyone has worked with it, please do chime in.

…sip…