Bipul Mohanto

Bipul Mohanto

Doctoral Researcher@ Foveated Rendering | 3D Graphics Rendering| Global Illumination | Multi-View Rendering | Applied Human Perception | Color Science | Computer Vision

Popular 3D Graphics APIs

less than 1 minute read

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High-level API

The OpenGL sometimes considered as a high level graphics API. It is always the starting point for beginners. However, the applications are limited to the industry. Moreover, compare to other widely used APIs, e.g., Vulkan, DirectX, it is sometimes considered as a high level API. This level is referred to the graphics hardware and memory control.

  1. OpenGL
    1. OpenGL loaders (creates function specification only)
      1. GLUT
      2. FreeGLUT (recommended by Prof. Yuksel)
      3. Glad
      4. GLEW (widely used)
      5. Other
    2. OpenGL Windowing APIs for OpenGL are below:
      1. GLFW: OWL already have it in 3rdParty Library
      2. Qt (UI)

Low level APIs

There are many low level graphics APIs. Some of the commonly used are (Ref.)

  1. Microsoft DirectX 11, 12, DXR
    1. NVidia Falcor (DXR-based)
  2. Vulkan Raytracing (VKR)
  3. NVidia OptiX
    1. Project-OWL
    2. shocker-0x15
  4. Metal (MacOS)

I am not sure about Embree so far.

  1. Intel (CPU-based-renderer)
    1. Intel Embree
    2. Intel OSPRay

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