How to draw 3D mathematical models in .NET? What 3D engine would best suitable to do this effectively?

Question

Hi,

I recently faced a problem of presenting the output of simple genetic algorithm that looks for extremes of 2 argument function f(x1,x2) . I would like to be able to use x1 as x, x2 as y and f as z and to draw points in 3d space that I could rotate. ( I'm currently drawing this on bitmap using color as the 'z axis'.)

Where should I start?

UPDATE:

I found a directory of 3D engines for C# but there are a lot to choose from... Could you advise if any one of them would be best for my problem?

UPDATE 2:

Thanks to Cameron's suggestion a 3D options in WPF seem to be suiting my needs. I will give it a try for sure.

I am reposting his links here:
* WPF 3D Tutorial
* CodeProject: WPF 3D Primer
* CodeProject: WPF 3D : Part 1 of n

Answer 1

I use OpenInventor for scientific visualisation. It may be (in some ways) a relic of the old SGI days, but it is still being supported and works well. Regarding graphing and other scientific visualisation, look at MeshViz and other extensions from Mercury:

• Mercury (formerly TGS) OpenInventor
• MeshViz extension

It has charting, vector visualisation, etc. It's quite comprehensive.

It's not free, but they do trial licenses so you can determine if it suits your needs.

Answer 2

there is tao framework if you would like to do tings from scratch, like me. It is a opengl framwork(with more) for C#. taoframework link

Answer 3

If you can use WPF at all, then you can do some pretty easy simple stuff right away.

Here's some links to get started:

• WPF 3D Tutorial
• CodeProject: WPF 3D Primer
• CodeProject: WPF 3D : Part 1 of n

Answer 4

If you prefer coding OpenGL directly (instead of using an engine), check out OpenTK or the Tao Framework. Both use the same codebase, but OpenTK follows .Net conventions more closely and is easier to use.

Answer 5

wpf + managed dx.