Which API to use to draw 3D objects in C#?

Question

I'd like to do some 3D programming in C# but I'm not sure where to start looking for an API. If I were doing this in C++ I know the options are OpenGL and DirectX, but I'm not sure what the options are for C#. I don't necessarily want to program a whole game, just manipulate a few objects.

Answer 1

The out of the box option is WPF. Here's a nice series: http://www.ericsink.com/wpf3d/index.html

Answer 2

I personally like SDL.NET. You probably know it, it's pretty much .NET wrapper around OpenGL. Also works on Mono platform.

Answer 3

There's quite a few. I'm currently using the Tao framework, which is a very good wrapper around OpenGL, GLUT and CG. It also includes support for SDL, Lua, OpenAL, ODE - everything you could possibly need.

http://www.taoframework.com/

Answer 4

The XNA framework could be useful. It is developed as a game development framework for PCs, Xbox and Zune, but it has classes for 2D and 3D graphics. It is managed and nicely wrapped, so the code is much more accessible than DirectX code imo.