OpenGL

[Thad]

I'm confused. The "recommended hardware" page says to avoid video cards with poor OpenGL implementation (i.e. ATI cards), yet when people ask questions about video issues, a common reply is to disable OpenGL. This doesn't make sense to me. If OpenGL is desireable, why would we want to disable it?

 

Thad

[Bullines]

OpenGL (open graphics library) is a graphics API (application programming interface). It contains various routines for various computer graphics functions such as shading, 3D object creation/manipulation and so on that can be handled via hardware. Mastercam uses OpenGL for things such as shading. If a given video card has a weak OpenGL implementation in its drivers, problems arise. Disabling OpenGL in Mastercam will resolvethese problems but at the cost of using software rendering instead of hardware.

 

On a side note, here's a sample OpenGL app and its source code

[Thad]

Thanks Bullines.

 

Thad