Tcl3D

Summary

Tcl3D enables the 3D functionality of OpenGL and other 3D libraries at the Tcl scripting level.

Description

Its main design requirement is to wrap existing 3D libraries without modification of header files and with minimal manual wrapping. This is accomplished by wrapping these libraries with the help of SWIG. Tcl3D was previously called tclogl.

Sources, binaries and demos can be found on the Tcl3D website or on SourceForge . The basic version of Tcl3D is part of the BAWT Tcl-BI .

See the Tcl3D Demo of the Month page for additional demos and here on the wiki for discussion.

Documentation

Two articles about Tcl3D appeared in the German Linux Magazin in 2006:

• Dreidimensionale Modelle in eigenen Skripten mit Tcl3D Carsten Zerbst, Linux Magazin 2006-07
• Ob Bühnenbild oder 3D-Modell, erst Anstrich und Licht sorgen für die perfekte Illusion Carsten Zerbst, Linux Magazin 2006-10

I gave the following presentations about Tcl3D at the European Tcl/Tk conferences:

• Doing 3D with Tcl Paul Obermeier, European Tcl/Tk User Meeting 2005
• Tcl3D: One Year After Paul Obermeier, European Tcl/Tk User Meeting 2006
• Tcl3D - Next Level, Please! Paul Obermeier, European Tcl/Tk User Meeting 2009
• Tcl3D - Catching up with OpenGL Paul Obermeier, European Tcl/Tk User Meeting 2010

Examples

Simple Chaos Theory with Tcl3D

Tcl3D implementation of Simple Chaos Theory with Tcl

Releases

PO 2022/04/15 - Version 0.9.5 is a maintenance release.

• GLEW updated to version 2.2.0.
• Gl2ps updated to version 1.4.2.
• Corrected SDL wrapper to work with SDL2.0.20. SDL_thread not wrapped anymore.
• Regenerated tcl3dOglHelp.tcl with links to Khronos sites.

PO 2019/12/28 - Version 0.9.4 is a maintenance release.

• Added new procedure tcl3dPhotoToFloatVector.
• Added new procedure tcl3dGl2psCreateFile.
• Corrected procedure tcl3dVector.

PO 2018/05/01 - Version 0.9.3 is a major rewrite and integration of Tcl3D into the BAWT build framework.

• Tcl/Tk 8.6 now used as standard Tcl version.
• GLEW version updated to 2.1.0. OpenGL support now up to 4.5.
• Gl2ps updated to version 1.4.0.
• Added new sub-module tcl3dGeoMath for geographic conversion routines.
• Corrections in Togl needed for Tcl 8.6 related to Unicode handling.
• Changed build environment to CMake.

PO 2010/12/31 - Version 0.5.0 updates underlying Tcl/Tk version to 8.5.8:

• dicts and ttk are now used in Tcl3D library and demos.
• Support for OpenGL versions up to 4.1 based on GLEW 1.5.7.
• Enhanced Togl widget with OpenGL profile selection.
• New Tcl3D application: OpenGL Information Center.
• 4 new demos added since release 0.4.3.

PO 2010/10/02 - Version 0.4.3 update of Windows binary package:

• A bug in the global optimization of VS2008 produced incorrect code for some parts of the OpenSceneGraph wrapper.
• Updated distribution package tcl3d-win32-0.4.3.zip [L1 ] with a non-optimized, but correct tcl3dOsg version.

PO 2010/07/31 - Version 0.4.3 is a bug fix and maintenance release:

• Support for OpenGL versions up to 4.0 based on GLEW 1.5.4.
• FTGL version updated to 2.1.3 RC5.
• Enhanced OpenGL information and query functions.
• Added support for Visual Studio 2010.
• 5 new demos added since release 0.4.2.

PO 2010/03/28 - Version 0.4.2 is a bug fix and maintenance release:

• Support for OpenGL versions up to 3.2 based on GLEW 1.5.3.
• Cg updated to 2.2.0017, Gl2ps updated to 1.3.5.
• Several new OpenGL information and query functions.
• Presentation framework works with Tcl/Tk 8.6b1.
• 7 new demos added since release 0.4.1.

PO 2009/08/23 - Version 0.4.1 adds new module tcl3dOsg wrapping the OpenSceneGraph library:

• Wrapping is based on OpenSceneGraph version 2.8.2.
• Cg updated to 2.2.0006, GL2PS updated to 1.3.3.
• Added support for Visual Studio 2008.
• Deprecated support for Visual C++ 6.0 and CygWin.
• 7 new demos added since release 0.4.0.

PO 2008/12/30 - Version 0.4.0 adds OpenGL wrapping based on GLEW 1.5.1:

• Support for OpenGL versions up to 3.0.
• No C++ dependency any more in the Tcl3D core module.
• Removed wrapping of Windows specific OpenGL functions.
• 4 new demos added since release 0.3.3.

PO 2008/09/14 - Version 0.3.3 adds first official 64-bit Linux support and several bug fixes and enhancements:

• Improved Mac OS X appearance.
• Added reference manual.
• Several new OpenGL utility procedures.
• Speed improvement for copying Tcl lists into vectors.
• 19 new demos added since release 0.3.2.

PO 2007/02/25 - Version 0.3.2 adds first official Mac OS X support and several cleanups:

• Unification of demo applications and presentation framework.
• Added support for Visual Studio 2003 (7.1) and 2005 (8.0).
• Added several new demos from NeHe and GameProgrammer.org.
• Updated the following wrapped libraries: ODE, GL2PS, Cg.

PO 2006/06/19 - Version 0.3.1 adds the following features:

• New library: GL2PS (Thanks to IDG for idea and first implementation)
• Alpha release of ODE wrapper
• More NeHe tutorials added: Lessons 19-21
• Starpack version of Tcl3D

PO 2006/02/12 - Version 0.3 adds MacOS X and enhanced font support:

• Support for MacOS X added. (Thanks to DAS for supplying patches and binaries)
• New library: FTGL, the OpenGL font rendering library.
• Corrected and enhanced font handling under Windows in the tcl3dTogl widget.
• Added some of NeHe's OpenGL tutorials.
• Several bug fixes and enhancements.

PO 2006/01/07 - Version 0.2 is a major rewrite of TclOgl and adds support for several new 3D libraries:

• OpenGL Version 2.0
• Lots of OpenGL extensions
• NVidia's Cg shader library
• SDL (Simple DirectMedia Library)
• 4 gauge widgets
• Enhanced utility library