WWDC Apple deprecating OpenGL

Michael Mayer

(No Vulkan support and now this)
And now ?

Is this the end of cross platform 3D or CAD Apps ?
Bricscad for Mac will be dumped ?

Or is that no problem because of RedSDK managing everything ?
Mac runs Metal 2, Windows goes DirectX and Linux Vulkan ?

Soon available :
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/604

Tijs Vermeulen

We noticed Apple's announcement too.
It means more work, for sure, but it does not mean the end.

We just need to create a new renderer, that's all.

Normally the bulk of the effort should be for Redway.
A colleague already informed Redway about this, here is what they answer (stripped):

"we'll do our job the best we can and we'll support whatever is relevant on Mac OSX....
At this point I don't know Metal, so it's hard to tell how the OpenGL to Metal migration will happen...
...this can be a huge effort on our side that needs to be prepared and planned in terms of resources allocation..."

Michael Mayer

Thanks Tijs,
nice to hear thar Bricsys still thinks it’s worth to support Mac.

I think that could be not much fun for RedWay.
But why a new (View) Renderer, I thought Redway would provide
all graphics framework now.

But its the same on all crossplatform Apps.
„Again a bit harder to provide feature parity ... „

Tijs Vermeulen

But why a new (View) Renderer, I thought Redway would provide
all graphics framework now.

Not all, 2D wireframe rendering does not use RedSDK.

And even for 3D through RedSDK, there's still a wrapper on our side...

Michael Mayer

@Tijs Vermeulen said:
Not all, 2D wireframe rendering does not use RedSDK.

That important one that I need for the new cached PDF display ....
or is that different for the Windows Version.
(Being able to see PDF in other(3D) modes would be nice too)

And even for 3D through RedSDK, there's still a wrapper on our side...

Is this the reason whyt (at least on Mac ?) the 3D viewport is noticeably
weaker than I am used to. Like when I have some instanced trees in
Blocks, containing pure Mesh geometry ?
And could it get better performance by that "forced" overhaul ?

All my Software I'm interested in and care of, 3x3D and 2xCAD is
cross platform and used cross platform OpenGL API.
So all these and maybe me and my work are effected in some way.
Not sure if I should look forward to get more recent and faster graphic
or fear an aera of bugs and inconsistencies

So far no one said explicitly going Metal on Mac.
(And stay supporting a second version for OpenGL on Windows or Linux
or switch these to DirectX12 or Vulkan)
Looks like some may choose cross platform Vulkan which is cool for
Windows and Linux. And will work by an extra Layer over Metal for Mac.
So some loss but still faster than OpenGL was.
(But I think that is not exactly what Apple intended or wants to achieve)

Michael Mayer

From the maker of the Houdini App :

http://forums.odforce.net/topic/39072-opengl-vulkan-and-metal/

Michael Mayer

@Tijs Vermeulen said:
We noticed Apple's announcement too.
It means more work, for sure, but it does not mean the end.

We just need to create a new renderer, that's all.

Normally the bulk of the effort should be for Redway.
A colleague already informed Redway about this, here is what they answer (stripped):

"we'll do our job the best we can and we'll support whatever is relevant on Mac OSX....
At this point I don't know Metal, so it's hard to tell how the OpenGL to Metal migration will happen...
...this can be a huge effort on our side that needs to be prepared and planned in terms of resources allocation..."

Are there any news on this now 2 years later ?

I didn't find Metal or Apple Silicon mentioned on their website so far.
Is there any future for Bricscad on coming Macs ?