Question 1: What are you announcing?
Answer: The February 1995 announcement is a technology announcement with regards to QuickDraw 3D and Apple's new 3D metafile format (3DMF)
Question 2: What is QuickDraw 3D?
Answer: QuickDraw 3D is a system extension for creating, manipulating , rendering, and sharing 3D graphics. It consists of human interface guidelines and toolkit, a 3D file format, a high-level geometry engine, a shading and rendering architecture, and a device and acceleration manager for hardware acceleration.
Question 3: Why is Apple doing 3D?
Answer: The addition of 3D graphics technologies to the platform will enable Apple to extend its lead in the markets where we are currently strong, including publishing, multimedia authoring, and education, by providing these customers with next-generation 3D solutions. It will also make Apple even more competitive in the technical markets as well as in the rapid growing consumer markets, where games and entertainment are all using 3D graphics.
Question 4: When will it be available?
Answer: Apple expects to ship the software this summer.
Question 5: How will it be distributed?
Answer: QuickDraw 3D will be licensed to developers for shipment with their applications, and shipped on the hard disk of new Power Macintosh computers.
Question 6: What about 680x0 Macintosh computers?
Answer: QuickDraw 3D is the first new software designed to take advantage of the PowerPC chip, and as such is not designed to run on 68K machines. However, the file format is designed for ANY platform; therefore, 68K-based applications will be able to read and write 3D data-they will display and manipulate the data with their own software, as they do today.
Question 7: Will it be cross-platform?
Answer: Yes. Apple has made the commitment to release a Windows version QuickDraw 3D roughly six months after the release of QuickDraw 3D 1.0 for versions of MacOS running on PowerPC.
Question 8: What are developers saying about it?
Answer: To date, developer support has been outstanding. Both major hardware and software developers are announcing support to the technology. QuickDraw 3D has also attracted some new players to the MacOS running on the Power Macintosh platform.
Question 9: What is the minimum configuration?
Answer: The minimum configuration is:
- A PowerPC processor
- Macintosh System 7.1.2 (or later)
- A hard drive
- 16MB of DRAM
Question 10: Will QuickDraw 3D support OpenDoc?
Answer: Yes. If a developer decides to make a 3D part with QuickDraw 3D, then any OpenDoc container will get 3D functionality without further modification!
Question 11: What is the difference between QuickDraw 3D and QuickTime VR?
Answer: QuickDraw 3D helps developers in the creation and rendering of synthetic 3D graphics. QuickTime VR is a very sophisticated playback engine that enables developers to stitch together either photographs or pre-rendered 3D scenes so that they can be "navigated" interactively.
Question 12: How does QuickDraw 3D compare to OpenGL?
Answer: The QuickDraw 3D API addresses the needs of developers and customers by providing user interface guidelines, a high-level geometry engine, an extensible shading and rendering architecture, and a file format. OpenGL provides support for low-level geometry and rendering.