Is 3D Molecular Modelling possible in Open GL ?

[govi]

Hi all,

I am new to Open GL programming, infact I am posting this message as soon as I have heard from one of my friends that, it's possible to Develop 3D Molecular Modelling Software through Open GL. If this is right, please could someone guide me, as to the right place from where I could start off...

I have prior programming knowledge on C,C++,VB but no Java Programming. I can also code in ASM. Would this be of any help ?

Thanx in advance....

[harsman]

OpenGL is just a graphics API, there are no functions directly related to molecular modelling, just commands for drawing lines, triangles and polygons etc. If you are familiar with 3d-graphics, you shouldn't have a problem. If you're not, you're going to have a steeper learning curve. I suggest you take a look at The Red Book (a.k.a The OpenGL Programmer's Guide) which is available online here (http://ask.ii.uib.no/ebt-bin/nph-dweb/dynaweb/SGI_Developer/OpenGL_PG/) . The simplest approach to do molecular modelling with OpenGL would be to store a sphere (composed of triangles) in a displat list and then use translation and rotation to move that around as you draw.

[govi]

Thank you for the info. i will try my hand at this. If I succeed, you would be seeing me more often on this BB.
Time to experiment.....
Thank you for your help again.