The first official release of ScientificGL, v. 1.2, is now available, and can be downloaded for free. It is an API meant to enable any scientific programmer to easily add professional and realistic molecular graphics to their C++ programs. The API is implemented as a C++ class (uncompiled source code), and officially supports the following platforms: XWindows (including UNIX, LINUX, IRIX, etc.), Windows 95/98/NT, Apple Macintosh, and OS/2.

All graphics are displayed in real-time and are interactive, and also take advantage of any OpenGL-compatible graphics accelerators (i.e. SGI video cards, Intergraph, 3DFX, 3Dlabs, Diamond, ELSA, and many others). Programmers can easily display space-filling, ball-and-stick, tube, and vector graphics.

With a resident copy of GAMESS (which can be downloaded for free) on the system, ScientificGL can also produce Connolly solvent, geodesic, electron isodensity, and electrostatic isopotential surfaces, as well as full electron density plots. Surfaces can be displayed in wireframe, solid, or dot rendering modes, and can be colored (or alpha-blended for transparency effects) any way you want. Check out a gallery of sample images and download the full thing, complete with a 40-page manual (to help you get started and serve as a reference) and a demo program for Windows that shows off all of these features on a water molecule, at: http://www.compbio.net/downloads/scientificgl.htm

Jason L. Douglas
jason@compbio.net