Introduction

Welcome to the Tinman 3D Software Development Kit, you are reading the technical documentation.

To download the Tinman 3D SDK, please go to the Release Notes page.

Download and evaluation of the Tinman 3D SDK is 100% free and requires no online account!
If you have any questions or comments, please write to:

info@tinman3d.com [ pgp/key ]

To obtain technical support, please refer to Contact and Support or write to:

support@tinman3d.com

For questions about licensing, please refer to Licencing and Pricing or write to:

sales@tinman3d.com

This is the Demo Application, rendering content of the Geodata Examples:

screenshot.01
Figure 1. Demo Application - NED 1/9" + GoogleMaps
screenshot.02
Figure 2. Demo Application - NED 1/3" + BingMaps

Overview

Tinman 3D is a collection of software libraries and stand-alone tools. Its purpose is to analyze, process and visualize 3D terrain data.

The stand-alone tools can be used by end-users to explore and use the features of Tinman 3D:

The software libraries can be used by developers to incorporate features of Tinman 3D into existing applications. They are available in separate editions, which can be used independently:

  • C# (language version 8.0)

  • C++ (language version 17)

Components

The Tinman 3D SDK is composed of several software libraries, stand-alone tools and other executables.

sdk components
Figure 3. Libraries and executables of the Tinman 3D SDK

Software libraries are provided in source code form (green) or in binary form (orange). Stand-alone tools and other executables are provided in binary form (blue).

Libraries

Table 1. Code libraries of the Tinman 3D SDK
Library C# C++ Platform

CodeX.System

Binary [1] / nuget

Source [2]

any

A concise bootstrap library that provides common runtime semantics for the C# and C++ editions of Tinman 3D.

Full Source Code may be licensed separately.

CodeX.Framework

Binary

-

any

This is the implementation of the Code-X Framework, which is used by the Code-X Processor tool to generate C++, HLSL and GLSL source code from C# source code.

Only available with a Source Code licence.

Tinman.Licence

Binary / nuget

Binary

any

Implements asymmetric decryption for licence keys, performs licence checks and unlocks initialization data which is required by other SDK components.

This component is provided as a separate binary and cannot be linked into applications.

Tinman.Core

Binary / nuget

Obfuscated [3]

any

The Core library provides general-purpose functionality and platform-abstraction wrappers for system-specific APIs.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Full Source Code may be licensed separately.

Tinman.Terrain

Binary / nuget

Obfuscated

any

The Terrain library is is the heart of Tinman 3D. It provides all terrain-related features.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Full Source Code may be licensed separately.

Tinman.Engine

Binary / nuget

Obfuscated

any

The Engine library provides a light-weight engine for real-time 3D applications.

Use of the Engine library is optional.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Full Source Code may be licensed separately.

Tinman.Gpu

Binary / nuget

-

any

The Gpu library provides the scaffold for writing GPU programs in C#, following by automatic code translation, for example to HLSL and GLSL.

See Code-X Framework for details.

Tinman.Shaders

Source

-

any

The Shaders library provides the C# source code for the GPU shaders of Tinman 3D, which are used to generate HLSL and GLSL shader code automatically.

This library is Gpu-X compliant.

Tinman.AddOns

Source / nuget

Source

any

The AddOns library provides additional functionality and examples for developing applications with Tinman 3D.

Use of the AddOns library is optional.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Functionality is wrapped in separate library components if it requires 3rd-party libraries at build time.

For the following features, 3rd-party libraries are only required at runtime, so the functionality is present in this library component:

Tinman.AddOns.Assimp
Plugin for using the Open Asset Import Library from within Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.GDAL
Plugin for using the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library from within Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.OpenFlight
Plugin for using the OpenFlight API with Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.OpenGL
Plugin for using the OpenGL rendering API with Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.OpenGLES
Plugin for using the OpenGLES rendering API with Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.SDL
Plugin for using the Simple DirectMedia Layer library with Tinman 3D.

Tinman.AddOns.SQLite
Plugin for using the SQLite database with Tinman 3D.

…​ DirectX9

Source / nuget

Source

Windows

Plugin for using the Direct3D 9 rendering API with Tinman 3D.

This library is Code-X compliant.

…​ DirectX11

Source / nuget

Source

Windows

Plugin for using the Direct3D 11 rendering API with Tinman 3D.

This library is Code-X compliant.

…​ DirectX12

Source / nuget

Source

Windows

Plugin for using the Direct3D 12 rendering API with Tinman 3D.

This library is Code-X compliant.

…​ MFC

-

Source

Windows

An MFC control that hosts an IApplication object.

…​ OSG

-

Source

any

Plugin for using Tinman 3D from within OpenSceneGraph.

Not yet available, see Roadmap for details.

…​ Qt

-

Source

any

A Qt widget that hosts an IApplication object.

Not yet available, see Roadmap for details.

…​ Vulkan

Source

Source

any

Plugin for using the Vulkan rendering API with Tinman 3D.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Not yet available, see Roadmap for details.

…​ WinForms

Source / nuget

-

any

A .NET WinForms control that hosts an IApplication object.

…​ WPF

Source / nuget

-

Windows

A .NET WPF control that hosts an IApplication object.

Tinman.Processor

Source

Source

any

This is the source code of the Geodata Processor tool.

This library is Code-X compliant.

Only available with a Source Code licence.

Tinman.Demo

Source

Source

any

The Demo Application showcases many features of the Tinman 3D SDK.

This library is Code-X compliant.

…​ StandAlone

Source

Source

any

Runs the Demo Application in a stand-alone window.

The re-compiled application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

This library is Code-X compliant.

…​ MFC

-

Source

Windows

Runs the Demo Application in an MFC window.

The re-compiled application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

…​ Qt

-

Source

any

Runs the Demo Application in a Qt window.

The re-compiled application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

Not yet available, see Roadmap for details.

…​ WinForms

Source

-

Windows

Runs the Demo Application in a .NET WinForms window.

The re-compiled application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

…​ WPF

Source

-

Windows

Runs the Demo Application in a .NET WPF window.

The re-compiled application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

Dependencies

The following table shows dependencies that exist between the libraries of the SDK. The mnemonics refer to SDK libraries using the first letter of the first two name parts. For example: CF refers to CodeX.Framework.

(X) means that the dependencies only exist because of XmlDoc links.
Table 2. Library dependency matrix (X = row depends on column)
CS CF TL TC TT TE TG TS TA TP TD

CS

-

CF

X

-

X

X

X

TL

X

-

TC

X

X

-

TT

X

X

X

-

TE

X

X

X

X

-

TG

X

X

X

X

-

TS

X

X

(X)

(X)

X

-

(X)

TA

X

X

X

X

X

-

TP

X

X

X

X

X

X

-

TD

X

X

X

X

X

X

-

Executables

Table 3. Executables of the Tinman 3D SDK
Executable C# C++ Platform

tinman3d_demo

Executable [4]

Executable

any

The Demo Application showcases many features of the Tinman 3D SDK.

This application does not require a licence key to run.

tinman3d_workshop

Executable

-

Windows

The Workshop Application is a GUI application that exposes many features of Tinman 3D interactively.

This application requires a licence key to run with full features (User, Site or Academic).

tinman3d_bakery

Executable

-

Windows

The Licence Bakery is a tool for generating licence key requests.

This application does not require a licence key to run.

tinmanpc

Executable

Executable

any

The Geodata Processor tool, which imports geodata into Tinman 3D.

This application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

To unlock a content archive, the unlock key is sufficient to run tinmanpc, no other keys are required in this case.

codex

Executable

-

any

The Code-X Processor tool, which runs the Code-X Framework for generating C++, HLSL and GLSL source code.

This application requires a licence key to run (User, Site or Academic).

Framework

Platform Abstraction

Tinman 3D makes use of a compact platform abstraction layer, and contains ready-to-use implementations for popular computing environments:

Table 4. Implementations of the platform abstraction layer
Platform C# SDK C++ SDK Processor Demo Workshop

Windows
Desktop

yes [5]

yes [6]

yes

yes

yes

Linux
Desktop

yes [5]

v1.0 RC4 [7]

yes

yes

-

MacOS
Desktop

yes [5]

v1.0 RC4 [7]

yes

yes

-

Android
Mobile

-

v1.0 RC5

-

v1.0 RC5

-

iOS
Mobile

-

v1.0 RC5

-

v1.0 RC5

-

Web [8]

v1.0 RC5

v1.0 RC5

-

v1.0 RC5

-
You are not limited to the provided PAL implementations; it is possible to implement your own ones or to modify the existing ones (see Source Code Licence).

Graphics Abstraction

Tinman 3D routes all rendering through a slim graphics abstraction layer (GAL, see IGraphicsContext). The SDK contains ready-to-use implementations for popular rendering APIs:

Table 5. Implementations of the graphics abstraction layer
Platform Direct3D 9 Direct3D 11 Direct3D 12 OpenGL 4.1+ OpenGLES 3.0+ WebGL 2.0 Vulkan 1.1+ Metal

Windows Desktop

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

-

planned

-

Linux Desktop

-

-

-

yes

yes

-

planned

-

MacOS Desktop

-

-

-

yes

yes

-

planned

planned

Web Mobile

-

-

-

-

-

v1.0 RC5

-

-

Android Mobile

-

-

-

-

v1.0 RC5

-

-

-

iOS Mobile

-

-

-

-

v1.0 RC5

-

-

-
You are not limited to the provided GAL implementations; it is possible to implement your own ones or to modify the existing ones (see Source Code Licence).

Application Framework

Tinman 3D includes an application framework (see IApplication), which is used by several plug-and-play application widgets (see IWidget). These components are built upon the low-level API of Tinman 3D and implement commonly used functionality.

The following ready-to-use adapters to popular GUI systems are included in the SDK:

Table 6. Adapter implementations of the application framework
Language Tinman [9] WinForms WPF MFC Qt [10] SDL [11]

C#

yes

yes

yes

-

-

yes

C++

yes

-

-

yes

v1.0 RC5

yes
You are not limited to the provided implementations; it is possible to implement your own ones or to modify the existing ones (see Source Code Licence).

3rd Party Libraries

Tinman 3D has a strong interface-centric design (for example 2D images and 3D models). Custom implementations of these interfaces can be created in order to extend the functionality of the SDK, without having to modify existing binaries.

The following ready-to-use plugins for 3rd-party libraries are included in the SDK:

Table 7. Plugin implementations for 3rd party libraries
Library C# C++ Purpose

Assimp

yes

yes

3D Model Import

bepuphysics v2

v1.0 RC6

-

Physics Simulation

Bullet

v1.0 RC6

v1.0 RC6

Physics Simulation

FMOD

planned

planned

Sound Engine

GDAL / PROJ

yes

yes

Geodata Import

OpenAL

planned

planned

Sound Engine

OpenFlight

yes

yes

3D Model Import

PhysX

v1.0 RC6

v1.0 RC6

Physics Simulation

Wwise

planned

planned

Sound Engine

XAudio2

planned

planned

Sound Engine

Roadmap

This is the roadmap of current and future development of the Tinman 3D SDK.

Items with a highlight will be included in the next official release and may be included in an earlier stable build.

Tinman 3D SDK 1.0 RC4

Missing SDK features
New file format features
New SDK features

Built-in file format (read)

  • GdalShapeFormat (read)

Built-in file format (write)
New SDK features
Missing SDK features

Tinman 3D SDK 1.0 RC5

Missing SDK features
Missing documentation content
Support for additional platforms

Application framework plugin
Documentation
Platform support

  • Android / Mobile

  • iOS / Mobile

  • Web

Missing SDK features

Tinman 3D SDK 1.0 RC6

Missing SDK features
New file format features
Physics engine integration
Terrain / scene editing

Built-in file format (read)
Built-in file format (write)
Documentation
Physics abstraction plugin
New SDK features
Missing SDK features

Planned

The following features are planned but have not yet been prioritised.

1. Provided as a dynamic link library (e.g. DLL on Windows).
2. Provided as human-readable source code.
3. Provided as obfuscated source code, which builds the binaries.
4. Provided as an executable (e.g. EXE on Windows).
5. Requires .NET 6.0+ / .NET Framework 4.8+ / Mono.
6. Requires Windows 7 or above (32-bit / 64-bit).
7. Requires compliance with POSIX.1-2008 (32-bit / 64-bit).
8. Requires runtime support for WebAssembly (WASM) and Emscripten.
9. Built-in application window for stand-alone use (see ApplicationWindow).
10. Tinman may optionally use Qt’s platform abstraction layer instead of its own.
11. Simple DirectMedia Layer version 2 or 3.