Proof of concept OpenGL program in python and Qt/PySide

Here is the output of my initial test program:




I am planning to test the performance of various ways of rendering lots of spheres using OpenGL. I will use python and Qt to run the tests. As a first step, I have created a very light hello program that renders the classic Utah teapot.

#!/usr/bin/python

# File teapot_test.py
# "hello world" type rendering of the classic Utah teapot
# Requires python modules PySide and PyOpenGL

from PySide.QtGui import QMainWindow, QApplication
from PySide.QtOpenGL import QGLWidget
from OpenGL.GL import *
from OpenGL.GLUT import *
from OpenGL.GLU import *
import sys


def override(interface_class):
  """
  Method to implement Java-like derived class method override annotation.
  Courtesy of mkorpela's answer at
  http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1167617/in-python-how-do-i-indicate-im-overriding-a-method
  """
  def override(method):
      assert(method.__name__ in dir(interface_class))
      return method
  return override


class SphereTestGLWidget(QGLWidget):
  "GUI rectangle that displays a teapot"
  @override(QGLWidget)
  def initializeGL(self):
      "runs once, after OpenGL context is created"
      glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST)
      glClearColor(1,1,1,0) # white background
      glShadeModel(GL_SMOOTH)
      glEnable(GL_COLOR_MATERIAL)
      glMaterialfv(GL_FRONT, GL_SPECULAR, [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0])
      glMaterialfv(GL_FRONT, GL_SHININESS, [50.0])
      glLightfv(GL_LIGHT0, GL_POSITION, [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.0])
      glLightfv(GL_LIGHT0, GL_DIFFUSE, [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0])
      glLightfv(GL_LIGHT0, GL_SPECULAR, [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0])
      glLightModelfv(GL_LIGHT_MODEL_AMBIENT, [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.0])
      glEnable(GL_LIGHTING)
      glEnable(GL_LIGHT0)
      self.orientCamera()
      gluLookAt(0, 0, -10, # camera
                0, 0, 0, # focus
                0, 1, 0) # up vector
    
  @override(QGLWidget)
  def paintGL(self):
      "runs every time an image update is needed"
      glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT)
      self.paintTeapot()
    
  @override(QGLWidget)
  def resizeGL(self, w, h):
      "runs every time the window changes size"
      glViewport(0, 0, w, h)
      self.orientCamera()
    
  def orientCamera(self):
      "update projection matrix, especially when aspect ratio changes"
      glPushAttrib(GL_TRANSFORM_BIT) # remember current GL_MATRIX_MODE
      glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION)
      glLoadIdentity()
      gluPerspective (60.0, self.width()/float(self.height()), 1.0, 10.0)
      glPopAttrib() # restore GL_MATRIX_MODE
    
  def paintTeapot(self):
      glPushAttrib(GL_POLYGON_BIT) # remember current GL_FRONT_FACE indictor
      glFrontFace(GL_CW) # teapot polygon vertex order is opposite to modern convention
      glColor3f(0.2,0.2,0.5) # paint it blue
      glutSolidTeapot(3.0) # thank you GLUT tool kit
      glPopAttrib() # restore GL_FRONT_FACE


class SphereTestApp(QApplication):
  "Simple application for testing OpenGL rendering"
  def __init__(self):
      QApplication.__init__(self, sys.argv)
      self.setApplicationName("SphereTest")
      self.mainWindow = QMainWindow()
      self.gl_widget = SphereTestGLWidget()
      self.mainWindow.setCentralWidget(self.gl_widget)
      self.mainWindow.resize(1024, 768)
      self.mainWindow.show()
      sys.exit(self.exec_()) # Start Qt main loop


if __name__ == "__main__":
  SphereTestApp()