3D in WinForms?

Question

How can i use 3D view inside WinForms?

Should i use XNA ?

I found this tutorial: http://create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/sample/winforms_series_1

Answer 1

I would advise using OpenTK's GL control - OpenTK WinForms control. This is cross-platform, easy to use, and based on OpenGL; which is cross-platform and Mono-compliant. No "hacks" are required to get this to work, and it's a very straightforward way of embedding 3D content in a WinForms container. OpenTK is licensed under the LGPL, meaning you may embed it in commercial applications. OpenTK/OpenGL currently works on Linux, Mac, and Windows and is the easiest method I know of to embed 3D content in a .NET or Mono application. I've tried the XNA in WinForms method, and it ended up being somewhat confusing, and not at all cross-platform. Then they released XNA 4, and my previous XNA apps were not at ALL compatible with the new version. You won't find this problem as often in OpenGL as in DirectX.