OpenGL is a free 3d graphics API (Applications Programming Interface) controlled by the Architectural Review Board, which is composed of nine leading hardware and software companies, including Silicon Graphics, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Intel. It is also relatively fast, and many manufacturers make hardware-accelerated video boards.

Visualization of evolving molecules was achieved with a program written specifically for this purpose called molview. It reads position data for molecules, and can draw evolving molecules, allowing the user to manipulate the camera position and move forward and backward through time.