OpenGL Books

OpenGL(R) SuperBible: Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference (4th Edition) (OpenGL)

Richard S. Wright, Benjamin Lipchak, Nicholas Haemel

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

OpenGL ® SuperBible, Fourth Edition, begins by illuminating the core techniques of “classic” OpenGL graphics programming, from drawing in space to geometric transformations, from lighting to texture mapping. The authors cover newer OpenGL capabilities, including OpenGL 2.1’s powerful programmable pipeline, vertex and fragment shaders, and advanced buffers. They also present thorough, up-to-date introductions to OpenGL implementations on multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, UNIX, and embedded systems.

Coverage includes

· An entirely new chapter on OpenGL ES programming for handhelds

· Completely rewritten chapters on OpenGL for Mac OS X and GNU/Linux

· Up-to-the-minute coverage of OpenGL on Windows Vista

· New material on floating-point color buffers and off-screen rendering

· In-depth introductions to 3D modeling and object composition

· Expert techniques for utilizing OpenGL’s programmable shading language

· Thorough coverage of curves, surfaces, interactive graphics, textures, shadows, and much more

· A fully updated API reference, and an all-new section of full-color images

You’ll rely on this book constantly–whether you’re learning OpenGL for the first time, deepening your graphics programming expertise, upgrading from older versions of OpenGL, or porting applications from other environments.

Now part of the OpenGL Technical Library–The official knowledge resource for OpenGL developers

The OpenGL Technical Library provides tutorial and reference books for OpenGL. The Library enables programmers to gain a practical understanding of OpenGL and shows them how to unlock its full potential. Originally developed by SGI, the Library continues to evolve under the auspices of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) Steering Group (now part of the Khronos Group), an industry consortium responsible for guiding the evolution of OpenGL and related technologies.

Contents

Preface xxvii

About the Authors xxxv

Introduction 1

Part I: The Old Testament

Chapter 1 Introduction to 3D Graphics and OpenGL 9

Chapter 2 Using OpenGL 33

Chapter 3 Drawing in Space: Geometric Primitives and Buffers 73

Chapter 4 Geometric Transformations: The Pipeline 127

Chapter 5 Color, Materials, and Lighting: The Basics 173

Chapter 6 More on Colors and Materials 229

Chapter 7 Imaging with OpenGL 251

Chapter 8 Texture Mapping: The Basics 303

Chapter 9 Texture Mapping: Beyond the Basics 341

Chapter 10 Curves and Surfaces 377

Chapter 11 It’s All About the Pipeline: Faster Geometry Throughput 421

Chapter 12 Interactive Graphics 457

Chapter 13 Occlusion Queries: Why Do More Work Than You Need To? 481

Chapter 14 Depth Textures and Shadows 495

Part II: The New Testament

Chapter 15 Programmable Pipeline: This Isn’t Your Father’s OpenGL 515

Chapter 16 Vertex Shading: Do-It-Yourself Transform, Lighting, and Texgen 547

Chapter 17 Fragment Shading: Empower Your Pixel Processing 567

Chapter 18 Advanced Buffers 601

Part III: The Apocrypha

Chapter 19 Wiggle: OpenGL on Windows 641

Chapter 20 OpenGL on Mac OS X 685

Chapter 21 OpenGL on Linux 713

Chapter 22 OpenGL ES — OpenGL on the Small 735

Appendix A Further Reading/References 773

Appendix B Glossary 777

Appendix C API Reference 783

Index 1141

OpenGL(R) ES 2.0 Programming Guide (OpenGL)

Aaftab Munshi, Dan Ginsburg, Dave Shreiner

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

OpenGL ES 2.0 is the industry’s leading software interface and graphics library for rendering sophisticated 3D graphics on handheld and embedded devices. With OpenGL ES 2.0, the full programmability of shaders is now available on small and portable devices—including cell phones, PDAs, consoles, appliances, and vehicles. However, OpenGL ES differs significantly from OpenGL. Graphics programmers and mobile developers have had very little information about it—until now.

In the OpenGL® ES 2.0 Programming Guide, three leading authorities on the Open GL ES 2.0 interface—including the specification’s editor—provide start-to-finish guidance for maximizing the interface’s value in a wide range of high-performance applications. The authors cover the entire API, including Khronos-ratified extensions. Using detailed C-based code examples, they demonstrate how to set up and program every aspect of the graphics pipeline. You’ll move from introductory techniques all the way to advanced per-pixel lighting, particle systems, and performance optimization.

Coverage includes:

• Shaders in depth: creating shader objects, compiling shaders, checking for compile errors, attaching shader objects to program objects, and linking final program objects
• The OpenGL ES Shading Language: variables, types, constructors, structures, arrays, attributes, uniforms, varyings, precision qualifiers, and invariance
• Inputting geometry into the graphics pipeline, and assembling geometry into primitives
• Vertex shaders, their special variables, and their use in per-vertex lighting, skinning, and other applications
• Using fragment shaders—including examples of multitexturing, fog, alpha test, and user clip planes
• Fragment operations: scissor test, stencil test, depth test, multisampling, blending, and dithering
• Advanced rendering: per-pixel lighting with normal maps, environment mapping, particle systems, image post-processing, and projective texturing
• Real-world programming challenges: platform diversity, C++ portability, OpenKODE, and platform-specific shader binaries

OpenGL(R) Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL(R), Version 2.1 (6th Edition) (OpenGL)

OpenGL Architecture Review Board, Dave Shreiner, Mason Woo, Jackie Neider, Tom Davis

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

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OpenGL^® Programming Guide, Sixth Edition

OpenGL is a powerful software interface used to produce high-quality, computergenerated images and interactive applications using 2D and 3D objects, bitmaps, and color images.

The OpenGL^® Programming Guide, Sixth Edition, provides definitive and comprehensive information on OpenGL and the OpenGL Utility Library. The previous edition covered OpenGL through Version 2.0. This sixth edition of the best-selling "red book" describes the latest features of OpenGL Version 2.1. You will find clear explanations of OpenGL functionality and many basic computer graphics techniques, such as building and rendering 3D models; interactively viewing objects from different perspective points; and using shading, lighting, and texturing effects for greater realism. In addition, this book provides in-depth coverage of advanced techniques, including texture mapping, antialiasing, fog and atmospheric effects, NURBS, image processing, and more. The text also explores other key topics such as enhancing performance, OpenGL extensions, and cross-platform techniques.

This sixth edition has been updated to include the newest features of OpenGL Version 2.1, including:

• Using server-side pixel buffer objects for fast pixel rectangle download and retrieval
• Discussion of the sRGB texture format
• Expanded discussion of the OpenGL Shading Language

This edition continues the discussion of the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and explains the mechanics of using this language to create complex graphics effects and boost the computational power of OpenGL.

The OpenGL Technical Library provides tutorial and reference books for OpenGL. The Library enables programmers to gain a practical understanding of OpenGL and shows them how to unlock its full potential. Originally developed by SGI, the Library continues to evolve under the auspices of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) Steering Group (now part of the Khronos Group), an industry consortium responsible for guiding the evolution of OpenGL and related technologies.

Beginning OpenGL Game Programming (Game Development Series)

Dave Astle, Kevin Hawkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Get up and running in a few days 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you need to get 3D graphics into your application OpenGL is a wonderful alternative. If you want to get up to speed with OpenGL this book is one of the best alternatives.
It's good to know a little about 3D math, and have a familiarity with terms like unit vector, transformation, and dot product, but it's definitely not necessary.

I'd recommend this to anyone.

Good Introduction to OpenGL - but what about Games? 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is a good introductory book, but it should have probably been called "Beginning OpenGL". The Gaming part is mentioned only briefly, and for any detail you'll have to go to what's on the CD. The CD literally makes this a decent book to buy; without the CD the OpenGL Red Book is probably money better spent. The other fault of this book is that the images are sub-par; it looks like the authors themselves did the images instead of a professional graphics house.

Editorial Review:

Beginning OpenGL Game Programming provides new game programmers with a complete introduction to 3D game programming using OpenGL. All of the basic elements of OpenGL as it applies to game development are covered. You will learn how to apply these elements to games. The material is designed to be completely accessible to beginners, with complete but concise coverage to ensure the highest value.

OpenGL ES Game Development (Game Development Series)

Dave Astle, Dave Durnil

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Hastily put together piece of junk 1 out of 5 stars.
14 of 28 people found this review helpful.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a book on OpenGL ES already in commerce after such a short time from the birth of the specification and first implementation. Indeed this book, as said in its preface, came out in "cell-phone time", (that is, very quick) but unfortunately also in "cell-phone-quality" (that is, very poor). It is an incoherent puzzle containing disparate info about EGL, some basic considerations about OpenGL ES functionality, audio for mobile devices, fixed point math and advertising for a few commercial game engines. If you think that looking hard enough you will find at least some info on how to choose and configure your development environment, to see working code for some basic functionality and maybe a little game.. well you are sadly mistaken. Another "book" hastily put together to make a few extra bucks at the expense of the unsuspecting reader. Buy only if love rough toilet paper.

Editorial Review:

"OpenGL ES Game Development" offers an in-depth look into the OpenGL ES standard and what the new embedded systems graphics library will provide for game developers. It covers OpenGL ES, EGL, game development, and platforms that are currently available. It also covers the problems involved in mobile game development with OpenGL ES and includes an overview of fixed point math and other areas of cell phone limitations that must be considered before creating mobile games. You’ll walk through the steps required to develop a game on mobile platforms and the process involved with distributing your game via carriers.

Covers the most up to date information available for mobile game programming.

Covers game development on multiple mobile platforms.

Opens the world of cell phone mobile gaming using OpenGL-ES to the masses.

OpenGL(R) Shading Language (2nd Edition) (OpenGL)

Randi J. Rost

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"As the 'Red Book' is known to be the gold standard for OpenGL, the 'Orange Book' is considered to be the gold standard for the OpenGL Shading Language. With Randi's extensive knowledge of OpenGL and GLSL, you can be assured you will be learning from a graphics industry veteran. Within the pages of the second edition you can find topics from beginning shader development to advanced topics such as the spherical harmonic lighting model and more." --David Tommeraasen, CEO/Programmer, Plasma Software "This will be the definitive guide for OpenGL shaders; no other book goes into this detail. Rost has done an excellent job at setting the stage for shader development, what the purpose is, how to do it, and how it all fits together. The book includes great examples and details, and good additional coverage of 2.0 changes!" --Jeffery Galinovsky, Director of Emerging Market Platform Development, Intel Corporation "The coverage in this new edition of the book is pitched just right to help many new shader-writers get started, but with enough deep information for the 'old hands.' "--Marc Olano, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland "This is a really great book on GLSL--well written and organized, very accessible, and with good real-world examples and sample code. The topics flow naturally and easily, explanatory code fragments are inserted in very logical places to illustrate concepts, and all in all, this book makes an excellent tutorial as well as a reference." --John Carey, Chief Technology Officer, C.O.R.E. Feature Animation OpenGL(R) Shading Language, Second Edition, extensively updated for OpenGL 2.0, is the experienced application programmer's guide to writing shaders. Part reference, part tutorial, this book thoroughly explains the shift from fixed-functionality graphics hardware to the new era of programmable graphics hardware and the additions to the OpenGL API that support this programmability. With OpenGL and shaders written in the OpenGL Shading Language, applications can perform better, achieving stunning graphics effects by using the capabilities of both the visual processing unit and the central processing unit.In this book, you will find a detailed introduction to the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and the new OpenGL function calls that support it. The text begins by describing the syntax and semantics of this high-level programming language. Once this foundation has been established, the book explores the creation and manipulation of shaders using new OpenGL function calls. OpenGL(R) Shading Language, Second Edition, includes updated descriptions for the language and all the GLSL entry points added to OpenGL 2.0; new chapters that discuss lighting, shadows, and surface characteristics; and an under-the-hood look at the implementation of RealWorldz, the most ambitious GLSL application to date. The second edition also features 18 extensive new examples of shaders and their underlying algorithms, including *Image-based lighting*Lighting with spherical harmonics*Ambient occlusion*Shadow mapping*Volume shadows using deferred lighting*Ward's BRDF model The color plate section illustrates the power and sophistication of the OpenGL Shading Language. The API Function Reference at the end of the book is an excellent guide to the API entry points that support the OpenGL Shading Language.Also included is a convenient Quick Reference Card to GLSL.

OpenGL(R) Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL(R), Version 2 (5th Edition) (OpenGL)

OpenGL Architecture Review Board, Dave Shreiner, Mason Woo, Jackie Neider, Tom Davis

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Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The OpenGL Programming Guide, now in its third edition, is the definitive volume for programmers using this evolving graphics interface standard. Written by members of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board, this book offers understandable tutorials and lessons on getting up to speed and getting the most out of the latest version of OpenGL, version 1.2.

The guide uses code examples in C and is targeted at programmers who have experience in coding yet are new to coding for OpenGL applications. The opening chapters go into descriptive detail of how OpenGL, the software interface for hardware 3-D chipsets, works and what you can expect from it, which turns out to be much more than you might have thought. Color plates are used, for example, to show how OpenGL handles such effects as motion blur and depth-of-field blur, in addition to shadows and texture mapping.

This is not a beginner's guide to programming computer graphics. Some previous knowledge of both programming in general and computer graphics in particular is required. For example, code snippets are used to describe how to implement these effects, but because OpenGL is platform-independent, some code examples may need to be modified when used with your specific compiler.

Filled with the expertise of those who standardized OpenGL, there is no better reference volume for learning and understanding this system. The examples cited are clear, commented, and explained. The only drawback to the book is that it lacks a companion CD-ROM--all examples must be either typed in or downloaded from an Internet FTP site. (The URL is listed in the preface.) --Mike Caputo

Mobile 3D Graphics: with OpenGL ES and M3G (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics)

Kari Pulli, Jani Vaarala, Ville Miettinen, Tomi Aarnio, Kimmo Roimela

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Graphics and game developers must learn to program for mobility. This book will teach you how.

"This book - written by some of the key technical experts...provides a comprehensive but practical and easily understood introduction for any software engineer seeking to delight the consumer with rich 3D interactive experiences on their phone. Like the OpenGL ES and M3G standards it covers, this book is destined to become an enduring standard for many years to come."
- Lincoln Wallen, CTO, Electronic Arts, Mobile

"This book is an escalator, which takes the field to new levels. This is especially true because the text ensures that the topic is easily accessible to everyone with some background in computer science...The foundations of this book are clear, and the authors are extremely knowledgeable about the subject."
- Tomas Akenine-Möller, bestselling author and Professor of Computer Science at Lund University

"This book is an excellent introduction to M3G. The authors are all experienced M3G users and developers, and they do a great job of conveying that experience, as well as plenty of practical advice that has been proven in the field."
- Sean Ellis, Consultant Graphics Engineer, ARM Ltd

The exploding popularity of mobile computing is undeniable. From cell phones to portable gaming systems, the global demand for multifunctional mobile devices is driving amazing hardware and software developments. 3D graphics are becoming an integral part of these ubiquitous devices, and as a result, Mobile 3D Graphics is arguably the most rapidly advancing area of the computer graphics discipline.

Mobile 3D Graphics is about writing real-time 3D graphics applications for mobile devices. The programming interfaces explained and demonstrated in this must-have reference enable dynamic 3D media on cell phones, GPS systems, portable gaming consoles and media players.

The text begins by providing thorough coverage of background essentials, then presents detailed hands-on examples, including extensive working code in both of the dominant mobile APIs, OpenGL ES and M3G.

C/C++ and Java Developers, graphic artists, students, and enthusiasts would do well to have a programmable mobile phone on hand to try out the techniques described in this book.

The authors, industry experts who helped to develop the OpenGL ES and M3G standards, distill their years of accumulated knowledge within these pages, offering their insights into everything from sound mobile design principles and constraints, to efficient rendering, mixing 2D and 3D, lighting, texture mapping, skinning and morphing.

Along the way, readers will benefit from the hundreds of included tips, tricks and caveats.

*Written by key industry experts who helped develop the standards of the field

*Hands-on code examples are presented throughout the book, and are also offered on the companion website

*Provides examples in the two most popular programing interfaces, OpenGL ES and M3G

OpenGL(R) Programming on Mac OS(R) X: Architecture, Performance, and Integration (OpenGL)

Robert P. Kuehne, J. D. Sullivan

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Mac has fully embraced OpenGL throughout its visual systems. In fact, Apple's highly efficient, modern OpenGL implementation makes Mac OS X one of today's best platforms for OpenGL development. OpenGL^® Programming on Mac OS^® X is the first comprehensive resource for every graphics programmer who wants to create, port, or optimize OpenGL applications for this high-volume platform.

Leading OpenGL experts Robert Kuehne and J. D. Sullivan thoroughly explain the Mac's diverse OpenGL APIs, both old and new. They illuminate crucial OpenGL setup, configuration, and performance issues that are unique to the Mac platform. Next, they offer practical, start-to-finish guidance for integrating key Mac-native APIs with OpenGL, and leveraging the full power of the Mac platform in your graphics applications.

Coverage includes

• A thorough review of Mac hardware and software architectures and their performance implications
• In-depth, expert guidance for accessing OpenGL from each of the Mac's core APIs: CGL, AGL, and Cocoa
• Interoperating with other Mac APIs: incorporating video with QuickTime, performing image effects with Core Image, and processing CoreVideo data
• Analyzing Mac OpenGL application performance, resolving bottlenecks, and leveraging optimizations only available on the Mac
• Detecting, integrating, and using OpenGL extensions
• An accompanying Web site (www.macopenglbook.com) contains the book's example code, plus additional OpenGL-related resources.

OpenGL^® Programming on Mac OS^® X will be valuable to Mac programmers seeking to leverage OpenGL's power, OpenGL developers porting their applications to the Mac platform, and cross-platform graphics developers who want to take advantage of the Mac platform's uniquely intuitive style and efficiency.

Computer Graphics with OpenGL (3rd Edition)

Donald Hearn, M. Pauline Baker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

too much coverage, not even breadth 2 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I must agree with J. Davis. After going through about 3-4 different types of CG courses and experimenting with my own seminars I find that this book is just way too wide of a scope. It seems like it tries to cram general computer graphics, interactive computer graphics, and advanced computer graphics in one... and do a bad job at it. Looking through the book I seriously doubt that some topics can be covered in one chapter, especially some of the viewing chapters. How can you cover all aspect of 2D and 3D viewing, even in breadth only and no depth, in one chapter? That's just ridiculous. It almost feels as if they are saying that you need a separate major for CG completely, one course for overview, one for 2d, one for 3d, one for interactive graphics, and a few for advanced topics in computer graphics... but the problem is that that is too narrow of a scope for any 4 year college degree. Plus you can't even start some of the basic discussions without general education in the fundamental math like linear algebra, calculus, discrete math, and so forth. So this book is sort of making a statement that can't be backed in the real world. Though this does offer a good overview for people who are just curious. It touches on a wide variety of things and has very practical approach to having a workable project using openGL.

Now as for Davis's comments on a good book. I think Foley and van Dam has actually a pretty good book for undergrads, especially when you set appropriate prequisits for the course. Keeping in mind that CG should be a junior-senior level undergrad course. I studied CG1 when I was an art major and found the Foley van Dam book to usable, though dry, but usable. I found other books later on to be useful, but they are a bit specialized. A few good ones I must suggest for graphics math is essential mathematics for games by van verth and bishop to be good. I also recommend realtime graphics by akenine-moller and haine for interactive graphics. For some specialized ones you have to look around but I do recommend my professor's (david breen) book on cloth animation. But yeah, to sum it up, stick with Foley van Dam for your intro courses... maybe use this as an added supplement, especially when considering OpenGL for your teaching tool.

Editorial Review:

For junior- to graduate-level courses in computer graphics. Assuming no background in computer graphics, this junior- to graduate-level course presents basic principles for the design, use, and understanding of computer graphics systems and applications. The authors, authorities in their field, offer an integrated approach to two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics topics. A comprehensive explanation of the popular OpenGL programming package, along with C++ programming examples illustrates applications of the various functions in the OpenGL basic library and the related GLU and GLUT packages.