Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #198953 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 928 pages

From the Back Cover

OpenGL is a powerful software interface used to produce high-quality, computer-generated 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, including expanded coverage of the OpenGL Shading Language. 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 Versions 2.1, including:

• Using server-side pixel buffers 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.

About the Author

Dave Shreiner, a computer graphics specialist at ARM, Inc., was a longtime member of the core OpenGL team at SGI. He authored the first commercial OpenGL training course, and has been developing computer graphics applications for more than two decades. Dave regularly presents at SIGGRAPH and other conferences worldwide, and is coauthor of the OpenGL® Reference Manual (Addison-Wesley).

Customer Reviews

Covers every aspect of OpenGL - in theory
Written by none other than the OpenGL architecture review board themselves, this is the de facto starting point for anyone learning how to write programs to draw computer graphics using the OpenGL graphics API. As such, the entire breadth of OpenGL is described in these 800 weighty pages.

This comes with one or two questionable implications. Firstly, the authors, being the authoritative source, are obliged to cover the entirety of the OpenGL interface, even though portions of it are now obsolete, having been supplanted in practice by newer techniques. The older methods are still present, and are described here on an equal footing with the later additions.

Similarly, to avoid getting embroiled in the idiosyncrasies of any particular vendor's implementation of OpenGL, there is never more than an occasional vague allusion to the potential performance implications of using one approach over another. The concept of using vertex arrays is covered in a general-principles sort of way, as are vertex buffer objects, with the admonition to "prefer them over explicit calls to glVertex() for performance" buried in a single sentence in an appendix-like chapter near the end. The idea that rendering primitives of GL_TRIANGLES is heavily optimised on modern graphics cards receives no mention, from which I mistakenly inferred that other primitive types, such as GL_TRIANGLE_STRIPs, with their lower apparent vertex counts, are a preferable alternative.

This egalitarian presentation means that the book can rightly claim to be an unbiased description of OpenGL the interface, and is lent a long-term relevance by giving no bias towards any particular vendor, nor being subject to the fashions of rendering techniques that sweep through the industry every few years. On the other hand, it also means that the book is considerably larger than most people learning OpenGL will need, and fails to cover many of the vastly performance-enhancing techniques that have become standard throughout the industry.