New to openGL and confused

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3 comments, last by ammar26 12 years, 11 months ago
I know this question has been already answered a lot but i just need a little helpI'm totally new to OpenGL, before OpenGL im was working on DirectX

I went to official website, i saw tons of stuff over there which totally confused me. I'm a C++ programmer and im trying to find such book that can take me from start and introduce me to OpenGL step by step
I'm confused what is OpenGL ES ? GLUT ? and other things ? are they are extension or libraries
The official web is confusing me a lot, where to get start from basics of OpenGL

I want to work on C++ in windows on OpenGL 3.x (onwards)

Can any one suggest me a book of link that can help or guide me step by step and tell me about all these things
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Just get the latest edition of the OpenGL superbible. If you've done DirectX that should have everything you need to know to switch.
I know this question has been already answered a lot but i just need a little helpI'm totally new to OpenGL, before OpenGL im was working on DirectX


If you were working with D3D, there will be no problem in understanding OpenGL.

For the quick start you could take a look at: OpenGL Wiki

I went to official website, i saw tons of stuff over there which totally confused me.


Maybe it looks confusing, but you can find there whatever you need. Try to explore menus on the top of the pages.

The most important page is OpenGL Extension Library, but it is not for the beginners. After you get some basic stuff it would be of priceless value.

I'm a C++ programmer and im trying to find such book that can take me from start and introduce me to OpenGL step by step


If you have already used D3D first chapters of OpenGL Superbible 5th Ed. will be boring, but it seems that this is the best book for students being more tutorial oriented. OpenGL Programming Guide is still the best reference book, but it lacks new paradigm of OpenGL programming. I don't want to be misunderstood, the book is great (I have several editions in my own library) and it has chapters about shaders, but connection between GL API and GLSL is somehow hidden and cannot be used by beginners.

I'm confused what is OpenGL ES ? GLUT ? and other things ? are they are extension or libraries


OpenGL ES is OpenGL for embedded systems (i.e. for mobile devices). GLUT is OpenGL Utility Toolkit. It's a pretty old library. You should use FreeGLUT or reject all together.

It is strange that you are asking these question if you were on OpenGL.org.

The official web is confusing me a lot, where to get start from basics of OpenGL


Start at: OpenGL Wiki


Can any one suggest me a book of link that can help or guide me step by step and tell me about all these things


It is hard to suggest only a single book that covers everything about OpenGL. Superbible 5 is probably the most suitable for beginners because of its tutorial like approach. For OpenGL ES the best book is certainly OpenGL ES 2 Programming Guide. Also consider: OpenGL Programming Guide 7th Ed. (8th Ed. will be available later this year) and OpenGL Shading Language 3rd Ed.

I know this question has been already answered a lot but i just need a little helpI'm totally new to OpenGL, before OpenGL im was working on DirectX

I went to official website, i saw tons of stuff over there which totally confused me. I'm a C++ programmer and im trying to find such book that can take me from start and introduce me to OpenGL step by step
I'm confused what is OpenGL ES ? GLUT ? and other things ? are they are extension or libraries
The official web is confusing me a lot, where to get start from basics of OpenGL

I want to work on C++ in windows on OpenGL 3.x (onwards)

Can any one suggest me a book of link that can help or guide me step by step and tell me about all these things


The main issue when starting using OpenGL is that making a context isn't a native thing like a DirectX one.
Every platform has its own functions and entry points you need to know in order to request a context when making the window for your application.
Since it's very annoying to make windows and request contexts in general, most people use portable libraries that do it for them (GLUT, SDL, GLFW, etc.).

OpenGL ES is a stripped version of OpenGL meant to be used by portable devices, such as cellphones, tablets, car computers and such.

OpenGL is currently at version 3.X and 4.X depending on your graphics card, but OpenGL ES is equivalent to OpenGL 2.1 (more or less), so if you want to make code for portable devices, you should probably learn 2.1.

Once you do have a window and a context, you can only access tiny amount of OpenGL functions, mainly because of Microsoft being retards and such, constraining the OpenGL DLL to version 1.1 (1.2 on Windows 7 I think?).
Since your graphics card drivers support a better version, you will need to get the function entry points from the driver itself manually....or use yet another library that does it for you (GLEW and GLEE are the main ones).

Finally when you have a window, an OpenGL context, and all the entry points to the OpenGL functions, you can start actually using OpenGL without too much worrying.

The sources would depend on what version you want to learn, but if you want updated OpenGL (and not ES), then here are a few links:
http://www.arcsynthesis.org/gltut/index.html
http://duriansoftware.com/joe/An-intro-to-modern-OpenGL.-Table-of-Contents.html
http://www.opengl.org/wiki/Vertex_Specification
http://www.opengl.org/wiki/Common_Mistakes
http://www.khronos.org/files/opengl-quick-reference-card.pdf <-- this is very important to have at all times

Good luck :)
Thanks for help and support
I think i should start with OpenGL Superbible 5th edition

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