Hey Guys,

I'm working in OpenGL and the technique that I'm using to draw a HUD is I render the world using Perspective view then switch back over to orthographic where I can draw 2D texture-mapped images. The question I'm having is what is the best way to work with bitmaps to manipulate them per-frame? What I would like to do is use the Windows GDI (with HDC's and HBITMAPS) to take certain images and merge (SRCAND, etc) stuff together to get what I want the final result to be.

Basically how can I transfer the contents of a device context over to an OpenGL texture-map? Is it efficient or would I be better off to do it all within OpenGL? Anyone know any good commands for bitmap alteration in OpenGL?

Thanks a ton,

Tyler Boyd

What do you mean by "merge images"? Putting one image on top of another in a color blend? Taking component images and laying them out into a GUI of some sort?

Edit: To be more specific, what is it you are trying to do? The best way to manipulate your images will depend on *why* you are manipulating them.

Thanks for the reply.

In hindsight, I realize that I have no real purpose for "merging" images. However I would like advice on how I should render 2D text to the screen. I'm currently using glutBitmapCharacter() but I don't want to use GLUT at all because it makes installation more complicated.

Basically I have 2 questions:

What is the best way to display an RGB bitmap on the screen (2D rendering/glRasterPos2f() )?

What is the best way to display 2D text on the screen, that doesn't involve GLUT.

Thanks,

Tyler Boyd