Should I use everything on shaders?

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4 comments, last by karwosts 14 years ago
What's the benefits on using shaders in everything like texturing, coloring, fog and what-I-don't-know-yet. Can anyone here explain it?
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Quote:Original post by John Stuart
Can anyone here explain it?
Because you are no longer limited to the old way of doing things with what was called the fixed function pipeline. You can take control of certain parts of the pipeline now, and program whatever behavior you like.

You mentioned textures. You can now have the pixels in a texture represent any kind of information you can think of. Once you bind the texture and use it while rendering, the pixels you read are like a value in a big look up table.
I've been using OpenGL for a year or two now. I've created many programs using only the gl,glu,glut and some libraries like glew. I've made indoor and outdoor renderings.

Does it mean that I can control and do more in GLSL than OpenGL?

EDIT: Now I understand. Can you recommend a good introductory book about shaders? I will include this on my rendering engine. Thanks
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-OpenGL-Game-Programming-Second/dp/159863528X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
Check http://www.ozone3d.net/tutorials/index_glsl.php and http://www.lighthouse3d.com/opengl/glsl/
If you already know opengl and want to learn GLSL, than the Orange Book is probably the best source for reference.

Also those lighthouse3d tutorials are good for starting out.
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