Mail Archives: djgpp/1999/08/11/10:09:04
Derek Sauer wrote:
>
> You know guys, learning a 3D api is probably the best step. So now I
> state another question, what are some good resources for learning
> OPENGL? I don't want to use D3D, since I don't only code for MS OS's.
Why learn OpenGL? Because SGI recently put out a graphics card
(Wildcat I think it's called) that can draw 440 million triangles per
second and perform 4 GFLOPS (for those not so geeky as me, that's 4
billion Floating Point operations per second). That is WAY faster than
a processor even. Unless you either use Direct3D or OpenGL or Glide or
whatever proprietary API that comes with new 3D cards, then your
program won't take advantage of the 3D hardware.
The advantage to OpenGL specifically is that it is a full rendering
pipeline (as in will go from 3d primitives such as polygons to lights
to textures and output a final product), so OpenGL itself is part
software and part hardware. OpenGL code will run without any hardware
acceleration, so if you write something using OpenGL, you don't have to
change it to run on a computer without a 3d video card.
Also, look into Fahrenheit. It's a joint venture between Silicon
Graphics and Microsoft. Basically, it's the next generation OpenGL
architecture that should be coming out sometime in the near future.
(sorry for the length, blame Georgia Tech)
Chris
--
I know that I will never be politically correct,
and I don't give a damn about my lack of etiquette!
-- Meatloaf
- Raw text -