Simple OpenGL

Functions

Outline

Today
drawing

lines, polygons, etc

setting colors,
clearing the screen

Next Class
skeleton

of an application
compiling OpenGL
simple movement

OpenGL Libraries
gl
glut
glu
glux

- opengl
- windowing functions
- common objects and procedures
- interface to X for glut

command format
glVertex3f (1.0, 0.25, 0.333);

gl library

specify a point

first letter of a function is always small

first letter of command is always capitalized

3 parameters
parameters types are floats

see parameter types on next page

Parameter Types
b 8-bit integer
s 16-bit integer
i 32-bit integer
f 32-bit float
d 64-bit float
ub
8-bit unsigned int
us
16-bit unsigned int
ui32-bit unsigned int

GLbyte
GLshort
GLint
GLfloat
GLdouble
GLubyte
GLushort
GLuint

example
To set the drawing color to blue
glColor3f ( 0.0, 0.0, 1.0 );

or
GLfloat blue[] = {0.0, 0.0, 1.0};
glColor3fv (blue);

Clearing the Screen

glClearColor ( R, G, B, A )
glClear (GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT)

to clear to black, use RGBA values of 0.0

later in the semester, you will also need to clear the
Buffer along with the Color Buffer

Depth

Drawing Stuff
glBegin ( drawing mode );
glVertex...
glVertex...
...
glEnd();

Modes:
GL_POINTS
GL_POLYGON
GL_LINES
GL_TRIANGLES
GL_QUADS

GL_LINE_STRIP
GL_LINE_LOOP
GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP _FAN
GL_GUAD_STRIP

example - drawing lines

Given four points: P0, P1, P2, and P3
P0

P1

P3

P2

GL_LINES

GL_LINE_STRIP

GL_LINE_LOOP

example - Triangles
1

2
3

0
4
5

example - Triangle Strip

1

2
3

0
4
5

example - Triangle Fans

1

2
3

0
4
5

Know your Limitations

Don't try to draw this star as a single polygon

is P3 inside the star or outside?

is P0, P1, P2 going clockwise or counterclockwise?

P0

P3

P2

P1

Color Interpolation
glBegin (GL_LINES)
glColor3f (1.0,0.0,0.0);
glVertex2f(1.0,0.0);
glColor3f (1.0,1.0,0.0);
glVertex2f(0.0,1.0);
glEnd();

// red
// yellow

We get a line that starts out red and turns yellow

assuming

we left the default as

glShadeModel

(GL_SMOOTH)
instead of GL_FLAT

Line Properties

Changing the width

glLineWidth (float)

default is 1.0

Creating dashed and dotted lines

glEnable (GL_LINE_STIPPLE)
glDisable ()
glLineStipple (int factor,short pattern)
(1, 0xAAAA) yields - - - - - - - (2, 0xAAAA) yields -- -- -- -

Polygon Properties

Fill Pattern

glEnable (GL_POLYGON_STIPPLE)
glPolygonStipple ( mask );
GLubyte mask[] = {0x00, 0x03,
mask is 32x32 bitmap

Polygon Outline

glPolygonMode

(GL_FRONT_AND_BACK, GL_LINE)

default is GL_FILL
note that you can make the front filled while the back is outlined!!!

Flushing

When you are done, don't forget to flush

glFlush();

non-blocking function

glFinish();

blocking function

bigger example:
creating a cone

How can I create a "smooth" cone?

use a triangle fan with lots of triangles

(0, 0, 0)

(0, 0, -30)
(x, y, -30)

(x, y, -30)

So, how do we compute a bunch of values for x and y?

View of the
cone from above,
looking down the z axis
X

Y
Given that
x2 + y2 = r2
then
y2 = r2 - x2
y = sqrt (r2 - x2)

So, we run a loop where x changes, and compute the y value

For example, with r = 20, and x = 10, then y = 17
y = sqrt ( 202 - 102 )
y 17

glBegin (GL_TRIANGLE_FAN);
glColor3f (1.0, 0.0, 0.0);
glVertex3f (0.0,0.0,0.0);
glColor3f (0.0, 1.0, 1.0);
// radius = 20
for (x=20; x>=-20; x-=5)
{
y = sqrt (400 - (x*x));
glVertex3f(x, y, -30);
}
for (x=-20; x<=20; x+=5)
{
y = sqrt (400 - (x*x));
glVertex3f(x, 0-y, -30);
}
glEnd();