OpenGL Superbible

Figures xv

Tables xxi

Listings xxiii

Foreword xxxi

Preface xxxiii

Acknowledgments xxxix

About the Author xli



Part I: Foundations 1



Chapter 1: Introduction 3

OpenGL and the Graphics Pipeline 4

The Origins and Evolution of OpenGL 6

Primitives, Pipelines, and Pixels 10

Summary 11



Chapter 2: Our First OpenGL Program 13

Creating a Simple Application 14

Using Shaders 17

Drawing Our First Triangle 24

Summary 26



Chapter 3: Following the Pipeline 27

Passing Data to the Vertex Shader 28

Passing Data from Stage to Stage 30

Tessellation 33

Geometry Shaders 37

Primitive Assembly, Clipping, and Rasterization 39

Fragment Shaders 43

Framebuffer Operations 47

Compute Shaders 48

Using Extensions in OpenGL 49

Summary 54



Chapter 4: Math for 3D Graphics 55

Is This the Dreaded Math Chapter 56

A Crash Course in 3D Graphics Math 57

Understanding Transformations 69

Interpolation, Lines, Curves, and Splines 89

Summary 97



Chapter 5: Data 99

Buffers 100

Uniforms 117

Shader Storage Blocks 140

Atomic Counters 147

Textures 152

Summary 203



Chapter 6: Shaders and Programs 205

Language Overview 206

Compiling, Linking, and Examining Programs 219

Summary 238



Part II: In Depth 239



Chapter 7: Vertex Processing and Drawing Commands 241

Vertex Processing 242

Drawing Commands 249

Storing Transformed Vertices 278

Clipping 296

Summary 303



Chapter 8: Primitive Processing 305

Tessellation 306

Geometry Shaders 333

Summary 364



Chapter 9: Fragment Processing and the Framebuffer 365

Fragment Shaders 366

Per-Fragment Tests 369

Color Output 382

Off-Screen Rendering 390

Antialiasing 412

Advanced Framebuffer Formats 428

Point Sprites 448

Getting at Your Image 458

Summary 466



Chapter 10: Compute Shaders 467

Using Compute Shaders 468

Examples 479

Summary 502



Chapter 11: Advanced Data Management 503

Eliminating Binding 504

Sparsely Populated Textures 509

Texture Compression 516

Packed Data Formats 525

High-Quality Texture Filtering 527

Summary 531



Chapter 12: Controlling and Monitoring the Pipeline 533

Queries 534

Synchronization in OpenGL 556

Summary 562



Part III: In Practice 565



Chapter 13: Rendering Techniques 567

Lighting Models 568

Non-Photo-Realistic Rendering 610

Alternative Rendering Methods 613

Two-Dimensional Graphics 647

Summary 659



Chapter 14: High-Performance OpenGL 661

Optimizing CPU Performance 661

Low-Overhead OpenGL 677

Performance Analysis Tools 699

Summary 726



Chapter 15: Debugging and Stability 729

Debugging Your Applications 730

Security and Robustness 737

Summary 742





Appendix A: Further Reading 743



Appendix B: The SBM File Format 749



Appendix C: The SuperBible Tools 759



Glossary 797

Index 805